Seized by the System

Cang Gongzi entered the Divine Gate.

He remained standing on the first step, not moving for a long time.

After a while, a white energy hovered around his body.

As if he suddenly came to his senses, he lifted his feet off from the first step.

All the demons cheered upon seeing this and spread the news around. In their eyes, it was a triumph against humans. It seemed to them that the future Earth would be dominated by their demonkind.

However, Cang Gongzi hesitated a few times and lowered his foot again. All the demons felt confused.

Then, he turned away from the Divine Gate and walked away…

Elder Ancestor Bai’s face turned a pallid green. He could not say a single word.

“Is this rat trying to tease us demons?!”

“Damn it, I knew a domesticated demon like him would be unreliable!”

“Demons, 1 entered, 9 remaining, ascension progress 0.”

When the demons saw the notification above the Divine Gate, they all became furious. Immediately, a few demons stepped out to settle the score with Cang Gongzi!

However, in the next moment, they could only stare blankly at the clueless white hamster.

That was because it was lying on the black dog’s head, happily nibbling on a chestnut, an expression of ‘this has nothing to do with me’ written on its face.

“Hand him over!” a small, ignorant demon shouted at Vigilante A’s lackeys.

“Hmm?” The black dog raised its head and revealed a mouthful of sharp fangs. It fiercely glared at the demon, who immediately backed away.

They then realized that this group had a huge mountain backing them, and suddenly shrunk their heads.

Elder Ancestor Bai pressed his hands in apology and lightly said, “I’m terribly sorry, but the Divine Gate is indeed very difficult. Even one as strong as the Spirit Bear was trapped within the illusion. My son was able to escape from it with difficulty only because of the morality protecting his body. I hope everyone would be magnanimous and forgive that.”

Listening to the Demon Leader saying this, the demons could only drop the matter.

What could they do? Nothing.

“Lord Demon Leader, what do you mean? To be able to escape intact is indeed not an easy feat. The humans are so strong, but they already wasted two spots. We only wasted one…”

These demons said insincerely, but Elder Ancestor Bai’s face still softened.

However, he did not understand why this son had suddenly withdrawn as well.

“Xiao Cang, ask Cang Gongzi why he didn’t climb?” the Dragon Carp asked something that everyone had been thinking.

The white hamster ate the chestnut in his hands with gusto and said casually, “Cang Gongzi said, it’s not that he doesn’t want to climb, but that he can’t climb.”

“That’s it? I don’t understand at all, could he give a more detailed explanation?” the Dragon Carp wondered while swinging its tail.

The white hamster shook its head. “He can’t. Cang Congzi seemed to have realized something and is in isolation now. He’ll explain to you when he comes out.”

Above the Divine Gate, the Azure Dragon was also very confused.

“Richman Host, what’s wrong with that little hamster? Listening to their conversation, there seems to be some sort of profound theory. What did it mean by it can’t climb? All it has to do is step upwards. What’s so hard about that?” Sir System did not understand.

“I guess it has something to do with their background. Looks like this Divine Gate is not ordinary at all. Even the first step after entering has a difficulty as high as the sky… If their souls are not perfect, even if they can break the illusion, they would suffer heavy injuries if they forcefully stepped on the first step.”

Fang Ning worked his brain until it hurt, and forced out an explanation.

“Oh, in that case, who can climb up?” the System asked.

“Looks like only the truly strong will be able to accomplish this. Those weaklings won’t be able to do it.” Fang Ning pondered.

Indeed, at the next moment, the Bodhisattva Spirit King soundlessly appeared at the venue. He seemed to have left the area he guarded to come here and temporarily act as a representative to climb the stairway.

However, Ren Ruofeng said, “Bodhisattva, the difficulty of this stairway is extraordinary. Even four extraordinary figures have been defeated in succession. Perhaps only someone like you would be able to conquer it. Please have a try.”

“Haha, well said, well said.” The Bodhisattva Spirit King looked at the towering Divine Gate and smiled lightly. “There’s only one problem. I won’t be representing you humans. My goals have already aligned with the Spiritual Insects Clan.”

“Ah,” Ren Ruofeng was immediately dumbstruck. He had subconsciously viewed the other party as a fellow human, but he had not imagined that he would have already created his own clan.

He muttered, “No wonder Miss Daqing keeps calling him ‘Father Chong, Father Chong’. Looks like there’s an actual reason for that. Has the Bodhisattva really stopped regarding himself as a human?”

“‘Tis a shame. A human does not choose his own path,” the Bodhisattva Spirit King pressed his palms together and recommended another person, “Tianjing Fawang’s heart lies heavily with the humans. He would be wholly willing to step up on behalf of the humans.”

“That’s good,” Ren Ruofeng breathed a sigh of relief at the words. The first trial of the stairway tested the soul. The 8 representatives he chose were all weaklings. Their cultivation might be tough, but their souls were definitely not perfect.

That Cang Gongzi had quite a lot of dealings and was someone who already established the Path of Religious Cultivation, but he had still failed. The people that he chose would definitely have problems as well, so it would be better to send someone better to find the path first.

There were only 8 spots left. It would be troublesome if the boat ended up capsizing.

After a while, Tianjing Fawang, dressed in a yellow cassock, also left the area he was guarding. He listened to Ren Ruofeng’s words and immediately revealed a look of reluctance.

“What race does Fawang want to represent?” Ren Ruofeng hurriedly asked.

“That’s not it. I’m different from the Bodhisattva. I descended physically without depending on the living beings of this world, so I might not be recognized by this world’s Heavenly Axiom as a human of this world. After entering this Divine Gate, I’m afraid I would be frightened out of my wits. What happens to my body is inconsequential, but I’m worried that I won’t be able to complete my promise to the Upper Realm’s Buddha.” Tianjing Fawang looked at the tall Divine Gate and felt his heart palpitate, and sighed while shaking his head.

“I see. In that case, Fawang mustn’t carelessly enter. I’ll find other people.” Ren Ruofeng naturally would not force him. Besides, Fawang had contributed a lot in maintaining the situation. No matter what his objective was, at least he had done what needed to be done.

The two people with strong souls both had problems, so who should he look for next?

At this moment, Master Ma silently appeared and said with a solemn face, “Looks like I’ll have to recommend myself.”

“Ah,” Ren Ruofeng hesitated. “Master still needs to suppress the other party, so please return. If you end up getting trapped inside, it’ll be much more difficult to suppress so many demons and devils.”

Ren Ruofeng pondered. This man was greedy for riches and fame. If he entered, would he just cause another big joke?

Ai, no matter, that Hero also could not enter anyway.

His greed was no lesser than Old Priest Ma. In fact, it might even be worse.

“Well, in that case, I’ll listen to your words and make myself useful to the best of my abilities.” Master Ma left dejectedly.

As Ren Ruofeng busied himself with choosing, there were already all kinds of big and small creatures that were trapped inside the Divine Gate.

Among them was not a small number of people who did not believe heresy.

The words above the Divine Gate also refreshed constantly.

“Spirits, 3 entered, 7 remaining, ascension progress 0.”

“Demons, 4 entered, 6 remaining, ascension progress 0.”

“Devils, 1 entered, 9 remaining, ascension progress 0.”

No one from the small clans would dare to enter at all.

Seeing how people fell one after another, the momentum finally came to a gradual stop.

They had a total of one month’s time to climb the stairway, but in just three days, so many people had fallen. Every single one from the four great clans had failed!

This harsh fact gave a blow to all those high-spirited beings.

Resources were not that easy to obtain…

A competition was not that easy to win either…

Southwest of the Divine Gate, where the devil clan was.

Master, look at that Nie Yuan. Ever since he entered, he’s been laughing maniacally. I think after he got trapped in the illusion, he thinks he’s dominated the world. He has no fear of Master at all.” Saki Yamanashi said disdainfully.

She secretly felt that her Master’s new subordinate seemed extremely hostile to Lord Azure Dragon. She was instinctively disgusted by him and subconsciously wanted to give him some eye drops.

“Hehe, you’re right, my disciple. The meritorious service this time exposed his large ambition. This stairway is indeed extraordinary,” the Demon Lord Zhi Nan shook his head. “It’s a shame that I’m a being who descended from the Upper Realm and not a soul from this world. I would definitely be restrained if I enter. Otherwise, I want to know the mysteries of this stairway.”

Apparently, the reason he deliberately said he wanted to enter the Divine Gate was to lure Vigilante A into action.

However, his intentions were seen through by Fang Ning. He did not have any intention of entering in the first place… if someone were to enter, it would be anyone but him.

The moment he finished speaking, Black Robe and Claudia turned their attention to Saki Yamanashi. The only native here was this little lady.

Then, the man and woman shook their heads at the same time. How could they put their expectations on her?

Under the first step of that stairway, just how many had become trapped?

Which one of them was not famous and qualified?

What would this teenage girl be able to do?

Black Robe said in worry, “Owner, the power of the devils in this land is small. Can that Hook person really find the person we need in just one month?

“One month is enough. The Americans are talented, and there are 300 million of them in total. We just have to quietly sit back and watch the show. I think there’ll be some who can’t bear to sit quietly anymore.”

…

Indeed, only half a day had passed, but Sir System could no longer sit idly by.

“They keep falling down. Is it really that hard? If this continues, when will it be finished?” The System said in dissatisfaction.

[The System is evaluating…]

[The System is evaluating…]

[The System has decided to climb the stairway…]

Fang Ning hurriedly stopped it. “Sir, please remain calm and wait.”

The System completely ignored him.

The Azure Dragon descended before the Divine Gate, reverted back into Vigilante A’s body, and strutted inside.

The crowd was still discussing how to select the candidates when someone suddenly yelled, “The Venerable Dragon God entered!”

“Huh, so sudden? I haven’t prepared yet.”

“Hurry and record it!”

A group of people chattered and caused a commotion, and very quickly gathered a dozen meters away from the Divine Gate.

Even nearer were the Chinese maintaining order and preventing others from approaching. Otherwise, chaos might erupt if a stampede occurred and people fell from the sky.

“Vigilante A is also trapped at the first step…”

“Eh, he went up?!!”

Everyone was immediately dumbstruck!!

Was it that simple?

Within the Divine Gate, Vigilante A did not spare them a glance. He did not pay any attention to the unfortunate peers around him.

The twelve armed octopus that ended up trapped in its own predicament looked pitifully at him, as if hoping that he would extend a helping hand.

However, he just raised his foot and went up the first step!