Chapter 40 - Immortal Ascension Assembly
No one had expected that Luo Hongyu, who had seemingly vanished into thin air for a day, would rush back at the very last moment of the final day.
Luo Hongyu, who had never before taken the initiative to challenge others, for the first time ever, proactively stepped onto the arena stage.
The top nine names on the Jade Ní Ranking were called out by her one by one.
Now, the first on the Jade Ní Ranking had fallen before her. Luo Hongyu sheathed her sword and looked towards Lan Yu in the sky.
"This being the case, may I then be the first person to ascend the Immortal Ascension Platform?"
"It should rightly be so."
Lan Yu's voice came from above.
"On what grounds!"
Suddenly, a person leaped onto the Immortal Ascension Platform, pointed at Luo Hongyu, and shouted loudly.
It should be someone from Shangxuan Palace who hadn't been completely wiped out; Luo Hongyu wasn't too clear.
"My Shangxuan Palace's Dao Child died a violent death, and to this day, no one has given an explanation! Afterwards, five more disciples died before your Sword Sect's gate, leaving only husks behind, clearly the work of evil arts!"
"What kind of Sword Sect Young Master are you!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the area below the stage was also in an uproar.
In fact, the matter of Shangxuan Palace, and also Shen Huai, who was confirmed to have died under Luo Hongyu's sword, had been hotly discussed topics these past few days.
Yet, Luo Hongyu's side had given no response at all, and she had even disappeared for a few days in between...
Although everyone knew this matter was full of suspicious points, seeing the Sword Sect's such overbearing attitude of not responding, it was hard to avoid some critical remarks.
Luo Hongyu looked at this Shangxuan Palace disciple before her, who was beside himself with anger, and said faintly:
"The rights and wrongs—after the Immortal Ascension Assembly, I will give an explanation."
"Now, don't block me."
"You..."
"I said, don't block me."
"......"
Luo Hongyu looked towards Lan Yu again.
"May I continue?"
"Naturally, there is no reason why not."
Lan Yu's voice drifted out leisurely. Afterwards... Dong.
A dull striking sound rang in the hearts of everyone present.
Luo Hongyu felt the Immortal Ascension Platform beneath her feet undergo some kind of profound and mysterious change.
And in the perception of those below the stage, it was an incomparably colossal aura descending from the clouds.
Like a giant beast opening its eyes from an unseen place, leisurely gazing down upon the mortal world below.
"Not cultivating leads to mortal death; [cultivating] is for longevity."
"Unlike sorrow and hatred, one should seek eternity."
"This is the Path of the Dao, and also the Homeland of Dharma."
"Cangwu Dome, the road to immortality is long.”
"Once gone from here, ask not of the vast unknown."
Five sentences, like the tolling of a bell, appeared in everyone's ears; what each person heard was a different voice.
Appearing along with these five sentences was a small golden sapling.
Scattered specks of light danced around its body; it just appeared out of thin air on the stage, appearing before Luo Hongyu.
Afterwards, this sapling, accompanied by an earth-shaking and mountain-swaying momentum, began to grow at an extremely rapid speed.
The branches it grew seemed to carry the roar of dragon-elephant fierce beasts, and under a vast and mighty display of power, they tightly intertwined.
After just a short while, this sapling grew into a giant golden heavenly ladder, leading straight up to the distant white clouds above.
A heavenly ladder in the truest sense.
This was the most important part of the Immortal Ascension Assembly.
Ascend the immortal path, listen to the immortal sound.
"The immortal path has opened. How far you can walk depends on yourself."
Lan Yu, holding the dragon-head staff, descended onto the stage and said to Luo Hongyu.
"Young Master Luo, as the leader, and it being your first time participating in the Immortal Ascension Assembly, today I can permit you to ascend the ladder alone. Tomorrow, it will be opened for the other talented individuals on the ranking."
"......"
Luo Hongyu neither expressed thanks nor said anything else. She glanced at Lan Yu's still composed expression, sheathed her sword, and walked towards the heavenly ladder.
...
"You are Luo Hongyu."
"You were born into a powerful mortal immortal family; you were innately endowed with talent and comprehension far surpassing others."
Ascending the heavenly ladder, it was as if entering another world.
Luo Hongyu walked upwards step by step; before her was no longer the Star Moon Pavilion.
But rather, one after another, courtyards floating in the sky, majestic great halls, from which indistinct sounds of conversation occasionally drifted out.
The steps beneath her feet carried a heavy restraint, but for Luo Hongyu... it was still like walking on flat ground.
A voice, her own, as she advanced step by step, was narrating her past to her.
"Your understanding of the sword is particularly extraordinary; even with the most ordinary iron sword, you seem to be able to hear its simple heart's voice."
"In your fifteenth year, you encountered the Lu Lan Sword. You acknowledged it, and it also acknowledged you."
"Thus you, who were born for the sword, for the first time had a personal sword in the truest sense."
"Your subsequent cultivation was smooth all the way, successively breaking through Foundation Establishment, Crystallization..."
"......"
"Finally, you, now, stand upon the Immortal Ascension Platform."
This narration, which seemed to summarize her life up to this point, ended. Luo Hongyu had also finished walking the current flight of stairs and stood before a great hall with red lacquer and golden eaves.
The great doors with beast-head bronze rings opened for her, welcoming her.
But Luo Hongyu did not walk in.
She discerned the direction from which the narration had come and asked towards that place:
"Where is Luo He?”
"......"
"Why, in the life of mine that you spoke of, were other people mentioned, yet Luo He was not?"
"Yes, ah, why indeed."
The narrator's voice was still her own voice.
But at this moment, the tone of that voice seemed to carry a certain sense of relief.
Boom...
Luo Hongyu heard a thunderclap from above the highest heaven. She looked back and saw the flight of stairs she had walked up all the way disintegrating layer by layer.
And from the great hall before her, a blurred human figure walked out.
Luo Hongyu couldn't see the figure clearly; a kind of restriction and rule that she completely couldn't understand blocked her perception.
The human figure slowly stood before her.
"The crime of blaspheming Heaven cannot be pardoned."
"Confess your guilt and submit to execution."
A clear female voice entered Luo Hongyu's ears.
Along with these words being spoken, the originally golden flight of stairs was instantly shattered.
What Luo Hongyu saw before her was no longer the unprecedented grand spectacle of immortals' palaces and halls arrayed like constellations.
But rather an ice-cold, majestic, dark sky carrying an irrefutable, stern, and murderous intent.
Luo Hongyu began to plummet towards the ground.
...
"Quick, look! Heavens, what happened! Why did the Heavenly Ladder shatter!"
"That's... Look! Young Master Luo is falling from the sky!"
In the eyes of the outside world, the Heavenly Ladder, which was originally wreathed in immortal qi, was suddenly struck by an unexpected bolt of lightning.
Even though Pavilion Master Lan Yu timely set up a formation to surround the Immortal Ascension Platform, the huge sound emitted at that time still shattered the eardrums of several low-rank cultivators.
The originally clear sky instantly, out of nowhere, transformed into boundless dark clouds that seemed to cover the world.
Within those dark clouds were intermingled figures of lightning and thunder; that terrifying pressure, even a single glance would make one tremble with fear and feel a chill in their heart.
The struck Heavenly Ladder began to gradually collapse; the branches of the giant golden tree continuously fell to the ground, transforming into invisible particles.
As the Heavenly Ladder completely disappeared, Luo Hongyu's tiny figure also plummeted from the sky.
Everyone knew this was a Heavenly Tribulation.
A Heavenly Tribulation overflowing with killing intent, tyrannical to the extreme, that had even shattered the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Ladder.
And this Heavenly Tribulation, without a doubt, was aimed at Luo Hongyu on the stage.
"Hahaha, hahahahaha!! Heaven has eyes, Heaven has eyes, ah!!"
That Shangxuan Palace disciple who had been driven off the stage suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly. He knelt on the ground, piously clasping his hands towards the sky.
"You, Luo Hongyu, killed members of my Shangxuan Palace sect! Others dare not punish you, but Heaven itself will punish you!"
"Hahahahaha!!!"
And Luo Hongyu on the stage, supporting herself with the Lu Lan Sword, slowly stood up.
She listened to the thunder of silent extinction; the fierce wind blew her hair into utter disarray.
The Golden Core within her body was currently in a profound and mysterious state, about to break out of its shell.
She was about to break through.
And this, should be what her father had spoken of—the tribulation at the Immortal Ascension Assembly.