Above the white clouds, Xu Mu sat cross-legged.
He gazed at the sacred stairs before him, silently observing the strategies various talented cultivators employed when encountering the sacred stairs' pressure. He then analyzed and summarized, striving to make his own ascent easier and conserve his energy.
His objective, naturally, was to avoid being surrounded.
His identity was already on the verge of exposure. Even if it wasn't, he had already offended three of the Hundred Clans—the Ye, Qi, and Jialan families. If he were to be severely depleted at that time, escaping a simultaneous assault from these three would be difficult.
After all, he didn't know if the three from the Jiang family would actually help him. And the one person who could help him, Yan Yu, seemed to have no intention of revealing his strength, remaining hidden in the middle ranks.
Unbeknownst to him, his cautious approach was perceived by the observers outside as deliberate posturing.
"This Mu Xu, it was the same during the preliminary selection. Others ascended the sacred stairs while he didn't, and then he made his move in the final fifteen seconds, instantly reaching eighty-four, stealing all the limelight. Is he trying to do the same thing this time!" the Ye family elders said, looking at Xu Mu with angry and mocking derision.
They had to admit that Xu Mu was strong, but this was not the preliminary selection, and these were not false sacred stairs. Xu Mu could not replicate the miracle of before.
Nearly two sticks of incense had passed since the competition began, which was close to half an hour.
"The sacred radiance anointment is about to arrive. The first echelon hasn't moved further up. The second echelon has barely reached the twentieth level. The sacred platforms on the tenth level are also full. Receiving the anointment is better than nothing; it won't do him any good even if he goes up."
The Qi family members also mocked him. In their opinion, Xu Mu was about to miss the first round of sacred radiance anointment, unable to recover his depleted abilities or increase his strength. This was excellent news for them.
But for the Jiang family, this news was terrible. The Jiang family elders were furious and grumbled in low voices, "What on earth is this kid thinking!"
"I can't figure it out either," Gongsun Jingming of the Medicine King Valley also shook his head repeatedly and gave a wry smile. He truly couldn't fathom Xu Mu's intentions. Was it merely for attention?
"He's moving!"
Suddenly, someone exclaimed, and everyone looked up. They saw that with less than sixty breaths remaining before the sacred radiance anointment, Xu Mu, who had been sitting on the white cloud, finally moved.
Bang!
Xu Mu's robes fluttered. Facing immense pressure, he stepped onto the first rung of the sacred stairs. On the surface, it was like a roaring tide, but as he landed, it was calm and serene. His expression was impassive, as if he encountered no obstruction at all.
Then, he quickly took the second step. The pressure was still terrifying, but little of it fell upon Xu Mu. Without even a twitch of his eyelashes, he took another step.
Following that, came the third, fourth, and fifth steps. Xu Mu walked very steadily. He then took another five steps consecutively, reaching the tenth level and standing on the sacred platform, just like countless other ability users.
He took less than thirty seconds to complete this process.
On the sacred platform, numerous ability users spontaneously moved away from Xu Mu, knowing his great strength and not wanting to provoke him and get eliminated.
Only Qian Qian, Qi Lan, Wan Yan Zhen Yao, and others were present, greeting Xu Mu with smiles.
Xu Mu nodded in response for a moment, then looked up. Several figures ahead of him seemed to be staring at him, especially Ye Gong, whose gaze was provocative.
At this moment, with less than twenty breaths left until the sacred radiance anointment, everyone could feel the immense sacred radiance energy gathering in the space. It was crystal clear and about to shower down from above.
They were all standing on the sacred platform, ready to share this sacred radiance to cleanse their fatigue and achieve breakthroughs.
But the problem was, Xu Mu was not fatigued.
With so many people sharing the sacred radiance for breakthroughs, how much would his realm increase?
Xu Mu clicked his tongue and felt that standing here was a waste of time. Thus, before the sacred radiance anointment arrived, he took another step forward.
Boom!
"He's moving again!"
Countless people inside and outside the venue exclaimed, staring at Xu Mu in shock. He had actually stepped off the tenth sacred platform and reached the eleventh rung just as the sacred radiance anointment was about to arrive, and his expression was still as calm and unruffled as ever.
Was he going to ascend to the twentieth rung in this remaining short time and join the top-tier geniuses in the first echelon?
Those outside the venue, recalling the legends of Xu Mu, began to anticipate. They wanted to see how Xu Mu would defy their perceptions. Even the Wine Immortal began to look forward to it.
However, things did not unfold as they imagined. Xu Mu did not desperately try to reach the twentieth sacred platform to receive the sacred radiance anointment.
He walked with ease, but his movements were too slow. Despite the anointment being imminent, Xu Mu walked leisurely, as if he paid no regard to it at all.
Soon, as he reached the sixteenth rung and paused for a few seconds to ponder something, the sacred radiance anointment, which occurred only once every half an hour, descended.
Instantly, the heavens and earth were illuminated by colorful rays. Sacred radiance poured down from the highest heavens, breaking through thunderclouds and mist, cascading like a waterfall from the uppermost steps all the way down, eventually converging on the sacred platforms of each level.
The higher the sacred platform, the more concentrated the sacred radiance, sometimes hundreds or even thousands of times more so than those below. The mere sensation was incredibly immense.
On the sacred platform, the sacred radiance entered from the cultivator's celestial spirit, instantly refreshing them and replenishing the consumed power in their bodies. Ye Gong and others couldn't help but let out involuntary groans of comfort.
Even on the first-level sacred platform, despite the large number of people, some showed signs of breakthrough due to the sacred radiance anointment, demonstrating its efficacy.
"It seems this sacred radiance anointment is indeed very beneficial. What a pity that kid disdains it." Outside the venue, someone from the Ye family mocked Xu Mu. Apart from him, almost all the participating cultivators present had received the sacred radiance anointment.
Those who didn't were those incapable of reaching the tenth level.
Xu Mu had reached it, but he was on the sixteenth rung, not on a sacred platform, and thus could not receive the anointment.
"This kid is going to play himself to death." After receiving the sacred radiance anointment, Ye Gong's condition returned to its peak, even surpassing it.
He suppressed the killing intent to rush down and intercept Xu Mu, then turned to continue his ascent alongside Qi Sheng.
He knew that on this sacred stairs, Xu Mu would undoubtedly ascend further than him, but that was only in theory.
The premise was that Xu Mu could overcome their blockade.
After all, Ye Gong was never alone.
The others turned and continued their climb, enduring the pressure of the sacred stairs. The other ability users on the first sacred platform also rushed forward, eager to keep pace with the first echelon, afraid of being left behind.
Xu Mu, however, remained unhurried, walking and stopping, his steps steady. It was nearly half an hour later, when he reached the thirty-first rung, that the sacred radiance anointment descended once more.
This time, those with slower steps were on the sacred platforms of the twentieth and thirtieth rungs, while the first echelon was on the fortieth rung.
Xu Mu, however, was on the thirty-first rung. He still did not receive the anointment. Facing the gazes of countless people behind him, who looked at him like a fool, he merely kept his head bowed, his hands carefully feeling something in the air.
Everyone ridiculed him, thinking his mind was broken. By not accepting the anointment, he was at a disadvantage compared to others due to the lack of resource replenishment, entering the battle at a disadvantage. And he was still feigning…
But no one knew that what he was touching was the Great Dao.
It was the Great Dao unique to the sacred stairs.
…