Chapter 5976 Divine Staircase Spirit Awakening
“Our violet blood race consists of only immortal cultivators. We possess no faith divine pool, we do not raise divine worshipers or servants, and we will not condense god seeds,” said Huang Xuan, shaking his head.
Yet, despite his answer, Long Chen felt that something was left unsaid. Huang Xuan simply looked at him in silence.
Long Chen seemed to realize something and looked at the gate more closely. There was a long staircase in front of it without anyone on it.
Violet divine light flowed within the enormous gate, radiating a sacred aura that stirred the soul. Yet aside from that, nothing else stood out to him.
Seeing no reaction from Long Chen as he faced the gate, Huang Xuan finally showed a trace of confusion.
“All disciples of the violet blood race,” Huang Xuan explained, “will sense the call of their ancestors when they approach the gate. They are kowtowing to their ancestors. Naturally, they will be pious when hearing the voice of their ancestors.”
“Then why can’t I sense anything?” asked Long Chen in confusion.
“That... I do not know,” Huang Xuan admitted with a shake of his head. “But the path in front of the gate is one every outer gate disciple must walk. It is the final trial. Climb all three thousand six hundred steps and walk through the gate, then you can become an inner gate disciple.”
“An inner gate disciple. What a fitting name. Then if I were to close the gate behind me, wouldn’t I be the final disciple[1]?” joked Long Chen.
“Hahaha!” Huang Xuan let out a hearty laugh. “You’re quite the character. Very well, I’ll wait for you inside.”
With that, Huang Xuan vanished.
Long Chen turned to the staircase and started walking toward it. As he moved, countless eyes locked onto him.
Over a dozen figures stood at the foot of the stairs, clad in white robes and violet belts. They were disciples stationed to oversee the final trial. Normally, any challenger would need to pass a series of tests and inspections by these disciples. They would have to note the challenger’s bloodline density, ancestral branch, cultivation level, and more. But, with Elder Huang Xuan personally escorting Long Chen, none dared to question him.
“Can I go up?” asked Long Chen.
“Elder Huang Xuan brought you here, so you can go up directly. But I should warn you to go slow,” said one disciple, nodding.
“Many thanks,” Long Chen replied, though he didn’t fully understand what the warning meant.
He lifted his foot and stepped onto the first stair.
Violet runes lit up beneath Long Chen. At the same time, a faint resistance pushed against him, as if the staircase was trying to reject him. Only then did he understand what that disciple meant by going slow. A single misstep might send him tumbling down, stripping him of his qualification to enter the inner mountain.
But the pressure was weak. If not for his heightened perception, thanks to the dragon pearl’s blessing, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
He continued walking up.
Below, countless gazes followed him. Some were envious, while others sneered, waiting to see him fail.
With every step, Long Chen felt his violet blood energy grow heavier. That energy poured into the stair beneath his feet, causing it to glow. From above, he could even sense the emotions and spiritual fluctuations of the people watching him.
Long Chen couldn’t help but sigh. When he had first met Xie Wanyi and the others, he’d believed the violet blood race was filled with loyal, upright youths. But now... he realized he had overestimated them.
Long Chen continued onward. With each step, more and more violet runes lit up. At first, only one or two activated. By the hundredth step, dozens flared to life beneath his feet.
The resistance grew stronger with every stair. Ordinary Heaven Saints would be blasted off their feet before even reaching the tenth step.
Of course, such people wouldn’t even be allowed to attempt the climb. Only Sovereign sprouts had the qualifications. That was why so many onlookers were unhappy when they saw someone who looked like an ordinary Heaven Saint ascending the staircase. They felt it was cheating—perhaps this Heaven Saint had connections to a Sovereign Lord.
These onlookers had endured countless trials just for the right to bow before their ancestors. They weren’t even qualified to set foot on the stairs.
“The thousandth stair!”
Gasps of disbelief rippled through the crowd.
The one-thousand-step mark was a critical threshold. Many Sovereign sprouts faltered there, their foundations shaken. However, Long Chen’s steps remained stable, as calm and casual as when he began.
The envy in some people’s eyes slowly shifted—first into confusion, then into shock when Long Chen passed the 2000th stair.
And by the time he reached the 3000th stair, reverence had replaced all other emotions.
That was the fickleness of the human heart. When someone stood slightly above them, they envied that person and wished to drag them down. But once that person stood on a height so vast they couldn’t hope to reach it, they could only look up in awe.
Long Chen’s appearance hadn’t changed. But now, no one dared to sneer or mock him.
After Long Chen had passed the 3000th step, more and more runes lit up beneath his feet. He braced himself for overwhelming resistance, but it never came.
Instead, Long Chen felt his violet blood circulate rapidly, and the violet cloud inside his Dantian started to quiver. He realized that the glowing runes from the stairs not only lit up but also branded themselves onto his violet cloud.
At that moment, Long Chen understood—this wasn’t just a trial. It was also a great opportunity to get stronger.
If one’s bloodline could endure the pressure, every step would bring tremendous benefit. The runes would embed themselves into their bloodline as a kind of inheritance.
For someone like Long Chen, whose violet blood had been refined and expanded by the dragon pearl, this was nothing. His violet blood had become a vast sea, and these runes were like tiny ripples unable to disturb it.
Long Chen didn’t know exactly how to use these runes, but his instinct told him they were the foundation for the violet blood race’s secret arts.
Step after step, he continued.
And then, Long Chen reached the top. All 3600 stairs lit up at once.
BOOM!
A divine light erupted. The runes branded onto Long Chen’s body flared, fusing into his bloodline and forming violet chains that wove through his meridians.
“Divine Staircase Spirit Awakening?” Elder Huang Xuan’s eyes flew wide in disbelief. “This phenomenon... it hasn’t occurred in generations!”
The next moment, the void trembled.
All of a sudden, Huang Xuan’s expression changed. He immediately reached for Long Chen, trying to pull him away. But he was too late.
Then, a peal of laughter echoed through the skies. Another Sovereign Lord descended in a flash.
“Hahaha, Divine Staircase Spirit Awakening. The heavens have blessed my Sovereign Mountain. Let me see which genius has appeared—eh? Long Chen?!”
When this Sovereign Lord saw Long Chen, his smile vanished and his gaze turned icy.
“You little brat, you slaughtered the disciples of my Bi family and still dared to come to Sovereign Mountain?! Kneel!”
1. The term for final disciple is literally “closed gate disciple”. ☜