1053 Gates of Heaven

After Yuan left the Demon Sealing Clan's Grand Library, Yan Hara also left, returning to the Seventh Heaven where she currently resided.

Upon returning to her own realm, she retrieved multiple communication jade slips and contacted the people with the other jade slips to set up a meeting.

"Fellow sisters of the Divine Paragon Fanclub, I have something urgent to tell all of you. This involves the Divine Paragon and the future of the Demon Sealing Clan. Please meet me at the usual meeting spot as soon as possible. Thank you."

After transmitting such words through the communication jade slips, Yan Hara retrieved her flying treasure and disappeared into the distance like a shooting star.

Meanwhile, Yuan returned to the Myriad of Techniques.

"Sorry for making you all wait. I'm back now." Yuan said to the others, who were waiting in the lobby.

"Huh? Where are your techniques?" He asked them when he couldn't see any techniques nearby.

"Actually… We couldn't get past the second floor, and the techniques on the first two floors are not worth it." Chu Liuxiang sighed.

Yuan facepalmed after realizing something, "I'm sorry, I forgot that I had to be with you guys when traveling above the second floor. Let's go check out the fourth floor and the fifth floor now."

"Alright."

Thus, they began making their way to the fourth floor.

Since Meixiu and Chu Liuxiang had already explored the fourth floor, they didn't really pay much attention and flipped through random techniques to kill time.

Meanwhile, Li Jinxi looked through each technique with great focus.

"Unbelievable… To think there are so many Heaven-rank and Divine-rank techniques in this place…" Li Jinxi mumbled.

"There are more floors to this place with even more powerful techniques." Yuan said.

Sometime later, after going through the whole fourth floor, Li Jinxi found one body refining technique that she liked.

"Are you done on this floor? If so, let's check out the fifth floor. This will be our first time going to the fifth floor as well." Yuan asked them.

"Yes, we're ready." They nodded.

Yuan and the others proceeded to move to the staircase to the fifth floor, but they were blocked by the guards there.

"Is this your first time going to the fifth floor?" One of the guards asked.

"Yes." Yuan nodded.

The guard then said, "In order to enter the fifth floor, you must pass a small trial." 

"Trial? What kind of trial?"

"You must spar with a disciple from the Gates of Heaven."

"What?" Yuan raised his eyebrows, his face full of questions.

"In order to train his disciples, Master Bai had set up this trial. Don't worry, it'll be a friendly spar, and it'll be done in a special arena where you cannot die even if your body explodes into a bloody mess. However, the weakest cultivator in their sect is a Spirit Sovereign, so you'll be fighting someone two realms above your own…"

"Senior Bai is the Sect Leader of the Gates of Heaven? This is my first time hearing about this." Yuan mumbled.

"Alright, I will take on the challenge. But before we start, I have a few questions." 

"What is it?"

"Does everybody here have to take the trial to enter the fifth floor? Can I bring them with me if I pass the trial?"

The guards turned to look at the beauties behind Yuan and said, "Everyone will have to take the trial in order to enter the fifth floor. There is no exception."

"..." Yuan turned to look at Meixiu and the others.

While he can fight a Spirit Sovereign, he couldn't say the same for Meixiu and the others, as their cultivation was too low, and they would lose in a single attack.

"Don't worry about us, Yuan. You can go to the fifth floor alone." Meixiu said to him.

"Yes. I am already satisfied with what I have." Chu Liuxiang agreed.

"I am also the same." Li Jinxi said.

"Alright… Then I will take a quick look at the fifth floor." Yuan nodded.

The guards looked at him with raised eyebrows, as he sounded absolutely sure that he would defeat a Spirit Sovereign.

"So where do I fight this disciple?" Yuan then asked the guards.

"Follow me. I will bring you to the arena." One of the guards said to him.

"Okay."

Sometime later, Yuan was transported to this large platform with the guard, but they were the only ones there.

'This place reminds me of the platform in the sky for the final trial in the Stairway to Heaven…' Yuan thought to himself as he looked around.

The only difference was the lack of house, tree, and the body tempering pond.

"Where is this disciple?" He asked the guard a moment later.

"I have just notified the Gates of Heaven about your arrival. A disciple will arrive shortly."

"I understand."

Half an hour later, two people appeared out of thin air on the platform not far away from Yuan and began approaching him.

"They are…" The guard's eyes widened with surprise when he saw these individuals, and he wondered to himself, 'Why are they here? There's no way this young man could defeat this disciple!'

Yuan silently stared at these two individuals. One of them was an old woman with an unfathomable aura around her, and the other was a beautiful young woman also with an unfathomable aura around her.

Even though their faces were tranquil and their steps were gentle and calm, Yuan could feel an indescribable pressure coming from these two women.

These two stopped walking a few meters in front of Yuan, and the old woman said a moment later, "So it's true. I couldn't believe it when you said that the challenger was a mere Spirit King, so I came here to see for myself which arrogant little runt dared to challenge our disciple with such a weak cultivation."

"Greetings, Elder Mai and Disciple Ling." The guard greeted them with a respectful bow.

"This young man wishes to enter the fifth floor and has agreed to challenge a disciple from the Gates of Heaven."

"Introduce yourself." The guard said while looking at Yuan.

"My name is Yuan, and I'm just an ordinary Spirit King. Please treat me well." He calmly responded while staring into the old woman's eyes.

"Little runt…" Elder Mai narrowed her eyes on him.