Lin Ming quickly flew to the middle section of the White Jade Stair, at which point a gloomy voice sounded in his ear, "Youngster, you have some skill, I underestimated you."

  Lin Ming turned his head and saw that the king of Huo Luo, Wang Wu, was following closely behind him, also with a relaxed expression, apparently not using his full strength.

  "You're not bad either." Lin Ming said casually.

  Hearing Lin Ming's casual tone, Wang Wu snorted, "See how long you can keep being so arrogant."

  Near the middle section of the white jade stone steps, the number of warriors increased significantly, and some warriors lingered here, advancing slowly.

  Lin Ming discovered this anomaly, but he didn't slow down his speed, still moving at a steady pace towards the mountain gate.

  "Go ahead and try your best, I'm waiting to see you get embarrassed." Wang Wu cursed in his heart. On the middle section of the white jade stone steps, there was a small trap. If one wasn't careful, they would suffer a hidden loss. Although Lin Ming's strength wouldn't lead to immediate defeat, it could still make him lose face, which was also not bad.

  The warriors around saw Lin Ming rushing to the middle of the stone steps and thought, "This kid still doesn't know there's an ambush over there."

  "Even a seasoned warrior of the Condensation Period would need to make thorough preparations before going there, otherwise they would be caught off guard."

  People use Yuanyuan's voice to discuss and balance their dissatisfaction after being surpassed.

  Lin Ming stepped over the middle point of the white jade stone steps, and he had already discovered that something was off here. Even when Ouyang Ming and Jiang Bo Yun came to this place, they lingered for a few breaths, not rushing through in one go.

  "It turned out that there was an independent Phantom Killing Array here." Lin Ming felt the array symbols on the stone platform suddenly lit up, and a stream of yuanqi shot out from the array method, shooting straight at him.

  Lin Ming's soul force swept out, his attack power roughly equivalent to the full-force strike of a weakest Condensing Void stage warrior. Although he could block it without issue, being able to dodge would naturally be less strenuous.

  With the pace of a Golden Peng breaking through the void, Lin Ming's body was as light as nothing under the blessing of the Wind Intent. His movements were swift and his attacks with Yuan Qi all fell short. Because he was too fast, Lin Ming's body left behind afterimages, weaving in and out of the dense Yuan Qi flows. In just a few breaths' time, he had dodged all the Yuan Qi flow attacks.

  "Everyone hide?"

  "How can one possibly dodge? Even a seasoned cultivator of the Condensing Pulse stage would only be able to rely on their thick True Essence to forcibly resist the attack. The gravity is too strong, making it impossible to dodge."

  "What a freakish physique, just talking about physique, it's absolutely not inferior to the genius of Qixuan Valley, but I don't know how his combat power is."

  Several young heroes were discussing, when a white-clad youth smiled and said: "You're wrong, he can dodge the Yuanqi flow's attack not because of his agility, but because of his powerful soul force. Through his soul force, he can predict the trajectory of the Yuanqi flow's attack in advance, calculate the avoidance route, and this person is a genius of soul force. I once saw him make a move at Nanhu Building, and even those of the same level as him, including Ouyang Ziyun from Qixing Valley, were instantly defeated."

  "What? Defeated in seconds by Ouyang Ziyun? So that's what happened, I heard the leader of the Huahuan Sect, Ouyang Ziyun, was beaten up by someone. It was him after all..."

  There were not a few disciples of the Seven Profound Valleys present, and they had already learned about Ou Yang Zi Yun being severely injured. As for the other six major sects, they would naturally not miss the opportunity to mock the Union of Joyous Sect, so the news of Ou Yang Zi Yun's severe injury had long since spread throughout the Seven Profound Valleys.

  After the most discussion, some warriors nearby all secretly paid attention to Lin Ming, especially those below the Condensing Void stage even began to consider whether they should concede in advance if they encountered Lin Ming, they didn't think their strength was stronger than Ouyang Ziyun's.

  After passing the middle checkpoint of the Jade Stone Steps, there were no more obstacles. Lin Ming rose rapidly and soon arrived at the mountain gate. Because Lin Ming had intentionally concealed his strength and started a bit later, when he arrived at the mountain gate, there were already seventy or eighty people gathered here. More than 90% of them were disciples of the Union of Joy Sect, while those from the Thirty-six Countries and the Xiuwu Family only made up a very small portion.

  Lin Ming was well aware that those who could stand here ahead of time were not necessarily stronger than those still on the Jade Stone Steps. The mountain gate was just a pass, and as long as one passed, it was enough. There were many people like him who hid their strength, and for many unnamed warriors, it was not a good thing to attract attention too early, lest they become the target of public criticism.

  The incense burned out three-quarters of the way, and the Phantom Kill Array in the middle of the jade stone steps eliminated a large number of warriors. Many people came here and were directly hit by the Yuanqi Flow, leaving them weak and feeble. Fortunately, the attack pattern of this Yuanqi Flow was special, causing only some minor injuries, not fatal, otherwise many warriors would have fallen in this round.

  Zhou Yu and Liang Long climbed up here like old men, watching as one by one, martial artists faster than them fell short. The two exchanged a glance, their faces filled with bitter smiles. They had also figured it out - Qinzi Ya had brought them along just to fill the quota of five people, never expecting them to pass the Mountain Gate Barrier.

  "What to do, can't get through?" Liang Long looked at the two warriors in front of him being blown away by the Yuan Qi flow, his heart feeling anxious. The slower the warrior's speed, the weaker their strength. At this point, very few people could pass through the Yuan Qi flow, and most were blown away.

  Zhou Yu gritted his teeth and said, "We must get through! How can we not? We've come all this way, even if we know it's impossible to pass, we have to try. If we give up now, wouldn't that be a betrayal of our own martial arts spirit? Without leaving Tianyun Country, I had no idea the gap was so huge. Now that I think about it, we were really narrow-minded!"

  The disciples of the four major martial arts families around Tianyun Country always carried a faint sense of superiority. Now, Zhou Yu finally understood that even if they were the disciples of these martial arts families, let alone the four families themselves, in the entire Seven Mysteries region, they were just tiny ants. The distance spanning tens of thousands of miles was greater than their family's history and legacy, and there were countless other families with longer histories.

  One foot stepped on the middle of the jade stone steps, and the yuanqi flow immediately enveloped down, Zhou Yu and Liang Long only resisted a few times before being knocked flying, along with them were several other warriors who flew up, some people were knocked flying once but got up again and advanced forward.

  Some people gave up after being knocked down once, and some were even too afraid to try because they knew they wouldn't make it.

  All of this fell into Lin Ming's eyes, those warriors who tried again and again, failed again and again, made him feel a sense of melancholy in his heart. At some point in the past, he was just like them, for a goal that was hard to reach even with a lifetime of effort, countless attempts, countless failures.

  For a faint glimmer of hope, one stakes everything on the path of martial arts.

  Including the realm of gods, there are countless planes, and the number of warriors is as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River, but those who stand at the top can be counted on one's fingers.

  It takes perseverance, talent and opportunity to get to this point!

  Opportunities are only reserved for those who are prepared; otherwise, even if opportunities are obtained, they will be useless.

  The three valley masters of the Seven Mysterious Valleys still stood high above on the Spirit Boat, looking down at the struggling warriors below with indifference, just as humans would ignore ants.

  At this time, the incense was burning slower and slower. Although only a quarter of it was left, there were still two and a half feet in length. Lin Ming estimated that at this speed, it would take at least half an hour to burn out.

  Originally, time was sufficient. Lin Ming suddenly realized that the closure of the mountain gate was a test in itself, allowing those young and confident geniuses to understand their gap with true talents. If they were hit hard and gave up climbing, they would also lose their qualification to pursue martial arts.

  This is a great wave that washes away the sand, and those who stay will get a spiritual exercise, while those who are eliminated may never recover.

  Looking at the geniuses who had already reached the mountain gate beside him, they looked down at the warriors struggling below, their eyes with a hint of disdain. This disdainful gaze was also a stimulus to those warriors on the jade stone steps who were once also shrouded in the halo of genius.

  They who have always been used to being high and mighty, when have they ever suffered such contempt?

  Noticing the gaze of these geniuses, Lin Ming couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion. These people were only considered geniuses in the Seven Profound Territory and had the qualifications to look down on others with disdain. If they were to go to an even higher level territory, they would probably only be qualified to climb the Jade Stone Stairs.

  Take Mu Qianyu for example, at the age of 15 she had Congming, at 17 she had Hou Tian, and at 22 she had Xian Tian. If it were 20-year-old Mu Qianyu standing here, all the geniuses present, including the three valley masters of Qiuxuan Valley, would be overshadowed!

  At the moment Lin Ming was feeling emotional, Qin Xuan's face flushed as he finally climbed up to the mountain gate. Seeing Qin Xuan drenched in sweat, Lin Ming smiled with relief and walked up to him, handing over a bottle of True Essence Recovery Pills.

  Although barely passing, Qin Xuan's age and her mere mid-stage Bone Forging cultivation were enough to shock people.

  Half a time later, the Shanmen Pass finally ended, and many warriors fell on the steps, no matter how hard they tried, but they could not step onto the Shanmen. Liang Long and Zhou Yu ultimately failed to pass the test as well.

  In the end, only over 200 martial artists were left, with an elimination rate of nearly 60%. Among these 200 people, more than 70% were disciples of the Seven Mysteries Valley. The Thirty-six Countries and the Sixteen Families of Martial Arts had only a few dozen people left, and even many Condensed Pulse initial-stage martial artists were eliminated. They couldn't pass the Yuanqi Flow stage. Each of the Yuanqi Flows was equivalent to the full-strength attack of a weak Condensed Pulse period martial artist. Dozens of consecutive Yuanqi Flows, and low-strength Condensed Pulse initial-stage martial artists simply couldn't withstand it.

  Tianyun Country was left with Ling Sen, Lin Ming and Qin Xingxuan, who stood out among the thirty-six countries. It's worth noting that nearly half of the countries had no harvest, only countries like Huo Luo and Jing Xiang, which had ten quotas, could leave three disciples.

  The Tianyun Kingdom was originally in the middle of the thirty-six kingdoms, and it's unexpected that they can achieve such a result this time.

  As for the 16th repair Wu family, the situation is slightly better than that of the 36 countries. Generally, an old family will have a disciple who is specially trained, so at least one person can be left behind. Some slightly larger families may even leave two or three people.