Cultivation Online

”I-It’s real! The God of Creation has confirmed it!”

The entire crowd exploded with excitement.

”Does this mean the Exalted Blacksmith has returned?!”

”Heavens! Didn’t another legendary figure just return recently after disappearing for millions of years?! What in heaven’s name is happening?!”

However, the God of Creation suddenly spoke again, instantly halting the crowd’s excitement.

”Although I can confirm that this treasure was indeed crafted by the Exalted Blacksmith, there is no evidence proving that he himself has returned.”

He paused briefly before continuing, ”Think about it logically. The Exalted Blacksmith disappeared without a trace shortly after becoming the God of Creation millions of years ago, and nobody has seen or heard from him ever since. Why would he suddenly reappear now just to replace the Stairway to Heaven?”

”If you ask me, I believe this treasure was most likely placed here by somebody else.”

The God of Creation then narrowed his eyes at the stairway before adding, ”Furthermore, the Exalted Blacksmith was famous for being far ahead of his era. Yet this treasure does not appear significantly superior to the treasures he crafted millions of years ago. How could so much time pass without his craftsmanship improving drastically?”

He concluded, ”That leads me to believe this treasure was actually forged by him in the distant past and only revealed now.”

After hearing the God of Creation’s explanation, the crowd’s excitement quickly diminished as they realized they had allowed themselves to get carried away too soon.

Someone in the crowd suddenly raised their hand and asked, ”Even if we don’t know who placed this treasure here, we can at least assume it’s safe to use... right?”

The God of Creation responded, ”I will personally examine this treasure and determine its functions.”

”May I accompany you?” one of the Divine Blacksmiths immediately asked.

Even to this day, newly discovered treasures crafted by the Exalted Blacksmith continue to surface from time to time, and every single discovery would shake the world of blacksmithing.

Naturally, this treasure was no exception.

In the end, the God of Creation allowed the Divine Blacksmiths there to accompany him.

And since they were already there, they wasted no time and immediately started their investigation.

Meanwhile, news of the situation continued to spread.

With so many expert blacksmiths jointly inspecting the treasure, it took only two days for the investigation to conclude.

In the end, they determined that the treasure functioned similarly to the original Stairway to Heaven and was safe to use.

When the Celestial Emperor heard the news, he did not know whether to laugh or cry. After all, he had already spent many years and an enormous amount of resources creating a replacement for the Stairway to Heaven, even going as far as hiring the current God of Creation for the task. However, he still decided to continue with his original project.

Even if the Stairway to Heaven had already been replaced, its origins remained completely unknown. And for something that allowed people to freely traverse the Nine Heavens, the Celestial Emperor would much rather possess one that remained entirely under his own control.

On the fifth day following the discovery of the new Stairway to Heaven, the Celestial Emperor officially granted temporary permission for its usage, allowing people to traverse between realms once more.

However, because this was technically an entirely new treasure, all previous trial records tied to the original Stairway to Heaven were not present.

As a result, anyone wishing to ascend—even those originating from the Upper Heavens—would have to retake the trial from the beginning if they wanted to use it.

This situation immediately caused a massive uproar, especially among those who had descended to a lower heaven and ended up stranded there because of the Stairway to Heaven’s sudden disappearance. Now, if they wished to return home, they would be forced to retake the trial all over again.

Unfortunately, there was little the Celestial Emperor could do about the situation besides reassure the public that he still intended to replace the Exalted Blacksmith’s treasure once his own version was completed.

Until then, he warned everyone against traveling to a lower heaven unless absolutely necessary.

Even then, many from the Eighth Heaven and Ninth Heaven still decided to use the stairway to travel to the Seventh Heaven to participate in the Divine Paragon’s banquet.

Several hours before the banquet was scheduled to begin, Yuan finally arrived at the venue.

To his utter shock, the place was already packed beyond capacity with people, far surpassing even his wildest expectations.

From afar, the countless figures gathered around the venue resembled a vast black sea that had suddenly appeared beside the Demonic Realm.

Shortly before showing up at the venue, Yuan sent Mu Xuelian to another place, as he did not want her present at the banquet for several reasons.

Some time later, Yuan used Void Manipulation, bypassing the massive crowd and teleporting directly into the courtyard.

”Divine Paragon!”

”The Divine Paragon has arrived!”

The Demon Sealers swiftly announced after noticing his sudden appearance.

”What? That’s the Divine Paragon?”

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing to look at Yuan, their eyes wide with awe and admiration.

”...Yingzhe?” Xiang Biyu subconsciously muttered in a dazed voice after seeing the Divine Paragon’s face, her eyes wide with disbelief and doubt.

Yuan had grown and matured significantly since she last saw him, so she didn’t immediately think of him when she saw his face. Rather, he reminded her of Tian Yingzhe, the founder of the Celestial Overlords.

As for the Holy Maiden seated beside her, her expression remained hidden beneath her veil, but her hands had quietly tightened into fists for some reason.

The next moment, Yan Hara appeared before him and said, ”Welcome back, Senior Tian. There are still a few hours before the banquet is scheduled to begin, but we can start at your discretion.”

Yuan nodded and turned to face the crowd.

”Before we start the banquet to celebrate my return, I would like to say a few words first,” he began.