Chapter 536 - 534: Fourth Tier

The white, semi-transparent stairs hung down to the ground, looking quite beautiful.

The only regret was that there were no obvious steps that would allow her to go directly up.

"So, it’s still like what we learned in school?"

Hilia muttered as she concentrated an ice step on the hanging Ascension God Stairs, letting the Magic Puppet go up first, followed by herself.

Once she stepped onto the ice step, the scene drastically changed; the desert and small town vanished, replaced by a bottomless Abyss.

Soon after, Hilia felt the ice step under her feet slowly flashing, showing signs of collapse.

Seeing this, she swiftly concentrated more ice steps in front and quickly ran upwards.

Roar!

An unrecognizable creature flew in from afar, spewing a huge Fireball.

Hilia raised her Magic Staff, and an ice spike shot forth, colliding with the Fireball and exploding violently.

"It’s begun."

Hilia took a deep breath, gathering her full spirit.

As the unknown creature spewing Fireballs appeared, numerous unknown Demons quickly emerged around her.

Some of these Demons interfered by spewing long-range attacks from afar, while others rushed over, directly crashing into the nearby Ascension God Stairs, causing explosions.

Some released special attacks, directly targeting the steps under her feet or the newly concentrated ice steps.

In addition, Hilia saw various situations occurring on the Ascension God Stairs, such as ice steps failing to attach to the Ascension God Stairs, or once attached, they suddenly retracted and disappeared just as she was about to step on them.

The various situations were beyond defensive measures.

Fortunately, with the school’s Divine Realm simulations and Rose’s guidance, Hilia was somewhat prepared for various traps, so she did not fall into the Abyss.

Nonetheless, when she progressed halfway, she was already feeling numb and out of breath.

She looked toward the top of the Ascension God Stairs, blinking.

"Why does it feel like it’s gotten taller?"

Hilia had always kept track of how long she had been walking.

She could confirm that according to the original height of the Ascension God Stairs, she should have reached the top by now.

However...

Looking at the seemingly unchanged top of the stairs, Hilia fell into self-doubt.

She kept moving, continuing to prevent the ice layer from disappearing.

Meanwhile, she slightly diverted her attention to observe the situation below.

Unfortunately, the Ascension God Stairs had already removed all the ice steps beneath her, and looking down from here, she saw only an endless Abyss, unable to discern how much height she had ascended.

Feeling her dwindling Magic Power, Hilia gritted her teeth.

"No! I refuse to believe it!"

Every time she managed to clear the Ascension trial, it was only by letting Rose handle it towards the end, and Hilia didn’t want to do that.

She didn’t believe she couldn’t complete the Ascension trial on her own strength!

Boom!

A Fireball suddenly appeared, striking the Ascension God Stairs behind her.

In the next moment, all the ice steps shattered completely, and Hilia, careless, fell down with the Magic Puppet.

Hilia didn’t panic; she gritted her teeth and waved her Magic Staff, concentrating a massive ice platform beneath her to prevent herself and the Magic Puppet from falling.

Afterward, ignoring the pain in her backside, she swiftly concentrated more ice steps in front, stood up quickly, and climbed onto the ice steps ahead awkwardly.

The very next second, the large ice platform shattered.

The Ascension God Stairs did not support her constructing large platforms, only small steps.

The girl continued forward, sweat streaming down her cheeks.

Rose’s voice sounded in her ears: "If you can’t hold on, just say so."

"No, I can still hold on!"

Hilia stubbornly replied.

And she continued forward.

After a while.

Hilia felt her Magic Power was nearly drained.

And the Ascension God Stairs above were still out of reach, seemingly unchanged in position.

At this time, countless flying Demons emerged around the Ascension God Stairs, eyeing her fiercely, ready to attack her or the ice steps and knock her down.

"Why is it?"

Hilia despaired.

Why is it still so far?

She found that compared to this situation of just taking hits, even with the challenging Demons in the second to third-tier Ascension trial, they became quite favorable.

At least she could fight through it.

Rose’s teasing voice came through: "Didn’t you just say that the Ascension God Stairs were simple?"

Hilia fell silent.

Rose smiled, just watching her like that.

Crack!

Cracks appeared on the ice steps beneath her feet; Hilia used her last bit of Magic Power to concentrate new steps, then gave up trying.

"Please, Master Rose."

The girl relinquished control of her body.

In the next moment, she perceived from an observer’s perspective as the dry Magic Power within her quickly replenished.

The Magic Puppet was withdrawn, no longer needed to scout ahead.

And then, Hilia felt Rose concentrating a layer of ice with strong adhesion under her feet, and then...

Started running.

The girl widened her eyes.

"Can it be done like this?"

In her perception, the frost beneath her feet formed a connecting point between her foot and the Ascension God Stairs as she took each step, just enough to support one foot.

Rose did not directly treat the Ascension God Stairs as flat ground, running straight up; he angled his ascent differently than Hilia, who concentrated step by step to climb, as he ran and concentrated simultaneously, pinning the steps wherever his feet landed.

Rose spoke leisurely: "This is the correct way to ascend. Though usable only in the Divine Realm, it saves 80% of Magic Power; with your Magic Power, you can reach the top."

Hilia felt the Magic Power condensed from the outside gathering at her feet, and Rose only used a small amount to form stable steps.

"The textbooks didn’t say this..." Hilia murmured.

She had a feeling that if Rose wanted, he needn’t even concentrate any steps; he could treat the Ascension God Stairs as flat ground, disregarding gravity, running diagonally upwards...

But Rose didn’t do that, and she wasn’t sure if it was possible.

But it was certain that Rose was much more agile than her.

He easily dodged any suddenly appearing Demons and attacks.

If accidentally stepping into one of the Ascension God Stairs’ traps, his palms formed layers of strong adhesive frost that adhered to the stairs, allowing him to hang temporarily without falling.

Hilia watched intently, gradually becoming absorbed.

Until a certain moment, she perceived she regained control of her body.

Coming to her senses, she found herself standing atop the Ascension God Stairs.

She stared blankly, looking around, her view expansive.

Below, the bottomless Abyss had disappeared; the scene of the desert and small town had returned, the night sky above vanished, replaced by a suspended sun overhead.

From here, she could overlook the residents in the small town reappearing, bustling about.

Outside the town, she occasionally saw small creatures like yellow scorpions and sand worms scurrying across the sandy ground.

The Star Spirit Tree bathed her in light; streams of power came from all directions, entering her body, her momentum climbing steadily.

Fourth tier!