This statement sent the crowd into an uproar.
"A candidate? He’s actually a candidate, just like us?!"
"Insane! Absolutely insane! To think someone would dare to break through to Foundation Establishment in the middle of the Celestial Examination, in a desperate situation like this?!"
The revelation was so immense it left everyone reeling.
They had assumed it was some hidden Great Cultivator or an Examiner intervening to save them. Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine it was one of their peers!
A madman their own age, who dared to command a Divine Spirit and achieve Body Ascension!
Among the crowd, a candidate who was clearly well-versed in the Great Zhou Laws blurted out subconsciously after a moment of shock:
"To break through to a Great Realm without entering a Daoist School or Receiving a Talisman... This... doesn’t this mean he’s violated the ironclad law against [Unregistered Cultivation]..."
In the Great Zhou, Cultivation is under the strict control of the Court. Any Cultivator must first be registered. This is especially true for a major milestone like Foundation Establishment; without a permit from the Government, it’s considered the act of a Wild Cultivator engaged in illicit worship, a practice that is severely punished.
However, before he could finish...
"Shut up!"
A furious shout cut him off.
It was Xia Xing.
He was a complete mess. His Daoist Robe was soaked a dark red with blood, and his disheveled hair made him look like a demon. But when his gaze fell upon the other man, his eyes burned with unconcealed killing intent and unwavering resolve:
"So what if he’s unregistered?!"
"If Immortal Chu hadn’t defied the heavens by commanding this Divine Body to fight off those three Divine Spirits, all of us—thousands of us—would have been devoured by that Evil Flood Dragon or reduced to dust in this void by now!"
Xia Xing scanned the crowd, his voice hoarse but firm. "He saved our lives! If anyone dares bring up the law now and undermine our morale, I’ll be the first to cut them down and make an example of them!"
"That’s right! What’s the point of some damn law if we’re already dead!"
"Immortal Chu saved our lives! He’s my benefactor! Anyone who says otherwise is my enemy!"
More and more Cultivators stepped forward. Most of them had been in the first group to enter the Underground Palace, and they had witnessed with their own eyes how Chu Bai had held back the heavens for them in their darkest hour.
In the face of life and death, so-called rules seemed laughably insignificant.
The Cultivator who had spoken out of turn went deathly pale. Staring at the surrounding pairs of eyes that looked ready to eat him alive, he shrank back in terror, not daring to utter another word.
"Alright! Enough talk!"
Xia Xing took a deep breath. He looked to the thousand-odd newcomers, cupped his fist, and roared:
"The Celestial Ladder is at our feet, and the path to survival is right in front of us!"
"Daoist Chu is bearing this burden for us all! I ask that none of you hold back. Join forces and channel your Spiritual Power! Today, we will help him—and together, we will climb the Celestial Ladder and fight our way out of this collapsing world!"
"YEAH!!!"
Renewed hope ignited the Underground Palace.
With the addition of another thousand-plus Cultivators, the torrent of Spiritual Power at the center of the altar, which had begun to run dry, once again erupted with a stunning roar.
Outside, upon the Celestial Ladder.
The Lingma Mountain God, whose steps had begun to falter, suddenly jolted. The dim Five-Colored Divine Light surrounding it flared up once more, illuminating the path to the sky!
Deep within the Underground Palace, atop the White Jade Altar.
Chu Bai sat cross-legged, a five-colored wheel of light revolving ceaselessly around him. He looked like a young Divine Monarch, inhaling and exhaling the river of stars.
With each heavy turn of his [Circulation Wheel] Dao Foundation, the vast Spiritual Mechanism that had flooded the Divine Body—enough to threaten to burst the entire Underground Palace—was drawn into the five-colored grinding wheel like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.
"Whoosh..."
Chu Bai let out a long, slow breath, feeling every one of the 108,000 pores on his body sing with joy.
The feeling of being utterly replete, the sense of control that came from ascending to a new level of existence, made him sigh internally. ’This feels incredible.’
’This Cyan Nether Realm may be small and on the brink of collapse, but it is, after all, its own independent world.’
’Now that the world is dying, the Spirit Charm and Origin accumulated over eons are having a final, brilliant resurgence. And all of it has become the fuel for my Dao Foundation.’
Feeling the Spiritual Power within him rapidly condensing and growing heavy, Chu Bai was struck by a thought:
’A devouring speed this terrifying... if I were outside in Dayuan Prefecture, I could probably drain the Earth Veins for dozens of miles in an instant, turning fertile land into a spirit-barren desert. That’s an act of the Demon Dao, a deed so vile it would wipe out one’s lineage and incur celestial retribution.’
’But here... I’m simply collecting the corpse of this dying world, and perhaps leaving behind a spark of its legacy in the process.’
’This Cause and Effect not only incurs no Karmic Force, but it even seems to have granted me a shred of favor from the world itself.’
As he continued to refine the Spiritual Mechanism, Chu Bai could clearly feel his own foundation strengthening at an unbelievable rate.
If his [Circulation Wheel] was merely a nascent framework when he first broke through, then now, nourished by this world’s Origin, his Dao Foundation was beginning to form tangible patterns, even faintly shimmering with an immortal, precious light.
Meanwhile, the ascent outside continued.
"THUD! THUD! THUD!"
The heavy footsteps of the Lingma Mountain God echoed through the silent void.
Chu Bai sent out a wisp of his consciousness, sensing the golden Celestial Ladder below.
’Climbing the Heaven-Scaling Ladder is the ultimate test used by the Great Zhou to select its true prodigies.’
’The first and most important factor is [Merit].’
’Only those with profound Merit, who have protected and sheltered others, can gain the approval of the Dynasty’s Destiny and set foot on this heaven-reaching path.’
Chu Bai mused to himself, ’As for Merit... between my past accumulations and what I’ve done now—suppressing a Foundation Establishment Divine Spirit and saving the lives of several thousand candidates in this Secret Realm... who here could possibly compare? My Merit is unparalleled!’
Precisely because of this, the pressure from the Dynasty on the Celestial Ladder wasn’t a hindrance to him at all. In fact, it felt more like a gentle push, urging him upward.
’The second most important factor is [Foundation].’
’If one’s own foundation is weak, then no matter how much Merit one has, they won’t be able to withstand the astral winds and the pressure of the Great Dao at greater heights.’
’In my previous Qi Cultivation body, carrying so many people would have been a real struggle. But now I’ve forged my Circulation Dao Foundation, and I’m still constantly devouring and strengthening it. This little bit of pressure? It’s nothing worth mentioning.’
The Divine Body continued its steady ascent.
A thousand feet... three thousand feet... five thousand feet...
As it climbed higher, the pressure on the Celestial Ladder, which was meant for a single individual, began to increase exponentially, multiplied by the thousands of souls hidden within the Divine Body.
The terrifying Gravity crushed down, making the Lingma Mountain God’s rock-and-stone bones creak and groan.
’It seems the Great Power who established the rules for this Celestial Examination anticipated that someone might try to ’climb the Celestial Ladder together’ with companions, and so they established this specific, targeted pressure Restriction.’
Chu Bai raised an eyebrow, but there was no trace of panic.
’No matter. I don’t need to reach the top and claim first place right this second.’
He glanced down at the three Divine Spirits below. They were seething with rage, yet too afraid of the Celestial Ladder’s pressure to set foot on it. A cold smile touched Chu Bai’s lips.
’I just need to use the pressure of this Celestial Ladder to buy myself enough time to completely digest what I’ve gained.’
A few moments passed.
When the towering figure of the Lingma Mountain God broke through a thick layer of clouds, climbing to a height of ten thousand feet—
VMMMM!!!
The rapidly spinning [Circulation Wheel] in Chu Bai’s Dantian suddenly froze, then let out a clear, perfect chime of the Dao.
At that moment, the vast, unending torrent of Spiritual Mechanism that had been pouring into him was finally, completely severed.
It wasn’t that the Spiritual Qi had run out. It was that he had devoured every last drop of the most essential part of the Cyan Nether Realm’s core Origin—leaving absolutely nothing behind!
Chu Bai opened his eyes once more.
The Five-Colored Light Wheel that had been spinning in his eyes was gone. In its place was a depth that spoke of a Return to the Essence—a look as gentle as jade, yet so profound it seemed capable of absorbing all things.
He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the Foundation Establishment Magical Power coursing through him like a mighty river, and the now-indestructible strength of his Divine Soul.
’The Spiritual Mechanism is fully refined...’
’My Foundation Establishment Cultivation is stable.’
’My foundation... has skyrocketed!’

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