Chapter 359: The Stairway to Heaven, Rapid Expansion

Ling Jiu did not leave immediately after capturing the Evogod. Instead, he went on to absorb the Evogod on the spot as the super-fast time flow on the metal planet would save him a lot of time.

“Are you ready to absorb it, Ling Jiu?”

“I am ready.”

“Good.”

Following Ling Jiu’s order, a steady stream of soul fragments flowed out from the Leoux, and Ling Jiu absorbed them into his Inner World (Flame Astral Behemoth) as usual. The soul fragments were then burned inside the Inner World and converted into the purest Dark Psionic Energy.

His Soul Nebula expanded again.

It went from 270, 280, and then to 300 soul stellar units.

…

While Ling Jiu was busy absorbing the Evogod, several million light-years away, something major that shocked the world was happening on Earth.

This time, it was not an alien invasion or the emergence of the gods but a miracle.

A stairway had appeared at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains in Huaxia.

The stairway was three meters wide and immeasurably high. It stood between heaven and earth, exuding endless majesty and mystery. One end was connected to the earth and the other end stretched all the way into the sky. It was golden and shiny as if it was the legendary stairway to heaven.

An almighty voice spoke from within the void on the other end of the stairway, it could be heard around the world.

“My fellow humans, I am Ling Jiu. I have always aspired to enhance the strength of my fellow humans. So now, I have specially built a stairway in the Kunlun Mountains. Those who could climb up the stairway will get a divine fruit. This divine fruit will prolong your life and increase your strength. You will get to extend your life by a thousand years and become an ultimate arcanist by just eating one. Anyone non-ultimate Arcanist may try to climb the stairway and find the fruit.”

The almighty voice faded as soon as it finished speaking. This caused a stir on Earth.

“What?”

…

Birch Wood Village, Chang’an Base City.

Meng Lijun, Chen Feng, and others were there together, their eyes flashing like lightning, their bodies emanating a sense of terror.

Apparently, they had all become stellar beings.

But they also looked stunned right now.

“Did you hear the voice just now?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard it, too.”

“It was Captain Ling’s voice.”

“Captain Ling has built a stairway in Kunlun. What is he doing?”

“He must be giving out the Casmodor fruits that we have just eaten.”

“It must be so.”

“How many divine fruits Captain Ling has—so much so that he has to build a stairway and call everyone to go there? What if there are not enough divine fruits to go around?”

“Since Captain Ling is doing this, I am sure he has his own way. Don’t you all want to take a look?”

“What are we going to do there? Didn’t you hear the stairway is open to non-ultimate arcanists only? We are now stellar beings.”

“We will just take a glimpse and not climb the stairway. But I can take my eldest son there and let him try. He is seventeen this year.”

“You may do so.”

…

Pangu Arcana Combine branch office, Chang’an Base City.

“Do you want to check it out, Yuhe?” Ai Tiancheng looked at his daughter.

“Nah.”

Ai Yuhe sighed, shaking her head. “I am already a Level-Nine arcanist, close to becoming a stellar being. I don’t need any divine fruit.”

Ai Tiancheng nodded and said nothing more. His daughter was incredibly talented. She was a dimensional arcanist, and now a Level 9 Arcanist. Becoming a stellar being was just a matter of time.

“I will go, then.”

“Go ahead, Dad.”

…

That was all the work of 9527. The world was so invested that everyone—from the homeless to the super-rich—was attracted.

People were traveling to Kunlun.

The wealthy drove maglev motorcycles, cars, and even private airships heading towards the Kunlun Mountains.

The poor dragged their families, pushed their carts, and started their journeys on foot. It looked like they were not going to give up until they reached the Kunlun Mountains.

An hour after 9527’s announcement, someone had arrived at the base of the stairway in the Kunlun Mountains.

A maglev airship landed, and a group of people got out. They stood upright, lining up on both sides of the airship.

Afterward, a gray-haired, elderly man came down from the airship with a staff. Following behind him was his beautiful secretary.

“Mind your steps, Mr. Chairman,” his secretary whispered.

The elderly man walked out of the airship, looked at the stairway to heaven, and said in a trembling voice, “It is really majestic. Only a god-like being like Ling Jiu could pull this off.”

“Absolutely. I heard that this stairway just emerged in the Kunlun Mountains overnight.” The secretary nodded in agreement.

“You guys, go ahead and try it,” the elderly man said to the bodyguards on both sides. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Seize it.”

“Aye, Mr. Chairman.”

Those bodyguards nodded respectfully and then walked towards the stairway. They had been waiting for this moment all along. If they succeeded, they could become stellar beings.

Becoming a stellar being was a great temptation.

They would not have worked as bodyguards anymore if they became stellar beings.

Several of them walked up to the stairway and then started to climb.

After taking only a few steps, they suddenly stopped. As if they had encountered something terrible, they screamed in horror, and then tumbled down the stairway.

A magical thing happened when they were about to hit the ground. A gentle force appeared on the ground and caught them, preventing them from crash-landing and hurting themselves.

“Ask them what was going on,” the elderly man told his secretary.

“Yes, Mr. Chairman.”

The secretary walked up to a bodyguard and asked him. Cold sweat trickled down the bodyguard’s forehead, and there was fear in his eyes.

It took him a long while before he could speak.

“I don’t know what happened. I remember nothing.”

“You don’t know?” The secretary was struck dumb.

The elderly man frowned gently. When these bodyguards went up the stairway, they apparently experienced some horrible things. Yet they did not remember anything?

What was going on?

“You guys go on and try again,” the elderly man said.

“Aye.”

The same thing happened again. Those bodyguards were terrified when they stepped onto the stairway. They could remember nothing upon returning to the ground.

That was strange.

After the bodyguards tried several times, to no avail, the elderly man gritted his teeth and boarded the stairway. But he got the same result; he was terrified the moment he stepped onto the stairway, and he could not remember what had happened after he fell.

“You go try it, Alice.” The elderly man looked at his secretary.

“Yes, boss.”

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The secretary nodded and walked towards the stairway. She did not have any expectations. She could not see how she could make it when her boss and those bodyguards had failed.

“How can I climb this stairway?” The elderly man frowned.

His net worth was hundreds of millions of dollars and he was a highly regarded person in the world. But he was born without the self-cultivation ability, and so, always facing the threat of death.

Even if he took the Water of Life, got injections of longevity potions and things like that, he could only extend his life for a few decades. But he could never become a stellar being who could live a thousand years, let alone have a youthful body and robust health.

So after the stairway appeared, he was the first person who arrived to check it out. Now none of them could successfully climb the stairway.

“Could it be that this stairway is fake?”

Just as the elderly man thought that he had lost all hopes, there was an uproar as his bodyguards shouted. “She made it! Miss Alice is going up.”

“Huh?”

The elderly man looked up to the stairway and saw his secretary, Alice, was slowly but surely going up the stairs. She did not experience the horror that they had when they tried to climb the stairs earlier.

“Alice, she…”

The elderly man and his bodyguards watched as Alice walked up the stairway and arrived at the top in the clouds.

A palace appeared in front of her eyes, and in front of the palace was an altar, on which a durian-like fruit was placed.

Just then, a light flashed in front of her. Ling Jiu, with a gentle smile, was seen appearing behind the altar quietly.

“Miss Alice, congratulations on your successful ascent of the stairway and on getting the Casmodor fruit.”

“The fruit in front of you is the Casmodor fruit. Eat it and you will become a stellar being. You may eat it now.”

“T-Thank you.”

The secretary was excited. She grabbed the Casmodor fruit and ate it.

She had never intended to bring the fruit back down the stairway, nor did she want to give it to the elderly man.

Who would do that when this thing could make her a stellar being?

Giving it to the elderly man?

He was not her father, but just her boss who paid her salary.

“I wonder if Alice has succeeded.”

There was an expectant look in the eyes of the elderly man at the base of the stairway as Alice ate the Casmodor fruit.

He hoped Alice would succeed, but at the same time, he also hoped that she would not.

Alice’s success meant that there was indeed a divine fruit that could make a person become a stellar being and live a thousand years at the top of the stairway.

This would undoubtedly be good news.

On the other hand, if Alice succeeded and ate the divine fruit, she would leapfrog him into becoming a stellar being.

If that happened, he, as Alice’s boss, would have to look up to his secretary, and he did not want this to happen.

So the elderly man was in a dilemma.

Bamf!

Just as the elderly man was wrestling with the thought, powerful energy came from above.

Not long after, a graceful figure flew down from the clouds and stopped in front of him. The figure was walking in the void and hovered in the air.

“A-Alice?”

The elderly man’s eyes widened. He trembled as he looked at the person in front of him. His bodyguards had their jaws dropping to the ground, shock and disbelief filling their eyes.

Who could this person floating in the air be besides Alice?

“Alice, you… you have made it?” The elderly man asked.

“Yes, boss.”

Landing on the ground, Alice could not hide her excitement.

“I climbed to the top of the stairway and saw Ling Jiu there. He gave me the Casmodor fruit, and I ate it. Now I am a stellar being.”

“I-I can’t believe that it is real!” The elderly man was just as excited as he was angry. “Then why did you take the fruit for yourself and not bring it down?

“It is impossible to bring it down, boss.” Alice forced a smile. “The stairway is a test designed by Ling Jiu. Only those who pass the test will get the Casmodor fruits, and those who pass the test must eat the fruit in front of him. Takeaway is not allowed.”

“How so?” The elderly man was disappointed.

“This is the rule set by Ling Jiu,” Alice said slowly.

The elderly man could not find a word to respond.

…

Ling Jiu had no idea what was happening a few million light-years away on Earth. He was making every effort to expand the Soul Nebula.

The soul of this Evogod was strong beyond imagination.

Ling Jiu’s Soul Nebula had already increased tenfold.

To put things into perspective, his Soul Nebula was 260 soul stellar units before this, but it was 2,600 soul stellar units now—a 100-time expansion.

What a terrific increase!

What an amazing improvement!

Ling Jiu had to devour the souls of countless super-clustered beings before he could achieve 260 soul stellar units.

But it just took an Evogod to expand his Soul Nebula ten times. So powerful was the soul of the Evogod.

That was not all; the most amazing part was, he got his result by just consuming a fraction of the soul fragments.

The Soul Nebula had expanded tenfold with just a fraction of the soul fragments?

That was how powerful the soul of the Evogod was.

Expanding.

Expanding.

Rapidly expanding.

The flow of time near the white hole was so fast that 500 years had passed when Ling Jiu finally woke up from his self-cultivation.

As he slowly opened his eyes, two deadly lightning bolts burst out of his eyes. They crackled and erupted with a loud, crisp sound.

This resulted from forming the soul to a certain extent and interfering with reality. From this, it was easy to see how strong Ling Jiu’s soul was now.

“Have you finished the absorption, Ling Jiu?” Leoux’s voice came to ears.

“Yup.” Ling Jiu nodded gently, then stood up and did a stretch. Sitting for too long hurt his back, his legs cramping.

“How is it? How far has your Soul Nebula expanded?” Leoux asked with concern.

“You are not going to believe it.” Ling Jiu smiled. “Seven thousand six hundred and ninety soul stellar units.”

“Seven thousand six hundred and ninety? That is downright sick!” Leoux said in astonishment. “This number, even if you look at the entire history of the Evogods, is in the top ten. That’s sick!”

“It is the soul of the Evogod that is impressive. It was so potent that it took me years to absorb,” Ling Jiu said.

“That Evogod was sick, without a doubt,” Leoux said. “The Evogod’s memory tells me it had lived for seven hundred thousand years, and had absorbed the souls of seventeen other Evogods, and of many other super-clustered beings. You can imagine from this why this Evogod was so powerful.”

“That Evogod devoured its own kind?” Ling Jiu was stunned. “The Evogods practiced cannibalism?”

“You bet.” Leoux nodded slowly. “An Evogod is a massive collection of dark psionic energy. For other Evogods, it is the biggest source of nourishment. When the Evogods were still in existence, they had enacted laws to prohibit cannibalism. But even so, incidents of cannibalism were still common. Not to mention that the Evogods have been annihilated, and the laws have long ceased to exist.”

“The extinction serves them right.” Ling Jiu shook his head. “By the way, how long has it been?”

“From the time we came near this white hole, it has been nine hundred eighty years,” Leoux replied.

“That’s really long enough,” Ling Jiu said. “Leoux, my Soul Nebula has reached 7,690 seven thousand six hundred and ninety soul stellar units. Can I proceed to the second stage of the Eight Laws of Black Hole Evolution?”

“Of course, you can. But my advice is, you had better wait a little longer,” Leoux said.

“Why is that?” Ling Jiu frowned.

“Because there are still other Evogods that you can devour.”