Chapter 109: Ascending the Golden Stairway
“Of course you would feel unusual…” Elder Jing said as she seemed to figure out the Golden Stairway.
“There is an additional gravitational pressure in each step we take.” Elder Jing explained when she could feel her weight increase slightly even though it was extremely minimal.
The gravitational pressure is impossible to notice if you were a bit careless but Elder Jing was able to sense it right away.
After all, a woman’s weight is important to them even if they’re a cultivator so feeling a bit heavy would alert them completely.
Meanwhile, Yang Wei was a man and never really cared about his appearance and weight.
Hence, he couldn’t feel the gravitational pressure altered every time he took a step above.
“Elder Jing… doesn’t this mean ascending the Golden Stairway is impossible?” Yang Wei asked as they finished taking 30 steps.
Elder Jing pondered for a moment and shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t really know since this was the first time I’ve done something like this as well.”
She wasn’t a sage so there was no way she could answer every problem they have.
“We can only continue to ascend until our body reaches the limits I guessed.” Elder Jing added.
Yang Wei nodded his head as they could only continue ascending further since going back is a dead end.
Sometime later, once they ascended the 100 staircases, the gravitational pressure started taking effect where they noticed the weight added to their body.
“Huff, I feel like carrying a boulder in my back as I ascend in every step.” Yang Wei said as he glanced at Elder Jing.
“This is why I hate things that accumulate because it would only get harder and harder.” Elder Jing cursed as she kept ascending.
Yang Wei smiled bitterly as he could only follow behind as he felt the weight continued to multiply.
‘At this rate, I feared that I wouldn’t even make it to 400 steps.’ Yang Wei sighed inwardly as he kept trying his best to take another step.
“Don’t fall too behind, Yang Wei.” Elder Jing warned when she noticed Yang Wei was slowing down his pace.
Yang Wei raised his eyebrow and asked, “I’m trying my best already, Elder Jing. Also, there isn’t a time limit for ascending the Golden Stairway right?”
“There isn’t a time limit but if you haven’t noticed yet… the Golden Stairway behind has already vanished from sight.” Elder Jing sighed softly as she made Yang Wei turn around to look at his behind.
Yang Wei glanced behind him before becoming dumbfounded. A look of disbelief filled his face as he couldn’t understand the phenomenon happening.
“W-What happened to the staircase behind?” Yang Wei stuttered as he pointed at the empty void.
The staircase that they have just walked past is gone and was replaced with complete darkness or something similar to a void.
“There should be some laws surrounding this place and I have a feeling that the staircase would continue to disappear as time passes.” Elder Jing turned solemn and continued.
“Hence, we must hurry up otherwise, we might fall into a void and be trapped forever without anyone to rescue us.”
Yang Wei swallowed nervously on the inference Elder Jing made that seemed to come out of a horrific situation.
Being entrapped in a place without anyone to rescue you sent a chill down Yang Wei’s bone as he quickly took another step despite feeling the heavy burden in his back.
Afterward, Yang Wei started panting heavily when he reached the 150th steps.
‘What is wrong with the Pagoda?’ Yang Wei cursed inwardly as he couldn’t understand why the Pagoda would create such a difficult trial for them.
If the Pagoda doesn’t want an owner then it could simply close its doors to outsiders to stay undisturbed.
However, the Pagoda continued to appear in the mysterious realm that would open after a certain time.
This means that the Pagoda wanted to find an owner but it’s acting like a woman choosing a husband. Always taking their merry time and kept changing their decision on who to choose.
Meanwhile, Elder Jing wiped some sweat from her forehead with her sleeves as she noticed another set of laws in this room.
For a cultivator in a higher realm, the gravitational pressure seemed to be more intense as she could feel herself struggling to even lift her leg up.
“This is so unfair,” Elder Jing complained as she stopped at 178th steps and waited for Yang Wei to come up.
Yang Wei was around the 174th steps and by the time he reached Elder Jing, almost all 150th steps behind them had magically disappeared.
“Elder Jing, can you no longer handle the gravity pressure?” Yang Wei asked when he saw her sweating everywhere.
Some of the sweats even leaked into her clothes, revealing some of her undergarment but Yang Wei was in no interest to leer at her and only had concern in his expression.
There was a time and place to act flirty but right now is not the correct time to be fooling around.
Yang Wei was more concerned about her health and ability to ascend further as he wouldn’t leave her alone when the staircase continued to disappear from sight.
“Sigh, I’m about to reach my limit in the Golden Stairway,” Elder Jing smiled bitterly as she held Yang Wei’s hand when he offered to support her standing.
She was struggling to balance herself at this moment as her weight became too intense to even stand up straight whereas Yang Wei was still capable of withstanding the weight due to their difference in cultivation.
“This Golden Stairway is much more difficult for cultivators in the higher realm.” Elder Jing explained softly about this set of laws she discovered.
Yang Wei held a dumbfounded expression as he asked, “Then what are we going to do now?”
“Leave me alone and ascend yourself,” Elder Jing stopped holding Yang Wei’s hand as she became stern and ordered Yang Wei to leave her.