The World-Ending Spirit Fire stared at the consciousness fragment of the Pillar of Shadows for a moment before asking Ye Ling, "Kid, what are you going to do with this Pillar of Shadows now?"
Ye Ling put away the consciousness fragment of the Pillar of Shadows and said, "The time is not ripe yet. I need to wait for the Lord of the Upper Realm to make a move."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire was taken aback. "Wait for the Lord of the Upper Realm to act? What exactly are you planning? I'm getting more and more confused."
Ye Ling chuckled, "You'll know when the time comes. If my guess is wrong, the Pillar of Shadows will perish on its own, and my plan will be meaningless."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire scoffed, "So you're gambling with the life of that poor Pillar of Shadows!"
Ye Ling replied, "He was going to die anyway. I'm just giving him a path with a higher chance of survival. Besides, he's our enemy, so I have no psychological burden deceiving him."
The World-Ending Spirit Fire clicked its tongue. "That's true. But I must say, you're getting more and more wicked, kid. I'm starting to worry about the fate of those dark creatures to come."
Even the Pillar of Shadows was played for a fool by Ye Ling. If other dark creatures showed up, they would likely be crushed into dust by Ye Ling!
Ye Ling laughed, "Thank you for the compliment! But we should focus on the inheritance of the Lord of the Upper Realm. That's the main point."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the World-Ending Spirit Fire remembered the purpose of their trip and quickly said, "Right, right! I almost forgot the real reason we're here. Let's get the inheritance first!"
With that, the World-Ending Spirit Fire tossed the Pillar of Shadows aside, flew out from Ye Ling's wrist, and approached the dark-energy-shrouded door ahead, examining it with great interest.
Seeing the World-Ending Spirit Fire getting closer to the door, Ye Ling quickly cautioned, "World-Ending Spirit Fire, be careful! What if the inheritance ground is dangerous? Don't get too close!"
The World-Ending Spirit Fire stood at the entrance, turned, and smiled at Ye Ling. "Don't worry, kid! There's no danger in this inheritance ground. I'll scout ahead for you... Even if there is danger, with my great power, it's nothing..."
Before the World-Ending Spirit Fire could finish speaking, a black claw suddenly shot out from behind the door and grabbed it, pulling it inside!
"World-Ending Spirit Fire? Damn it!"
Ye Ling's expression changed drastically as he saw the World-Ending Spirit Fire being dragged in by the black claw. He couldn't care about anything else and immediately chased after it!
The moment Ye Ling rushed into the door, he was plunged into endless darkness. Eerie black mist surged everywhere, and the surroundings were bone-chillingly cold, making Ye Ling shiver.
"World-Ending Spirit Fire!"
Ye Ling stood in the darkness and shouted the World-Ending Spirit Fire's name.
"Kid, I'm here!"
The World-Ending Spirit Fire's voice came from above. Ye Ling looked up and saw the World-Ending Spirit Fire being dragged into the depths of the darkness by the black claw, heading somewhere unknown!
"This darned fool! I told him to be careful, but he wouldn't listen!"
Ye Ling cursed under his breath, but he didn't abandon the World-Ending Spirit Fire. He immediately removed the seal within his body, unleashed his full power, and chased after the World-Ending Spirit Fire!
In an instant, Ye Ling reached the World-Ending Spirit Fire and reached out to grab it!
However, just as Ye Ling was about to touch the World-Ending Spirit Fire, a scythe suddenly emerged from the surrounding black mist and slashed at Ye Ling with extreme speed!
The World-Ending Spirit Fire shouted, "Kid, dodge!"
Ye Ling felt a fatal threat and had to retract his hand to dodge the giant scythe. However, due to this delay, the black claw directly took the World-Ending Spirit Fire into the black mist and disappeared without a trace!
"Damn it!"
Ye Ling shattered the giant scythe that attacked him and rushed towards the direction where the World-Ending Spirit Fire had disappeared, but he could no longer sense its aura.
Ye Ling looked back and found that the door he had entered through had also vanished, leaving only dense black mist all around!
"What's the situation now?"
Ye Ling forced himself to calm down, scanned the surrounding black mist, and pondered his current predicament.
"This is the inheritance ground set up by the Lord of the Upper Realm. Its purpose should be to pass on his power, not to kill the inheritor... Therefore, the World-Ending Spirit Fire should be fine. To leave here, I might have to go through some test..."
"The inheritance of the Lord of the Upper Realm... should only be passed to dark creatures."
Ye Ling muttered to himself, reined in his aura, and then released his dark power, transforming himself into the Eighth Star Pillar.
Rumble...
The moment Ye Ling disguised himself as the Eighth Star Pillar, the entire dark space began to shake violently. The black mist in front of Ye Ling parted, revealing a long black staircase before him.
"It appeared!"
Ye Ling's eyes flashed with surprise as he saw the black staircase appear before him. Without hesitation, he stepped onto it.
The moment Ye Ling stepped onto the black staircase, an extremely powerful pressure surged towards him, almost knocking him off his feet!
"This is... a staircase similar to the Soul Suppressing Ladder?"
Ye Ling steadied himself on the black staircase, looking at the ladder that stretched into the dark depths with disbelief, his heart churning with immense shock!
However, there was no World-Ending Spirit Fire to answer his questions now, so he could only rely on his own guesses and begin climbing.
Similar to climbing the Soul Suppressing Ladder, with each step Ye Ling took, the pressure he endured increased. However, compared to the Soul Suppressing Ladder, the pressure from this black staircase was significantly weaker. In just a short while, Ye Ling had climbed over a thousand steps!
However, the bottom of this black staircase was still nowhere in sight.
"How long will this take?"
Ye Ling, worried about the World-Ending Spirit Fire's safety, began to quicken his pace, running up the black staircase.
A black figure sprinted up the black staircase, the surrounding black mist constantly parting, revealing an ever-longer ladder.
After running on the black staircase for ten minutes, Ye Ling felt something was amiss and slowly stopped.
"Something's wrong... I've already climbed nearly a hundred thousand steps, and this black staircase still has no end in sight... Moreover, from the ten-thousandth step onwards, the pressure from the staircase hasn't changed. I'm afraid this staircase is endless."
Ye Ling looked back at the staircase below him, and a thought suddenly struck him. He left a rune mark on his current step and then continued climbing.
Soon, Ye Ling had sprinted another ten thousand steps and was shocked to find that the rune mark he had left on the staircase earlier had appeared in front of him!
Seeing the rune mark in front of him, Ye Ling tried walking back. After descending ten thousand steps, he returned to his original position!
"As expected, this black staircase is an endless loop. I'll never reach the top!"
After repeated tests, Ye Ling finally confirmed that the black staircase was an infinite loop, and he... was trapped in this loop!
Ye Ling stood on the black staircase, looking at the staircase swallowed by the black mist on both sides, and muttered to himself, "Interesting..."
"I'd like to see... what other tricks this black staircase has up its sleeve!"