After the giant Honghu swallowed Qin Zi and Bai Lu, the muffled sounds of struggle could be heard from its mouth, indicating that the two were resisting.
Bang, bang, bang!
"Break!"
The light emanating from the two illuminated the Honghu's beak, making it translucent and allowing a glimpse inside. However, the Honghu itself began to glow, and a sealing power instantly suppressed the two, quieting them down completely.
Buzz!
The Honghu returned to Princess Jinghong's body, and she quickly climbed further up the steps.
"She's that powerful!"
The others still in the midst of their battles, seeing this, felt an immediate sense of threat and hastened to finish their fights.
"Get lost!"
Pfft!
Bang, bang, bang!
Several geniuses from the Holy Academy were thrown back, unable to contend with the superior foundations of their opponents.
As for Fan Zhongyan, the genius fighting Jin Zhi, jealousy overtook him, leading him to focus his attacks on Jin Zhi's lower body. In the end, Jin Zhi countered with a powerful kick to Fan Zhongyan's crotch, leaving him incapacitated.
"The Beast God's Heart is mine!"
Prince Qiongqi roared, unleashing a ferocious aura that repelled the pressure around him, dramatically increasing his speed.
"In your dreams!"
Princess Phantom Butterfly snorted coldly. Behind her, her nine-colored wings appeared, flapping vigorously to dispel the surrounding pressure.
"Break through!"
Jin Zhi stomped the ground hard, his blood and energy surging out like a crimson sphere that enveloped his entire body.
At this moment, Prince Kui Niu, having climbed back to his feet, transformed into his true form—a giant Kui Niu. With just one leg, he hopped up the steps, remarkably fast, catching up with the others.
As they ascended higher, the pressure increased exponentially, becoming like a swamp that clung to everyone's feet.
"I can go faster!"
"Burn, my cosmos!"
"Hippo Star Step!"
Each person displayed their own extraordinary abilities, with majestic auras and dazzling light surrounding them as they continued to advance.
But human strength has its limits.
Everyone has a breaking point, and the pressure on these steps was clearly designed to exceed such limits.
Thud, thud, thud!
After a few more heavy steps, Prince Qiongqi's knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the steps.
"How… could this happen?"
He gritted his teeth, frantically grasping the steps with his left hand, while reaching upward with his right.
At this point, he was still over two hundred steps away from the summit, but those two hundred steps felt impossibly far.
His vision began to blur.
Looking up, it seemed as though the pressure above him was like a flood, pouring down and threatening to drown him.
"No!"
Princess Phantom Butterfly spread her wings, trying to push herself forward. But the pressure was like a storm, and her wings acted like sails, causing her to be blown backward.
"Hahaha! In the face of absolute power, everything else is insignificant!"
Prince Kui Niu advanced steadily, hopping step by step. Despite having only one leg, his massive foot provided stability, and his heavy body made him as immovable as a mountain.
"Big Brother Jin, I'm about to lose it."
At that moment, Princess Jinghong suddenly spoke with a serious tone.
"Huh?"
Seeing this, Prince Kui Niu paused. His not-so-sharp mind sensed something off but couldn't quite figure it out.
"Good!"
Jin Zhi suddenly roared, stomping hard on the ground. His body swelled, his upper garments tearing apart, revealing his muscular torso.
He transformed into a towering giant, over three meters tall, his muscles bulging, and his aura fierce and wild.
"True Dragon Fist!"
He unleashed a powerful punch forward, his crimson blood energy surging out like a torrent, tearing a temporary rift in the overwhelming pressure, creating a vacuum tunnel!
Princess Jinghong wasted no time, rushing along the narrow passage Jin Zhi created, driving straight toward the summit.
She advanced by 120 steps!
But the vacuum tunnel quickly began to close, and once it did, she would again be crushed by the immense pressure and forced back down.
"It's now or never!"
The Honghu shadow burst from her body, and she transformed into a snow-white Honghu, merging with the shadow.
Naturally, Qin Zi and Princess Bai Lu, who had been swallowed earlier, were now back inside her, as if… loaded into a chamber.
The giant Honghu lifted its head, its bright red beak opening slowly, gathering light inside as if charging an energy cannon. Finally, a brilliant white beam shot out from its mouth!
Swoosh!
Inside the beam were Qin Zi and Princess Bai Lu. The beam also tore open a vacuum passage, but it was only half the length of the one Jin Zhi had created—about 50 steps.
The higher they went, the stronger the pressure!
"White Crane Soars!"
After advancing another 50 steps, Princess Bai Lu's body radiated with white light. She spread her snow-white, sacred wings, which created a protective white glow, enveloping both her and Qin Zi and temporarily shielding them from the pressure.
"Qin Zi, it's all on you now!"
Princess Bai Lu took a deep breath, clasped her hands together, then stretched them apart like she was pulling noodles. In her hands appeared a large, glowing silver bow. Her wings pulsed with light, resonating with the bow.
"White Crane Divine Bow, open!"
She pulled the bowstring, and a brilliant white arrow quickly formed, long, thick, and hard. Qin Zi immediately grabbed onto the shaft of the arrow.
Swoosh!
The white arrow shot forward like a rocket, with Qin Zi holding onto it as if he were riding the arrow into the sky like a tiny creature.
Bang, bang, bang!
The arrow's immense power—possibly from an imperial weapon—pierced through layer after layer of pressure, carrying Qin Zi all the way to the summit.
"I did it…"
Princess Bai Lu smiled wearily, but the moment the protective white light around her dissipated, the overwhelming pressure hit her like a flood, sending her flying backward.
"Bai Lu!"
Jin Zhi, seeing this, shouted in alarm, quickly moving to catch her with his arms.
But the impact threw him off balance, and they both tumbled down the steps.
"Ah! You two!"
At that moment, Prince Kui Niu, who had been steadily hopping up the steps, suddenly saw the two figures barreling toward him. His eyes widened in panic and fury.
He had been carefully maintaining his balance, like carrying water without spilling a drop, but now there was no way to avoid the incoming collision!
Thud!
With a heavy impact, Prince Kui Niu became a cushion, sent flying along with Jin Zhi and Bai Lu.
"Ahhh!"
Behind them, Prince Qiongqi, Princess Phantom Butterfly, and the other geniuses from the Holy Academy, who had been climbing again, let out similar cries of dismay.
Bang, bang, bang!
In a chain reaction, all of them rolled down the steps like bowling pins, causing utter chaos.
Only Princess Jinghong managed to retain a semblance of dignity.
However, after launching Qin Zi and Bai Lu, she had also run out of energy. To avoid being knocked down by the pressure, she lay flat on the steps, with her backside raised, slowly crawling down. It was, admittedly, a rather undignified sight.
"Bai Lu, look at what I did for you… I've lost so much face. Now… we're even."
She panted, muttering under her breath as she clutched her skirt to prevent any unwanted glimpses from those behind her.
Meanwhile…
Qin Zi landed on the summit. In the center of the altar stood a golden heart the size of a watermelon.
It was crystal clear, radiating a brilliant light so dense that it seemed to turn into swirling mist, almost solid.
"The Beast God's He— Pfft!"
Qin Zi's eyes sparkled, but before he could finish saying "Heart," an overwhelming force pressed him flat against the ground. His limbs spread out, and his jaw hit the ground, leaving him lying there like a dog flattened by the weight.
"How… could this… happen?"
He struggled to squeeze out a few words.