I Can Devour Spirits

At this moment, Jiang Hanyan was continuously watching Duan Rong, yet the melody from her zither remained unchanged.

Meanwhile, atop the solitary peak in the southeast of the Deep Valley, no one spoke, even the white-haired elder, who loved to chatter, was silent.

Duan Rong paused for a moment before stepping onto the fourth tier of stone steps once more.

Next, was the fifth tier.

And the sixth tier.

And the seventh tier.

With each step upward, the pain in his divine soul escalated. Upon reaching the seventh tier, the pain from deep within his divine soul turned Duan Rong’s face deathly pale, causing his body to tremble violently.

After quite some time, Duan Rong finally looked up towards the altar above. ”Two more tiers!”

Just then, a shadow suddenly swept across the sky from the solitary peak in the southeast of the Deep Valley, landing atop the peak.

”What is that...?”

Duan Rong’s eyes flicked with surprise as he spotted a black light, like an afterimage, flashing by, but he knew it was clearly a person.

Just who could possibly arrive at such an inconceivable speed? And the arc it traced atop that solitary peak? Duan Rong truly could not fathom what kind of power could arc so abruptly at such a high speed.

Duan Rong’s eyes suddenly narrowed. It was the Power of Law!

That shadow just now was a Dark Grotto Heaven Realm expert!

An expert of the Dark Grotto Heaven Realm was very likely an elder from the Elder Hall!

Standing on the seventh-tier stone steps of the altar, Duan Rong gazed blankly at the solitary peak in the southeast direction. That shadow had just landed at the peak.

”There... could it be on that solitary peak?” Duan Rong suddenly thought of something.

On that solitary peak, a burly figure wearing a loose indigo Daoist robe descended gracefully.

The multitude of elders atop the solitary peak, upon seeing this person’s arrival, all bowed with fists cupped, saying, ”Sect Leader!”

This person was precisely the Sect Leader of the Taiyi Sect, Chu Qiushan!

On Chu Qiushan’s stern face, not a trace of expression could be seen. He said calmly, ”Everyone, no need for formalities, continue observing.”

Saying this, Chu Qiushan stood at the cliff’s edge, peering at the altar in the dark center, only to see a young man already standing steadily on the seventh-tier stone steps.

Many of the elders on the solitary peak couldn’t help but glance at Chu Qiushan’s back.

It seemed the young man in the deep valley, having consecutively ascended seven steps, had even startled Chu Qiushan, who has long not concerned himself with worldly matters!

However, upon reflection, it wasn’t at all surprising! This youth had already ascended seven steps consecutively and with two more steps, he would ascend the altar!

If he could ascend the altar, he would be the first in a hundred and eighty years!

His future achievements would be boundless!

How could Chu Qiushan remain seated?

Duan Rong had faintly guessed that atop the solitary peak in the southeast, the elders from the Elder Hall might be there, watching the assessment?

He couldn’t help but chuckle, these elders are really idle, aren’t they?!

Would they even watch the assessment for a registered disciple advancing to an outer disciple?

But judging by that figure just now, they only arrived when the assessment was about to end, just to keep up appearances.

Duan Rong withdrew his gaze, looking at the final two steps before him, he stepped out once more.

And then, another step!

Duan Rong stood on the eighth-tier stone step!

The instant he stood on the eighth tier, the stabbing pain in his divine soul made his head feel like it would split open. Duan Rong clutched his head with his hands, as the pain from the deepest depths of his divine soul surged like tidal waves.

Duan Rong’s body trembled incessantly, cold sweat suddenly drenched his forehead, back, and stomach.

Xiao Yu stood at a distance, staring intently at Duan Rong’s shivering form like a leaf in the autumn wind, a flicker of fear and worry flashing in her eyes, softly murmuring, ”Duan Rong...”

The pain from the deepest depths of his divine soul receded only after several breaths.

Duan Rong let out a long breath, his gaze becoming clear and bright once more.

”The eighth tier, also stabilized!” someone said atop the solitary peak.

This time, the speaker was Zhu He.

Zhu He spoke to Chu Qiushan, looking at Chu Qiushan’s back as he spoke.

But Chu Qiushan remained silent, his burly figure stood as immovable as a mountain.

Chu Qiushan had actually long thought of stepping down from the position of Sect Leader; he truly did not wish to be troubled by these mundane sect affairs any longer.

A hundred and eighty years ago, he ascended the altar here, back then, he was merely a bewildered registered disciple and did not understand what ascending the altar signified.

However, this year he was already over two hundred years old. For the past several decades, he’d been stuck in the Middle Stage of the Dark Grotto Heaven Realm, having tried many methods but advancing not a fraction further.

”Does ascending the altar denote cultivation to the Middle Stage of the Dark Grotto Heaven Realm?”

Standing atop the mountain peak, the mountain wind filled Chu Qiushan’s robes. He fixed his gaze on the altar and the young man on the altar steps, frowning in thought.

He knew that the old ancestor of the Taiyi Sect, Lv Yinlin, not only ascended the altar but step by step walked to the Great Cauldron at the center of the altar.

As for himself, a hundred and eighty years ago, after ascending the altar, he could not move a single step further.

At this moment, he was gazing at the altar.

The distance from the steps of the altar to the central Great Cauldron was not far, actually, but in his eyes, that distance seemed as remote as landscapes and rivers.

If he couldn’t even break through to the Late Stage of the Dark Grotto Heaven Realm, wouldn’t the Nascent Soul Realm be nothing more than an illusion for him?

Chu Qiushan knew that he was different from Zhu He and the others; Zhu He and the others were already clear that they utterly had no possibility of breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

But he hadn’t given up hope. For he believed he still had a chance. But was there really still hope?

Duan Rong gazed at the altar before him, only one final tier of stone steps remained.