Chapter 80 – Epiphany, The Essence Of Willpower
Boom!
Vincent stepped onto the stairs using his right foot. Suddenly, he felt an invisible pressure pressing down on him from all directions. He also felt some resistance in his leg.
"Is this pressure?"
Vincent shrugged. It felt alright.
As he stepped onto the second step, the invisible pressure became even stronger. Although Vincent was prepared, his body still swayed from the pressure. The psionic power in his body started to deplete at an extremely rapid speed.
His G.o.dly King's Posture superpower was not able to help him to recover his psionic power.
What was going on?
Vincent was shocked.
The G.o.dly King's Posture was a combination of his Extreme Speed Training and Peak Condition superpowers. It allowed him to have the effects of both superpowers at the same time.
This had never happened before.
"Little guy! Looks like you've made your decision!" said the voice. His tone was full of praise.
"Just a friendly reminder. Please do not attempt to use your superpowers or combat skills. You can only walk up the Will Stone Stairs using your own body strength."
Vincent did not believe the voice.
He mobilized h.e.l.lfire in his hand.
The moment h.e.l.lfire appeared, the pressure around him suddenly increased. Vincent did not have enough time to react. Before he knew it, he had been pushed away. Vincent fell heavily onto the ground. He then turned over and stood up.
Vincent frowned as he looked at the Will Stone Stairs.
At the same time, the G.o.dly King's Posture started working. His psionic power was recovering.
Vincent stood still. He looked at the Will Stone Stairs and fell into deep thought.
Ten minutes later, Vincent summoned h.e.l.lfire and threw it at the Will Stone Stairs.
Just as the h.e.l.lfire ball entered the range of the Will Stone Stairs, it suddenly slowed down.
It then flew backward towards Vincent at an even faster speed.
Vincent dodged it. The h.e.l.lfire ball exploded at the place Vincent was standing before.
It left a large crater in the ground. The aftereffect of the h.e.l.lfire ball was twice as powerful.
"Is it rebounding?" muttered Vincent as he looked at the large crater.
He tried using his superpowers twice.
It seemed like the voice was not lying to him.
"Looks like I can only walk up the stairs step by step," said Vincent.
Vincent rubbed the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows.
He reflected on the situation earlier. He felt so much pressure when stepping onto the first flight of stairs. If he could not withstand the pressure, he could be pushed down at any time, or even crushed into meat paste.
There were 365 steps. The pressure on the next step was twice that of the previous step. The pressure was extremely terrifying.
This was not the type of pressure that humans could withstand without superpowers or combat skills.
Not even monsters could withstand it!
Vincent frowned again. If the voice really wanted to choose a successor, why would he or she set up a test that was impossible to pa.s.s?
On the contrary, if everything the voice said was false, why would he or she even start this in the first place?
Was it to wash away its sins?
Vincent shook his head. Nothing made sense.
Obviously, there must be a key that he had overlooked.
"What exactly is it?" asked Vincent.
Vincent had a headache just thinking about it. However, he had always felt like he was not far off, and the key was within his reach.
This feeling made him very unhappy and irritated.
"The Will Stone Stairs!
Vincent's eyes suddenly lit up. He got it.
He started to relax and took a deep breath. Vincent was firm. He stepped onto the Will Stone Stairs again.
Whether or not he could inherit the mantle mentioned by the voice, Vincent did not care anymore. He just wanted to leave this place.
He still had a lot of things to do back in his world.
He stepped onto the stairs again. The pressure weighed down on him like before. Nevertheless, Vincent did not hesitate to take another step.
Two Steps!
Three Steps!
Four Steps!
Five steps!
Vincent was a little out of breath by the time he reached the fifth step. The psionic power in his body was being consumed at a rapid rate. He could not hold out for long.
However, Vincent did not have any thoughts of retreating.
The Will Stone Steps tested a person's willpower!
A person had to depend on oneself in order to have willpower. It had nothing to do with psionic power or combat skills. It was the strongest power in a person's heart.
The stronger his willpower, the greater the things he could achieve!
Vincent was an orphan. His parents had gone missing since he was very young. Vincent had been strong since the first day. His willpower was not a problem at all.
He endured the ma.s.sive pressure that was sixteen times that of the first step.
Vincent raised his right leg once again.
Thump!
His right foot stepped firmly on the sixth step. At the same time, an even greater pressure pressed down on him.
In just one step, his temples were already covered in fine beads of sweat, and his psionic power depleted even faster.
Vincent felt his lips go numb. He felt dizzy and his eyelids were heavy as if they were fighting to stay open. This was all due to the excessive consumption of his psionic power.
His body could not stop shaking. However, Vincent gritted his teeth. He was determined not to take even half a step back.
However, if he stepped onto the seventh step, he would have to face the pressure sixty-four times. He did not have the confidence to withstand it.
He might as well sit down and start training instead.
Training and mobilizing his psionic power would not cause him to fall off the Will Stone Stairs. It was clear that so long as he did not use his superpower and combat skills, he would not be pushed down.
Vincent trained himself to replenish the psionic power in his body. Although there was a huge gap between recovery and consumption, it prolonged the time Vincent spent on the sixth step.
There was no time for training. Vincent waited until his body had adapted to the pressure of the sixth step. He also ensured that the recovery speed in his body had far exceeded his consumption speed.
He then slowly opened his eyes.
Two days had pa.s.sed, but Vincent had no idea.
It had always been a sunny day in the paradise illusion.
Vincent was enlightened.
The feeling he felt on the sixth step was similar to the feeling he felt on the first step.
"So that's how it is!"
Vincent stood up and nodded.
Although Vincent had figured out that the Will Stone Test tested willpower, he could not figure out how to withstand the astronomical pressure behind it.
He finally understood it!
He had overlooked something that everyone usually overlooked. It was something that people always took for granted.
Adaptation!
When a person is in an unfamiliar environment, they would always need to undergo the process of adaptation. The process would not be easily discovered due to time.
Over time, it would become one's inherent mode of thinking. The adaptation process was only a matter of time.
The idea of adaptation had existed in the human mind for a long time. However, it had failed to attract humans' attention.
Vincent had managed to take notice of it.
He did not actually have to walk up 365 steps of the Will Stone Stairs in one go. Instead, he needed to adapt to the pressure on each step completely before moving forward.
To put it bluntly, it was only a matter of time before he steadied his mind and walked up the Will Stone Stairs.
He just had to have the willpower to adapt to it.
"Not bad! Very good! Little fellow, I didn't expect you to understand the key to the Will Stone Stairs so quickly!" said the voice.
Its tone was filled with unconcealed admiration and satisfaction towards Vincent.
"G.o.d's mercy! He had allowed me to meet such a good seedling when I'm on the verge of extinction!"
The voice sounded very glad. It was the kind of joy that followed after one had encountered a dire incident.
Vincent could tell that the voice was indeed genuine. He then bowed to the silver tower.
"Senior, thank you for your good intentions!" said Vincent.
"Hahaha! Little guy, you're finally willing to speak! Come up, I'll wait for you on the fifth floor."