Chapter 38
He set the golden box on the ground and it gradually transformed into grand and wide l.u.s.trous golden steps that ascended into the heavens.
There were exactly 99 steps that s.h.i.+ned with a omnipotent holy golden coat and made everyone exclaim in admiration.
"Line up!" Grand Elder Murray yelled out to the thousand partic.i.p.ants.
The Sacred Steps were wide and large enough for 500 people to step on at the same time.
A thousand sixteen-year-olds were split into two groups, Group A and Group B.
Asher, Dawn, Savannah, and Henry were in group A and were currently gawking up at the ma.s.sive 99 golden steps that reached all the way into the clear blue sky.
Asher could feel his blood wreathing in excitement as they all heard Grand Elder Murray's voice call out
"The amount of steps you ascend have a large percentage of what Genius rank you will be placed in, the higher the genius rank the better you get nurtured, after the Sacred Steps you will have the chance to battle outer, inner, or core disciples for their spot and another chance to improve your Genius rank."
"Profound Genius's usually reach 60-69 steps, Sovereign Genius's usually reach 70-79 steps, Saint Genius's usually reach 80-89 steps, and lastly G.o.dly Genius's usually reach 90-99 steps."
Elder Murray explained then took a deep breath as he yelled out to Group A
"BEGIN!"
Asher practically had to jump every step with how significant in size each step was.
He could feel a strange powerful force lock on to his body as he jumped onto the first step.
The force enveloped the entirety of the Sacred Steps and you would definitely not be able to rush up the stairs.
Asher hopped on to the second step while Dawn, Savannah, and Henry quickly followed his pace.
Asher could feel his blood boiling and a heavy pressure on his bones ever-increasing with every step.
By the eighth step, his bones felt itchy like they were shaving down, but his Black Dragon G.o.d Const.i.tution kept rebuilding itself.
By the fourteenth step his bones were incomparably sore and his blood finally stopped boiling, he felt weirdly comfortable after finis.h.i.+ng the fourteen steps of blood and bones. His bloodline and bones felt as if they have just promoted and needed a rest.
'Pretty easy'
Asher thought this about the first fourteen Sacred Steps.
The next fifteen steps tested potential.
Asher leapt to the fifteenth step and felt an even heavier pressure than before.
The strange force field from the Sacred Steps specifically converged on to Asher making it harder to cope with every step forward, but even then Asher and his group were going strong and bypa.s.sed the steps of potential.
They left the rest of Group A far behind, successfully pa.s.sing 29 Sacred Steps in record time.
The next 30-45 steps of willpower were where people started to falter as the immense force multiplied many times.
If it was too much for some of them, they would get sent back to the start by the soul of the Sacred Steps.
Each step was like trying to break past your limits after being fully exhausted.
The immense willpower it took to keep going up each Sacred Step was no joke.
Anyone with a weak martial heart will surely fail at this point and would never get into the G.o.d Domain Academy.
Asher and his group still nonchalantly pa.s.sed the steps with ease, the force field still weighing heavily down on them, but it wasn't enough to make a ripple in their hearts as they effectively reached step 45.
Steps 46-62 were the steps of soul.
The Sea of Consciousness that allowed a cultivator to use soul attacks and resided in a cultivator's mind wasn't forged until one reached the Sky Spirit Realm.
The Sacred Steps appeared to know this and anyone under the Sky Spirit Realm will be tested by the formidability of their Spiritual Sense which a cultivator birthed when they reached the Soul Spirit Realm.
Once Asher and his group took the first step of the steps of soul the force field's pressure improved once more.
They also had a new burden, on the 46th step they were all hit by numerous energies that clouded
They had to endure this while having to take constant pressure from the powerful force field that was always boosted with every step.
This would cause more than half of the 500 partic.i.p.ants of group A to fail, getting sent back to the starting point.
Asher and his group managed to easily bypa.s.s the energies clouding their mind and vision by activating one of their Deva Tattoo's faceless head.
Which increases the sense and ability of their Spirit Sense by a full 100% and successfully entered the Profound Genius rank once they reached Sacred Step number 62.
Crossing more than half the steps without much suffering, they are ready to face the real tribulation.
The eighteen cultivation and foundation steps.
Steps 63-80
Taking the 63rd step and entering the new test, the
force field pressure intensification caused Asher to finally grimace, but it was way worse for the other three who had a much lower cultivation and foundation than Asher.
This is where they all started sweating and panting in despair. The force field weighing so heavily they found it hard to breathe or worry.
They had to activate their Deva Tattoo's arms at this point to relieve the physical strain the force field caused to their bodies.
With every step the suffering only heightened, but they managed to survive, reaching the Sovereign Genius rank at 70 steps and then the Saint Genius rank at the 80th step fully pa.s.sing the tribulation steps of cultivation and foundation.
At the 80th step Asher felt light and unrestricted, it was like his body, soul, bones, blood, cultivation, and foundation were all tempered to the limit.
They were now at the Saint Genius rank but they knew this wasn't their extent.
Steps 80-99 were all a test of elemental affinity.
This last test of elemental affinity will pretty much determine your Genius rank, either staying at Saint or becoming a G.o.dly ranked Genius.
Asher took a deep breath and jumped to the 81st step, the first step of the last nineteen steps of this Divine ranked Spirit Artifact.
Asher could feel that this elemental affinity test was entirely different than the crystal ball and that their Deva Tattoo will not have much help other than relieving some strain to their fleshy bodies.
Asher could sense the 9 elemental attributes crazily bombarding him, luckily for Asher this was an excellent fortune since he has 100% affinity with all the 9 elemental attributes.
The other Genius's didn't have this capital, there were only some who had a few 100% affinities and it seemed like four was usually the limit, even with four 100% affinities they would have to supress the other five elements all whilst having to take on the increase in the Sacred Step's force field with every ascension.
This was like the heftiest meal Asher has ever had, he was gaining continuous enlightment into the 9 elements and improving his intents constantly.
Asher and his group managed to slowly reach the 90th step.
The immense force constantly weighing them down, almost making them crack under the pressure as they finally managed to successfully reach the G.o.dly Genius rank!
But Savannah, Dawn, and Henry were clearly having a harder time than Asher.
There were absolutely no signs of any others from Group A.
Asher looked over to see Dawn, Henry, and Savannah grimacing in pain, blood leaking from their seven orifices, and sweat drenching their clothes and exhausted faces from expanding their energy.
Asher on the other hand was feeling great other than having to constantly fight against the pressure of the force field.
"We can do it, lets go!"
Asher tried to give them encouragement but they seemed to be too tired to even hear him.
Asher jumped to the 91st step and looked back to wait for them.
Henry managed to reach the 91st step before disappearing.
The Sacred Steps could tell when a cultivator has expanded all of their energy and then will send the individual back to the starting point.
92 steps is when Dawn and Savannah couldn't take it anymore and got sent back.
Asher was still going strong, he could hear loud cheers and applause from the crowd as he took another jump.
93....
94....
Asher now had his eyes closed, steadily ascending each step, he was comprehending a large number of profundities in the 9 elements that were bombarding him and incessantly increasing every higher step.
95...
96....
97th step....Asher's eyes shot open, the pressure at this moment was so vast he could hardly move even with the nine elements helping him.
Asher now realized it was impossible for someone who didn't have 100% affinity in the 9 elements to reach this point.
Asher gritted his teeth and jumped upward with incomparable determination, savagely breathing.
Asher managed to reach the 98th step but he was now on the verge of collapse, his Deva Tattoo fully activated but barely helping.
The tension from the force field was so great he felt like his lungs were going to cave in, but he was still standing as straight as a metal pole.
98 steps were not his goal.
Asher was one step from completing the Sacred Steps as the atmosphere became incomparably tense.
Asher was sweating profusely, his complexion pale, the pressure was even denser than he had antic.i.p.ated and very painful on top of that.
He didn't bother trying to get enlightened by the 9 elements flowing into his body at this moment, he just tried to not pa.s.s out from the immense force.
"Arghh-"
Asher's legs were trembling violently, it was like the universe's eyes were all converged onto him wanting to witness his collapse and downfall.
Asher could swear he heard yelling's of people telling him to not force himself but he pushed that thought aside as he took the final step.
every second that pa.s.sed felt like an eternity
1.....
2....
3....
4....
BOOOOM
Every force inside Asher's body exploded out to fight against the 99th step, his body was covered in divine lightning and his star energy and spiritual energy was quickly exhausted, he almost transformed with his Black Dragon G.o.d Physique.
A large explosion went off in Asher's mind as he felt his body become incomparably light as the force field seemed to let go of him as he found his footing on the final step.
Asher sighed in relief as he felt his every cell and part of his being breaking past the limits and getting an immense upgrade from ascending all 99 steps.
He stood on the final step, looking down at the ma.s.sive bustling and cheering crowd with a grin until he heard a voice that seemed to cause a ripple in time and s.p.a.ce with every syllable.
Asher's fine hairs stood on end while his bloodline trembled.
The voice was extremely abnormal and made everyone present s.h.i.+ver as it said to Asher.
"Nice job little brother."