Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

The three saints of Dorgon had a face full of sarcasm and their eyes were full of mockery; Yu Sheng was indifferent and unmoved; the Bu Chuan sisters sighed softly.

The two women's sighs were not out of pity for Su Mu's plight, but rather out of regret for this exceptionally talented human descendant. They had originally intended to use the opportunities presented by the secret realm to win Su Mu over and nurture future generations, but now that Su Mu had become a discarded pawn with a bleak future, such thoughts had to be completely abandoned.

Su Mu paid no attention to the thoughts of the people behind him, standing alone at the bottom of the ten-thousand-layer staircase, looking up.

Tens of thousands of white jade steps extend straight up to the top of the sea of ​​clouds. They appear plain and unadorned, without any hint of fierceness or oppressiveness.

But the moment Su Mu took his first step and his feet landed firmly on the first step, an invisible force suddenly enveloped his body.

The exclusive gravity-binding domain of the Heavenly Ladder is activated instantly!

The immense pressure crashed down on his body, crushing his limbs and bones.

Such a level of gravitational pressure was utterly insignificant and utterly burdensome to Su Mu, whose physique far surpassed that of his peers and was comparable to the peak of a God King.

At the same time, a wisp of pure and warm wood essence slowly emerged from the white jade steps beneath his feet, flowing into his body along the meridians of his soles, quietly nourishing his flesh and repairing his muscles.

This primordial power is extremely special; it is by no means a simple cultivation energy. It faintly contains a mysterious and unpredictable sense of rules.

Unfortunately, the power was too weak; it dissipated instantly upon entering the body, leaving no time to carefully comprehend and capture it.

Suppressing his curiosity, Su Mu steadily took the second step and ascended the second step.

In an instant, the gravity around my body doubled!

The immense pressure piled up layer upon layer, and at the same time, the power of the wood's origin surged forth, becoming more profound and abundant.

He instantly figured out the trial rules of the Heavenly Ladder.

With each level ascended, the surrounding gravity intensifies exponentially, making the physical body increasingly vulnerable to pressure; however, the corresponding restorative power of the wood element also increases simultaneously, used to temper the body, repair damage, and nourish the physique.

One loss and one gain, one crisis and one opportunity, they complement each other and cycle endlessly.

Su Mu steadily climbed the steps, ascending one level at a time.

Up to two thousand steps!

The moment his feet landed firmly on the two thousand steps, the terrifying gravity that surged and accumulated suddenly pressed down on his body. Su Mu's legs trembled slightly and bent slightly. Under the extreme pressure, his skin tightened and cracked, and fine blood lines instantly covered his body surface. His physical body was on the verge of its limit.

Just as the physical body was about to be damaged, the vast and boundless power of the wood element surged out like a tidal wave, instantly enveloping the entire body and washing over the muscles.

In the blink of an eye, the cracked skin is quickly repaired and healed as before, and the damaged flesh and bones are given the ultimate nourishment and become stronger and more resilient.

This time, with the help of the abundant and profound power of the origin, Su Mu's soul finally accurately captured that subtle mystery—the origin of wood actually contained the wood-based laws of the origin of the universe!

However, the essence of the law is fleeting and extremely brief, leaving no time for careful contemplation.

To fully capture and comprehend this fundamental law of the wood element, one must continue to climb upwards, endure greater pressure, and absorb purer essence.

Su Mu stopped and looked up at the endless steps above, his brows furrowing involuntarily.

After only two thousand floors, the physical body was already nearing its limit and under immense pressure; one can only imagine the terrifying pressure that would be felt on the subsequent floors.

wrong.

In an instant, Su Mu overturned his initial judgment.

His current physical physique, honed through countless trials and tribulations, possesses profound foundations and is absolutely no less powerful than that of an ordinary peak-level God King.

Since Yu Sheng and the others were able to safely climb to the top of the ten thousand steps, there was no way I would stop at the two thousandth step!

There must be something more to the trial rules than meets the eye!

Suppressing his doubts, Su Mu gritted his teeth, lifted his slightly trembling right foot, and resolutely stepped up to the 2001st step.

The moment their feet touched the ground, the terrifying gravity that had been building up suddenly vanished.

Before Su Mu could catch his breath, a sharp, piercing light suddenly erupted from the steps!

Fine sword energy shot into the sky, then instantly turned back in mid-air, striking Su Mu's body with tremendous speed!

This sword energy was only at the early stage of the Quasi-God Realm. To Su Mu, whose physical body was strong, it was like a tickle, causing no harm whatsoever.

At this moment, Su Mu fully understood the truth.

The trials of the Heavenly Ladder are never just about the pressure of gravity!

After the sword energy bombarded the area, the pure essence of wood re-emerged.

Su Mu was prepared and immediately spread his divine soul power to envelop his entire body, trying his best to capture the essence of the laws within the origin.

This time, he clearly and truly felt the profound and boundless, ever-renewing nature of the fundamental laws of the wood element.

"interesting."

Su Mu smiled knowingly.

"As expected of one of the eight fundamental elements of the universe, the Wood element's laws are endlessly regenerating and infinitely mysterious, truly extraordinary."

The master of the secret realm had set up layers of trials, each one intricately linked and concealing profound truths, making it far more mysterious and unpredictable than he had imagined. He became increasingly curious about the purpose behind the master's painstaking efforts in creating this secret realm and setting up so many trials.

"Su Mu! What are you dawdling for? Get up there now!"

From below came Dor's extremely impatient voice, his tone full of arrogance and rebuke.

Upon hearing this, a cold killing intent flashed in Su Mu's eyes.

The nail that sticks out gets hammered down; Dorr's repeated aggressive and capricious behavior had already angered him.

Since you're so eager to send me to my death, then you'd better go first when it comes to taking my life!

Su Mu did not turn around, his expression was indifferent, and he took another step upwards, climbing to the 2,002nd step.

This level is still a sword qi trial, with the number of sword qi doubled. It transforms into two sharp beams of early-stage quasi-god realm energy that bombard him in turn, yet they still cannot shake his physical body in the slightest.

Below, the three of them, including Dor, commented, their eyes filled with even more contempt.

"It seems that the trial rules of the Heavenly Ladder are no different from those of previous years." Dor said calmly, "The first two thousand floors are the gravity compression trial, the two thousand to four thousand floors are the sword qi bombardment trial, and every two thousand floors thereafter, a completely new trial will be introduced."

Qiao Lang nodded slightly and added in a deep voice, "The first eight thousand levels of the trial are no danger to us Saint Realm cultivators and can be passed easily. The real deadly danger is hidden in the last two thousand levels of the steps."

When the last two thousand steps of the Heavenly Ladder were mentioned, the expressions of several Saint Realm experts with Primordial Dao Bodies changed slightly, and a trace of fear and solemnity flashed in their eyes, as if they were recalling an extremely dangerous past.

Xiu Dun quickly composed himself and refocused his gaze on Su Mu, who was climbing the stairs. His tone was somewhat surprised and doubtful: "This Su Mu is really strange. I thought that with his weak physique at the Heavenly God Realm, he would not be able to even pass two thousand floors. I did not expect that he would actually make it through."

As Xiu Dun's surprised and doubtful voice fell, the gazes of all the Saint Realm experts in the arena focused on the slender figure on the Heavenly Ladder.

No one knew that Su Mu's divine soul had already broken through to the mid-stage of the God King realm; everyone still regarded him as an ordinary mid-stage Heavenly God cultivator.

With a hint of scrutiny and emotion in his eyes, Qiao Lang slowly spoke: "To have a mere Heavenly God Realm physique capable of withstanding the gravity of two thousand floors of the Heavenly Ladder is already considered an extreme talent. It must be that the mysterious powerhouse behind him spent countless rare and precious materials and heaven-defying resources to forcibly temper and refine his physical body, thus forging such a powerful physique. Otherwise, with only the foundation of the Heavenly God Realm, his physical body would have shattered and he would have perished on the spot when he reached the thousandth floor."

Compared to Su Mu's physical talent, Xiu Dun was more wary of the mysterious expert hiding in the shadows, his eyes filled with lingering fear and suspicion: "Judging from this, the mysterious person who protected Su Mu as he crossed the sea of ​​blood is probably more than just a Saint Realm cultivator."

Dor chuckled, his tone laced with a mixture of mockery and certainty: "You're overthinking it. The Origin Passage Trial is extremely unique. The higher a cultivator's cultivation level and the stronger their Dao Body, the more terrifying the passage's suppression and the greater the trial's difficulty. This person must have deliberately concealed their cultivation, only to suffer the consequences of their own actions, becoming trapped in the passage and ultimately dying. Otherwise, with their strength, they wouldn't have been able to remain here for so long."

The casual conversation among the group reached Yu Sheng's ears.

Yu Sheng's gaze darkened slightly as he watched Su Mu's retreating figure climb the mountain, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, a murderous intent hidden beneath.

Mid-stage Saint Realm? Such profound methods of concealing one's abilities!

In his view, Su Mu deliberately concealed the true combat power of the Apocalypse Puppet and hid his own strength, showing weakness and forbearance step by step, all in order to make a name for himself at the last moment of the secret realm, overpower all others, and monopolize the core treasure of the secret realm.

He was constantly scheming to use Su Mu, but now he was being schemed against and forced to endure by a junior, which made the proud Yu Sheng extremely unhappy.

Due to the rules and oaths of the Star Palace, as long as Su Mu has not left the Star Palace or betrayed it, he cannot kill his fellow disciples without cause.

But rules are rigid, people are flexible.

A murderous intent had quietly arisen in Yu Sheng's heart.

Either eliminate Su Mu quietly by using the power of the secret realm and the hands of others during the third dangerous trial in the secret realm, or secretly contact various forces after leaving the secret realm to kill him with a borrowed knife and eliminate future troubles forever.

Those who scheme against him never live to the end!

……

On the Heavenly Ladder, Su Mu steadily climbed, ascending step by step.

From two thousand to four thousand layers, sword energy roars and bombards in turn, with the number of layers increasing and the power steadily increasing.

Quasi-god, true god, and god-king level sword energy appeared one after another, their sharp edges tearing through the air and creating endless roars.

With his powerful physique and the continuous restorative power of the wood element, Su Mu was able to calmly overcome all obstacles and pass through the levels unscathed.

With each level he ascended, his understanding of the fundamental laws of the wood element deepened, and the profound meaning of the Great Dao—the endless cycle of life and death, prosperity and decline—became increasingly clear and transparent in his heart.

Above the four thousand steps, the trial rules changed once again.

The sword energy that filled the sky suddenly dissipated, replaced by wisps of dark, destructive energy that devoured everything.

Destroy the source!

Su Mu was startled and instantly recognized the original attribute of this terrifying energy.