Chapter 385: The First to Ascend the Stairway to Heaven

Time flew as fast as an arrow towards its target, as the thread on a sewing machine. Three days have passed in just a blink of an eye, and more and more humans, demons, ghosts, devils, and other clans of differing scales have gathered before the Divine Gate.

Fang Ning’s horizons have been opening up for the past three days.

Numerous demons and devils of different shapes and sizes, some chillingly eerie, some with presences so mysterious that they were not comprehensible by common logic. A great variety of monsters all appeared under the bright sun and clear, blue skies.

Before this, Fang Ning really had no idea that despite Sir System’s hard work, there were still so many terrifying monsters. He now regretted seeing these good fellows. He feared that from now on, he could no longer get a good night’s sleep even if he hid obediently in the System Space.

On the other hand, Sir System was extraordinarily excited. Fang Ning could do nothing more but to sigh. Ignorance was indeed bliss.

Of course, Fang Ning really understood Sir System. These unorthodox practitioners, evil demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters had all been stunned by the reputation and glory of the Pharos of the East. Hence, they have all chosen to stay out of sight early on, and would never reveal themselves no matter what happened.

However, with the Heavenly Edict involved this time, they had no choice but to come.

Devil Lord Zhi Nan boldly showed up at the Divine Gate, and surprisingly, Vigilante A did not make a move. This had given them a misconception that Vigilante A, a hero who served the Path of Heavenly Judgement, would never go against the Will of the Heavens.

They never knew that they were practically walking into a trap.

When they were trying to obtain some advantages by trying to worm their way past Axiom Daddy, Sir System was also plotting to capture them all. This was just like a mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind it.

Meanwhile, Ren Ruofeng bowed his head to check the registration list before he spoke to the crowd below, “All heroes and warriors, all races and clans included on the List have all arrived. We will commence the climbing of the Stairway of Heavens today. Only ten can be chosen from each race and clan. Please select them beforehand. The entry sequence will be based on the rankings on the List.”

When he finished his words, all the clans that gathered before the Divine Gate, no matter big or small, immediately changed their ‘wait-and-see’ attitude. The atmosphere quickly became rowdy, and chaotic fights occurred frequently.

Ren Ruofeng did not bother with all that. He focused solely on the internal affairs of the humans. China’s reach was not wide enough to influence the affairs of others. After all, a step too wide will only injure your b*lls. ¹

Within the humans, China, Russia, America, India, and the European countries represented the five pillars for mankind. They now gathered at an empty area, and were engaged in a fierce quarrel.

Other smaller human countries who had trouble protecting themselves had no rights to speak. Hoping for the protection from the major countries, they could only be onlookers that cheered on for the countries that they supported.

“Hmph, we humans only had 10 places, how can China alone take up 8 of them? Even the Alliance wanted one spot! This is outrageous!”

A Caucasian middle-aged man, a representative for America, angrily deplored with righteous indignation.

Ren Ruofeng remained composed under the vicious condemnations thrown at him. He spoke with ease, “Haha, Mr. Smith, the representative for America, please be reminded that as China, we are only acting according to the international norms and regulations. There’s no need to be overly agitated.”

“What international norms and regulations? I’ve never heard of anything like that!” That man named Smith somehow looked even frustrated, as if the other party has just insulted him personally.

“Have you heard of the World Cup?”

“Of course, I’m a fan of Liverpool. What about that?” Smith felt an impending sense of doom right after he replied.

“If that’s the case, are you aware of how many places Europe got? How about the entirety of Asia?”

“Of course I’m aware of that, but that does not…” The representative Mr. Smith’s voice drawled off after that.

That was exactly correct. What difference could there be?

It was always following the same process – Areas with stronger teams will obtain more places. An even distribution regardless of ability will never obtain the support and satisfaction from the football fans that channeled the money into the FIFA World Cup, which was what kept the entire organization running.

In this case, the Heavenly Axiom was the one ‘paying’, thus it would, of course, be dissatisfied if those of rubbish quality were included to serve as a stopgap.

Ren Ruofeng did not continue to pick on the man once he noticed that Smith could no longer muster up any defenses.

Then, the representative of India, a Caucasian man donned in a white polo tee stepped up.

“Your logic is fair. Areas with strong representatives should, of course, get more places. However, we India have our own fair share of Pond-level powerhouses that were increasingly common in our country. At the very least, we want 3 places. This is the least that we will accept.” The Indian Caucasian man’s tone was final, as if his words were not open to doubt.

After he completed his sentence, all other representatives present looked puzzled.

If India wanted three places by themselves, and China at least four, only three places would be left for them, where each of them would get one place. This method would be equal to their current abilities, while also allowing them to show the potential they had for the future.

It seems that with this new era, India had grown substantially, such that they no longer feared the Western forces that they used to flatter in the past. Of course, China had inflated much more in relation to India. Now, China seemed to act as a chief, giving out slices of cake among his men.

Of course, the chief took the largest slice home, before allocating the small ones to the others.

This entirely departs China’s previous humble and low-profile approach. Previously, all similar conflicts had ended with China compromising to avoid any possible trouble. Who gave them the courage to act so out of character now?

With that thought, everyone’s eyes fell onto that man that stood near the Divine Gate, the man who swept his vicinity with an entirely stoic expression.

It was obvious to all that the men would be lighted on fire if someone ever attempted to create trouble.

D*mn it. We shall wait and see, then. Once the Heavenly Axiom removes the power limit next year, we will see how you would single-handedly face numerous heroes with only your powerful combat skills?

Ren Ruofeng smiled in response. “Haha, ladies and gentleman, you must be assuming that we are insisting you do something against your views. Maybe you even thought that we wanted to reap the gains alone? This is nothing but a misunderstanding.

“This Stairway to Heaven has its influence on the allocation of resources for each clan and race. Everyone we have chosen has gone through a rigorous selection process to ensure that they are the cream of the crop, no matter the measure. We have spent considerable effort to select them as representatives of humans, so that they could strive for the maximum benefit for all of mankind. They are all selected as a sacrifice for us humans.

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“It is important to know that this is the first time in recorded history for us to climb the Stairway. We have no idea what dangers are in store for those who dare to step on that path…”

All was silent after Ren Ruofeng’s speech.

“If you feel that there is an error in what I said, we are willing to give up one place for a chosen hero to be the first to climb the Stairway to Heaven. We humans are the strongest on the List, thus it is natural that we would be the first to go.”

This was the strategy that was discussed among the heroes in China before this confrontation happened. The usage of both coercion and persuasion would definitely cause the others to give in.

They think that the places are too limited for everyone, huh? Take the first spot then, and once they knew the horrors that came with a place, they would immediately retreat and push China to the frontlines to obtain as many resources as possible for all of mankind.

In the end, they would still only take up one place…

Ren Ruofeng had a vague feeling of what dangers were hidden within the Divine Gate. With his instincts, he could probably guess a few. Somehow, this thing felt very familiar…

Ah, forget it. He could not declare something as his just because he felt that it was familiar to the eyes, especially since it already belonged to someone.

Meanwhile, the other four forces of humans had another internal squabble to fight for the slice of meat offered by China.

All of them were smart people. It would not take long for them to accept the reality at hand and to take necessary measures. On this point, it was undeniable that the Western people would not ignore the hard truth of power and ability just because of ignorant arrogance. Instead, they were very objective on that matter.

They would undoubtedly submit to those that were stronger than them, and immediately recalibrate the ways of communication between the two parties for them to get along.

India expressed their stance, “We Indians should be the first one to enter the Divine Gate.”

Of course, the representatives from the three other parties were unhappy about it. “Why is that so?”

“According to the script and languages used in China, our name contains the Tian character, similar to the Divine Gate. Of course, we would be the first to enter,” the Indian representatives declared proudly.

“Hah, if we are determining this using the script of China, us Americans have the Mi character in our name. Rice is the first necessity for all people, and thus we should be the first one to enter.” The American representative scoffed with disgust. ²

Europe is indeed a place where the tradition of the olden royals’ courtesy remained preserved. The European representative could no longer stand the meaningless bickering and finally spoke, “Gentlemen, we should refrain from cracking jokes. We are now debating on a most serious motion that is related to the fate of mankind. When it comes to our fate, we will definitely need to choose the strongest among us to enter first.”

“If that’s the case,” spoke the Russian representative, a man towering at around 2 meters, said, “it is natural that our totem, Spirit Bear Misha, to be the first.”

“Um, what?” For one moment, everyone was speechless. They just stared at each other.

Judging from its ability, the Spirit Bear was apparently an Inland-Sea Level as recognized by the Pharos of the East. It has exceeded the current limitations of the Heavenly Axiom.

“But, it’s not a human…”

“Haha, it is condensed by our faith and willpower, thus is the purest outcome of mankind. It is the best representative for all humans!” The boulder of a Russian man slammed.

“We should first enquire on the opinions of China.” The three other representatives spoke in unison.

It was clear that despite the constant bickering and conflicts on interest, each party had tacitly approved China to be the best-qualified speaker on all matters on the standard of selecting a representative for humans.

Ren Ruofeng smiled. “Of course it can try. Even if it fails, it will not waste a place. It will just fail to enter the Divine Gate.” He has asked Fang Ning about this issue before all this took place.

These people were correct in their guesses. Indeed, China is best qualified to speak on this matter.

The Russian man was overcome with joy. It was as if he could see his declining country grow increasingly prosperous in the future. This was the chance for them to rise once more!

Once the Spirit Bear Misha successfully climbed to the Heavens, the vitality, newborns with a high endowment, treasures and precious materials, will all experience an explosive spike in number.

To put it frankly, if Russia could use this opportunity of the first climber and succeed in overtaking everyone, their success will only grow bigger with time like a snowball effect.

This was an entirely different situation with the previous era of technology. At that time, the advantages of the late arriver were substantial. Every technological evolution signified the start of a new war on the market. Back then, it was easy for the late arrivers to adopt the newest technology and expand without the heavy burden of research and development. Thus, their speed of growth was as fast as lightning, as they were free by the numerous deadly burden of the past.

However, everything changed with the coming of the new Era of Vitality.

Now, the strong and powerful forces would obtain more resources. With the higher amount of resources comes a better avenue for the country to elevate its abilities and increase the number of the strong. The late arrivals could do nothing but be stepped on for the rest of their lives.

That was the fact, unless they obtained some God-given opportunity.

As the Russian representative thought of this, he immediately made a satellite call to seek help from the Spirit Bear.

Not long after, the man bellowed into the call, his face red with fury, “What? I’ve never heard of bears hibernating during summer! This is a chance of a lifetime. Do you know how hard I fought for this? How difficult it was for me to snatch this chance away from mouths of the three ferocious hounds?

“Yes, I am begging you. Please, please, please wake it up. This is not the time for a nap!

“Alright, alright. I will try my best to stall for time. Please rush over as soon as possible.”

Hearing this, all other representatives smirked coldly.

The Indian representative’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Would that Russian bear of yours sleep on the Stairways of Heaven for a month? If that really happens, you will not be able to handle the responsibility of disappointing the human race.”

When it comes to the benefits from the Heavenly Axiom, all previous friendly relationships were shoved to the backburner.

Only then did the Russian representative realized that he had leaked a matter of national security due to his aggression. He proceeded to stay silent after giving the Indian a deadly glare. Then, he walked aside and stood alone.

He could do nothing but hope the Spirit Bear Misha could show its invincible might this time.