The autumn door, if Lanling was not mistaken, after entering should be a world where gravity was doubled!
Autumn meant harvest, meant heavy, laden fruit.
With each step up the stairs, gravity increased by one fold.
If this had been before, this would without question have been the best trial, but now Lanling had already broken through to Demon Warrior. The effect of simple weight-bearing training was already minuscule.
These four doors were Lanling’s only path to the top of the pyramid.
He had to consider the problem in the most pessimistic way possible. Once he entered the autumn door and died, he would indeed resurrect once again, but he would never reach the top of the pyramid.
Not only was the Demon God relic at the top of the pyramid.
The hope of breaking through in cultivation was at the top of the pyramid.
Even the hope of leaving the Ghost Domain world was at the top of the pyramid.
He had already wasted three chances. There was no fourth chance to waste.
One could say that once he failed in the autumn door, he would be trapped in this Ghost Domain world forever, unable to get out.
He could no longer act rashly.
Taking a deep breath, Lanling entered the autumn door, completely naked, without the slightest burden!
…
After entering the autumn door, indeed the sun carried autumn’s unique colour, and the autumn wind had a slight chill, but was ultimately still comfortable.
In the air, there seemed to linger a scent of harvested fruit.
Lanling walked up the stairs along the steps.
Indeed, after ascending one step, Lanling clearly felt gravity double.
His body originally weighed one hundred and sixty jin. Now it became three hundred and twenty jin.
Of course, this weight was completely not worth mentioning to him.
He continued along the steps, climbing up step by step.
Ninth step, tenth step, eleventh step.
At this point, Lanling’s body weight had already risen to one thousand nine hundred and twenty jin.
Twelfth step, thirteenth step, fifteenth step, twentieth step.
At this point, Lanling’s body weight had already risen to three thousand two hundred jin.
He already felt extreme pain. The golden bloodline began to release energy, tempering his bloodline, muscles, and bones.
Then, Lanling ascended one more step, and the weight increased by another one hundred and sixty jin.
Just like this, Lanling arduously climbed upward step by step.
With each step up, he faced unparalleled pain. The golden bloodline continuously surged with energy, tempering his muscles and bones.
But even so, when Lanling climbed to the thirty-first step.
His entire body had completely reached its limit, unable to ascend half a step further.
Not only that, but his body, meridians, and bones could no longer endure such enormous pressure, and began to collapse!
“Crack…”
Lanling’s entire skeletal frame broke inch by inch.
The golden bloodline continuously surged with energy, attempting to restore his vitality, to restore his bones.
But… it was no use!
The speed at which his body was being destroyed exceeded the speed at which the golden bloodline could repair.
First the bones collapsed, then the muscles collapsed, and finally life itself collapsed.
That is to say, if things developed normally, Lanling was about to die.
He was about to die on the thirty-first step.
And once he died, he would naturally resurrect once again outside the door, but he would never reach the top of the pyramid, never be able to get out.
How many steps were there on these stairs?
Ten thousand, thirty thousand, fifty thousand?
But no matter what, Lanling’s best result among these four doors had not even completed one percent.
If he wanted to rely on his own cultivation to climb these tens of thousands of steps to reach the top of the pyramid, how strong would his cultivation need to be? Lanling didn’t know. Perhaps he would need to be as strong as the Dragon Emperor?
At this moment, Lanling’s body was rapidly collapsing, being destroyed.
He didn’t have much time left. At most two more minutes, and he would be dead.
Within these two minutes, he had to think of a way. He absolutely had to think of a way.
Autumn was the season of harvest, so the possibility of the autumn door being able to reach the top of the pyramid should be the greatest.
But relying on his own cultivation to climb tens of thousands of steps to reach the top of the pyramid was completely a fool’s dream. That would require how much strength? Several million jin!
Possessing several million jin of strength, one could almost destroy cities and move mountains.
That was completely the strength of the Dragon Emperor. With one sword strike, one could split open a valley.
There was a saying that was well put: the human body is too heavy, to the extent that the soul cannot ascend.
Lanling’s mind suddenly lit up.
The human body has weight, but the human soul and spirit have no weight.
And what is the essence of human life? It is spirit and soul.
Lanling’s body could not finish these tens of thousands of steps, but his spirit and soul could.
The soul and spirit fear neither fire, nor extreme cold, nor corrosion, nor gravity.
The human body is the dwelling place of the soul and spirit.
The spirit projection technique, Lanling had learned very, very long ago. But even when spiritual power projected out, it was still connected to the physical body.
Spirit projection was like a kite flying into the sky, always with a string connecting it to the body.
And at this moment in the Ghost Domain world, Lanling’s body was about to die.
Then, at the instant of his death, if his spirit and soul instantly projected out, they could completely separate from this physical body.
…
Lanling’s body was still collapsing, still being destroyed. Death was drawing nearer and nearer.
His spiritual power desperately concentrated, concentrated, concentrated.
All the bones in Lanling’s body had completely broken. His entire body completely collapsed.
“Splatt…” Instantly like a layer of meat paste, he abruptly plastered against the step.
And at the same time, Lanling’s spirit and soul abruptly broke free of their shell, leaving the destroyed body.
Spirit projection and the death of his body were completely simultaneous.
“Whoosh…”
Instantly, Lanling felt his body become empty. That terrifying, painful gravity was gone.
He was light and airy, feeling incomparably free.
His spirit and soul had separated from his body.
His body became a semi-transparent shadow. He became a soul of light and shadow.
Then, he continued to climb upward, step by step upward.
…
Ascending step by step, Lanling’s spirit and soul climbed toward the pyramid’s peak step by step.
Ten thousandth step.
Twenty thousandth step.
Thirty thousandth step.
He still had not reached the top of the pyramid.
At this point, Lanling once again felt gravity, because his soul image was actually being gradually compressed. He had become a little shorter.
So it turned out, the soul also had weight.
Previous data from Earth was 21 grams. The weight of the human soul was approximately 21 grams.
Next, the higher Lanling walked, the shorter his soul image became, the more it was compressed.
Fortieth thousandth step.
Lanling’s soul image was already less than one meter.
Fiftieth thousandth step, Lanling’s image was already less than one chi.
Sixtieth thousandth step, Lanling’s soul image had already been compressed into a circular light and shadow, with a diameter less than one cun.
Seventieth thousandth step, Lanling’s soul image had already been compressed into a light sphere less than one centimetre.
Seventy-five thousandth step, Lanling had already become a light like a firefly.
Then, he thought of something, the Demon Star!
When the Demon Star entered his body, it was just like this present state, compressed into a point of light.
It’s just that at that time, the Demon Star’s light had been very faint, while Lanling’s light at this moment was still very dazzling.
Immediately after, Lanling thought of a novel from Earth, “The Three-Body Problem.”
Humanity wanted to send a certain person to another star system, but his body was too heavy. The spacecraft’s energy could not provide enough energy for him to traverse several star systems.
So, the spacecraft sent a brain over, reaching another star system.
And a few years ago, someone wanted to send the Demon Star from this world to Earth. This was not merely traversing several star systems, but traversing several planes.
So, the weight needed to be further reduced, thus becoming a Demon Star energy body with almost no weight.
Moreover, the Demon Star itself also had to bear the energy supply for shuttling through planar space.
Perhaps, the Demon Star itself was a soul!
It’s just that, because it had traversed too many planes, it had already lost much of its memory?
It was not some energy body at all. It was fundamentally a soul?
Then, whose soul could it be?
…
Lanling continued to climb forward!
Then, suddenly… the boundless stairs reached their end.
Lanling had reached the top of the pyramid.
This was an enormous platform, tens of thousands of meters in the air, an enormous platform of at least ten thousand square metres!
He saw the Demon God relic. It was a mass of light and shadow.
A light and shadow several tens of metres in diameter, continuously surging. Sometimes it looked like an enormous eye, sometimes like a surging soul, sometimes like burning flames.
“Wow, after all these countless years, finally a second person has ascended this dark pyramid, climbed all seventy-five thousand three hundred and ninety-two steps, come before me, and seen my true face.” This mass of light and shadow said, then instantly transformed into a pair of vertically standing eyes of light and shadow.
These eyes were somewhat similar to the Eye of Sauron, the Dark Lord, from “The Lord of the Rings”!
Its voice was filled with magnetism and enchantment, yet without any gender.
At the same time, the terrifying gravity in the surroundings instantly disappeared. Lanling restored to his original soul of light and shadow, standing before this enormous eye of light and shadow.
“Are you that Demon God relic?” Lanling asked.
“If you say so, then I am!” the enormous eye of light and shadow said.
Lanling said, “You said I am the second person to climb these tens of thousands of steps to see your true face. Then may I ask, who was the first person?”
“I don’t know who it was.” this Demon God relic eye of light and shadow said, “But, this person came before me three thousand two hundred and thirty-nine years ago.”
The Dragon Emperor!
The first person Lanling thought of was this person.
This point in time, the only one that matched was the Dragon Emperor.
The Demon God eye of light and shadow said, “Any person who comes before me, I will grant one wish. No matter what the wish, I can satisfy it. Incomparably powerful strength, peerless beauties, supreme authority and position, and so on. As long as you speak, I will certainly satisfy you.”
Lanling said, “The previous person, what was his wish?”
The Demon God eye of light and shadow said, “The first person wanted incomparably powerful strength, strength to conquer the world, to move mountains and fill seas.”
Lanling said, “Then you gave it to him?”
“Yes, I gave it to him.” the Demon God relic, eye of light and shadow said.
That’s right, then this person was the Dragon Emperor.
Perhaps, this place was the origin of the Dragon Emperor’s power? After leaving here, he went north, founded the Flame Demon Empire, unified all the near-human races, and established a powerful empire.
The Demon God eye of light and shadow said, “I could give him such enormous strength, and I can also give it to you. Then may I ask, what is your wish? You only have one chance. As long as you speak it, I will certainly satisfy you!”
The Demon God relic, eye of light and shadow’s voice was filled with infinite temptation.
The Demon God relic eye of light and shadow slowly said, “What do you want? Incomparably powerful strength, strength to move mountains and fill seas, to slaughter all your enemies? Supreme power and influence, the power and influence of the king of all kings? Speak it out. As long as you speak your wish, I can help you satisfy it!”
At the centre of the eye of light and shadow, there seemed to be a mass of flames continuously jumping at every moment. That was the centre of its pupil, intently gazing at Lanling, waiting for him to speak his wish.
Was this the origin of the Dragon Emperor’s power? Lanling truly faced unprecedented temptation!