The Stairs of Solitude were now incredibly empty.
Time flowed silently, each second seeming to be drawn out.
Fewer than a thousand figures were still able to trudge onward up the stairs.
They were divided into several clearly distinct echelons.
The lead echelon at the very front was now extremely small.
Ling Xuzi still occupied the top spot.
However, he too now seemed to be crushed by an invisible weight.
Every step he took seemed abnormally heavy, and he lingered longer and longer on each stair.
Not far behind him were several other top geniuses, such as Time Shadow of the Time-Light Holy Land and Illusory of the Mimeng Dynasty.
Their pace had also grown sluggish as they fought against the increasingly turbulent tide of solitude welling up from the stairs.
And there, in the middle of the lead echelon, was Li Wen.
He had long since surpassed Barton, his rank quietly climbing into the fifties.
His expression was taut, and his breathing was much heavier than usual.
He was forcefully suppressing the passive skill of his Martial Daoist profession—the Eternal Heart.
This powerful ability, which was enough to grant immunity to all mental and spiritual erosion, he kept firmly locked away deep inside himself.
That’s right. He had reached this height relying entirely on his own willpower, without borrowing the power of the Eternal Heart.
"Haaaah..." Li Wen let out a heavy breath and stepped onto the next stair.
Instantly, a wave of solitude even stronger than the last crashed over him.
His body swayed almost imperceptibly, and a gold and silver light flashed in the depths of his pupils.
In his Sea of Consciousness, the manifestation of his Primordial Spirit trembled slightly.
He forced himself to steady his mind, pushing the overwhelming solitude away.
Even so, he needed to take several breaths to fully adapt, and his pace inevitably slowed.
...
「Outside, in the Alka Empire’s spectator area.」
"Lord Li Wen is slowing down!"
"Of course. The higher you go on these Stairs of Solitude, the more insane they get."
"The fifties! Lord Li Wen has already reached the fifties!"
"Just hold on! All he has to do is hold on! This rank is already glorious enough!" The spectators from the Alka Empire watched with bated breath.
Although they felt a trace of regret seeing Li Wen slow down, it was overshadowed by an irrepressible excitement and pride.
In their original estimation, it would have been a victory for Li Wen just to break into the top thousand.
Reaching the top hundred would have been a supreme honor, so charging toward the top fifty was a glorious achievement they hadn’t even dared to dream of.
Considering that Li Wen was far younger than Ling Xuzi and the others, his achievement was all the more precious.
...
「Celestial Vault Divine Country Spectator Area.」
They watched as Li Wen’s speed finally began to slow.
"His speed has finally slowed." The spectators from the Celestial Vault Divine Country seemed to relax a bit, their taut nerves easing slightly.
If his speed hadn’t dropped, they were genuinely worried that Li Wen would end up surpassing Ling Xuzi.
"Looking at him, he seems to be nearing his limit. He shouldn’t pose a threat to His Highness Ling Xuzi."
"Then again, second place in the Enlightenment Tower and now ranked in the fifties on the Stairs of Solitude... he’s certainly a once-in-a-generation talent," another person remarked, their tone tinged with appreciation.
Seeing that Li Wen was no longer a threat to Ling Xuzi’s number-one spot, their attitude toward him softened considerably.
They even began to praise him generously.
...
「On the Stairs of Solitude.」
Another hour slipped by.
The figures on the stairs grew even more sparse.
Every single step was accompanied by willpower being burned to its absolute limit, only to be extinguished.
Blood Slaughter Barton had been stuck on the same step for a long time.
His muscles were coiled tight and his veins bulged. He stared upward with bloodshot eyes, his jaw clenched so hard a low, beast-like growl escaped his throat.
The phantom of the blood-saber that had accompanied his countless slaughters flickered behind him, radiating a vicious killing intent.
This killing intent had once been his greatest weapon for sweeping aside his enemies; now, it was his last defense against the solitude.
However, the power of the Stairs of Solitude was formless and intangible, striking directly at the very source of the mind.
Barton’s killing intent was like something caught in the toughest of spiderwebs, slowly being worn down and devoured.
After a struggle that seemed to last an eternity, the final spark of clarity in his eyes was extinguished.
In a flash of white light, Barton’s burly figure vanished, teleported back to the starting platform at the base of the stairs.
On the starting platform, Barton’s eyes were vacant for a moment, then quickly regained their clarity.
He subconsciously clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. A flicker of intense frustration and regret flashed in his eyes.
He looked up, his gaze first falling upon his final rank on the light screen—77.
The number made him fall silent for a moment.
Then, he lifted his head, his gaze piercing through space to lock onto the figure still ascending the Stairs of Solitude.
First, he saw Ling Xuzi, who was ranked number one, his steps as heavy as a mountain.
The man’s powerful back looked like an insurmountable peak.
Then, his gaze shifted downward, landing on the figure who had already surpassed him and even pushed into a higher echelon—Li Wen!
At this moment, Li Wen’s rank had shockingly broken into the top twenty.
Though his steps were labored and his pace was slow, he was still climbing.
Step by step, he climbed resolutely upward!
An incredibly complex look appeared in Barton’s eyes.
There was annoyance at his failure to break through his own limits, and a yearning for the view from a higher vantage point.
But in the end, it all melted into a trace of... respect, and an indescribable sense of anticipation for that distant figure.
He stood there quietly, his gaze tracking Li Wen, waiting for the final outcome.
...
Meanwhile, Li Wen stepped onto the eleven-thousand-nine-hundredth stair.
"Ssss..." The moment he stepped onto it, an unprecedentedly cold sense of solitude instantly flooded into Li Wen’s Sea of Consciousness.