Is that a Wisp?

"That's…it?" Feifei was confused, feeling a minute level of pressure on her mind. But beyond that, it was nothing surprising. 

"This is just the first step. So, the pressure shouldn't be much," Krune replied, going up the second step, feeling the pressure doubling as he said, "At this rate, the pressure would be increasing to a scary extent soon enough."

Soon after, the villagers muttered in shock, staring at the two people that calmly went from one step to another. 

"These guys…!"

"How are they able to do this?"

"They really aren't your regular cultivators."

"Their progress has surpassed the records from our village."

As if they were casually strolling through a park, Krune and Feifei climbed up the steps one after another, soon reaching the ninetieth step before stopping.

Krune felt sluggish as it felt difficult for him to fly forth. The pressure had reached a threatening level by now, causing him to feel like his mind was being shredded apart to be then ground into dust later. 

Slowly, he reached the 100th step when the pressure vanished. However, Krune noticed his surroundings had changed a bit, now turning into a world where neither sound nor light existed. He suddenly felt an intense sense of hunger while an aromatic smell wafted in his surroundings. 

As he was just a wisp, his body naturally absorbed the faint Spiritual Energy from the surroundings as the sense of hunger vanished. It seemed that the steps from 100 to 199 were those that increased in the sense of hunger. So, Krune managed to quickly reach the 199th step, soon reaching the 200th step as his surroundings changed once again. 

Now, there was blinding light everywhere, causing it to become hard to see. As he didn't have a pair of eyes, Krune wasn't affected much, casually reaching the 300th step, grunting as grating sounds resounded everywhere. 

And with every step he proceeded, the sounds continued to increase in intensity to the extent his ethereal form was trembling like a water surface where waves formed. A couple of hours later, Krune reached the 400th step, now feeling a rapid spike in the temperature, causing it difficult to move anymore. 

But thanks to his wisp form, he wasn't as affected as if he had been in a human form. With that, Krune managed to reach the 500th step, now feeling that the environment had turned viscous as if he was situated at the bottom of the ocean. 

It became harder to even move now, causing him to become immobilized. But, like a piece of wood being swept by the undercurrents, Krune eventually found his undercurrent amidst the pressure, being able to move bit by bit once he adapted to the pressure. 

After all, there was a saying that went, 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Every form of pressure only worked in strengthening their mind. As Krune had lived for around 250 years now, his mind was somewhat refined. 

However, his experience living in Layer 3 had damaged his mind tremendously. And now, under pressure, his weakness was laid bare. Krune began to lose himself under the hallucinations brought about by the pressure. 

"Krune!" Feifei shouted all of a sudden, jolting him to his senses as she shouted, "I'm here!"

"Hahaha!" He burst out laughing after that. "Right, you are here!"

Her one sentence was able to bring him to his senses. Moreover, he began to temper his mind using the pressure, shedding off the unwanted influences on his mind, slowly firming his mentality, his mindset, his willpower. 

Soon, he began to proceed up the staircase, able to move faster and faster as time passed. As for Feifei, she calmly followed him, staring at his back as she sighed in nostalgia. 'This staircase is the tonic that would heal your mind.'

"Shed your worries," she said, directing the statement towards both herself and Krune. The duo then reached the 600th step, laughing when the scenery changed to become filled with killing intent. As they proceeded forward, the killing intent continued to increase in might. 

For a normal person, this would be the hardest to traverse. After all, they had just embarked on their cultivation path and wouldn't have killed anyone. 

But for Krune and Feifei, they simply shrugged off the ambient killing intent. After all, the number of lives they had taken was…simply uncountable. They easily reached step 700, having traversed from step 600 to 700 the fastest, even after considering their journey among the other batch of steps. 

Now, the surroundings were full of whispers, of ravings that dug into their mind, laying bare their dark history, their embarrassment, and things they were annoyed at. As for Krune, all of them comprised of a magical word, one word to incorporate all his negative feelings.

"…Rainbow."

"Rainbow…"

"Rainbow~"

"Rainbow!"

"D-Damn it!" Krune grunted, shivering as the same word echoed around him, forming a rhyming cacophony that attacked his mind with unbridled power. 

"Rainbow…"

Soon, the word rainbow was used as a rhyme as it seemed like millions of people began to hum it in unison. 

"Stop it!" Krune began to cry, hurriedly wishing to reach the end while he cursed himself for moving so slowly. Eventually, he slumped on the 800th floor, groaning in exhaustion as he noticed a prehistoric beast standing before him. 

It spanned hundreds of meters tall, hulking in front of him tremendously, oozing with bloodlust, looking like a beast that had devoured numerous planets' worth of life. It gazed at him, grinning while opening its mouth, looking like it would devour him as it said, "Rainbow!"

"Damn it!" Krune bellowed, summoning all his willpower as he blasted a hole through the prehistoric beast, penetrating every single prehistoric beast that manifested before him, soon reaching the 900th step. 

Standing before the foot of the staircase, the old man that had conversed with them before suddenly sighed. "They have such tremendous talents. It's apparent from the speed at which they climbed up. But, all of them that possess such unrivaled talents fall prey to the stairs in the 900s."

"After all, this is the weakness of everyone that's gifted."

"F-Feifei?" Krune turned around in shock, trembling in response as he saw Feifei standing behind him, focusing on the blade held in her hands.. The blade had pierced through his Wisp Core, causing it to shatter in response. "Why…?"