Sage of Humanity

Ning Gu said, "Fellow Daoist, please hear me out."

Lu Ye immediately showed a demeanor of listening attentively.

"Actually, before you came over, we had already discussed among ourselves. I will stay on the lowest level of the staircase, but the next level requires either you or Junior Sister Shuang to remain, because aside from you two, the cultivation of others is insufficient. Rashly staying will only increase risk. As for exactly who will stay, you and Junior Sister Shuang need to draw lots separately. Explaining it like this, perhaps Fellow Daoist understands?"

The Junior Sister Shuang he mentioned is his female cultivator companion, who shares the same Peak Dao Fusion cultivation as him.

Lu Ye didn't expect Ning Gu to be so selfless, willing to remain on the most pressured level. It's essentially giving up the contest for the exotic treasure. If that's the case, he really can't say much.

They are all trapped here, and since they want to get out, of course, they must work together.

He and Junior Sister Shuang drawing lots separately means a fifty-fifty chance; whoever has bad luck has to stay on the next level of the staircase.

"Understood." Lu Ye nodded, "But Fellow Daoist Ning, I have another question."

Ning Gu showed great patience, likely not wishing to remain trapped here any longer. Now that Lu Ye finally arrived, if Lu Ye doesn't cooperate, who knows when the next cultivator will enter. Being trapped here are those with a penchant for curiosity...

"Can you be certain that using this method, we can leave here?"

Ning Gu shook his head, "Everything is our speculation; no one can guarantee that we will be able to leave once the door is open. But given our current situation, we can only take a gamble, right?"

If Ning Gu took charge alone, Lu Ye might not believe it, but his words were reasonable, and Lu Ye found no suspicious points.

"Then let's do as Fellow Daoist suggests."

Ning Gu smiled, "Two rounds of drawing lots, relying on luck. Since Ning is not participating in the draw, I will host. But rest assured, Ning will not tamper with anything. Everyone's wish is the same now—to leave here quickly." He turned to look at the many trapped cultivators, "If there are no issues, shall we begin?"

"Let's begin."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Ning."

Everyone responded.

Ning Gu immediately extracted two jade fortune sticks from his storage ring, rubbed them lightly in his hand, and with the palm's cover, concealed the latter part of the sticks, revealing only equal portions, handing them to Lu Ye and Junior Sister Shuang, "The one with the shorter stick stays on the next level of the staircase. Who goes first?"

Lu Ye was eager to take the lead, "I'll go first!"

Although under the gaze of everyone, any fluctuation of power from Ning Gu could be easily spotted, preventing tampering, it's always better to be cautious. If Junior Sister Shuang goes first, there might be an advantage he could exploit.

Junior Sister Shuang did not contest.

Lu Ye intently observed the two jade fortune sticks. In such a situation, he couldn't resort to any power to secretly examine them and could only rely on his eyes.

He found that the exposed parts of the two fortune sticks showed no difference.

With this, it truly comes down to luck.

He casually drew one out, and upon close inspection, it was roughly about a finger's length.

Ning Gu displayed the other fortune stick, which was considerably shorter.

Lu Ye couldn't help but raise his eyebrows; his luck was good.

Ning Gu nodded, "Then Junior Sister Shuang will stay on the lower two levels with me. As for the others, let's draw lots again!"

He then extracted more jade fortune sticks from his storage ring and began the process.

Each cultivator came forward to select one.

After one round, upon comparison, those who drew the longest stick were overjoyed, for it meant they would be the last to ascend the staircase, and the exotic treasure would fall into their hands.

Lu Ye's luck was neither good nor bad; if counting positions, he should be on the eighth level of the staircase from the bottom. This position is already quite close to the end.

"Fellow Daoist Ning, I have another question." Lu Ye looked toward Ning Gu.

Ning Gu nodded, "Fellow Daoist, speak freely."

"What if I am not at 9th Order Dao Fusion, but only at 2nd-3rd Order Dao Fusion?"

The basis for the first round of drawing lots is his ability to withstand the pressure of the lowest two levels of the staircase. If he were only at 2nd-3rd Order Dao Fusion, he certainly couldn't, and the first round of drawing lots wouldn't happen.

"If that were the case, then only Junior Sister Shuang and I would stay at the bottom. But since Fellow Daoist is at 9th Order Dao Fusion, it's only fair to give Junior Sister Shuang a fair chance, don't you think?" Ning Gu smiled as he looked at him.

Lu Ye nodded, "Fellow Daoist Ning is honorable!"

Ning Gu said no more and turned to the cultivators, "If there are no other questions, then please, Fellow Daoists, take your positions!"

As he spoke, he took the lead to walk up the staircase and stood firm!

Everyone else naturally had no objections. Lu Ye was the last to enter, and some had been trapped for a long time. Now, finally having the chance to leave, they were naturally eager.

Following Ning Gu was Junior Sister Shuang, who walked up to the next level and stood there expressionlessly.

Then the third, fourth...

Until the first seven levels had people standing on them, only then did Lu Ye begin to move.

When passing Ning Gu, he deliberately observed and found that Ning Gu was indeed showing signs of enduring great pressure. However, for someone at Peak Dao Fusion, although the pressure was significant, it was clearly still within tolerable limits.

Junior Sister Shuang was the same, her expression, which had always been unchanged, now showed signs of some hidden pressure.

Very soon, Lu Ye moved past everyone and stood on the eighth step of the staircase.

When he tried to move further up, he found he couldn't.

The staircase above seemed to have an invisible barrier blocking his path forward.

Not only that, standing on this step, he was unable to move, as if he were stuck there, his strength imprisoned within his body.

Lu Ye couldn't quite understand why this trap had such characteristics. What did this kind of trap test? Human nature?

As Lu Ye stood firm, the ninth person began to move.

Then the tenth person, eleventh person...

Until the last cultivator ascended, everyone watched him, hoping that whether they could leave this place would depend on this last effort.

This person was extremely fortunate; among eleven lottery draws, he managed to draw the longest stick, quickly climbing to the top of the staircase.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he reached out with his hand and fetched the token from the hazy ball of light, his face filled with delight.

"Fellow Daoist, quickly open the door!" urged a Dao Fusion cultivator.

Now that the exotic treasure has been taken, if the door cannot be opened to escape, it would be a huge loss.

At this moment, Lu Ye suddenly discovered to his surprise that when the last person stepped onto the top of the staircase, his imprisoned power inside him regained its freedom and began to flow again.

Not only that, he found he could move.

However, he could only move back and forth on his current step and could not move upward...

Lu Ye did not try to move down, because based on the nature of this trap, if he really took a step down, it might undo all their previous efforts, so it was better not to try.

The Dao Fusion cultivator at the top, after collecting the exotic treasure, began to push the door open. It looked difficult, but the door was indeed opening slowly!

Everyone was overjoyed!

Suddenly, there was a commotion from below.

Lu Ye looked down and saw that on the lowest step, one of Ning Gu's arms had somehow broken off and fallen to the ground, yet strangely, not a drop of blood flowed out.

Startled, Lu Ye instinctively thought Ning Gu had been attacked.

But he quickly found something amiss because the severed arm on the ground twisted and transformed into another Ning Gu!

Once this Ning Gu appeared, he swiftly rushed upward with incredible speed.

A doppelganger? Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

The Clone Technique wasn't a particularly profound secret technique; many cultivators practiced it, but there were many types. In the cultivation world, it's quite common for someone like Ning Gu to refine a part of their body into a doppelganger.

This kind of doppelganger can typically exert at least seventy percent of the original's strength, and when cultivated to a high level, it's possible to achieve ninety percent.

This is a very potent clone technique.

It has significant advantages, but also drawbacks. If the doppelganger is destroyed, the original body will be significantly affected, and its strength will be diminished.

From the moment they met, Ning Gu had portrayed himself as the epitome of fairness and selflessness. Lu Ye hadn't noticed anything amiss, but instinctively felt something was wrong. Such cultivators do exist in the cultivation world, but they are exceedingly rare.

Moreover, in that situation, if Ning Gu had joined forces with the others to pressure Lu Ye to stay on a lower step, Lu Ye wouldn't have had a choice.

Yet he didn't do so. Instead, he allowed Lu Ye and Junior Sister Shuang to draw lots separately.

And he himself chose to remain at the bottom.

Now it seems that the so-called selflessness was just a facade, because even when staying at the bottom, Ning Gu had a backup plan!

This doppelganger was his backup plan.

Who wouldn't want the exotic treasure? His peak Dao Fusion strength, even if the doppelganger could only exert seventy percent, would still give him the strength of 140 levels of the Power of the Path without using Dao soldiers.

This was not something the average Dao Fusion cultivator could resist.

Clearly, he had planned this in advance, so he acted the moment the Dao Fusion cultivator at the top began to push open the door.

The doppelganger crossed the sixth and seventh steps in an instant, moving so fast that most people didn't have time to react. Even those who did hesitate, frowned, and didn't dare to stop him.

Because even if they could discern Ning Gu's intentions at that moment, they dared not offend him casually. After all, Ning Gu was targeting the Dao Fusion cultivator at the top, and it didn't concern them, so they kept their distance.

Ning Gu's doppelganger quickly charged to the step where Lu Ye was, his face full of wary determination.

He could ignore everyone else, because even relying only on the doppelganger, those Dao Fusion cultivators were not his opponents. During the time they were trapped, he had already figured out their cultivation strength.

Except for Lu Ye... His 9th Order Dao Fusion was not an opponent his doppelganger could contend with.

But he was confident that as long as Lu Ye was a smart person, he wouldn't try to stop him.

Indeed, Lu Ye showed no intention of stopping him, allowing his doppelganger to pass by his side.