Chapter 732: 732

　　Long Chen and the others were still neck and neck . They arrived on the 666th stair together . Long Chen was breathing a bit heavily now . But he saw that Shui Guanzhi and the others didn’t seem the least bit tired .

　　That surprised him . They truly were worthy of being the Four Heavenly Geniuses . This kind of perseverance was admirable . Even he felt that some of his negative emotions were starting to stir, and he had to force them down .

　　What he didn’t know was that he was the most shocking one to the vice sect master and the monastery heads .

　　It had to be known that the Heavenly Daos would block ten percent of the Netherworld Heaven Staircase’s power for rank one Celestials . As for rank two Celestials, thirty percent of the power would be blocked .

　　But Long Chen, who wasn’t a Celestial, was still neck and neck with the rank two Celestials . That was monstrous . Even those old fellows with so much experience had their jaws drop .

　　The vice sect master was shocked as well, but he put on a calm expression . However, in truth, he was wondering whether he should call the sect master over . Such a fellow might be worth directly sending to the Central Plains .

　　“Hahaha, this thing’s not bad!” laughed Zhao Wuji as he took out a warhammer from his ball of light .

　　The hammer head was huge, even larger than a table, and earthen runes shone on it . The powerful pressure coming from it showed that it was a terrifying heavy weapon .

　　“A middle grade Enchanted weapon and one with earth element runes . Zhao Wuji really is lucky!”

　　Heavy weapons were already rare, and for the runes carved onto it to match Zhao Wuji’s element, it was practically tailor-made for him .

　　“Hahaha, the final treasure will be mine!” Zhao Wuji was filled with confidence now .

　　Shui Guanzhi and the others’ hearts sank . Zhao Wuji had always been a power-type fighter . Now this heavy weapon would cause his power to increase explosively .

　　“Hmph . ” Shui Guanzhi snorted and also reached into his ball of light . But this time, his luck wasn’t so good . It was a set of armor and a metallic kind at that . It was not suited to him at all .

　　Furthermore, it was just a low grade Enchanted item . It wasn’t useful at all . Shui Guanzhi was dissatisfied, but he acted as if he didn’t care and put it away .

　　Zhong Wuyan’s luck was not bad, and she obtained a middle grade Enchanted sword . However, it wasn’t useful to her, as she possessed weapons that were more suitable to her .

　　Yue Qianshan received a secret tome about formations . It was useless to him, but it wouldn’t be useless to his sect .

　　If you were unable to use something, you could exchange it with the Dao Sect for treasures better suited to you .

　　Long Chen reached into his ball of light . This time, he didn’t pull it out immediately for fear of embarra.s.sing himself again . He felt it carefully . It appeared long, and it didn’t feel bad .

　　When he pulled out that long thing, he couldn’t help being stunned . It was actually a belt .

　　The belt was new, and it had been made of black silk . It was extremely high-end and grand, and then… and then there was nothing else to say about it .

　　The odds for the 666th stair were as follows: one percent high grade, sixty percent middle grade, thirty-eight percent low grade, and one percent trash . To have pulled out trash twice, his luck was truly heaven-defying .

　　Long Chen didn’t particularly care . He directly wrapped the belt around his waist . In truth, this belt truly did match his disciple robes and made him appear more handsome .

　　“Trash,” sneered Shui Guanzhi . It was unknown whether he was talking about Long Chen or the belt .

　　“Yes, but I have no choice . If I wasn’t forced, I definitely wouldn’t accompany trash like you,” said Long Chen helplessly .

　　The light b.a.l.l.s disappeared and they had no more time to fight with words . They once more began rus.h.i.+ng onward . But now, their speed had clearly dropped .

　　Long Chen felt like he was wading through mud . The resistance was extremely high, and it was exhausting .

　　Moreover, he didn’t know whether it was actually exhausting or just a misperception . He had to constantly circulate his own strength to keep an equilibrium with the exhaustion .

　　Doing that required constant adjustment . He couldn’t allow himself to get nervous or panicked, let alone be invaded by his negative emotions . The true trial only started now .

　　While Long Chen was pus.h.i.+ng forward, the vice sect master was lost in thought . It should be essentially impossible for a genius to pull out trash twice . It had never happened before, and it shouldn’t be a coincidence . But if it wasn’t a coincidence…

　　Long Chen and the others were still pus.h.i.+ng on, but after less than a hundred stairs, they had become covered in sweat and began gasping for breath .

　　The exhaustion had already begun to silently invade their minds and bodies . But their wills were strong, and they ignored it . They continued rus.h.i.+ng forward, refusing to fall behind the others .

　　From the start, they had matched their strength . Not one of them was willing to fall behind . That would not only prove they weren’t as good as them, but it would also cause them to lose out on their chance to fight for the final reward .

　　Furthermore, if they did fall behind, that would shake their confidence . Perhaps it wouldn’t cause problems elsewhere, but on the Netherworld Heaven Staircase, even the slightest disturbance would allow their negative emotions to overcome them .

　　Once those negative emotions appeared, it was very difficult to completely erase them . So now, they could only persevere .

　　In truth, the best option would have been to slow down for a while . After adjusting themselves, they could continue forward . But if one person slowed down and the others didn’t, they would just be thrown behind .

　　Despite knowing it would be best to change the rhythm, they couldn’t . Others would all a.s.sume that whoever slowed down had weaker endurance and was weaker .

　　As geniuses, none of them were willing to admit they were weaker . So if you ride a tiger, it’s hard to get off .

　　Long Chen also wanted to know just how tough a rank two Celestial was . He didn’t believe he couldn’t surpa.s.s them .

　　He was different from them . Starting from Phoenix Cry, he had relied on his strength to kill his way out . He refused to believe he couldn’t defeat some spoiled brats .

　　Despite being weary to the bone, Long Chen clenched his teeth and pressed on .

　　What he didn’t know was that rank two Celestials were basically natural-born cheaters . He was at a huge disadvantage . If he were also a rank two Celestial, he would have long since traveled so far that they wouldn’t even be able to see him .

　　The five of them were stuck advancing as fast as they could, despite being exhausted . Furthermore, they had to act so calm and easy-going in order to cast a shadow on the others’ hearts, in hopes that they would give up earlier . If one person slowed down, then they would be the loser . But then the others would also have a good reason to slow down together .

　　By the time they had reached the seven hundredth stair, Tang Wan-er and Meng Qi, who had been over two hundred stairs behind them previously, had already reached the 666th stair . That was because Long Chen and the others had slowed down a great deal .

　　“Brilliant Feather Dress!”

　　Tang Wan-er obtained a dress made entirely of feathers . The feathers were overflowing with colorful lights . When that dress appeared in her hand, the vice sect master couldn’t help being shocked .

　　That was a high grade Enchanted item . It was composed of the feathers from ninety-nine different powerful Magical Beasts and refined through a formation . Wearing that dress would greatly increase her defense .

　　In fact, it would be able to block the full-strength attack of a late Sea Expansion expert . It was an absolutely amazing treasure, and the feathers also contained the Magical Beasts’ bloodline power . By infusing it with Spiritual Strength, it was possible to activate the bloodline power and increase the user’s defensive strength to a whole new level .

　　“Sister, this is a defensive Enchanted item . It’s just what you need,” said Tang Wan-er .

　　“Wan-er, as a soul cultivator, I don’t face my opponents head-on . You need this more . Keep it . ” Meng Qi shook her head . She could see that this feathered dress’s defensive strength was terrifying, so she wanted Tang Wan-er to keep it .

　　“Sister, since I said I’m giving it to you, take it . If you don’t, I’ll just throw it away . ”

　　Meng Qi was extremely moved . She knew Tang Wan-er’s temperament was extremely direct, and she didn’t like beating around the bush . If she refused, then Tang Wan-er really would just toss it away .

　　She could only take the dress . Sending her Spiritual Strength into it, the dress suddenly brightened and directly appeared on her .

　　The multicolored feathers lit up her face, making her appear too beautiful to even touch .

　　“Sister, you really are beautiful . It’s too bad that that scoundrel knows how to run ahead while sticking his b.u.t.t out . ” Tang Wan-er looked at Long Chen’s figure . Long Chen was exhausted but still pus.h.i.+ng on, so of course he didn’t have time to look back at how beautiful she was .

　　“Thank you . ” Meng Qi smiled . Circulating her Spiritual Strength, the dress disappeared and a small feather appeared in her hair, looking just like an ordinary hairpiece . This was another form of the Brilliant Feather Dress, and an advantage of this soul item .

　　If Meng Qi was attacked, it would automatically activate to protect her . If there was no danger, it would stay in this feather form . It would use Meng Qi’s soul energy to nourish itself .

　　“Check your luck too!” said Tang Wan-er .

　　Meng Qi reached in and pulled out a white pearl . The pearl released powerful spiritual fluctuations .

　　“Soul Fixing Pearl?! How could her luck be this good?!” cried a monastery head . This was a high grade treasure as well!