Ye Chen endured the searing pain, hauling himself up from the ground, his long black hair plastered to his face beneath the blood, making him look like a savage wolf as he lifted his gaze to the sacred, towering Tiandao Mountain.

One man, facing a colossal mountain.

It felt like facing the entire world.

Ye Chen slowly pushed himself up from the earth, dragging his battered and weary body forward, taking a resolute step toward the stone staircase. In the profound silence of this space, only the faint, rustling sound of his footsteps could be heard.

The metal sentinel, seemingly an object devoid of emotion, watched Ye Chen’s actions with cold, indifferent eyes, offering no verbal restraint.

Soon, Ye Chen found himself once more before the stone steps. Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fists until his nails dug deep into his palms. The sharp sting of the pain jolted him fully awake, and he resolutely took another step.

Rumble~~

An overwhelming pressure enveloped his entire being, descending like a mountain poised to crush him.

Ye Chen fixed his stare on the next step above, his mind consumed by a singular will to conquer it; it was as if subduing this small segment of the staircase meant conquering the entire world.

Thus, he took a determined step, and the vast pressure surged toward him like a tidal wave—gathering depth, growing ever heavier, making him feel as if he could not draw breath, his heart momentarily stuttering, struggling for air.

Ye Chen straightened his spine beneath the sacred immensity of Tiandao Mountain, then slowly bent forward.

Then, he reached out.

Gripping the stone step just ahead of him.

Like a humble ant ascending this majestic stone edifice, beneath the dazzling, holy light, his body trembled slightly. Blood churned within him, seeping out through his pores, dripping onto the stone steps to leave behind crimson footprints.

Climb! Climb! Climb!

Ye Chen used all fours to scramble up the steps. His consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse, his mind wiped clean of all thought save the mechanical imperative to reach the next step...

His body slowly ascended, crawling from the 145th step all the way to the 170th. Upon reaching it, his entire frame swayed precariously. This climb had surpassed his previous effort by five steps.

However, in that moment, Ye Chen had no time for reflection; only one thought remained: reach the summit!

At the 171st step...

CRASH!

Ye Chen’s palm clung desperately to the stone, but a surge of immense power slammed directly into his soul, causing his very spirit to tremble. He was blasted backward, falling all the way to the base of the solemn, vast Tiandao Mountain. His body made violent contact with the unyielding ground, and blood erupted from his pores, staining the earth red.

Ye Chen’s mind was foggy, as if he had never slept; an intense drowsiness washed over him.

Sleep now, sleep now...

Deep within, an alluring voice seemed to whisper persuasion.

Ye Chen clenched his fists and shook his head violently, delivering a harsh pinch to his own thigh. The sharp pain stimulated him, clearing his mind considerably. His face, smeared with blood mixed with sweat, streamed downward, transforming him into a veritable man of gore.

He lifted his head, his expression exhausted yet fixed with fierce resolve upon the majestic Tiandao Mountain.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath.

He dragged his heavy limbs forward again toward Tiandao Mountain. Though covered in wounds and suffering a splitting headache—feeling the urge to strike his own brain open—nothing could halt his progress.

Toward Tiandao Mountain.

Before long...

At the 176th step, Ye Chen’s entire body was violently thrown backward, slamming heavily onto the ground. His head struck the hard stone, and he plunged into unconsciousness.

Within his embrace, his clothing stirred. Little White Rabbit squirmed out, ears drooping, blinking sleepily. It stretched its paws and gave a tiny yawn, only to immediately notice its master’s dire condition. It hastily scrambled off him, then paused, tilting its head, its dark, gem-like eyes flickering with confusion upon seeing its blood-drenched owner.

The metal sentinel nearby spotted the little rabbit and instantly locked onto it.

“Scanning target.”

“Species, unknown. Strength, unknown.”

The metal man paused, slightly unnerved. “The chip installed by the Master contains the highest-grade knowledge base, including the Compendiums of Demonic Beasts, Spirit Beasts, Divine Beasts, and Over-Divine Beasts. Yet, it cannot scan this little rabbit?”

“Could it be merely a decorative animal?”

“Or perhaps so rare that it is not even recorded in those compendiums?”

He felt a flicker of doubt but dismissed it quickly. On the vast Ancient Continent, beast species were innumerable; no one dared claim complete knowledge of every creature. While the great beast compendiums cataloged countless monsters, representing nearly all life on the continent, there remained certain exceedingly rare beings unknown to outsiders.

Alternatively, this little rabbit might not even qualify as a demonic beast, merely a creature kept for amusement—like the deer, tigers, or lions from Earth, which would be viewed as mere ornamental pets in the Ancient World.

Here, a child just a few years old could easily crush a tiger to death.

Little White Rabbit squatted before Ye Chen, looking left and right, its face a mask of confusion, occasionally scratching its small head in bewilderment. However, since its master was near, it did not wander off, but instead lay back down upon Ye Chen’s body, licking his chin.

Time slipped by...

Six days later, Ye Chen slowly regained consciousness. Before his awareness was fully restored, he seemed to vaguely perceive a figure clad in snow-white robes standing before him.

A jolt went through him. He quickly snapped his eyes open and sat up, gasping for air.

It was only a dream!

Ye Chen let out a silent sigh of relief, then felt a small weight drop onto his leg. He looked down to find Little White Rabbit there, still groggy from sleep. The rabbit met his gaze, its eyes suddenly brightening; it leaped up instantly and pounced onto his face, displaying profound affection.

Ye Chen reached out, gently taking it down, stroking its soft little head. Then, something struck him, and he looked up, his gaze settling upon the imposing Tiandao Mountain.

His expression turned grave. He slowly set the rabbit down and stood up, glancing at the wounds that had mostly healed across his body, a bitter smile touching his lips. Suddenly inspired, he quickly unsealed a spatial folding bag. Inside, the Rune Warship was docked, piled high with corpses.

A light flickered in Ye Chen’s eyes. “The pressure of this Tiandao Mountain is not just a test of spirit and willpower, but also of the physical body.”

He reached into the spatial folding bag with a grasp. Corpses floated out one by one, and under a surging, powerful force, their bodies disintegrated, resolving into streams of pure demigod blood that flowed into Ye Chen’s palm.

“Tempering!”

“Tempering!”

Ye Chen felt his physique increasing rapidly. After tempering thousands of corpses, his physical body strength had surged by over 2,000 levels! A sharp glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at the corpse of Zhuifeng.

“I wonder how much strength the blood of a Pseudo-God expert can enhance?” Ye Chen’s expression turned cold as he pinched Zhuifeng’s corpse out and crushed the entire body with a slight squeeze, drawing it into his palm.

Under the power of Devouring and the True Dragon Art, the entire corpse was refined into pure energy, flowing into his skin, flesh, and genes, initiating mysterious transformations and rebirths.

After a moment, Ye Chen opened his eyes, a trace of surprise in his heart. “My physique increased by 800 levels! One Pseudo-God corpse is equivalent to a thousand demigod corpses!”

After refining all these corpses, Ye Chen’s physique had improved considerably, and his wounds healed much faster. With a wave of his hand, the thousands of sets of Demigod Armor and one set of Pseudo-God Armor that had fallen from the bodies were tossed into the Rune Warship. He then sealed the space and walked toward Tiandao Mountain.

“Step! Step! Step!”

Ye Chen ascended step by step, like a humble ant, resolved to reach the pinnacle of this world!

At the 182nd step, he was once again violently hurled backward by the tremendous force, his body drenched in blood, intense fatigue flooding his mind. But moments later, he rose again, turning toward the stone steps.

Again and again, this cycle repeated. After four consecutive failures, he finally collapsed at the 199th step, thrown down heavily onto the hard ground, falling into a coma.

This sleep lasted five days.

As soon as consciousness returned, Ye Chen startled awake, wasting no time, and immediately began climbing the steps again. Through the climbing, Ye Chen vaguely realized that after each attempt, reaching his limit seemed to trigger subtle changes—his strength appeared to be growing stronger, though invisibly so.

Setbacks, perhaps, were not sorrowful things.

In this vast and boundless expanse, only this solitary figure remained, seemingly engaged in a futile act, scaling the solemn and sacred Tiandao Mountain.

Little White Rabbit looked on with confusion, unable to grasp why its master was being so obsessive. Was there something particularly delicious on that mountain? Perhaps only Ye Chen knew: upon that summit, someone was waiting for him...

One month later.

At the 352nd step, through continuous climbing and unyielding persistence, his resistance grew ever stronger, and his recovery speed accelerated. Each time he reached his limit and passed out, he would quickly recover and return.

Rumble~~

The immense pressure descended, enveloping Ye Chen’s entire body, attempting to shove him off into the heavens. Waves of tearing force ripped through his mind, as if countless hands were tugging his hair and gnawing at every nerve fiber, giving him the desperate wish to simply smash his head against the stone step, ending the pain.

Ye Chen fought the agony, his body trembling slightly, like an insect shivering before the majestic might of heaven.

His willpower was constantly being tempered and compressed.

Boom~~

A sudden ringing filled Ye Chen’s mind, plunging him into a state of blankness. The tearing pain instantly vanished, replaced by an unprecedented sense of ease. After a short while, this feeling slowly receded.

Ye Chen immediately felt that the world before him had become sharper, and the vast pressure suddenly seemed minuscule. He paused, then realized with astonishment that his spiritual realm had broken through, reaching the seventh stage of the Sage level!

Ye Chen was overjoyed. He had not expected his spiritual power to advance here beneath Tiandao Mountain, and so rapidly!

Without hesitation, he surged upward. Compared to before, after the spiritual breakthrough, walking on the stone steps felt remarkably effortless. He charged straight from the 352nd step to the 420th step before he felt the pressure manifest again.