Ye Fei raised an eyebrow, her competitive spirit ignited.
He no longer held back, directly increasing his speed.
Swish, swish, swish.
In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Ye Fei had already surpassed the person and reached second place.
This made the man in the dark brocade robe, observing through the projection stone, even more shocked.
He had absolutely not expected Ye Fei to be able to accelerate further!
Let alone him, the man wearing the jade crown was also stunned.
He had originally thought that relying on his early stage Xuan Yuan second layer cultivation, he could directly take the lead. Who would have thought he would encounter such variables!
Gritting his teeth, he had already taken a mental note of Ye Fei and the woman.
Then, he suddenly began to accelerate as well.
The three of them began to chase and overtake each other.
Half an hour later, all three had climbed half of the stairs.
Now, only half of the steps remained.
However, the further one went, the greater the pressure became.
Even Ye Fei began to feel the strain, sweat beading on his face.
Ye Fei felt as if his feet were cast in lead, almost unable to lift them.
But the other two were not faring any better.
The man wearing the jade crown felt incredibly uncomfortable, struggling to breathe.
He had never endured such hardship in his life.
On the other hand, the woman in the fitted attire gritted her teeth and continued to climb step by step.
Ye Fei thought for a moment and decided to stop where he was, planning to recover before proceeding further.
Just as he began to meditate and prepare to cultivate, the man wearing the jade crown, who had been trailing behind, finally caught up to Ye Fei.
His sweat-soaked face underwent a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree change upon seeing Ye Fei.
"Brat, you dare to compete for the top three with me?"
"I think you're just asking for death!"
"Just watch me as I claim first place!"
With a whoosh, the man directly passed Ye Fei, cast him a contemptuous glance, and then continued forward.
Ye Fei remained expressionless upon hearing his words, only wanting to recover his strength as quickly as possible and catch up to them.
Time flew by, and an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Ye Fei had already recovered more than half of his Yuan Li and set off again.
At this moment, Ye Fei's speed had increased significantly compared to before, forming a stark contrast with the difficult progress of the others.
He took one step at a time, and soon, only about two hundred steps remained unclimbed.
At this point, Ye Fei had also surpassed the man wearing the jade crown, and was only one step away from the woman in the fitted attire at the very front.
The woman at the front heard the whistling sound from behind and instinctively looked back.
She was startled by what she saw.
She hadn't realized when Ye Fei had appeared behind her, only a step away!
Immediately, the woman in the fitted attire felt a sense of urgency.
Gritting her teeth, she once again mobilized the Yuan Li within her body and began to move forward rapidly.
But Ye Fei's speed was too fast!
Moreover, the pressure of these last two hundred steps was increasing with each one. Although she had mobilized her internal Yuan Li to continue forward, her speed inevitably slowed.
Before long, Ye Fei from behind had already surpassed her!
Directly taking the first position!
The woman in the fitted attire was also not one to admit defeat, and immediately gritted her teeth again and climbed upwards.
As she got closer to the finish line, she felt that each step was extremely heavy, and she could barely stand upright anymore.
Ye Fei at the front was also affected, his back slightly hunched.
As for the many people at the very back, they had long since been discouraged by the pressure of the Sky-Climbing Stairs.
The original team of over a thousand people was now reduced to less than a quarter.
Ye Fei steeled himself and mobilized all the Yuan Li within his body, starting to sprint.
"Ha!"
With a roar, Ye Fei pushed forward against the pressure, step by step, and finally, after another hour, reached the nine hundred and ninety-ninth step.
Now, only the last step remained before completing the first assessment.
This final step was also the most challenging part of this assessment.
Just as Ye Fei was about to step his right leg onto the stair, a powerful resistance pushed him back.
He tried several times, but ultimately could not stand on that last step.
Ye Fei had no choice but to stop.
And by some strange impulse, he instinctively looked back, only to discover that the stairs behind him had already disappeared!
Beyond lay a bottomless abyss!
This exerted considerable psychological pressure!
A single misstep and it would all be for naught.
Ye Fei's thoughts raced, but it all happened in an instant.
At this moment, the woman in the fitted attire had also reached the same step as him.
Seeing Ye Fei standing there, she was stunned.
She thought Ye Fei was waiting for her.
"Why don't you step over this last stair?"
"If you do, you'll be first in this round!"
The woman asked in confusion.
As she spoke, she unhesitatingly stepped her left leg onto the final stair.
However, this tentative movement caused her expression to change drastically.
An unprecedented sense of obstruction made her break out in a cold sweat instantly, and her body became uncooperative.
She quickly retracted her left leg.
Ye Fei was not surprised by the outcome at all.
"No wonder you stopped here. It seems I was too careless,"
The woman in the fitted attire shook her head.
With less than an hour remaining of the six-hour limit, Ye Fei did not want to delay any further.
He had already thought of a solution.
"Beautiful lady, I'll see you in the next round!"
Ye Fei said with a grin.
Then, his entire aura changed drastically. The Xuan Tian Jue was activated to its utmost, and with the augmentation of the Fei Yun Steps, his body rapidly leaped forward. Gritting his teeth against the heavy pressure, he stood on the final step!
The man in the dark brocade robe, who had been closely observing the situation, was also stunned by Ye Fei's actions.
Upon reaching the summit of the Sky-Climbing Stairs, Ye Fei felt a sense of complete relaxation, his robes fluttering, exuding an image of an aloof master.
With time to spare, Ye Fei once again sat down to cultivate nearby.
Only after the first assessment concluded did the second assessment officially begin.
After Ye Fei was blindfolded and thrown in, he immediately discarded the black cloth from his eyes and felt that his surroundings had undergone a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree transformation.
He was now standing in a very spacious room, with no decorations whatsoever, completely empty.
The silence was unnerving.
And most importantly, he couldn't use any cultivation techniques here!
His Yuan Li was also sealed.
Despite this, Ye Fei remained extremely calm.
As he observed his surroundings, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps approaching.
Ye Fei immediately retreated a few steps, becoming even more vigilant.