Chapter 932 - 17: Encountering Xu Bing Again—It’s a Misunderstanding (Second Update)

Chapter 932: Chapter 17: Encountering Xu Bing Again—It’s a Misunderstanding (Second Update)

The Heaven-Reaching Ladder tests the determination to seek the path.

Unable to use divine power, it verifies whether a person has the perseverance to overcome all difficulties and advance toward the great path.

On the Heaven-Reaching Ladder of the Huan Yue Domain, two figures continuously climb upward.

In truth, this kind of hand-over-hand climbing is nothing much for Mu Qingge. In her past life, during her training, she also climbed the highest peak, the spine of the planet, bare-handed.

She is not afraid to do it again now.

Tong Teng follows closely behind her, gradually his initial caution turns into shock. He is shocked by Mu Qingge’s expertise, shocked by her ease and elegance during the climb.

As he journeyed, the boss he recognized earned his growing admiration, gradually a resolute belief rose in his heart—

"There’s nothing in this world that the boss can’t conquer!"

"Focus, watch your footing," Mu Qingge reminded.

Tong Teng took a deep breath, reined in his thoughts, and sped up. How could he embarrass his own boss?

The two climbed faster and more skillfully.

Yet, when they were halfway up, Tong Teng felt his stamina waning.

"Boss... boss, I can’t go on, I need to rest," Tong Teng promptly reported his condition to Mu Qingge.

Mu Qingge turned her gaze toward him; she herself was fine, but Tong Teng’s state indeed required a break.

This test does not have a time limit, so resting a while is no big deal.

"Alright, rest where you are," Mu Qingge nodded, sitting cross-legged on the nearby steps. As she sat, Tong Teng also sat cross-legged on the steps where his feet stood.

At this moment, night had already fallen, and the two sat resting on the Heaven-Reaching Ladder, gazing at the magnificent night sky.

Mu Qingge looked up at the stars, suddenly recalling the time she emerged from the Ascension Platform, crossing the Xinghai. The starlight there was as brilliant as the one before her.

A stray meteor streaking by with a long tail made her think of Luoxing City.

A longing sprouted in her heart. ’Now I’m in the East Divine Land; I’ve crossed the Xinghai and seen the scenery of the Divine Land. And you? How far is this place from the Taixuan Demon Realm? At this moment, what are you doing? Do you also have time to gaze at the stars?’

...

On the other end of the Divine Demon Continent, even in a world shrouded by demonic qi, there are stars, there is radiance.

Within the Taixuan Ancient Palace, Si Mo stood outside the Zichen Palace, gazing at the night sky, holding the Palace Bell he personally crafted. He longed to know what his little Ge’er was doing at that moment.

But he couldn’t!

His little Ge’er was now in the Divine Land, and he couldn’t allow his lack of self-control to bring trouble for her.

If people in the Divine Land knew about his little Ge’er’s connection with the Demon Clan, she would surely face extermination by the entire Divine Land! If that were to happen, he could take Mu Qingge into the Demon Realm. But what about Mu Qingge’s affairs? She has to take revenge, revive the Mu Clan, find the Divine Strategy Lower Volume... and so many other things.

So, he couldn’t!

Si Mo tightened his grip on the Palace Bell, and called out, "How’s the investigation on the Divine Strategy Lower Volume progressing?"

Two shadows of black mist appeared beside him, kneeling on one knee; they were Gu Ya and Gu Ye.

"Reporting to the king, the Divine Clan consistently guards the information about the Divine Strategy diligently, and our people over there find it inconvenient to act. Therefore, there hasn’t been any useful information sent back yet. We will continue to follow up and press them," Gu Ye explained.

Si Mo furrowed his brows slightly, waved his hand, and Gu Ya and Gu Ye turned into black smoke and vanished.

He took out a transparent small bottle, inside of which were two trapped divine souls.

Those two divine souls, if Mu Qingge were present, she would surely recognize them—they were the two taken by Si Mo from the Divine Hall, Zibo and Yugu.

They had a blood feud with Si Mo for killing his mother.

After bringing them to the Demon Realm, Si Mo subjected them to a thousand tortures, already destroying their divine bodies. However, he extracted their divine souls and trapped them in this bottle, taking them out to torment whenever he felt displeased.

When those two divine souls saw Si Mo’s face appear outside the bottle, they immediately became agitated.

Fearful and panicked, they plead, "Lord Demon, spare us!"

"Lord Demon, just give us a quick death, we beg you, no more torture!"

Yet Si Mo, cold-faced and indifferent, ignored their pitiful pleas, letting the demonic flames inside the bottle rise, continuously corroding their divine souls.

"Ah—!"

From inside the bottle, came heart-wrenching screams, extremely miserable.

"Lord Demon... no!"

"Lord Demon, please kill us!"

"Lord Demon, we were wrong, wrong! Please kill us!"

But regardless of how painfully Zibo and Yugu cried out, Si Mo remained unmoved. He put the bottle back, calmly saying, "Perhaps when I see little Ge’er again, I might grant you two a swift death."

...

In the Huan Yue Domain, Mu Qingge and Tong Teng sat on the Heaven-Reaching Ladder to rest, and they sat for an entire night. They sat from the cold moonlit night to the first light of dawn.

When the first rays of sunshine cast upon them, Mu Qingge seemed to see a wisp of purple smoke rising from the sunlight, transforming into mist, gradually dissipating.

"Ziqi Donglai." Mu Qingge stared at the purple smoke, whispering softly.

Upon hearing this, Tong Teng turned and asked her, "What is Ziqi Donglai?"

Mu Qingge smiled and shook her head, choosing not to explain.

She stood up and said to Tong Teng, "Have you rested enough? If so, let’s continue!"

Tong Teng nodded energetically, stood up, and continued climbing with Mu Qingge. They climbed for an entire day and finally saw the light of victory.

Tong Teng couldn’t help but feel grateful; if it wasn’t for Mu Qingge leading the way, he might not have been able to climb up.

During the climb, he saw multiple times how Mu Qingge intentionally avoided some unstable steps; the brass nails tied to their feet played a good role in preventing slips.

He looked at Mu Qingge’s tall figure, filled with gratitude.

Initially, he clung to Mu Qingge because she was an Alchemist. His experiences in the Lower Realm made him realize how important it is to befriend an Alchemist.

But later, through their interactions, he was completely convinced! He genuinely accepted Mu Qingge as the boss, and truly saw himself as her little brother, a follower!

On the last step, Mu Qingge pushed off the ground with her hands, using her strength to leap up.

Unwilling to fall behind, Tong Teng also pushed off and jumped up.

After they landed on solid ground again, they saw a different scenery.

Tong Teng stared in amazement at everything in front of him, feeling indescribable. Even Mu Qingge felt like she was in the legendary Immortal Land.

How to describe it with words?

Mu Qingge racked her brains but couldn’t find the appropriate words to describe the awe in front of her.

The Milky Way descending from the sky, emerald grass as jade, mountains like dragons. Pavilions, terraces, and towers, each like a finishing touch, unbelievably exquisite.

Standing here, only the feeling of divine power rushing towards them, instantly removing the climbing fatigue from the Heaven-Reaching Ladder.

"Previously, just looking at the Huan Yue Domain from outside the Immortal Water felt like an Immortal Realm. I didn’t expect that standing here, I’d understand what heaven beyond heaven truly means." Tong Teng murmured.

At this moment, the tokens on both of them flashed briefly.

That deep and resonant voice sounded again: "The next challenge tests your patience. Follow the Jade Ribbon under your feet to reach the location of the second challenge."

As the voice fell, a jade-colored ribbon immediately extended from beneath Mu Qingge and Tong Teng’s feet, twisting and spreading, revealing a path.

Mu Qingge and Tong Teng stepped onto it, following the Jade Ribbon.

As they walked, they admired the scenery of the Huan Yue Domain.

After walking for a while, Tong Teng curiously said, "Strange, why is this Huan Yue Domain so quiet, without any sign of people? I thought we’d meet disciples of the Huan Yue Domain just as we came up."

Mu Qingge’s eyes flashed, she said to him, "This can only mean that if this isn’t an illusion realm, then where we are now isn’t the true core of the Huan Yue Domain."

Tong Teng clicked his tongue in surprise.

After a while, they reached the end of the Jade Ribbon. Here, two pillars stood, swaying in the wind.

Beneath the pillars, layers of mist hid the bottom from view.

"What lies before you is a deep abyss. Falling down would mean death, regardless of being mortal or divine. The second challenge only requires you, without using divine power, to sit on the pillars for three days and nights without falling to pass." The voice appeared abruptly and disappeared just as suddenly.

Tong Teng was startled and said to Mu Qingge, "What kind of trial is this? If you fall, you die, so aside from winning, there’s really no other path!"

Mu Qingge chuckled, saying words Tong Teng didn’t understand, "He means that not falling counts as winning."

After speaking, she leaped into the air, directly landing on the swaying pillar, slowly sitting cross-legged, and closing her eyes. Seeing her begin, Tong Teng, though afraid, swallowed his fear and jumped up, gritting his teeth.

As soon as he stood on the pillar, his body began to shake violently, completely lacking Mu Qingge’s ease.

"Ah! Boss, help me—!" He slipped, and suddenly half of his body leaned outward.

Mu Qingge abruptly opened her eyes, and at that moment, someone happened to sweep past her. Without thinking, she reached out to grab that person’s waistband, throwing them towards Tong Teng.

The person grabbed and thrown by Mu Qingge was evidently surprised, their body crashing into Tong Teng, conveniently pushing him back onto the pillar to sit securely.

But as for her, she lost control and crashed towards the edge of the cliff. Luckily, she responded quickly, forming an icicle with her hand to stabilize herself.

With a graceful spin in mid-air, she lightly landed on the icicle.

Mu Qingge saw the person’s face clearly and exclaimed, "Xu Bing!" She could hardly believe that the person she tossed was Xu Bing, who ascended with her on the same day.

Looking at Xu Bing’s icy face and recalling her aversion to men and the collision with Tong Teng, Mu Qingge’s mouth twitched and hurriedly said, "This is a misunderstanding!"