Published: February 11, 2025
Ye Zhongming stared at the monster's corpse in front of him, motionless for a long time.
He was on the twenty-seventh step, and as soon as he passed through the door ahead, he would complete the task here. However, he did not leave immediately.
This monster was unfamiliar to him.
Having been reborn once, Ye Zhongming couldn't guarantee that he would recognize every monster, but he had seen the vast majority. Even if he hadn't encountered them in person, they were documented in the popular monster compendiums during the apocalypse.
But this one, he didn’t know.
From some features of this monster, Ye Zhongming recalled what Li Qiang had said about the life forms seen in the outer space.
This made him doubt the brightwater realm and the heavenly stele path currently in progress.
It was certain that there was a connection between here and those exalted life forms, but exactly what that connection was, and what the goal of the heavenly stele path was, remained unclear.
Initially, Ye Zhongming thought that every step forward would yield a reward, but that wasn’t the case. Later, he believed that a reward would appear with each phase completed, each increase in difficulty, but in fact, that also did not happen.
So when would there be a reward? Did he have to reach the very top?
To be honest, Ye Zhongming had walked up twenty-seven steps. Although he hadn't encountered any extremely difficult challenges, he gradually began to feel the strain.
This was only the twenty-seventh step; he had previously estimated that there were over fifty steps before the bend. Given the current rate of increasing difficulty, Ye Zhongming doubted whether he could even reach the fiftieth step, let alone the peak, which could be many steps higher.
Since he wasn’t confident in himself, Ye Zhongming didn’t think that anyone else could go further than him. This meant that no one here could reach the top. If that was the case, what was the point of the heavenly stele path?
Stepping through the door, Ye Zhongming completed the challenge of the twenty-eighth step and entered the twenty-ninth step.
At this moment, the leaderboard showed a shocking change; the remaining ten people had all surpassed those who had been eliminated, truly ranking in the top ten.
Among them, the first place was still held by Tong Steward, who was standing on the thirty-third step. The second place was Water Steward, who had reached the thirty-second step. The third place was Zhang Hengtai, with a score of the thirty-first step.
From the fourth to the tenth place, the gaps were even smaller. Except for the tenth place competitor, who was currently at the twenty-eighth step, the others were all at the twenty-ninth or thirtieth steps, taking risks.
Those who had been eliminated looked up, unable to hide their astonishment.
Many things are, in fact, a matter of comparison. Once compared, the vast differences between them become apparent.
Most of the people among them had failed to advance beyond a dozen steps, making it hard to imagine how these individuals, who were only one or two levels higher in evolution, could achieve such a level and get so far!
At this moment, Zhang Zhongzheng had also lost the mood to argue with Garan; he anxiously watched his father’s name, hoping he could advance further.
He didn’t know what rewards the final winner of the heavenly stele path would receive, but it certainly wouldn’t be anything ordinary. At the very least, it should be a piece of golden equipment, or perhaps even something purple. It would be great if he could surpass the earth sand moon blade.
However, outsiders would never know what happened inside, and those inside were not clear about it themselves.
For instance, Tong Steward, after struggling to complete the challenge of the thirty-fifth step, was suddenly transported to another space before he could step onto the thirty-sixth.
This new place was lush with flowers and green trees, and a few benches were scattered within the sea of flowers.
He curiously looked around but found no clues, as it seemed to be just one garden with no monsters, no hints, and certainly no exit.