When Bai Ling Shuang heard Han Sen claim that the road had been difficult for him, she rolled her eyes. She had seen Han Sen running casually up the mountain, making the ascent without breaking the smallest sweat. He wasnât gasping or red in the face. It looked as if the trek hadnât even been much of a bother.
Still, Bai Ling Shuang didnât say a word. Han Sen was carrying her up the mountain. From her perspective, it looked like Han Sen was actually leaving the staircase, walking away from the mountain and out into the open air.
In reality, they were still going up the staircase. Bai Ling Shuang only thought they were walking over open air because of the distortions within the dimension.
As he walked, Han Sen noticed Bai Wei. She was stumbling forward like the other royal children, making no progress.
Because she had gotten there quite late, the repressive power hadnât acted on her nearly as strongly as it had the others. The fact that she could walk faster than the other children wasnât helping, though, because she couldnât find the path. Continuing to walk forward would be pointless.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âThis girl isnât bad, and she did try to save Baoâer. Her heart is in the right place.â Han Sen sighed. He secretly cast his Dongxuan Aura and fired some power in her direction.
Bai Wei was struggling to walk forward, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldnât escape that seemingly-infinite staircase. She had gotten really flustered.
Suddenly, Bai Wei felt a wave of power roll across the stairs. It spread gently around her.
âThis isâ¦â A strange feeling passed through Bai Weiâs heart.
The dimensional twists of the translucent trail hid the royal children from each other. Even if two people walked right beside each other, they wouldnât see one another. Even if they were touching each other, it wouldnât make a difference.
Now, a trickle of power was flowing tantalizingly down the stairs before Bai Wei.
Bai Weiâs heart jumped, and she followed that strange power. The power was disappearing quickly as she chased after it. She pushed against the distortions in the dimension, trying to keep her eyes on that guiding trickle of energy.
As she walked, Bai Wei noticed that the stairs were about to vanish beneath her. The power led away from the staircase entirely and out into the sky.
She had to move quickly to keep up with her guide, so Bai Wei gritted her teeth and walked out without hesitation. Her body floated away from the mountain into open air. She didnât fall, though. Her feet met with something, and she kept walking forward.
Bai Wei grinned. There had been no other path to follow, so she had chased that power. If she stepped in the wrong place, she would fall all the way back down the mountain.
On Rot Bone Mountain, even deified elites couldnât fly well. Bai Wei was just a Duke.
Bai Wei had to keep up with the guiding power in order to stay on the correct path. She kept chasing that power, running as she went.
Han Sen carried Bai Ling Shuang all the way to the top. Once there, he found that a mixture of princes and princesses had also made it to the peak.
Bai Qing Xia was there, too. He was surprised to see Han Sen come up alongside Bai Ling Shuang.
Han Sen had already let go of Bai Ling Shuang, though. Aside from Prince Four and Princess Two, no one knew that Han Sen had carried Bai Ling Shuang up to the peak.
âIt looks like I win,â Bai Qing Xia said, as he stared at Han Sen. He thought Han Sen had just reached the top.
The other princes and princesses thought so, too. After all, the translucent trail couldnât be ascended through pure speed. It wasnât strange to think that Han Sen had only just arrived.
Bai Ling Shuang was sweating, but when she saw the five words inscribed in the knoll, she suddenly felt wide awake. A rush of joy poured through her.
She didnât possess the Kingese Ao or Gu, so making her way up the translucent trail would have been too difficult for her. Bai Qing Xia had the word Ao, though, so it was much easier for him to reach the top. Physical strength didnât matter much in this contest.
âIs this the Proud Bone Swordmind from Mad Sword?â Bai Ling Shuang looked at the five words, âPride and bones are made.â She looked so happy as she mumbled to herself.
Han Sen was confused. He had never heard of a king called Mad Sword. There were some God Swords and even Holy Swords, but a title like Mad Sword didnât seem worthy of a king.
Bai Qing Xia picked up where Bai Ling Shuang had left off. âMad Sword was born crippled. He didnât have a king body, and so he was bullied severely. But in the end, he used his sword to become deified. He might not have had a king body, but he prevailed over many in the Extreme King. Even deified elites with powerful king bodies lost to his sword. He wasnât a ruler of our people, but he could be considered a king without a crown amongst the Extreme King. Our race has had many swordsmen in its time, but none are as worthy of respect as Mad Sword.â
Han Sen receded into thought. âI didnât know the Extreme King had someone that strong amongst them. How come I have never heard of it until now?â
Bai Qing Xia had only just finished when a princess, who wasnât too far away, looked over at him with disdain. âMad Swordâs power matters little. No glorification can rinse away the dirt. He is not worthy of admiration.â
Bai Qing Xia and Bai Ling Shuang frowned at the princess. After seeing their faces, she turned away. They avoided all contact with her.
Han Sen wasnât interested in that princess, either. He wanted to know Mad Swordâs story. Clearly, Mad Sword must have been very different from the majority of the Extreme King. Even his title sounded rather taboo amongst them.
If Han Sen had actually been Bai Yi, he would have known about Mad Sword. He wasnât Bai Yi, though, and so he couldnât simply ask.
While they were talking, someone else approached. It was Bai Wei. She was dripping with sweat after finally reaching the top. Her body was shivering, and she could barely stand. She was obviously fighting to hold herself together.
Although Han Sen had sent power to guide her, she was too weak. Even if she knew the way, reaching the peak as a Duke was monumentally difficult.
Many of the royal children looked stunned when they saw Bai Wei at the top. In the long history of the Extreme King, only a few Dukes had ever made it this far.
Bai Wei looked at the princes and princesses. She wanted to know who left behind the power that guided her up, but she was unable to learn anything. No one there was using that power.
When she looked at Han Sen, though, her mood turned to foul anger. She snarled slightly as she stared at him.
She was still bitter about Bai Yiâs consumption of Han Sen. She didnât think that power belonged to him.
Bai Wei looked around, but she still couldnât tell which of them had left the power for her. She was really grateful, though. And she went to the knoll to have a look at the five words inscribed there.
Bai Ling Shuang and the others were all in similar shape. Hiking was a test. Mad Swordâs Proud Bone Swordmind was very beneficial. Even if they werenât fans of the man himself, they still slavered over his swordmind.
Han Sen found a seat. He wanted to watch the swordmind from the most comfortable position, but there was little for him to do other than that.