[Brother Purple is right. I was considering 150 steps, but he speaks the truth. If we were to set the standard so low, wouldn't we be here for weeks and weeks on end with such a huge number of geniuses? What if the entire world, elders, and infants alike pass our trial? Wouldn't we be out of space to assign everyone to a sect? Would we even have enough sects to do so in the entire Immortal World?](Ling)

Hearing their sarcastic tone of voice, old man Jing almost blew his top off and attacked them then and there. Even himself at the beginning of cultivation wouldn't have been able to walk 200 steps on this Steele for certain. Yet you want those that had no interaction with Qi for longer than six months to do so!? Are you all dreaming in the middle of the day again?

With a trembling beard and bloodshot eyes, he was about to start scolding these shameful ignorant and arrogant pricks, when he received a voice transmission from his old master. It appears that the Ling clan placed quite the pressure on their heavenly sect, so even the old master had to acquiesce and give them some face.

Gritting his teeth, he nodded and gestured for everyone to begin.

To the cultivators' surprise, people were teleported from everywhere across the planet on top of the first step of the Steele, making it appear as if they would run out of space any second now. However, no matter how many appeared, it gave off the impression of being infinite, allowing as many people as one wished on it.

[No matter how many times I see it, the Heaven Ascending Steele never ceases to amaze me. If I am not wrong, young master's clan treasure creates a separate world around it, allowing huge numbers of participants to enter it, correct?] - one of the watchdogs brought by Purple Snake fawned

[Indeed! This treasure of mine is a peak level six treasure that was once used for ten worlds to compete in young potential at the same time. Using it for such a lowly world would usually be an insult if not for us wanting to please Profound Immortal Clear Lake.](Ling)

Hearing the shameless banter between the lackeys and their master, old man Jing almost vomited a mouthful of blood. To say that they only wanted to please his old master when they were trying to embarrass him... these dogs and cats one could find at every corner in the Immortal World have skins thicker than the city walls! If he, Floating Clouds Jing would be allowed to, he would wipe them out of the face of the world, so that they would stop dirtying it with their immoral, immature and incompetent selves.

While old man Jing was contemplating how to teach those bastards a lesson, the people from Earth were climbing the stairs while the Primordial Qi from the Steele was rushing through their meridians akin to dragons made out of water, entering their body through regular breathing and exiting it once they exhaled. For those which acupoints were already enlarged to the maximum, they noticed that while there were no immediate benefits, once they climbed more than five steps, they could breathe easier, just like the congestion blocking their lungs has been removed.

The reason why Herman asked them to run the Primordial Qi through their meridians, was to enforce and enlarge the circulation pathways. By doing so, while they couldn't cultivate without having a cultivation method first, they would still gain many benefits.

It didn't take long for the first person to gain one point in Perception and another in Absorption after barely walking six steps. Once people noticed that, they slowed down their ascension, even more, taking in greedily the Primordial Qi, scared they might miss out on such bountiful rewards. If an experienced cultivator was next to them to observe the process right now, he would look at them with horrified eyes. These people were akin to godly tapirs of legends, sucking dry the Qi in the air around them.

[Tsk! Such a slow pace... Hundreds of millions stepped on the Steele and in almost an hour they barely made it to the 15th step. Is even one person going to make it to the 100th by the end of this year!?] - one of the lackeys asked displeased

[Elder Jing, didn't you boast about this world? Why are they having problems ascending the first fifty steps? Even the worst trash of trashes managed to climb 25 steps in one hour, yet the world you guided is this bad? This... this will reflect quite poorly on his reverence Clear Lake.](Ling)

While he wanted to refute this snot-nosed punk that is still sucking on his mother's breasts, he was quite stupefied at the pace everyone was going. Just by the progress, they made two months ago, the elites of this world wouldn't have problems going up to the 50th step in just one hour. Yet, they were as slow as snails. He wondered if there was any foul play from the other party, but he was the one to kickstart the artifact, therefore he would've noticed if it was tampered with. This... this was a strange situation indeed!

After another four hours passed, the first person made it to the 50th step. Once she did so, the quality of the Primordial Qi and the pressure on one's soul was doubled, yet she didn't take notice of the last. Rather, she was basking in the increased thickness of the Qi present.

Concerned, old man Jing checked to see the bearing of this young girl closely, only to later become utterly speechless. His mouth was open so wide, you could've probably squeezed inside a flood dragon egg with some effort.

[What's with that intoxicated look on her face? Did the pressure affect her mind or something? Judging by her bone age, she should be barely 18 years old... I hope such a potential genius wouldn't turn dumb because of the soul pressure exuded by the Steele...](Jing)

While old man Jing was praying for the wellbeing of the girl, the person in question was crazily circulating the Primordial Qi through her body, her face becoming more and more distorted with pleasure. Just one step behind, other people were looking at her with a disbelieving face.

[*Chough**Cough*! Little Moon! Don't show such an unbecoming expression on your face! It looks... it looks...](Harper)

[Lewd! The world leader is looking for, is lewd! She looks like she had at least five orgasms at once.](Mental)

[Mental, do you need me to kick you out of the stairs that badly!?](Envy)

[Youuu! Sir Mental! You are lewd! Your whole family is lewd! I was just overwhelmed by the thickness of the Qi.](Moon Empress)

[Aha... overwhelmed by the thickness you say? I understand... there's no need to worry little Empress. Enjoy yourself fully! This lewd Mental will watch over you properly!](Mental)

[I am ashamed to be in the same group as this moron... Miss Harper, is it okay if I go ahead?](Barzahd)

[Oh!? Barzahd, you want to experience the feeling of having five orgasms at once as well?](Mental)

[Mental, one more word from you and I will kick you myself from the Steele! That's a very thought-provoking thing to say about little Moon and I need to focus on circulating the Qi through my meridians, not the blood to other places!](Pingu)

[All of you!!! This Empress will surely kick you herself once you come up to this 50th step!](Moon Empress)

[As usual, kicking up a fuss everywhere you go. Do you have no self-awareness? Or do you think that this Steele somehow belongs to you as well? Stop embarrassing the people from Earth and all of you jump out from it and commit suicide for your foolish acts!](?)

A loud voice boomed through their petty squabble and overpowered their voices. When they turned their head, they saw a young man in a white suit climbing the steps, while there was an actual whirlwind around him, proof of the tyrannic circulation speed of Qi within his body. Even while mocking them, the speed didn't decrease in the slightest, but only increased once stepping on the 50th step.

[LinkWill! Do you bastard want a go at it? Let's see who will be the one to jump from the Steele!](Envy)

[As usual, the dog likes to bark, but doesn't even know how to bite...](Mental)

[Enough, all of you! Stop bothering with him and fo... Hmm!?](Harper)

Seeing their leader suddenly stopping in the middle of the berating session, they turned their head only to find her looking at the one hurling insults at them with a flushed face.

They turned their heads and looked at Moon and LinkWill standing side-by-side and saw the same flushed face on the girl.

This!? What happened?

[Youuuu... you immoral bastard!](Harper)

[Eh!?](everyone else)

[Lewd! Pervert! Get away from me!](Moon Empress)

[...](everyone else)

Looking at LinkWill again, they couldn't help but gasp. What do these two ladies mean by calling him an immoral pervert!? Even if he was rough around the edges when he spoke, it was universally known that he was a perfect gentleman. What exactly was going on?

The person in question was quite flustered himself under his currently calm look. To think that by only climbing to this 50th step, the Qi would become so potent. Upon running it through one's meridians, the pleasure was immense. Caught unaware, a certain look appeared on his face while he was preparing to mock Harper and was looking her way, even if for a brief second. Others might've missed it, but the woman in question and Moon standing next to him caught it, making them quite flushed in the cheeks.

Not far away from them was Herman who was enjoying the show and was chuckling while he was guiding the Primordial Qi through both his circulation pathways and also through all his major organs, reinforcing them. It was expected for a human who receives the bathing from the Heaven Ascending Steele to lose themselves in the process of circulating the Qi. Actually, from the 500th step onwards, the pleasure was indescribable, however so was the pain. If one lacked composure but had excellent roots and potential, he or she might find themselves acquiring new interests after being done with the trial...

The commotion died down soon and after another six hours, more and more people were passing the 100th step, silencing the sneering voices of the five cultivators. Some still tried to mock them for their speed, but they all knew that irrelevant of how long one took to climb the Steele. As long as one didn't stop for a break longer than 15 minutes and kept going, it wouldn't disqualify them from the trial.

Rather, it appeared that the young master Ling finally realized what was going on and almost coughed out a mouthful of blood.

[These lowly ants! They are using my clan's treasure to temper their circulation pathways!?](Ling)

[Huh!? What? How can that be? Is young master certain?](Purple Snake)

[Why? Are you doubting my reasoning? Look at them and see what look do they have on their faces!?] - young master Ling howled at his lackeys

Surprised, both the guard dogs and old man Jing saw the ecstatic look on the faces of the participants. They looked like people that walked the desert for decades and finally found an oasis to bathe and drink from. Those that lacked control over their emotions even had looks of starved wolves looking at an undressed, voluptuous fairy.

Voluptuous your head! You are supposed to be tested here, not to enjoy yourselves!

Ignoring the six cultivators in the sky who almost fainted from surprise and anger, the participants kept climbing higher and higher. Not only that, the pace they climbed at increased as well. Not even three hours later, some people already reached the 200th step. Already used to the sudden increase in Primordial Qi and the pleasure it brought, they also acknowledged the pressure is placed on the soul. They felt as if threatened by a monstrous being and their bodies trembled as result.

However, most of them didn't find it difficult to proceed.

This tidbit scared the six cultivators speechless, there were already tens of thousands of people passing the 200th step and there were millions under showing similar tendencies. That meant millions of mortals that had at least medium grade roots. Judging from the faces of some of the people that already hit the 300th mark and were climbing still, it was made obvious that there were people with Advanced Spiritual Roots as well.

[Indeed... it's hard for a small primordial world to compare to the grand world young master Ling 'guided'. I am betting that young master had millions upon millions of Advanced Spiritual Roots geniuses and even Superior Root geniuses that passed the REGULAR trial. How could such small and insignificant world compare when undertaking the pressure of the Heaven Ascending Steele...](Jing)

The sarcastic tone and the fake praises hit the ears and the cheeks of young master Ling, turning them both red from embarrassment. Advanced Roots? Yes, of course, his world had some! There were almost 5000 in number. As for Superior Spiritual Roots, he even found 12 supreme geniuses that he was certain to nurture and beguile them into joining his clan, all to support him when the fight for the position of clan leader will begin.

Yet, such a small world was showing signs of having at least the same number as his world, if not even more.

And if that wasn't enough, as there were people already climbing up to the 500th step, people stuck at the 250th step were shaking their heads in disappointment, frustration, and embarrassment, actually climbing down the stairs and yelling that they will be back during the next trial to climb to the top. Once the cultivators saw such a scene and heard their words, their knees almost gave up and fell from the sky. Is there a need to be so arrogant!?

[All those at the 250th step and under! If you are unable to advance, I advise you to go down and train some more! Don't embarrass our world when we are trying so hard to reach the 500th step! Remember what our benefactor told us! It's better to have stronger foundations! Just go back down quietly and prepare yourselves for the next trial six months from now. By then we will have a foothold prepared for you lot in the Immortal World.](?)

Hearing such bold, unrestrained, and arrogant words, the examiner and the five judges were dumbfounded, unable to process what just happened. However, to their surprise, people didn't curse or refute the speaker. Rather they yelled at him to work hard and prepare for them a villa each in the Immortal World for when they arrive. Such nonsensical words left the six feeling lightheaded, unable to understand where such arrogance and confidence was coming from? A villa each in the Immortal World!? Just a small villa would require one to pay over 15.000 Spirit Stones and they wanted one each?

These people... were they turned dumb from the pressure that the Steele gave?

[Audacious! They truly don't know the immensity of heaven and earth! Even my clan doesn't dare throw such boastful words around, yet these ants do!? They must've all ate tigers hearts before climbing my Steele!](young master Ling)

[Hmhp! A bunch of country bumpkins! Don't pay attention to their rambling young master. They will know once they enter the Immortal World how foolish such words are.](Purple Snake)

[What's the point of being envious of those with superior talent than oneself? Do you scold them for being adventurous and confident? How many of you five could've climbed 500 steps on this Steele before reaching the Qi Gathering realm? Hmm!?](Jing)

[Young master climbed 550 steps!](random lackey)

[What's the point of boasting about your young master, when you yourselves were subpar? Look! Aren't there 14 people on the 550th step already?](Jing)

[Hmpf! So what? Those might be the most supreme geniuses this world produced after using up millions of years of its providence! It doesn't change the fact that they are nothing but mortal bumpkins!](Purple Snake)

[Oh!? Is that so? There are already over 100 such geniuses... from the looks of it, there might even be thousands... Anything else you might want to add Little Snake?](Jing)

[You...](Purple Snake)

Suffusing with anger and resentment, Purple Snake couldn't refute the old man's words with such proof right before his eyes. His skin might be thick, but he wouldn't be as shameless as to deny the fact that there was something wrong with this world. Probably, only those worlds in the top 50 would have such ridiculous results.