Chapter 1458: The Long and Broad View (1/2)
Chapter 1458: The Long and Broad View
The ancient sound of the bell echoed out through the Ninth Sect. It was like a gust of wind from ancient times, filling the sect, causing the eyes of countless disciples to go wide as they looked in the direction of the mountain peak where the Vast Expanse Shrine was located.
“Someone challenging the Vast Expanse Shrine actually... passed 1,000 stairs!!”
“That’s not very common. In the past several years, only a few people have done it.”
“I wonder who it is? The 1,000 stair bell can lead to a Baptism which gives good fortune. But it will only toll the first time someone reaches that many steps. Therefore, the bell can’t be tolling for a current Chosen, only someone new!”
The buzz of conversation rose up everywhere, and yet, it wasn’t filled with the sound of shock. After all... it was only a mere 1,000 stairs. Most people were simply curious as to who was making a name for the first time in the sect.
The curiosity soon faded, and everything went quiet. In fact, no one even flew over to the Vast Expanse Shrine to check out the situation other than the few hundred people who were already nearby. And in the Ninth Sect, which had tens of millions of members, a few hundred people... was like nothing.
However, all of the disciples who were below the 1,000 stair mark were completely shocked. All of them had watched as Meng Hao walked past them onto the steps they had been unable to reach. And then the bell tolled, and they all gasped.
They had no time to wonder who he was, but all of them had the intense premonition that this person... was completely exceptional!!
“He's going too fast!!”
“I remember watching Elder Brother Bi Yun and some of the others, and they were agile too, but... but they were all people who made it to the top 1,000. Some of them even reached the top 100!!”
“This guy... might be able to make it into the top 10,000 in the rankings!!” While everyone was shaking in astonishment, Meng Hao calmly continued on one step at a time. As he moved, he maintained the same pace, moving neither faster nor slower.
1,200 steps. 1,500 steps. He continued to pass other disciples, all of whom stared in shock as he casually walked by.
His relaxed appearance and way of walking caused more gasps to rise up.
1,800 steps.... Soon, he was approaching the 1,999th step!
On that step was a middle-aged cultivator, who stood there, eyes bloodshot, panting. His body trembled as he lifted his foot into the air, using all the strength he could muster, the full power of his cultivation base, to take that next step onto the 2,000th stair.
“You can do it, Xu Liu!” he growled to himself. “All you have to do is step down. Then the bell will toll, and you’ll receive the Baptism. Your cultivation base will make some progress, and you’ll finally be able to make a name for yourself in the sect!!” However, there was a power that seemed to rise up from the ground, making it impossible for him to lower his foot.
At this moment of incredible difficulty, he suddenly realized that there was a young man behind him. He was handsome, and seemed to have no trouble at all as he walked up. He even looked over with a smile.
The middle-aged man stared in shock. Feeling somewhat muddled, he had no chance to even react before Meng Hao walked past him, stepping onto the 2,000th step and then beyond.
“Impossible!!” the man thought, his mind reeling, his face filling with astonishment and shock. He looked at Meng Hao, and then at his own foot. To him, that step was one of incredible difficulty, and yet this young man had just walked on past it as if it were level ground. The man almost couldn’t believe what he had just seen.
Rumbling filled his mind, and his thoughts were thrown into chaos. A massive force pushed against him, making it impossible to make that final step. He staggered backward, looking up at Meng Hao’s retreating back.
It was then that the bell tolled out yet again, this time, twice.
Dong, dong....
The sound echoed out from the Vast Expanse Shrine to fill the entire Ninth Sect, causing widespread astonishment.
The main reason for that was because the time between the first tolling of the bell and the second had been too short, less time than it takes an incense stick to burn!
“What’s going on today? How funny. First someone reached the 1,000th step, and then right after that, someone reached 2,000 steps.”
“Interesting, interesting. I wonder if someone will reach 3,000 steps next?” Countless people in the Ninth Sect were surprised, but then began to laugh and joke about it. It wasn’t that people didn’t think about the possibility of a single person causing the bell to toll twice. But when they realized that only enough time had passed for an incense stick to burn, they dismissed any such notions.
It seemed to be a complete impossibility. Unless... someone was walking up the steps who qualified to be in the top 1,000 of the Vast Expanse Shrine.
Even Yan’er was shocked as she flew through the air toward the Vast Expanse Shrine. Suddenly, keen anticipation rose up in her heart.