Besides Yang Yan, Ling Yu couldn't think of anyone who could complete the Ascension task before him!

This was because he knew best how simple his own task was!

Other people's tasks were at least somewhat difficult.

Only his task was so simple!

It was equivalent to going to a place to pick up something!

The main factor was travel time, with no other dangers!

This was also part of his deal with the Major Sects!

Otherwise, no matter how great his talent was, he couldn't be an exception!

And yet, there was another point: why was it that despite his high cultivation, he had never been ostracized by the forces of the Central Continent?

Even any Sect had no ill will toward him. It was all because he was already prepared!

"I had so many preparations yet still lagged behind him by a step!

This Yang Yan, where did he come from?" Ling Yu thought to himself.

He had been a Great Power in a past life, which was the reason for his current achievements.

What about the other party?

"His reputation half a year ago was entirely unremarkable!

Half a year later, he'd already surpassed everyone!" Ling Yu pondered secretly.

"He is definitely a stumbling block on my Emperor Road!"

He had originally thought that with his speed of cultivation,

neither Yang Yan nor the Heavenly Genius would matter to him, and he could simply leave them behind.

But the events of today made him realize one thing.

"Some people still need to be approached with caution and vigilance.

I need to cultivate faster!" Ling Yu thought seriously, then broke into a smile.

"But he's offended too many people and has been too flashy.

So what if he's the first to complete the task?

They won't let him ascend easily!

I still held the initiative!

Once I ascended, and he hadn't,

the gap between us would keep widening, and he wouldn't be able to catch up with my pace of cultivation!"

His figure advanced once more, crossing the Inner Sea, heading towards the Sole Heavenly Sect.

The Heavenly Gate opened, revealing the stairs to heaven.

This Abnormal Phenomenon was seen by many cultivators, each of them amazed.

Especially the geniuses participating in the Heaven Ascending Qualification Battle, who were most astonished by it.

They were still completing their tasks, some even still on their way.

But someone had already completed the task and prepared to ascend!

The gap was indeed too large!

In the Central Continent, inside an inn.

Yang Yan gazed through the window, looking up at the Heavenly Dome.

He clearly saw the opened Heavenly Gate and the manifested stairs to heaven.

"Heavenly Gate, stairs to heaven!"

Furthermore, because he was the closest and had the True Profound Immortal Pupil,

he could see through the Heavenly Gate to the scenes within it at that moment.

"Is that the scene of the first Heaven?"

Yang Yan gazed through the Heavenly Dome and saw a world that resembled an immortal realm.

There appeared many figures at the time, each as majestic as the sea!

"Saint!"

One Saint would not be surprising.

But there were dozens of Saints!

"Representatives of various forces in the Central Continent!"

They joined hands to open the Heavenly Gate and manifest the stairs to heaven.

One only needed to ascend the stairs and enter through the Heavenly Gate.

Then they could reach the first Heaven, arriving before them.

"I fear it won't be so easy to reach them!" Yang Yan thought silently.

He closed his eyes and continued his cultivation!

The Sole Heavenly Sect, he temporarily didn't need to go.

Because he had already foreseen when he would be able to proceed to the second trial.

Time passed slowly, and within the area of the Sole Heavenly Sect, many cultivators from the Central Continent gathered.

They came to see who completed the task first, having seen the Heavenly Gate open and the stairs to heaven manifest.

Simultaneously watching the subsequent battles and the third ascending ladder competition!

But after they arrived, they didn't see a single person!

"Why is no one here? Wasn't someone supposed to have completed the task?"

"Where's Ling Yu? Where did he go?"

"Could it be that he returned too early and went back to rest for now?"

They waited until the afternoon, but no one returned.

But they did not leave because of this!

As more people came from afar to view the spectacle with the Heavenly Gate open and the stairs to heaven exposed,

the number of cultivators gathering here grew increasingly larger!

"Brothers, did you see who came back first?" the newcomers asked.

"No idea, I haven't seen anyone either!"

"Ling Yu, he's surely the first genius of the Central Continent, he must be the first to return!"

The crowd buzzed with speculation until near dusk when a figure appeared in the sky.

"It's Ling Yu, it's indeed him!"

"Yes, as I guessed, he's the first to return after completing the task!"

"The first of the Central Continent Ten Dragons, the number one genius of the Central Continent, truly lives up to his reputation!"

"Ling Yu, you returned too early—no one else has returned yet, you should go rest for a while longer!"

Ling Yu, under the gaze of the crowd, landed in front of the main hall of the Sole Heavenly Sect.

He glanced back at the people, his expression calm.

"I was not the first to return!" he said at a moderate volume.

Instantly, the gathered crowd fell silent.

"It wasn't Ling Yu?" the crowd exclaimed.

The Sect Master of the Sole Heavenly Sect stepped out from the main hall, holding a box shining with golden light.

"I have completed the task and am now returning to submit it!" Ling Yu took out the scroll recording the task and then the required items.

The Sect Master of the Sole Heavenly Sect accepted them and nodded.

"Draw a number!"

He handed over the golden box.

"Okay!" Ling Yu reached in and drew out a Jade Token.

It was carved with the number two!

"Your opponent is number thirteen!"

"Understood." Ling Yu put away the Jade Token.

"You returned too early, you can rest now and wait for your opponent, number thirteen, to appear!"

"Understood." Ling Yu vanished into thin air, as if transformed.

The Sect Master of the Sole Heavenly Sect returned to the main hall, and the gathering of cultivators erupted into an uproar!

"The first person to complete the task wasn't Ling Yu!"

"If not him, then who could it be? Who is faster than him?"

"Could it be that person..."

The crowd fell silent once more. The Central Continent cultivators were truly unwilling to mention that name again.

Later that night, a third person returned.

This person submitted the task and drew a number.

Thirteen!

He was precisely Ling Yu's opponent!

In the early hours, Ling Yu arrived.

With many Central Continent cultivators and the Sect Master of the Sole Heavenly Sect watching, the two commenced their battle.

Within a quarter of an hour, Ling Yu emerged victorious.

"Truly worthy of Ling Yu, so strong!" the spectators shouted excitedly.

Yet Ling Yu remained calm and composed. As the victor, he stepped onto the stairs to heaven and headed for the Heavenly Gate.

The defeated party left despondently, his destination unknown.

By the afternoon of the second day, the fourth genius to complete the Ascension task returned.

The newcomer was Chu Shenwei, who drew a Jade Token!

An hour later, the fifth genius to complete the Ascension task returned.

This time, they did not face each other. Not until the sixth person completed the task was there a confrontation!

However, the opponent was not Chu Shenwei!

The victor climbed the stairs to heaven, while the loser retreated as usual.

No one returned at night.

Until the morning of the third day, Su Yunke and He Yi'er returned.

They submitted their task scrolls and drew Jade Tokens.

He Yi'er's opponent's token did not appear.

Though Su Yunke's opponent's token did appear.

Her opponent was the Little God King, Chu Shenwei!

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