Chapter 875 Ascending the Steps
The mountain road wound upwards, with each stone step being high and narrow, consuming considerable energy with every ascent.
What Chen Yang found strange was that he was already a peak Grandmaster martial artist, and both his spiritual power and physical body had been greatly reinforced, making him much stronger than an ordinary peak Grandmaster.
Such a body should not find climbing any mountain particularly difficult.
Yet, Chen Yang could feel his body's consumption increasing exponentially.
With each step, his physical energy dwindled, his spiritual power weakened, and even his internal energy diminished.
While the consumption with each step was not large, if it accumulated, it would be a burden that an ordinary peak Grandmaster could not bear.
Chen Yang looked up at the palace above.
When he was at the foot of the mountain earlier, Chen Yang could see the palace on the summit at a glance.
Although veiled by clouds and mist, the magnificent palace had pierced through them, revealing a corner.
Chen Yang had only climbed a few hundred steps now, and he could no longer see anything.
Looking up, he saw only countless steps awaiting him.
As Chen Yang continued to ascend, the ten demonic beasts below had already erupted into a cacophony.
The giant bear slumped on the ground, gazing at Chen Yang's disappearing back, and sighed, "Do you think this Chen Yang can reach the halfway point?"
Huang Xiu snorted disdainfully, "Halfway? He'd better not die up there!"
The other demonic beasts heard this and immediately ceased their discussions, which had been going on in small groups.
All eyes turned towards the winding steps.
In truth, these demonic beasts, including Liu Hei, knew how difficult it was to ascend Qin Yi's mountain.
Each step taken was a form of cultivation for a martial artist.
After Qin Yi's death, they had all tried to climb this mountain, but not only did no one succeed, but very few could even reach the halfway point.
After a long pause, Liu Hei finally spoke, "I don't think there will be a problem. Others may not know Chen Yang's strength, but do you?"
"Chen Yang could catch your demon core with one hand; how many people present do you think can do that?"
Seeing Huang Xiu's dark expression, Liu Hei glanced at the others and asked, "Can any of you?"
Silence fell upon them all.
The demon core, as the ultimate trump card of a demonic beast, contained power far beyond what was encountered in ordinary sparring.
Although Huang Xiu had not transformed, he had been nurturing his demon core for a long time as a peak Grandmaster.
Normally, Huang Xiu could fight them to a standstill. If Huang Xiu used his demon core during a sparring match with them, they could not block it without also using their own demon cores, resulting in a mutual destruction.
For someone like Chen Yang to directly catch a demon core with his bare body was simply astounding.
Even the giant bear, with the most robust physique among them, was not confident he could catch it.
At best, catching it with pure physical strength, as Chen Yang did, would be absolutely impossible to do as effortlessly as Chen Yang.
He would likely need a long period of recovery.
"You all shouldn't continue arguing here. Isn't it a good thing for us if Chen Yang goes up?"
"If Chen Yang can truly inherit this legacy, then won't we also gain clarity on the things Qin Yi has been secretly arranging all these years?"
"Don't worry that Chen Yang will be trapped here like Qin Yi."
"Chen Yang is not an ordinary peak Grandmaster. He dared to oppose the Profound Heaven Cave Mansion and has remained unharmed. A small place like ours cannot hold him!"
After speaking, the old woman headed towards the peach grove, as three little ones were waiting for her by the Nine Heavens Waterfall deep within the grove.
Chen Yang, now on the steps, had fully understood their purpose.
Chen Yang did not know how much further the path ahead was, but he kept track of one thing: how many steps he had crossed.
Three thousand five hundred and sixty steps!
Chen Yang felt his stamina, spiritual power, and internal energy and was astonished to find that nearly forty percent had been consumed.
Chen Yang understood that if these steps exceeded ten thousand, his internal strength might not be enough!
However, Chen Yang did not stop to recover; instead, he quickened his pace.
If the demonic beasts below knew Chen Yang's actions, they would be greatly alarmed.
Climbing the steps on this mountain too quickly would cause the consumption of energy to increase exponentially.
Chen Yang immediately felt this terrifying drain.
But even so, Chen Yang did not slow down.
What Chen Yang wanted was for the power within his body to be rapidly depleted!
At five thousand six hundred and thirty-four steps, Chen Yang had only one-tenth of his internal strength remaining.
The scarcity of spiritual power made Chen Yang feel utterly exhausted.
However, Chen Yang's face showed no trace of nervousness; instead, he was extremely excited.
After reaching the peak Grandmaster realm, Chen Yang had engaged in several battles.
He had even fought Xuanfeng Venerable of the Profound Heaven Cave Mansion not long after absorbing the Heavenly Lightning.
Later, he had even exchanged probing blows with Saint Moon Divine Venerable.
Logically, Chen Yang should have been content, but in none of those battles had he managed to deplete all the power within him.
This included the battle with Huang Xiu last night!
But the steps before him provided Chen Yang with an opportunity.
Chen Yang even wished there were more steps!
Because only then could he completely deplete the power within him, allowing him to further forge the strength of his physical body and the resilience of his spiritual power.
Only by pushing to the extreme could one truly grow.
Adhering to this philosophy, Chen Yang's steps quickened even further.
Until all the power within him was depleted.
Six thousand one hundred and twenty steps!
After all the power within him was consumed, Chen Yang took another step, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
Every bone, every nerve in Chen Yang's body, including his spiritual sea, was subjected to immense pressure!
At this moment, Chen Yang felt the bronze cauldron within him about to erupt, but Chen Yang did not let it. Instead, he directly suppressed it within his body.
One step, two steps… after a hundred steps, Chen Yang found that blood had begun to seep from his body.
The surrounding powerful oppressive force had already put Chen Yang in danger.
But even at this point, Chen Yang still chose not to use the power of the bronze cauldron.
As long as his heart meridian was not damaged, Chen Yang knew he was not in mortal danger.
Chen Yang took a deep breath and took another step forward!
At the summit of the mountain, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted: "BOOM!"
The sound, like muffled thunder, made all living things within the space tremble.