This Emperor Replenishes Some Magic

As Gu Qingfeng's steps increased, the pressure on his body grew heavier, as if he were carrying a divine mountain on his back. But his pace did not slow in the slightest; with his current strength, this level of pressure was as if it were nothing. Soon, he reached the ten-thousandth step, with Jiang Li following closely behind.

Buzz!

A resonant hum of the Great Dao suddenly echoed in his ears, and the scene before his eyes shifted instantly.

Gu Qingfeng appeared on a training ground. Jiang Li, who had been behind him, was nowhere to be seen, having clearly entered a separate training ground.

A phantom figure then materialized on the ground, slowly solidifying into a young man dressed in Daoist robes and holding a long sword. His features were somewhat blurred, and he exuded the aura of the early-stage Celestial Immortal realm.

Seeing this, Gu Qingfeng felt not the slightest interest. With a casual wave of his hand, the figure instantly shattered into pieces and vanished.

Immediately after, a luminous screen appeared before him, displaying images of hundreds of types of treasures and immortal herbs, seemingly for him to choose from.

Gu Qingfeng reached out and grabbed for an immortal artifact that resembled a jade pendant. The moment he seized it, the light screen dissipated.

He frowned. "Only one item? How stingy."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the illusion vanished, and his figure reappeared on the staircase. At the same time, Jiang Li's figure also materialized.

"If you couldn't reach the summit, why not just destroy this Heavenly Ascent Stairway and take all the treasures directly?" asked Gu Qingfeng, who was growing impatient.

"This Heavenly Ascent Stairway is itself a powerful immortal artifact, sealed with endless arrays and restrictions. If it comes under external attack, it will retaliate with a force comparable to that of an Immortal King. Even if the five of us had used our Immortal King artifacts back then to destroy it by combining our strength, we certainly wouldn't have survived," Jiang Li explained.

Hearing this, Gu Qingfeng's eyes lit up. "Leave quickly. This Emperor is going to start."

A flash of joy passed through Jiang Li's eyes upon hearing his words. She naturally wished for Gu Qingfeng to die as soon as possible. Without another word, she immediately turned and left the Heavenly Ascent Stairway.

In an instant, Gu Qingfeng waved his hand grandly, and six Immortal King artifacts materialized before him. Each radiated a terrifying might; with all six gathered, even the surrounding space warped slightly, as if unable to bear their presence.

He mustered all his magical power and began to control the six Immortal King artifacts.

Before devouring Ling Yunxiao and the others, controlling them would have been somewhat strenuous. But after devouring them, his magical power had surged once more, making the task manageable.

"Break for this Emperor!"

With a loud shout, the six Immortal King artifacts before him shot forth with a roar, trailing various colored immortal lights and carrying world-destroying force as they viciously struck the Heavenly Ascent Stairway.

BOOM!

An ear-splitting, earth-shaking roar erupted. Endless showers of light burst forth, divine radiance scattered, and the entire Soaring Immortal Forbidden Zone trembled violently, as if on the verge of annihilation.

CRACK!

A crack spanning ten thousand zhang appeared on the Heavenly Ascent Stairway, yet it still did not shatter.

That it could withstand the assault of six Immortal King artifacts gave an idea of just how formidable the Stairway's material was.

Of course, this was also related to Gu Qingfeng not being an Immortal King. If he were an Immortal King wielding six Immortal King artifacts, the Stairway would certainly break.

Simultaneously with the crack's appearance, as if enraged, the Heavenly Ascent Stairway fired an incandescent, supremely bright silver light beam that instantly reduced Gu Qingfeng to ashes.

Jiang Li almost cheered aloud. However, in the very next second, Gu Qingfeng's figure returned from within the endless calamities.

The light that had just ignited in Jiang Li's beautiful eyes was instantly extinguished.

Paying her no mind, Gu Qingfeng once again manipulated the Immortal King artifacts to smash against the Heavenly Ascent Stairway.

BOOM!

Another tremendous explosion sounded, and another ten-thousand-zhang crack appeared on the Stairway.

And once again, the silver light beam annihilated Gu Qingfeng.

This cycle repeated over a dozen times. Gu Qingfeng's vast reserves of magical power were nearly depleted, and the Heavenly Ascent Stairway was finally on the verge of complete destruction. It was covered in dense, intricate cracks, looking as if it would collapse entirely at any moment.

"Damn, six Immortal King artifacts really drain the mana pool," Gu Qingfeng cursed. This was the first time he had felt his magical power was somewhat insufficient.

He immediately pulled out a handful of immortal pills and swallowed them. The immense medicinal power continuously converted into magical power, but he still felt it wasn't enough.

In a flash, he appeared beside Jiang Li.

Startled, Jiang Li thought he was venting his shame-induced anger on her and instinctively took two steps back, saying nervously, "What are you doing?!"

"Shut up—no, wait, open your mouth! This Emperor needs a top-up."

With that, he grabbed Jiang Li and, ignoring her resistance, pinched her delicate cheek and began to "replenish his magic."

A moment later, Jiang Li lay limp on the ground, gasping for breath, her face extremely pale. Yet, amidst the pallor was a flush of shame and anger. Her beautiful eyes were filled with overwhelming hatred.

That's right, all her magical power had been drained by Gu Qingfeng.

Having successfully "topped up," Gu Qingfeng once again summoned the six Immortal King artifacts and got back to work. Jiang Li, weak and feeble, took out pills to recover her magical power while frantically wiping her mouth.

BOOM!

Another terrifyingly loud explosion resounded. The Heavenly Ascent Stairway shattered in response, collapsing with a thunderous crash.

Even in its collapse, it did not forget Gu Qingfeng, releasing one final silver light beam to annihilate him.

When Gu Qingfeng revived and returned, he immediately sensed a void gate where the Heavenly Ascent Stairway had been. Delighted, knowing that must be the location of the treasure vault, he forcefully broke through the void gate and slipped inside.

However, once inside, his heart sank with disappointment.

The space was lined with rows upon rows of cabinets made of immortal wood, numbering at least ten thousand. Yet, many of the cabinets were empty—at least more than half. Those that weren't completely empty were also not full, missing many treasures.

Gu Qingfeng understood that the missing treasures had likely been taken by trial-takers who had entered the Soaring Immortal Forbidden Zone over the ages. Countless hundreds of millions of years had passed, and with no replenishment from the Soaring Immortal Sect, the treasures inside had grown fewer and fewer.

However, there was a silver lining: most of what had been taken were low-grade immortal treasures. After all, truly powerful trial-takers were rare, so most of the high-grade treasures had remained.

He immediately spread out his divine sense, sweeping it frantically across the vault. After a moment, an expression of wild joy flashed across his face!

He extended his right hand and made a grasping motion towards a cabinet in a corner. Instantly, an antique-looking box was drawn over.

Swish!

The Heaven Capital Sword slashed down, splitting the box in two and revealing a teardrop-shaped, azure-blue accessory.

It contained an extremely dense, nearly Dao-like power of the stars.

It was precisely the Star Tear that Gu Qingfeng had been longing for!

"Excellent! My family can finally be saved!"

Overjoyed, Gu Qingfeng carefully put away the Star Tear like a precious treasure. He then began to plunder on a grand scale, sweeping up all sorts of valuable items.

In the end, he even managed to find a bronze token. Its front was engraved with the two ancient characters for "Soaring Immortal," and its back bore the four characters for "Core Disciple."

He surmised that this Core Disciple token must have been a reward from one of the staircase levels. After all, the purpose of the Heavenly Ascent Stairway's existence was to assist in testing disciples for the Soaring Immortal Sect. Once a particularly outstanding disciple reached a certain height, they would naturally receive the Core Disciple token and be promoted to core disciple status.