Led by an Iron Armored Kui Ox, the group moved forward slowly. Lu Li sat down with his legs crossed and didn't move. The onlookers were bored.
They had been looking forward to a bloody battle between the geniuses. Little did they expect that it would be a boring climb.
More importantly, they couldn't show their abilities. There was nothing to see if they could only rely on an Iron Armored Kui to clear the way.
"Ha, ha!"
A patriarch of the Holy Lady Sect smiled. All of a sudden, she said in a low voice, "Those are just appetizers. The real test will come after the 5000 steps. By then, you will have a good time."
The words of the patriarch of the Holy Lady Sect were spread around. The onlookers became more alert. Patriarchs of the Holy Lady Sect would not talk nonsense. They believed that the Peak of Empress would not be so boring.
They used the Iron Armored Kui Ox to clear the way. The Iron Armored Kui Ox was strong in defense. More importantly, the Iron Armored Kui Ox's self-healing ability was impressive.
Of course, they were running out of elixirs as well. Every time they went up, they had to use one to heal the Iron Armored Kui Ox.
Hua Tiandao and Wen Xiang had many elixirs. Some were given by their sects and families, and some were obtained by themselves. They had more than enough in their Interspatial Rings.
With the support of a large number of elixirs, the Iron Armored Kui Ox would recover quickly every time it was injured.
After it was healed, the Iron Armored Kui Ox would move on. The onlookers followed it in a comfortable way.
Along the way, they would "accidentally" sprinkle some dust and beads to set up some runes.
An hour later, they had climbed more than 4000 steps. Seeing that Lu Li still hadn't moved, the onlookers sneered.
There were thousands of steps. Even if the Peak of Empress did not attack, it would still be impossible for Lu Li to climb up.
They had set up so many traps that it would take Lu Li a long time to clear them all.
Dong Yeying and Hua Tiandao hoped that Lu Li would stay in closed-door cultivation. By the time they reached the 9000 steps, Lu Li would have to watch them climb up to the 10000 steps.
After reaching Rank 4000, Empress Empress Peak's attacks became even more ferocious. Every time the Kui Ox was hit, it would take half an incense stick of time to recover. Hence, its progress became slower. Everyone felt that after Rank 5000, the Kui Ox would be useless.
By the time everyone reached the 5,000 level, there would be countless divine inscriptions and traps set up by them. If the Kui Ox wasn't there, and they were all blasted down, it would be extremely difficult for them to climb back up. Wouldn't that be akin to shooting themselves in the foot?
However, they had already come this far, and they had no way out. They could only brace themselves and move forward.
The Kui Ox continued to advance. When it reached the 5000th level, it suddenly felt like it couldn't go any further. Its speed was like that of a snail, and in a few breaths of time, it had only advanced two levels.
"There's a strong gravity!"
Everyone's expressions became serious. Five thousand was half the number, so it was definitely a hurdle.
Everyone had expected it to be difficult, but they hadn't expected it to be this difficult.
Even the Kui Ox with such great power couldn't move it, so how could they move it?
After driving it a few times, Dong Ye Ying gave up and put the Kui Ox away.
Everyone gritted their teeth and walked towards the 5000th stone staircase. The moment they stepped on the stone staircase, their waists suddenly sank. They felt like they were being suppressed by a huge mountain.
"What a terrifying gravity!"
The few of them looked at each other, and their expressions became unnatural. The gravity was too strong. Although they could still move with difficulty, it had to be known that this was the 5000th stone staircase. How were they going to continue on?
"Let's go!"
Hua Tiandao shouted and took the lead to rush up. The gravity here was very strong, and with every step he took, he had to gasp for breath. At the same time, he was extremely nervous.
He was afraid that if a few beams of white light shot out, they would be sent flying. At that time, all their efforts would be in vain.
One level, ten levels, fifteen levels!
Hua Tiandao suddenly felt the ground tremble slightly. Then, a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck Hua Tiandao.
Hua Tiandao was originally scared out of his wits, but when he realized it was lightning, he was immediately overjoyed. He didn't take it head-on, but a saber appeared in his hand and slashed out a black saber Qi.
"Swish ~"
The saber Qi swept out and collided with the lightning. It actually annihilated the lightning.
After the lightning disappeared, the other three revealed expressions of joy. As long as it wasn't that white pillar of light, the other attacks were easy to deal with.
This was because the white pillar of light would directly blast people down. They had all set up divine patterns and traps behind them. If they were blasted down, they would all have a headache.
"It seems like after the 5000th level, everyone's battle prowess will be tested!"
Everyone had a rough idea of what to do. Wen Xiang quickly followed. When he reached the stone staircase that Hua Tiandao was on, the ground shook as well. Then, huge meteors fell from the sky.
"Ha ~"
The group of people were all happy and completely at ease. Wen Xiang took out his Divine Weapon and released a few attacks in succession, shattering all the meteors.
Dong Ye Ying and Tu Ying both followed up and activated their divine patterns. A few black spears shot out from the sky, as well as streaks of saber light. They were all destroyed by the two of them.
"Let's go!"
The four of them were all fighting Gao Long. As long as they weren't blasted off the mountain, they didn't care about the other attacks. Their powerful battle prowess was also put to use.
Otherwise, if the previous white pillar of light continued, they wouldn't be able to display their strength.
Now, it was a test of everyone's battle prowess. Those with strong battle prowess could easily break the divine pattern attacks and advance quickly.
Those with weak battle prowess would find it difficult to advance. They had to think of a way to break the attacks.
The four of them increased their speed. Although the gravity here was so strong that even the Armored Kui Ox couldn't move forward, it was still bearable for them.
If the gravity continued like this, they would probably be able to climb the 8000th to 9000th stone staircase in less than half a day.
Of course, the prerequisite was that Empress Peak's attacks didn't increase.
"Boom, boom, boom ~"
The four of them kept activating the divine patterns. All kinds of attacks came one after another. This way, the viewing value was much higher. The 100,000 spectators outside were all interested.
This was more fun. It was both enjoyable and interesting. Seeing the four of them releasing all kinds of powerful attacks and blocking Empress Peak's attacks, not only could this test their battle prowess, but it could also broaden the horizons of the people outside.
Meteorites, rolling stones, thunderbolts, flames, blades of wind, dragons of water, vines …
All kinds of attacks came one after another. The four's battle prowess was on full display. The four of them released all kinds of means to break the formations and move forward.
In an hour, they had each blocked nearly 100 attacks and had climbed more than 1000 stone stairs.
Currently, Hua Tiandao and Wen Xiang were at the front. Dong Yeying was third and Tu Ying was fourth.
There were only dozens of stone stairs between the four of them.
Hua Tiandao was humiliated when he was defeated by Lu Li.
Even though he hadn't fully recovered yet, he was still charging forward with all his might.
His powerful battle prowess was on full display at this moment. All the attacks from Empress Peak could be fended off or blocked by him.
Six hours had passed and the four of them had climbed up to 7000 stone stairs. Even though the attacks were more powerful, they were still moving forward.
Lu Li, on the other hand, didn't move. He sat at the foot of the mountain with his legs crossed, like an old monk in meditation.
"What is Lu Li doing?"