"What is this place?" Li Changsheng voiced the question in his mind.
Desolate Demon answered tentatively, "I don't know, I only know that this place is a restricted area. I once tried to climb the stairs, but I found that I lost a couple years of lifespan just on the first stair, so I quickly gave up."
He couldn't help but shudder when he remembered how scared he was at that time.
"Losing couple of years? You mean…" Li Changsheng tried to confirm his guess.
Demon Desolate nodded. "Yes, whoever climbs these stairs will have their lifespan devoured. It's almost similar to heaven's punishment. I guess some kind of heavenly formation is applied to them."
Li Changsheng felt his heart jump in joy. He couldn't wait to see what kind of treasure or secret he would get once he climbed to the top.
"I'm going up. Anyone want to accompany me?" He glanced over the shoulder and grinned meaningfully at his "followers" behind him.
The trio shook their heads faster than flappers.
"It's your loss."
Their lips twitched slightly as they watched Li Changsheng stride toward the first stair.
Li Changsheng halted his step right before the first step and took a deep breath before starting to climb. He lifted his right foot and took his first step.
As soon as his foot landed on the stone stair, Li Changsheng sensed that his vitality started dwindling like a vortex out of his body. These stairs clearly tried to absorb all of his vitalities!
At the same time, a rumbling sound came from the summit, and Li Changsheng could see that the tightly shut stone gate started to loosen up.
His anticipation grew stronger, and he continued to ascend.
After reaching the second step, Li Changsheng couldn't help but gasp in shock. The speed at which his vitality was absorbed was actually doubled this time!
He lost almost a decade of his lifespan in only a few seconds.
"It's really terrifying." Li Changsheng murmured to himself, "With such a frightening absorption speed, any ordinary cultivator, even if they are saints or above, will surely raise a white flag in surrender here and give up ascending further. They might also be traumatized like old Desolate."
Fortunately, he was blessed by the system with infinite lifespan, so climbing these stairs would be a walk in the park for him.
He quickly moved on.
After arriving at the third step, the absorption rate increased from double to quadruple!
At the fourth step, it became eight times faster!
At the fifth step, it became sixteen times faster!
For each step, the absorption rate was twice that of the previous step!
Up to the last step, the absorption rate was 512 times that of the first step!
Li Changsheng would lose almost a million years of lifespan when he reached the summit.
Of course, he didn't mind it in the slightest. In fact, he was also surprised that even after losing such huge amounts of vitality, he didn't feel uncomfortable, nor did any change happen to his body.
This golden finger of his was truly awesome!
As Li Changsheng busily praised the system for his awesomeness, the three people below were already stunned upon watching him climb the stairs without breaking any sweat. They felt like they were dreaming.
Despite their long age and rich experience, the scene before them was way beyond their wildest imaginations.
"Freak! He's definitely not a human but a freak!" Mo Tiesha couldn't restrain his tumultuous emotions from bursting out, letting out such a heart-rendering wail. "How many years of his lifespan have been sucked out of him? Ten thousand? Hundred thousand? No, a million! How could someone have so many lifespans?!!"
Song Yuxuang swallowed a big gulp, staring at Li Changsheng's figure with awe and fear. "Such majestic vitality can't be possessed by an ordinary human! Even an emperor isn't that exaggerated!"
Desolate Demon stared blankly, as if he were a country bumpkin going to a big city for the first time. He murmured to himself in such a low voice that only he could hear.
"Could he be the legendary immortal?"
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable he felt his conjecture to be. Who else could have an eternal life other than an immortal?
Unbeknownst to Li Changsheng, because of his shenanigans this time, his three followers began to see him in a different light, and the seed of true loyalty toward him began to sprout in their hearts.
Li Changsheng, who had no idea what kind of effect his trip this time had on the three powerhouses, finally reached the last step.
Rumble——
As soon as he reached the summit, the massive stone gate trembled violently and gradually opened, like a massive monster opening his jaw, ready to swallow the tiny Li Changsheng whole.
"The door is finally opened!"
Down below, Desolate Demon couldn't help but exclaim.
"What's inside?"
A similar question emerged in the trio's minds. It's a pity that they couldn't find out the answer directly, as they didn't possess an unlimited lifespan like Li Changsheng.
Standing in front of the door, Li Changsheng gazed at the endless darkness before him. It gave the impression that whoever came inside would never come out again.
It seemed that there were restrictions in play that prevented someone from outside from peering at what was hidden inside the gate.
But Li Changsheng had a nagging feeling that whatever was inside was something really important for him and shouldn't be missed.
Thus, without a shred of hesitation, he moved forward bravely, passing through the gate, and not long after that, his figure disappeared into the darkness, followed by the rumbling sound of the gate closing behind him.
The trio below was alarmed by this movement, but they couldn't do anything to stop it, nor were they qualified to worry about Li Changsheng.
"Hey, is he going to be okay? If something happened to that brat, we're in deep shit." Mo Tiesha grumbled in annoyance. "Why doesn't he just take it slow instead of taking such a dangerous risk? He literally has all the time in the world and can develop comfortably. Is the recent improvement getting into his mind? Other than his long lifespan, he's still as weak as a chicken!"
"Hey, is it okay to talk about your "brother" behind his back?" Song Yuxuang sneered; he was really disgusted with such a hypocritical attitude.
"It's just to please him." Mo Tiesha shrugged his shoulders, giving him a side glance. "Aren't you doing it yourself?"
Song Yuxuang simply snorted and turned his head away.
Mo Tiesha gave him a triumphant look. Despite not directly answering, Song Yuxuan's reaction was already an answer itself.
Desolate Demon didn't seem affected by their quarrel, staring fixly at the iron gate where Li Changsheng disappeared.
After a long time, he finally released a deep sigh: "Nothing would happen to him."
Desolate Demon's statement piqued the two supremes' interests.
"Old Desolate, why do you think so?" Mo Tiesha couldn't help but ask.
Desolate Demon's eyes went deep as if gazing at the distant past, while his expression became solemn as he recalled a certain prophecy passed on their lineage.
"He might be the son of destiny of this era."
Destiny might be an ephemeral concept, but here in this world, destiny is something tangible and coveted. After all, being qualified to bear the destiny of an era means that one was qualified to compete for the Emperor's throne.
The two supremes fell into their own thoughts.