Following a Hundred Years of Cultivation, I'm dying Before I Got Cheats

Chapter 662: Staircase of Inner Inquiry

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Buzz!

As Jiang Chengxuan stepped onto the staircase, the first step emitted a faint glow.

Instantly, he felt a myriad of emotions buried deep within his heart being drawn out.

Joy, anger, sorrow, excitement, greed, and more.

Fortunately, these evoked emotions were not overwhelmingly strong.

After a while, Jiang Chengxuan managed to suppress them all.

This led Jiang Chengxuan to speculate about the nature of the staircase.

Could it be a Staircase of Inner Inquiry?

Each step seemed to represent a level of testing, and the higher he went, the more challenging it appeared to become.

With this thought in mind, Jiang Chengxuan didn’t hesitate and proceeded to the second step.

Buzz!

Indeed.

The emotions evoked here were noticeably more intense than those from the first step, confirming his guess.

This was indeed a Staircase of Inner Inquiry.

The challenges would increase with each step upwards.

He also had a strong premonition that retreating on this staircase would signify failure and there would be no second chance.

So.

He could only ascend and not descend?

With this realization, Jiang Chengxuan continued upward.

Buzz!

However, the challenge on the next step was no longer just emotional but also included a sense of murderous intent.

That murderous intent could be said to be pure to the extreme, constantly stimulating his nerves.

So much so that his hair stood on end.

Upon reaching the ninth step, a scene of a tumultuous battlefield unfolded before his eyes.

Countless floating warships soared in the sky, firing spiritual Qi cannons and beams of rune light crisscrossed in the air.

Large chunks of blood and limbs were scattered everywhere.

Even Jiang Chengxuan himself was covered in wounds amidst such a large-scale war.

His body was riddled with countless injuries.

It was only after some time, when Jiang Chengxuan emerged from this illusion, that he realized he was still standing on the ninth step.

There were no floating battleships or a body covered in wounds.

It was all fake.

Yet, Jiang Chengxuan felt a slight chill in his heart.

He clearly understood that if he had continued to immerse himself in the atmosphere of that war and couldn’t detach from it, the so-called illusion might very well have become reality.

This meant that the Staircase of Inner Inquiry was not entirely without danger.

Once the illusions here exceeded one’s limit of endurance, one might truly fall into that illusory world.

At that time, no one knew what would happen.

Realizing this, Jiang Chengxuan became even more cautious about the Staircase of Inner Inquiry in front of him.

But he had no intention of backing out.

He was curious now.

What would happen if he passed through this enormous Staircase of Inner Inquiry and reached the top?

What different view would he see then?

What different view would he see then?

Buzz!

Different from the previous nine steps, when Jiang Chengxuan stood on the tenth step, his mind was filled with extremely erotic images.

Various beautifully dressed women danced before him.

Jiang Chengxuan could even distinctly smell the faint fragrance emanating from these beautiful women.

His body unconsciously reacted to the situation.

Fortunately, his consciousness was not truly deceived by the scene before his eyes.

However, he knew that this was just the beginning.

As he continued to ascend, the erotic scenes intensified.

In the end, even someone as strong-willed as him almost fell for it.

Luckily, he managed to overcome this challenge in the end.

When he was about to step onto the twentieth step, several streaks of light suddenly appeared not far from the Staircase of Inner Inquiry.

Among them were familiar faces like Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing.

Additionally, there were a few individuals from the Eastern End and the Central Plain.

One was Chu Xinghe from the Eastern End’s Chu family, and the other was Wu Xin from the Central Plain.

When the two sides met, it was naturally unavoidable for them to be at daggers drawn.

However, soon their attention was drawn to Jiang Chengxuan on the Staircase of Inner Inquiry.

Their eyes met.

Jiang Chengxuan ignored Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin and communicated through voice transmission, explaining the situation of the Staircase of Inner Inquiry to Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing.

Of course.

He did not go into details, simply informing them that the staircase was a test of one’s heart.

As for the specific nature of the test, Jiang Chengxuan did not elaborate.

After all, he could not be sure whether the test experienced by those who ascended the staircase would be exactly the same.

If not, it would mislead Heavenly Lord Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing.

The losses outweighed the gains.

Upon learning about the Staircase of Inner Inquiry, Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing did not hesitate.

They immediately stepped onto the staircase.

Seeing this, Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin were surprised.

They didn’t expect Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing to decisively ascend the staircase.

This caused Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin to exchange glances, their eyes flickering with uncertainty.

The next moment, without a moment’s hesitation, the two launched an attack on Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing, who had already stepped onto the Staircase of Inner Inquiry.

A terrifying radiance blossomed, with a whisk and a pagoda aimed simultaneously at Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing on the staircase.

Buzz!

However, unexpectedly, just as their attacks were about to reach Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing, a radiant light suddenly emerged from the staircase.

With two thuds, the attacks from Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin were repelled, not affecting Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing in the slightest.

Seeing that, Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin were taken aback.

They had never expected such a turn of events.

It became clear that as long as someone was on the Staircase of Inner Inquiry, they would not be affected by external attacks.

If that was the case…

Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin looked at each other again.

Without any hesitation, the two of them stepped onto the staircase as well.

However, unlike Xuan Yang and Dongfang Tianxing, Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin, who were unaware of the staircase’s nature, almost stumbled and fell as soon as they stepped onto it, barely maintaining their balance.

They were shocked to find that the staircase could amplify their inner emotions.

Once they recovered from the surge of emotions, their gazes instinctively turned towards Jiang Chengxuan, who was already on the twentieth step.

That guy had already reached the twentieth step.

They wondered what he had experienced on the previous steps and realized that this place might hold immense opportunities.

Seeing Jiang Chengxuan already far ahead of them evoked a sense of urgency in the others.

What if the opportunity at this place was only available to the first person who reached the top?

Would that mean the rest of them were just running along in vain?

This concern was heightened when they saw Jiang Chengxuan ascend another step in such a short time.

However, what Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin didn’t realize was that on this Staircase of Inner Inquiry, the most important thing was not to be impatient.

Once you become hasty, anything could happen in the process ahead, especially when your inner emotions are infinitely amplified by the steps of the staircase.

A slight misstep could easily lead to losing one’s mind, and such a state is often not easily noticeable in the early stages.

By the time one realizes it, it might be too late.

Just like that.

Several hours passed.

Jiang Chengxuan had already arrived at the 37th step.

As for Heavenly Lord Xuan Yang, Dongfang Tianxing, and Chu Xinghe, they had only reached the sixth and seventh steps.

None of them had reached the tenth step.

This gap between them and Jiang Chengxuan was evident.

Initially, Jiang Chengxuan was moving up a step at a time seamlessly.

Only when he reached the 20th step did he begin to slow down.

As Jiang Chengxuan was about to step onto the thirty-eighth step, several streaks of light suddenly flew through the sky from a distance.

The person flying at the front was none other than Jiang Chengxuan’s Dao companion, Shen Ruyan.

Behind her were Murong Xian, Heavenly Lord Infinite Ocean, and Heavenly Lord Everlasting Mountain.

At this moment, the groups from the Northern Border and the Western Desert had all gathered.

When they saw Jiang Chengxuan, Heavenly Lord Xuan Yang, Dongfang Tianxing, Chu Xinghe, and Wu Xin on the Staircase of Inner Inquiry, they all revealed a look of shock.

They did not expect Jiang Chengxuan and the others to be so harmonious with Chu Xinghe and Wu Xin on the Staircase of Inner Inquiry.

There must be something that they did not know.

At that thought, Shen Ruyan and the others subconsciously looked at Jiang Chengxuan, who was already on the 38th step..