149 Golden Staircase
With the urgency made by Jiang Ming regarding the opening of the ancient ruin, the scene quickly became heated with everyone bidding for one quota.
No one had even bothered trying to do some foul play and snatch it from Jiang Ming. His previous display of skills was enough to deter them from thinking such stupidity.
10 minutes had quickly gone by, and Jiang Ming couldn’t help but feel blissful at the result.
“Man, never did I think the Di Clan would bid back their own losing quota at such a large amount of spirit stones.” Jiang Ming chuckled softly, teasing them in the meantime.
By pulling some tricks back and forth, he was able to extort a bunch from the powerful Di Clan with such ease.
“Hmph, our Di Clan is wealthy enough, so take it as our donation for charity.” Di Tianluo snorted coldly, hoping to keep his pride if there are any left, to begin with.
Jiang Ming shrugged his shoulders in response.
He had messed with the Di Clan enough and with the ancient ruin fully opening, it was time to begin the main show..
With a slight dash, he returned back to Yang Liqin’s side.
“I’m back, Yiqin. Hope I didn’t make you wait long.” He said warmingly.
“You are really unbelievable… The Di Clan members nearly vomited in blood from your devious scheme.” Yang Liqin giggled softly.
“Not my fault when the Di Clan are that eager to benefit me.”
“Sigh, I fear for the people who offend you in the near future, Senior Brother~”
Sometime later, a terrifying rumbling sound echoed throughout the area they were in.
Despite the horrifying sound, everyone in the scene held a calm attitude as they knew what this meant.
The ancient ruin had officially opened for everyone with a quota to enter.
Soon, a large door appeared in the sky, flashing a golden light in a downward scope movement. Another second later, the golden light started to transform into a transparent staircase.
After that, a tablet miraculously appeared on the first staircase with the sentence ‘Those with a quota in hand and wished to enter the ancient ruin must walk up the stair’ engraved on it.
Jiang Ming expected everyone to be ready for this kind of test, but when he turned around to look at Huo Minyong, he was surprised by the latter expression.
“What’s wrong, Elder Huo Minyong? Didn’t you all have this kind of test whenever the ancient ruin appeared?” Jiang Ming asked, seemingly in confusion about Huo Minyong’s dazed and shocked expression. They had been entering the ancient ruin for a long time, so why should he be shocked by the test?
“Umm… fellow cultivator Jing might not know this since it’s your first time here, but there are usually no tests in the ancient ruin.” Huo Minyong said nervously.
“The last time when it appeared, we simply directly entered with the quota on our hand to prevent the energy fluctuation within the ancient ruin from killing us.”
“I see… no wonder why these people are having such dreadful expressions.”
Although Jiang Ming didn’t know why the ancient ruin suddenly changed its structure, he could predict a little bit that had to do with his ongoing mission regarding the main storyline.
“What do you think we should do, Jing?” Yang Liqin tugged on his sleeve and asked gently.
“Should we take the test it imposed on us or head back?” She suggested.
Jiang Ming laughed heartily when he heard her say that. With his hand wrapped around her waist, Jiang Ming leaned in close to her. “Did you think I would let my junior sister’s mood turn sour because of an unexpected test?”
“Heh, I knew you would say that~”
And with that said, Jiang Ming and Yang Liqin were the first ones to take the test. The two of them made their first step on the staircase.
The moment their feet touched the golden staircase, Jiang Ming could feel an intense gravitational pressure placed upon him, causing him to have difficulty moving upward.
If he was just some normal mortal, then the first level of gravitational pressure alone was enough to crush his bones completely.
“Heh, so it’s just this kind of generic and cliche testing. And here I thought it would surprise me for a bit.” Jiang Ming smirked coldly, nullifying the gravitational pressure within a few seconds.
“How about you, Yiqin-“
Jiang Ming paused his words when he realized Yang Liqin was standing still leisurely, almost like she didn’t feel the gravitational pressure at all.
“Oh, was I supposed to act like I have some difficulty?” Yang Liqin teased cheekily.
Jiang Ming smiled awkwardly under his mask. It was a good thing he had his mask on. Otherwise, he was sure Yang Liqin would be having fun watching him get baffled by her skills.
He coughed slightly and tried to keep his cool. “Me? Having difficulty? Junior sister must be jestering. How can your senior brother be struggling at this kind of low-level pressure test?”
“Is that so? Then why don’t we rush up ahead to see who’s going to be in the first place? The loser must obey the winner for 2 days straight, and no break is allowed during those commands.” Yang Liqin suggested.
Jiang Ming cracked his knuckles as he nodded his head.
“Fine, a bet it is.”
“Okay, I’m heading off first~” Yang Liqin waved her hand as she increased her movement speed. Within a few seconds, she was already on the fifth staircase whereas Jiang Ming was still on the first staircase.
“Damn it, Junior Sister. How could you get a head start like that?” Jiang Ming cursed and quickly increased his movement speed to chase after her.
While the two were enjoying the test like some sort of race, the other people that were still debating on the appearance of the test held a dumbfounded expressions.
“Was the test this easy? Why does it seem like they are running a marathon instead?”