Emperor's Reckoning

Chapter 697: Ascending The Stairs

The second floor was left dumbfounded. The onlookers were indeed expecting something like that to happen, but they never thought that Lyon would go upstairs.

One of the cultivators gulped with his figure palpitating. He nervously looked to his side only to find that the others were having the same anxiety in their eyes. 

They all nervously looked up to the ceiling. Something will happen, and they were all worried if they would also get dragged along with it.

"I-I'm not going to stay here! You all never saw me here!" said one cultivator before he rushed down.

"M-Me too!"

"See you never, brother!"

The matter involving the Sixt Heaven was not their place to poke their nose in. They could pinch him to dust if they decided to. There would be no merit then, only undeserving disaster.

However, them rushing out of the First Hall caught the first floor's attention. The cultivators below could see their sweaty faces clinging to their jaws. They could see their eyes terrified of what was to come.

"What's going on?" asked the cultivators on the first floor.

"Why are they running? Oh shit, did young master Azleid do something?!" speculated another cultivator.

"N-No, I don't think so. I didn't hear a single rumbling at all," said another.

"What happened…" they all muttered while they looked at the ceiling above. They saw Ning had gone upstairs before this, and they all could only speculate.

The alchemist that was guarding the third floor was clad in a golden cloak. His brows rose as he saw who was taking the stairs to approach him. (Azure cloak?) thought the alchemist before he raised his hand. "Hold it."

Lyon looked up.

The alchemist felt his neck being choked the moment his eyes made contact with Lyon as if he was being seen through. His goosebumps rose indefinitely and a cold shiver crept up his spine. He could definitely feel the atmosphere surrounding this young man was destructively calm.

Lyon reached out for his pocket before he gave a badge that made the alchemist gawk.

The alchemist's hand trembled as he held the mistified badge for even he had his level was not enough to earn this level of privilege. Doubts inside his mind were shredded before he bowed deeply. "I-I apologize for my rudeness."

Hilde opened her eyes wide. She didn't expect that a golden cloak alchemist would bow his head to the waist against Lyon.

Whilst she was stupefied, the barrier was opened.

Lyon casually retrieved the mystical badge from his hand and entered the third floor. 

"Huh?" The cultivators and several golden cloaked alchemist turned their heads.  Lyon's azure cloak was unusual to see on the third floor thus the furrow of their brows. However, they dare not to question his status. The fact that he could pass the barrier was proof of his legitimacy. However, they did wonder about his identity.

"That's Lyon the kunpeng hunter," muttered one alchemist. "He joined Alchemist Union? Since when?"

Those that knew him were flabbergasted. There had not been words that Lyon was an alchemist in Alchemy Union. The cloak that he wore shocked them, but those who didn't know—wished they were.

"The winners of that tournament are limited to the second floor though," muttered another alchemist. 

Lyon's presence immediately courted their attention, but his next action sparked their disbelief. He didn't waste his time as he turned and reached for the stairs to the fourth floor.

"What…" an alchemist muttered. "No way…"

His thought was shared with all of the cultivators on the third floor. An azure cloak-wearing alchemist was already rare enough being sighted on this floor but on the fourth? That was a whole new imaginary.

Hilde was still petrified in her own disbelief. Though her legs still kept up the pace with the others, her mind was not. She was nervous-wrecked. There was hardly anything positive that would happen and the worst part, she knew and couldn't do anything about it. She could only watch Lyon, the young man that pulverized the two kingdoms before her very eyes, was aiming for Ning of Red Lotus.

Heralded from the Mortal World, he was ascending the stairs to the fourth floor. Another golden cloak added alchemist awaited. The latter too was surprised by his appearance.

He wanted to stop his advancement but Lyon spared no word and gave him the badge. The barrier opened as the same scene happened. Once again, tha alchemist guarding the entrance apologized to him.

All heads turned on the fourth floor. The azure cloak was something that they should not have seen on this floor. There were questions and whispers, but none of it reached Lyon's ears. He didn't even bother to see the lineup of the ingredients—the hue of mana that was spiraling around it. He found no interest, he moved on. He ascended the stairs leading to the next floor, leaving them gawked and trembling.

His three generals followed him close. The presence surrounding his walk, the bearing that he exuded, it was something that he rarely showed. He didn't put his hand behind his head anymore. His eyes were sharp all the way. No walls, no demons, and no gods dared to stand in his way.

(This is so nostalgic) thought Kesya as she grinned at Lyon's back. (The young emperor, hehe).

The group was in no hurry at all, but the items at which they sold couldn't get their attention. It was especially true, especially for Cecile and the three generals. They had seen things more than all the prior floors' cultivators' experiences combined. 

On the fifth floor, the alchemist guarding the entrance was clad in a black cloak—the higher strata of an alchemist than the gold ones. He furrowed, but Lyon kept on ascending the stairs. Once Lyon was at the entrance, the black alchemist offered his hand, "Where is your badge, kunpeng hunters."

Lyon put it in his hand and neglected the alchemist's surprise.. He saw the barrier crumble before his eyes and entered the fifth floor.