There was brightness in Su Ming’s eyes. Under the moonlight, when no one dared to move an inch in the mountain, he welcomed the incredible pressure brought by the mountain and walked forwards one step at a time.
80th step, 81st, 82nd…
The pressure in the mountain during midnight was much stronger than in the day, and it became even more startling the higher he climbed. The moon shone brightly in the sky, and nothing seemed out of place. Yet it was precisely because it was night, and the night belonged to Su Ming, that as he walked, fine threads of moonlight that were unnoticeable fell onto the land and fused with Su Ming’s body, causing the faint shadow of the moon in his eyes to become clearer.
Slivers of cold circulated in Su Ming’s body, causing the speed of his footsteps to increase as he continued walking. 87, 88, 93… Very soon, Su Ming arrived at the 99th step.
Just as his right foot landed on the step, Su Ming trembled. Waves of heat caused by his Qi erupted forth from his body, making him shake slightly. Immediately, 52 blood veins appeared on his body. The blood veins seemed to twist around to form a strange picture.
Su Ming stopped and roared towards the heavens. The sound was not loud, and it only echoed around his surroundings. Nonetheless, the 53rd blood vein manifested suddenly on his body!
The appearance of that blood vein meant that Su Ming broke through the fourth level of the Blood Solidification realm and reached the fifth level!
There was a muffled sound of thunder roaring within his body at that moment, and the sound echoed in his surroundings, causing a string of booming noises. Yet the sounds seemed to be swallowed by the black mist by his side, and he did not know where the sounds went.
The moment Su Ming broke through the fourth level of the Blood Solidification realm and reached the fifth, on another stairway nearby was Chen Chong, who was sitting down exhausted as he was mumbling under his breath and was about to rest. His body suddenly jolted due to shock, and he looked at the black mist by his side instinctively. There was a muffled booming sound echoing in his ears. It was a sound he was familiar with!
"This… This is..! Damn it! Someone actually managed to breakthrough in this place?" Chen Chong was stunned momentarily, and disbelief filled his eyes. The flesh on his face trembled. He had never heard of anyone who managed to breakthrough and reach the next level in the first stage of the test. This was the first time it happened!
He rubbed his eyes with force, then, when he felt that there was something wrong with his actions, he immediately changed to rubbing his ears. He turned his head to listen carefully, and his ears moved strangely before they turned red in the blink of an eye.
Chen Chong had been blessed with great talent, and his hearing was especially good. Even if the distance was great and no one else could hear a thing, he could still hear clearly.
This was something he was used to since he was young. Now that his powers increased the higher he was in the Blood Solidification Realm, he became even more proud of himself.
As he listened, bitterness appeared on Chen Chong’s face. He also felt indignant.
"Damn it, just what sort of luck is this? How could he breakthrough here, of all places! God, why didn’t this happen to me..?" Chen Chong lamented as if he was extremely jealous.
Most of the other people besides Chen Chong, who had exceptionally good hearing, did not notice the muffled boom in the air. The only other person who noticed was Black Mountain Tribe’s Bi Su, who was extremely close to Su Ming. He was sitting somewhere above Su Ming when he opened his eyes abruptly. He looked surprised as he turned and looked at the mist behind him.
‘Someone broke through to a new level!’
Bi Su’s face was dark. He remembered hearing the sound of blood veins increasing on a person some time ago. Once he connected the dots, there was a flash in his eyes, but he was not too bothered by it.
He took out the plate and looked at the change in the rankings. With just one glance, he saw a name suddenly rising through the ranks rapidly as everyone else was staying put!
At that moment, there was an uproar in the field outside the mountain due to Su Ming’s actions. Almost everyone’s focus was on the one line belonging to Mo Su on the ranking board on the eagle statues.
In the past, everyone would choose to rest during the night for the first stage of the test. It was the action chosen by those within the mountains, and it was the same in the field. Yet this night was different from those of the past!
All of this was because there was a name rapidly rising up the ranks at that moment!
"He moved! 99 steps! He moved from 79 steps to 99 steps! That person has been like that since the beginning. Once he rested enough, he’ll start climbing at a mad pace!"
"He’s Mo Su, I remember him! He was in the last place previously, then suddenly rushed forward with an explosive force and went up to the 119th place before he stopped. He fell to the 123rd place after that!"
"Look, he’s now ranked 113th… No, 109th, 10- 101st! He’s ranked 101st now! He’s good!"
"Haha! I didn’t expect to see such a thing tonight! Very well, let’s see just how far that Mo Su can go!"
There were multiple discussions as the field went into an uproar. It was even livelier than it was during the day. The people who did not bother looking at the names after the hundredth were also looking with their eyes wide open.
In the previous tests, almost no one would pay too much attention to those placed at the bottom. Their attention would usually be on the top 50 ranks, or even fixed at the top 30 ranks up till the top 10. Some would even only look at the top 3.
But it was different this time. A situation that was rarely seen brought about talk among the people in the field.
Yet as they talked among themselves with excitement, keeping their eyes glued to the ranking board, they did not put much importance on it. To them, that young man called Mo Su just found a way to spend his time while everyone else taking part in the test was resting.
Once daylight arrived and all the contestants started moving once more, they would automatically ignore Mo Su. After all, Mo Su could not hope to compare with the prodigies no matter how high his rank or how many steps he took.
At that moment, Su Ming’s actions also caught the attention of most of the contestants on the mountain. Most of them were resting as they looked at the plates in their hands. The ones who were placed at the lower end of the ranks were especially nervous, but those who were placed higher up just took a look at it and no longer paid attention to it.
Wu La was very nervous. She was sitting at the 112nd step as she widened her eyes and stared at the plate. She took special notice of the person called Mo Su because that person had managed to climb up many ranks from the last place in one go, and it made Wu La feel extremely stressed.
‘I’ve worked hard for the entire day to make it to here and finally managed to get into the top 100! That damn Mo Su! Just who is he? How could he do this? Everyone is resting right now, and the pressure has increased due to the night! Why is he doing this?’
Wu La gritted her teeth due to her anxiety and grievance.
But after a moment, Mo Su stopped moving up the ranks once he was at the 101st place as if he had stopped moving. Wu La let out a sigh of relief.
‘He’s at his limit…’
Lei Chen was sitting down cross-legged at the 135th step and looking at the plate in his hands. He was also looking at Mo Su’s name, but there was a different look in his eyes. It was as if he was deep in thought.
At the same time, Bei Ling, who was sitting at the 206th step, was also looking at the ranks on his plate, but he did not pay much attention to it. To him, that person was just trying to get attention. He did not move during the day but only moved at night, what else could he be doing besides trying to get attention?
‘Such a cheap trick!’
Bei Ling smiled coldly.
Situated somewhere around the 200th step, but at a location lower than Bei Ling, was Si Kong from Dark Dragon Tribe. He was frowning. He had been looking at the plate multiple times during the day and was searching for Su Ming’s name, but he could not find it. He automatically ignored Mo Su’s name climbing up the ranks.
To him, Su Ming’s rank should be around his. There was no way he could be in the hundreds. If that was really the case, then he would find it hard to accept that he lost to a weakling.
On another staircase was Bai Ling, who was sitting somewhere around the 130th step. She lifted her head and looked at the moon. She did not look at the ranks. There was uncertainty on her face as she thought about something.
The people on the field waited for a while. When they saw that Mo Su was stuck at the 101st place, they became disappointed but were also not too bothered by it, as if they expected that to happen.
The leaders of the tribes averted their gazes and no longer looked at the ranks.
The old woman in Dark Dragon Tribe closed her eyes slowly. She never looked at the ranks since the beginning, as if she was never interested in them in the first place.
There was a mocking smile on Black Mountain Tribe’s tribe leader. The only person he was paying attention to was Bi Su. If there was anyone else worth his attention, then it would be Ye Wang. To him, the only person who could be Bi Su’s opponent was Ye Wang!
Once they saw that there was no change in Mo Su’s rank after a while, the sounds of discussion gradually disappeared in the field.
"It’s clear that that person accumulated his strength and chose to move when no one else was moving. He must know that he won’t get much attention otherwise and is using this method to gain some fame."
"That’s right. That’s a good move though. At the very least, I remember him now. I’d like to see how he looks like."
"Forget it. Let’s go rest. Tomorrow is the main event. The top 50 ranks might change… Ah, he’s moving! He’s moving!" Just as the excitement from before was about to completely die down, a surprised cry echoed through the surroundings.
Mo Su’s rank climbed up once again. The number of steps behind his name was also rising up at an unbelievable pace.
100 steps. 103, 107, 112…
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