In the middle of the sect’s forbidden soul hall, there was a staircase with several hundred steps that reached the heavens. The s.p.a.ce between each step was as tall as two people. When one stands at the bottom of these stairs and look up, it looked as if the stairs pierced the clouds and was as tall as the five great mountains. It looked as if these stairs were really the stairway to heaven. Hence the name, heavenly stairs.

On normal days, these flights of stairs were not this tall. The sect had laid down a special formation because of the compet.i.tion. With ten martial pract.i.tioner realm experts maintaining it, it allowed the stairs to pierce the heavens.

After Elder Lin tested everyone, he went into the sect as well. He looked at the nine other experts and then nodded. He then cleared his throat and started to talk.

“Alright. Everyone listen up. The heavenly clan gathering will have two parts. The first part is the stair climbing compet.i.tion. After one hour, the top ten will be determined and the winner will partic.i.p.ate in the second part of the gathering. In the afternoon, the winning family of the first part will fight against the champions of the last gathering, the Liu family. I will explain the rules for the second part when the time comes. Are there any questions?”

s.h.i.+ Chen raised his hand, “Elder Lin. Since there are many people partic.i.p.ating, there’s bound to be some pus.h.i.+ng and shoving. If we fall from high up, I’m afraid that it’ll hurt a lot……”

Once the people in the hall heard this, they had to hold in their laughter.

s.h.i.+ Chen was a scaredy-cat. This was the reason why he picked missions that were lower than his cultivation level. During this gathering, s.h.i.+ Chen only thought about his own safety and not his family’s glory. However, he can’t be blamed for that. He was only suppose to be here to watch as a partic.i.p.ant and learn things. However, both his brother and sister had to forfeit due to their age and the elders in his clan forced him to actually try.

Elder Lin laughed, “Don’t worry about it. If you fall, the experts from Tiandao city will catch you with their qi. They will make sure that you don’t get hurt.”

s.h.i.+ Chen’s face suddenly turned very happy, “Then that’s good!”

Elder Lin’s expression suddenly changed and then coldly said, “However, I want to remind everyone that although pus.h.i.+ng and shoving cannot be avoided, if we find anyone who deliberately attacks other people, they will be punished. Their family will also not be able to attend the gathering for the next ten years.”

These words were said in a very strict tone. Everyone kept the reminder in their heart and the hall became quiet.

Ye Xueyi was confused about something and opened her mouth, “Elder Lin, I also have a question. If after one hour, there are still people on the same level, how will the ranks be determined?” Five years ago she partic.i.p.ated in the gathering but this time the rules were completely different so she was confused about it.

Elder Lin started to laugh again, “Good. That’s a good question. However, don’t worry about it. If something like this happens, we, the elders and the experts from Tiandao City will continuously exert pressure on the level until one person is left.

After that, everyone looked around at each other. No one else asked any more questions.

Elder Lin looked at everyone and then turned to the teachers of the sect.

“There’s nothing else, Elder Lin. We can begin.” One of the teachers spoke up.

“Then I would like to announce that this year’s Heavenly Clan Gathering has officially begun!”

At the same time, the spectators all began to clap. This was the one of the most festive events in Leizhou City. Everyone in the city will pay attention to the results. The elder generations in the spectator stands were all as nervous as the younger generation partic.i.p.ants.

At this time, some of the partic.i.p.ants have already begun to move.

“Quick. Move out!” Right after Elder Lin announced the start, Ye Zifeng pulled Ye Xueyi’s hand and flew towards the stairs.

His reaction was so fast that the other partic.i.p.ants were shocked.

Ye Huichi was startled, “We have a whole hour to climb. Why are you being so urgent?”

Xiao Mu reacted quickly as well and commanded his brothers, “Quick, don’t let the people in the Ye clan run.”

“Wait. Young Master Xiao. According to the rules, we can’t attack them.”

Xiao Mu facepalmed and sighed, “Who told you to go and attack them? Elder Lin said there’s bound to be some pus.h.i.+ng and shoving. You guys only need to block their way and not let them advance. Whatever you do, don’t attack them!”

The rules only stated what they couldn’t do. He bent the rules and used it to his own advantage. Xiao Mu was a smart person unlike w.a.n.g Lin. He knows what he should and shouldn’t do.

However, his plan was easily seen through by Ye Zifeng.

Ye Zifeng didn’t even look back and continued to rush towards the stairs. He only had one goal in his mind right now.

He had to be quicker. He can not let Xiao Mu and his lackeys catch him.

“d.a.m.n. That Ye Zifeng kid is pretty smart. He ran away immediately.” Xiao Mu gritted his teeth. He couldn’t catch Ye Zifeng anymore.

“Young master Xiao, what do we do now?”

“What else can we do? Even if we can’t catch him we still have to run after him. With his cultivation, he shouldn’t be able to climb that far up. We’ll be able to catch up sooner or later!”

Xiao Mu suddenly remembered something, “Oh yeah. Block that Ye Huichi kid too. I won’t let anyone from the Ye clan go.

Ye Huichi who was standing in the back was shocked after hearing these words, “What the f.u.c.k? What does this have to do with me?”

　　……

“Senior brother, since the kids have started, we should start too.” Elder Lin look towards a white robed elder.

“Yeah we should.” The white robe elder nodded and waved his hands. He put his palm on the formation and inserted his qi.

Elder Lin and the others all went to their own position and did the same thing. They all started to insert their qi into the formation.

After the experts inserted their qi into the formation, the stone steps began to emit a dim light. On this gloomy and cloudy day, the stairs shone especially bright.

Watching the qi gather on the stairs, all of the partic.i.p.ants were shocked and their expressions became more and more serious. To these people, the heavenly stairs was something that can help them improve. It will allow them to gain experience. To be able to enter a formation maintained by ten martial pract.i.tioner experts, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Ye Zifeng was not the first to reach the stairs because there were others who were a lot faster than him.

“Hehe. You trash Ye Zifeng. You want to get ahead of me? Don’t even think about it!” Rong clan’s second young master yelled out.

Ye Zifeng smiled back, ‘Wow. Since you’re so strong, then let’s see if you can get on the first level!”

“I don’t need you to tell me what to do!”

Rong clan’s second young master started laughing loudly. He was very close to the stairs already and decided to leap onto the first step. With a flip, he elegantly and gracefully landed on the first level.

However, when he stepped onto the first level, his body began to tremble. He can feel the invisible pressure coming from all around him. It was hard for him to move. The Rong clan’s second young master was spoiled by his parents ever since he was born. He had never experienced something as terrifying as this. He was unable to move at all. He didn’t know what to do.

“Dumba.s.s….. To jump onto the first step without preparing yourself.”

One’s cultivation level will only slightly affect the climbing process. In order to climb higher, one needed high amounts of concentration, willpower and perseverance. The Rong Clan’s second young master treated this as a game and jumped on without preparing himself. He was basically asking for it….

Ye Zifeng coldly laughed and then looked back at his sister, “Lil sis, when you get onto the stairway, don’t think about anything and don’t be scared. Just focus on going upwards.”

Ye Xueyi nodded, “Alright brother Zifeng. I got it!”

Ye Zifeng took a deep breath and a serious expression appeared on his face. Only after preparing himself and surrounding his body with his own qi did he dare to step onto the first level.

“Hmm. If I come over here, it looks like I won’t be affected by the formation that much.’ Ye Zifeng was still in mid air suddenly thought of an idea.

He struck his palm out onto the ground and with the recoil, he flew towards the Rong clan’s second young master.

“Ye Zifeng, You….. What are you doing here?” Rong clan’s second young master was shocked and wanted to move away. However, the formation on the stairs had some sort of confinement effect. If one isn’t prepared and concentrated, they won’t be able to move easily.

Ye Zifeng showed a cold smile and stepped onto his shoulder. He fiercely stepped onto it and use momentum to easily get onto the second level. The qi energy on the stairs began to move towards Ye Zifeng but was dispelled by his own qi.

At that time, not only did all the partic.i.p.ants stared blankly at Ye Zifeng, even the experts were shocked at what happened. This wasn’t the first time that they were invited to help maintain the formation of the stairs but all of the partic.i.p.ant from previous years had climbed using their own strength. They had never seen someone climb by using another person as a stepping stone.

Xiao Mu came back to his sensese and yelled, “Elders. How is this not against the rules? You must punish Ye Zifeng or else the integrity of the compet.i.tion will drop!”

“Nah man. I’m only using him as a stepping stone. I’m trying to climb the tower you know. This isn’t consider an attack so it’s not against the rules.” Ye Zifeng smiled and replied.

This was the first time that something like this happened. After much deliberations, Elder Lin gave a reply, “It is as Ye Zifeng says. He is only trying to climb the stairs. It is not against the rules. He will continue!”

“Many thanks to senior.” Ye Zifeng smiled and cupped his hand.

Elder Lin glared at him, “However, this kind of thing leaves a bad taste in people’s mouth. It is unsportsmanlike. Don’t do it again!”