Free Web NovelChapter 2163: Chapter 2199: When Good Wills Fail, Bad Omens Prevail
Ding Fan smiled faintly and didn’t say anything. He said to Sirius, "Sirius, keep exploring the path, and be careful."
"Wooo..."
Sirius’s eyes carried an arrogant look. With a light hop, it stepped up another four steps. Ding Fan and Herr Ningshuang hurriedly leapt up to follow.
Sirius seemed to have a natural sense for mechanisms and prohibitions. Sometimes it jumped three steps at once, sometimes four or five, yet it never once triggered a mechanism. Ding Fan and Herr Ningshuang followed closely behind it and easily climbed more than a hundred multi-level stone steps.
"Boom!"
There was an explosion on the left. The two of them looked that way and saw there was another stone staircase, and a person had been struck down by Thunderbolt and fallen.
"Herr Shaodong!"
Herr Ningshuang glanced a few times and immediately recognized him. She saw Herr Shaodong being supported by a young woman as he took medicine. He didn’t seem to be dead, so she finally let out a small breath of relief.
"Li Linger, leave here and walk around to recover. If you see our people, tell them to be careful and not climb the stairs. You can find a way to test first—only go up once you’re sure there’s no mechanism. You can move very slowly, but you mustn’t take risks. Especially Rufeng, tell her to be careful."
Herr Ningshuang had originally planned to wait for Herr Rufeng before going up, but the Night Wolf Emperor’s Treasure Vault was at the mountaintop. Since she and Ding Fan had seized the first opportunity, how could they just wait here?
Besides, Sirius was Ding Fan’s pet, not Herr Ningshuang’s. Even if Herr Ningshuang wanted to wait, Ding Fan probably wouldn’t.
Ding Fan nodded, greatly appreciating Herr Ningshuang’s decisive and ruthless way of doing things. He didn’t say a word, simply kept following Sirius forward. Herr Ningshuang followed him; in less than a quarter of an hour, the two of them had already climbed a thousand multi-level stone steps.
"Crack!"
This time the explosion came from the right. They looked back, a bit worried it might be someone from their own team, and discovered it was actually Lin Zixuan, who had also been struck down by a bolt of Thunderbolt.
"Sister~"
A crisp voice rang out—it was Herr Rufeng’s voice. Ding Fan had Sirius stop for the moment, and Herr Ningshuang immediately looked toward the source of the sound, seeing Herr Rufeng waving both hands excitedly as she shouted, "Sister, wait for me, I’m coming right away."
"Stop! Don’t come up!"
Herr Ningshuang was startled and shouted loudly, "Rufeng, these stone steps have terrifying prohibition mechanisms. This time you mustn’t come. Wait for me at the foot of the mountain."
"Ah~"
A horrifying scream came from a Winding Mountain Road. They vaguely saw a man, covered in blood, rolling down. Herr Rufeng and the others looked over and found that a man from Divine Heaven Country had had one of his legs neatly sliced off. All of their faces turned deathly pale with fright.
Herr Ningshuang’s expression grew even more solemn. Just then she saw Herr Ziqiang running over from the distance, so she called out to him, "Herr Ziqiang, watch Rufeng. Don’t allow her to come up. If you all insist on coming up, you must be careful—take it one step at a time. Don’t be reckless.
Herr Ziqiang nodded in agreement. This time Herr Rufeng didn’t dare talk nonsense. Her big eyes stared at Ding Fan and Herr Ningshuang, full of excitement.
At least for now, her sister and Ding Fan were still on the multi-level stone stairs. The Night Wolf Emperor’s Treasure Vault seemed as if it already belonged to Ding Fan and her sister.
"Why can they be so fast?"
Lin Zixuan and Zhao Xiner were bewildered. Zhao Xiner had led a few people to the left side of the mountain road and tried several times; a few of them were injured. Hearing sounds from this side, she brought her people over to take a look, only to see that Ding Fan and Herr Ningshuang had already climbed very high.
"Lin Xin, get up there and test it one step at a time!"
A gloomy, vicious glint flashed across Lin Zixuan’s face. His Space Ring flashed, and a set of Divine Armor appeared in his hand. It was a set of Heavy Helmet armor that covered everything but the eyes—a genuine Treasure.
He handed the Armor to someone in the middle of the team. That man clenched his teeth, put on the Heavy Helmet armor, and began probing forward step by step, trying to find a safe route.
"Clang~"
On the Third Stage, sharp spikes sprang from the ground, but Lin Xin, wearing Battle Armor boots, wasn’t injured. Instead, he used the force of the spikes to dash forward.
"Write it down. Mark which steps have mechanisms and which don’t."
Lin Zixuan told another person, who immediately pulled pen and paper from his robe and started recording.
"Zhong Zhengrong, you go up in Armor!"
Zhong Wugu immediately imitated Lin Zixuan, taking out sturdy Defensive Armor. They were prepared to enter the Imperial Tomb, so of course they had all brought tough Defensive Armor, for fear of running into situations like this.
"Tian Zhiqing, you too! Go up with them!"
Tian Qianlian grew anxious. Di Ye and Herr Ningshuang had already climbed a thousand multi-level stone steps. If they didn’t hurry, by the time they reached the mountaintop, there might not even be a single hair left for them.
"What a pity—a genius was driven out by the Zhong Family."
Zhao Xiner looked up toward the summit and saw Ding Fan sprinting forward behind Sirius. She couldn’t help letting out a soft sigh. Sirius would occasionally look back and bark twice at Ding Fan. Needless to say, this little beast was definitely Ding Fan’s pet.
Herr Ningshuang followed behind. The fact that she could now move so easily on the Qing Shi steps was all thanks to Ding Fan and Sirius. Back in the battle at Wu Family Fortress, Ding Fan had already been able to slay mid-level Second Level experts of the Divine Realm, and his girlfriend actually possessed the Phoenix Rebirth constitution. All of this showed that this Ding Fan was anything but simple.
Unfortunately, this genius was forced to leave Divine Heaven Country. Judging from the current attitude of those Herr sisters toward him, Ding Fan feared he might never be able to return to Divine Heaven Country again.
Because of the existence of the Zhong Family, even if he wanted to go back, it would probably be extremely difficult.
The towering Heavenly Peak was steep as the clouds, its conical summit rising high, with countless Qing Shi steps at its foot stretching straight upward, and halfway up the mountain, a Winding Mountain Road coiled around the peak like a winding dragon.
At the mountaintop, four enormous Mysterious Iron Chains fastened a huge black coffin. No radiance flickered on the coffin; instead, a faint stream of air pierced through the clouds, bizarre to the extreme.
On the many paths at the foot of the mountain, groups of people were struggling up the stone stairs. From time to time someone triggered a Prohibition, causing a violet Thunderbolt to crash down from the sky.
Spikes and spears were driven into the steps, or wind blades jutted from both sides, and the burning Flame made many young misses who wanted to climb the stairs shrink back in fear.
After several attempts, most of the young ladies gave up. They were terrified; cherishing their lives was what mattered. They would rather forgo those Treasures than be scorched by lightning.
Only the people on three stone stairways were still persevering. Lin Zixuan, Tian Qianlian, Zhong Wugu, and Zhao Xiner had all taken out sturdy Defensive Armor, sending someone ahead to scout the path while they followed behind, moving upward.
The Prohibitions were not that terrifying; even without Armor one would only be injured. The sharp blades and Flame could almost be ignored once you donned Defensive Armor; it was only the Thunderbolt and lightning from the sky that were troublesome. Even in Armor you could barely endure it, getting blasted so that black smoke curled from your body and your skin was burned.
The three teams had already rotated through three or four men, yet the Armor still wasn’t damaged, and the wounded could still be treated. Lin Zixuan, Tian Qianlian, Zhao Longer, and Yu Jingshen held absolute authority within their teams; they could order everyone to take turns continuing forward and help them open up the road.
When these three groups had climbed a few hundred steps, Ding Fan had already climbed over six thousand steps, more than half of them already behind him.
"Ah~"
In front of Tian Qianlian, the man scouting ahead was struck by lightning again and tumbled down, only to be caught by the people behind. Someone stripped off his Armor, gave him medicine for rest and treatment, while another man put on the Armor and continued probing for mechanisms.
Each of the four teams had fewer than thirty people. Tian Qianlian’s team and Lin Zixuan’s team had lost a few in the Maze and now had a bit more than a dozen left; aside from those who didn’t dare come up, there were about twelve people or so.
The ordinary young masters in the teams were very clear: the reason they followed up the mountain was to scout out a path, to pave the way for the one or two strongest in their teams.
It was impossible for them to climb to the top themselves. This was only a stone stairway; above it was still a Winding Mountain Road, which of course wouldn’t be any easier to climb.
So they had all made up their minds: open up an upward path; the strongest would get the Treasure. Even if those people didn’t hand them anything, they would at least remember the benefits they had given, right?
The truly strongest few were in fact also the ones with the highest status: people like Lin Zixuan, Tian Qianlian, Tian Zhiqing, Zhao Xiner, Zhong Wugu, and the like. Whether they were scions of the Royal Family or disciples of a Fifth Grade power, anyone who helped them would naturally receive benefits later on.
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Seeing that Ding Fan and Herr Ningshuang had already reached close to seven thousand steps, Lin Zixuan urged his group forward angrily. One of the young masters under him clenched his teeth and leaped across five Level Five steps without touching any mechanisms. Lin Zixuan and the others immediately jumped up as well.
"Come on, Sis!"
Herr Ziqiang and the others kept their eyes on Herr Rufeng below. Although they had no chance to step onto the stone stairway, they were still extremely excited, constantly shouting from below.
Herr Ningshuang’s Power was extremely strong; she was the strongest under twenty years old in Tianmu Sea, stronger than Herr Liyan and Herr Rufeng. As long as she could reach the mountaintop, all of the Treasures would definitely be hers.
"Boom...!"
People were constantly being struck by Prohibitions. As they climbed higher, the numbers in each team dwindled. By the time those three teams reached the middle of the stairway, Ding Fan and Herr Ningshuang had already climbed all the stairs and were standing at mid-mountain.
"Let’s go!"
There was a buffer zone at mid-mountain, a broad mountain path encircling the mountainside. Ding Fan and Herr Ningshuang stood halfway up, looking at the fist-sized figures at the mountain foot and smiling at each other.
"Move!" Herr Ningshuang waved her hand. If they didn’t cherish such a great opportunity, they would be letting heaven down. Ding Fan had Sirius continue scouting ahead on the path, circling along the mountain road toward the entrance of the Winding Mountain Road.
There were no mechanisms or Prohibitions on this mountain road, and the two easily reached the entrance to the Winding Mountain Road. This path was also a stairway of stone steps, with no telling how many levels there were. Sirius easily leaped up onto the First level, and did not trigger any mechanisms or Prohibitions.
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Ding Fan and Herr Ningshuang looked at each other in some surprise, then lifted their legs and stepped onto the First Stage of stone steps simultaneously. As soon as they set foot on the steps, both of them felt their bodies grow heavier. Herr Ningshuang shouted loudly, "Gravity mechanism!"
Ding Fan felt as if a huge boulder had been set on his shoulders. His expression darkened, and he silently prayed that this gravity mechanism wouldn’t be progressive. If it was, there was no way he’d be able to make it up.
And that was exactly how it was—bad omens always come true...
On the Second Stage of the stairway, the gravity increased again. Herr Ningshuang followed him up; her face also grew grim. She turned and glanced back at the path, then turned back and said to Ding Fan, "Ding Fan, this Winding Mountain Road won’t be easy to climb. I’m afraid that by the time we reach the summit, the gravity will be terrifying."
Reaching this point and giving up—that was not Ding Fan’s style!
He clenched his teeth and continued climbing upward, slightly increasing his speed. His Power was weaker than Lin Zixuan’s; only by speeding up could he keep from being overtaken.
Herr Ningshuang said nothing, following behind Ding Fan, neither fast nor slow, keeping pace with him. Sirius ran happily in front, as if it felt no change in the gravity at all, climbing several levels and then turning back to look at Ding Fan, barking twice from time to time to urge him to move faster.
Ding Fan’s steps were steady as he moved forward one step at a time. With each step, the pull on the stone stairway increased a bit. It wasn’t much each time, but after dozens of levels, Ding Fan already felt as though he was bearing a thousand‑jin boulder on his shoulders.
This level of gravity wasn’t a big deal to Ding Fan, and even less so for Herr Ningshuang, who was at the middle of the Divine Realm Third Level. Here, the two of them climbed rapidly, steadily ascending step by step.
