Chapter 330: Karma (XLVIII)
The Divine Stairway...
That wasn’t just any random landmark.
It was one of the most important things in the entire Divine Realm—basically like the Yggdrasil Tree from my old world below.
If you tried to climb it, there were only two possible outcos: death... or a massive power-up that could boost your strength beyond belief.
And by "beyond belief," I an three whole stars of power in one go.
That would be a dream for most gods, especially for , whose opponent is practically the King of the Divine Realm.
Vanya tilted her head as soon as she saw my face.
"...You don’t look surprised at all," she said, squinting a bit, her lips curving into a playful smirk.
"I am surprised," I replied flatly.
"Liar," she puffed her cheeks and flicked my arm lightly.
"You’re terrible at pretending, you know that?"
I sighed, smiling faintly.
"I’m just too used to strange things happening."
"Then you’ll love this one," she said with a wink. "Because the Divine Stairway isn’t sothing you see open every year."
"Yeah?" I raised an eyebrow.
"What’s the big deal about it anyway?"
Her eyes glead, and her voice dropped slightly as if she was about to tell
a secret.
"The Divine Stairway," she began, "is said to be the oldest divine structure in existence. Nobody knows who built it—not even the first-generation gods. It’s made entirely of condensed divine light, and it connects the lower heavens to the highest layer of the Divine Realm."
She twirled a strand of her hair while talking, that teasing tone still lingering in her voice.
"They say every step carries the will of the heavens. Each one tries to crush you, test your soul, and see if you’re worthy to ascend. Most gods can’t even pass the first fifty steps before collapsing. But if you do climb higher..."
She smiled mysteriously.
"The rewards are beyond imagination. Power, enlightennt, maybe even fragnts of divinity itself."
"...Fragnts of divinity?" I repeated, frowning a little.
"Mhm," she nodded. "
You could call it the purest essence of divine energy. So say that’s how the gods of old beca true rulers—by reaching the top."
I rubbed my chin, quietly intrigued.
"So basically... a golden death trap."
"You could say that, yes." Vanya laughed softly.
She tugged my arm gently.
"Co on, you’ll understand when you see it."
Fwooop!
After a short flight through the divine clouds, the scenery before us opened up, and my breath caught for a mont.
...I had never seen this place since my ninety-nine reincarnations, because this structure itself is said to appear once every ten thousand years.
And in those past reincarnations, I had never ascended so soon. Most of the ti, I ascended while I was twenty-five or more.
But there it was.
A giant golden stairway that seed to pierce straight into the heavens.
Each step glowed faintly, pulsing with divine light, like molten gold shaped into perfection. Around it were endless clouds, rolling and glowing faintly from the stairway’s brilliance.
But that wasn’t the most shocking part.
All around the base of the stairway, countless gods were already climbing. So looked determined, others trembling... but most of them were kneeling.
Their bodies were shaking violently, arms pressing against the steps as if an invisible weight was crushing them. Even the clouds around them seed to ripple under the pressure.
"...What’s wrong with them?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
Vanya crossed her arms, her voice turning slighly serious.
"The higher you go, the heavier the pressure becos," she said quietly.
"It’s not just spiritual pressure... it also crushes your divine core, your mana veins, your body, everything. If your will isn’t strong enough, you’ll break long before reaching the first hundred steps."
I looked up again, following the golden path as it vanished into the bright white clouds above.
The light from it reflected in my eyes, almost too bright to look at.
"How far does it go?" I asked.
"No one knows," she whispered.
"The record holder reached around seven hundred steps before fainting. After that... the pressure was said to be comparable to standing under the weight of a whole world."
That got
silent for a mont.
But then, sothing else caught my attention.
Up above, far past the line where most gods had stopped climbing, I noticed several golden platforms floating in the sky.
They glowed faintly and looked like resting spots.
"What about those platforms?" I asked, pointing toward them.
"Oh, those?" Vanya smiled again, her tone softening.
"They’re called Heaven’s Stops. Places where climbers can rest and recover a bit before continuing. Each one appears after a certain number of steps. But... the higher you go, the fewer there are. So gods try to fly up to them directly, but the Stairway doesn’t allow that."
"It rejects them," she continued. "If you don’t climb with your own strength, you get blasted off instantly."
I stared at the glowing path again, watching as another god scread, his body cracking with divine energy before being thrown down into the clouds.
"...Sounds fun," I muttered under my breath.
Vanya looked at , blinking.
Then she smiled that teasing smile again.
"Oh no," she said softly, "don’t tell
you’re thinking of climbing it?"
I rolled my shoulders slowly, a faint crack echoing through the air.
"Well," I muttered, letting out a breath.
"You only live once."
I wouldn’t miss such a great opportunity.
That small grin tugged at the corner of my mouth as I took my first step toward the golden stairway.
But right before my foot touched the first glowing step...
"Aestrea, wait!"
I turned my head slightly. Vanya stood behind , her violet eyes wide, voice sharp with warning.
"Before you enter one of the Heaven’s Stops," she said quickly, "you’ll be pulled into a spiritual domain! You’ll have to defeat the phantom of a god that guards it before you can rest!"
Her tone was serious now—no trace of her usual teasing.
"Those phantoms... they’re created from the souls of gods who died trying to climb this stairway," she added softly.
I stared at her for a mont, then nodded.
"Got it."
That was all I said, and then I turned back to the Divine Stairway.
THRUM!
The instant my foot landed on the first step, I felt an invisible weight pressing down on
like a mountain made of divine energy.
"Tsk..." I muttered under my breath, feeling my mana stir instinctively through my veins to balance the pressure.
It wasn’t unbearable yet, but it was enough to make
understand what kind of monster this place was.
Around , I could feel eyes, dozens of them.
When I looked up, the gods were staring down at
from higher steps. Their expressions ranged from amusent to open disdain.
"Who the hell’s that?"
"New at, probably."
"Hah! He won’t even last ten steps."
Their words echoed faintly through the golden clouds. So even chuckled openly, their laughter dripping with arrogance.
I ignored them.
I’ve dealt with worse.
My focus stayed on the stairs ahead as I took another step.
The golden surface pulsed faintly under my feet, glowing brighter for a second like it was testing .
The pressure increased with each move, wrapping around my chest like iron bands. I could feel it trying to push
to my knees.
"Fuuu..."
My breath ca out slow and steady.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
Each step echoed softly through the silence, mixing with the faint hum of divine light.
The laughter behind
began to fade after a while.
So of them went quiet. I didn’t need to look back to know their faces had changed.
"He’s... not using any divine aura?" I heard one whisper.
"He won’t last," another said quickly, though there was doubt in his tone now.
I didn’t care and just kept moving.
The light from the stairway reflected faintly in my red eyes. It almost looked like fire... gold mixing with crimson.
Vanya was still below, watching . I could feel her gaze.
When I looked back for a mont, her lips were curved into a small, helpless smile.
"...You really are crazy," she said quietly.
"But maybe that’s what it takes to climb it."
I turned back, breathing out softly.
Maybe she was right.
Only by surpassing your limits, you be able to climb this hell of a stairway.
But as soon as I realized... I had reached the first platform.
The faint golden glow beneath my feet faded for a second, replaced by... nothing.
The clouds, the golden stairway, even Vanya’s distant figure... all vanished.
I wasn’t standing on a platform anymore.
I was sowhere else.
A cold, empty space stretched in every direction, black as spilled ink, yet I could see faint outlines of broken pillars, shattered statues, and a shattered sky above.
The air itself felt heavier here.
And then, I sensed a presence.
Slowly, it materialized.
A figure stepped out of the darkness.
Its form shimred with pale golden light, but its face was twisted, broken like a god who had been consud by failure.
Its eyes were hollow, yet they stared straight through .
The phantom of a god.
"Phew..."
I silently materialized a scythe made with mana.
And then, the figure spoke, but not with words. Its voice wasn’t sound... it was a crushing pressure in my chest, echoing in my mind.
"New at... weakling... you shouldn’t even be here..."
Ah...
These motherfuckers.
They really like to play like this, huh?
"Ah... there’s no need to waste ti."
Fwip!
The scythe materialized into a sword.
"Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art..."
I crouched down slighly.
『 Third Move! (?? Moonlight’s One Flash ??) 』
Fwip...!
"Puff!—"
The phantom turned into wisps as I got back to the golden platform.
[You’ve absorbed the phantom of a High God!]
[Your authority has been strengthened slighly.]
[Your cultivation has increased slighly.]
Oh?
What a great surprise...
My lips curled up slighly.
There was no need for
to rest right now, so...
I continued climbing.
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