"Anyway, now that your friends have ascended and your situation with Celestial Overlord Qiang is over, it's time for me to leave as well. Don't forget your promise." Kelan said as he stared at Yuan.

"What promise?" Yuan teased.

"Our fight! We'll fight once you reach the Seventh Heaven and travel to the Nine Heavens with your real body!"

"Ah, I remember now. I'll fight you as much as you want if you take care of my friends. If I find out that they had been mistreated in any way, I'll hold you accountable, understand?"

Kelan swallowed nervously after sensing Yuan's serious gaze through his mask.

"Relax. They have protection not only from me but also from Overlord Bai and Celestial Overlord Xu. Nobody would be foolish to touch them, especially when they will be spending most of their time inside my sect."

Yuan nodded, "Then I'll leave them in your care."

Kelan left shortly after, returning to the Seventh Heaven.

Meanwhile, Yuan made his way to a secluded location.

"Dong Ye." Yuan summoned him.

However, there was no response.

After waiting around and trying again a few more times, Yuan decided to give up speaking with Dong Ye and made his way to the Stairway to Heaven instead.

At the Stairway to Heaven, Yuan noticed many players attempting to ascend.

"I shall be the first player besides Player Yuan to ascend!" A player boldly announced as he took his first step on the stairway leading to the gates.

Yet, four steps later, this player was forced to forfeit when he couldn't even lift his legs under the immense pressure.

There were hundreds of players there, and most of them failed at the sixth step. A few managed to reach the ninth step, with a dozen players managing to reach the door. However, all of these players were tossed out a few minutes after entering the Stairway to Heaven.

Eventually, Yuan decided to participate.

Once it was his turn, he jumped onto the staircase and, without stopping, jumped to the next step until he reached all the way to the end.

"Who is that masked person?! Is he a player?!"

The players were shocked by how effortlessly Yuan had climbed the steps.

"There's no way he's a player unless he's Player Yuan!"

"No, he doesn't feel like a player at all."

The players were quick to dismiss Yuan as a player, as there was something inherently different about him.

Perhaps it was due to Shura's system, but the players subconsciously saw him in a negative light, almost as if they were natural enemies.

Upon reaching the door, Yuan opened it and entered it.

Once inside, a small figure emerged from the darkness and lowered their head before Yuan.

"Welcome back, Master."

"It's been a while, Tian'er. How have you been?"

"The same as usual."

"I see. Anyway, I am here to ask you some questions. Is there any way for me to ascend the Stairway to Heaven without alerting the Celestial Emperor? For example, every time I successfully ascend, a notification will be sent throughout the Nine Heavens, and the other players will be able to ascend as well. Is there a way to avoid this?"

Tian'er swiftly responded, "The Celestial Emperor made it so that only players with the Rashara's System will trigger an announcement when they clear the Stairway to Heaven. As for Master, since Tian'er cannot sense the system within you, there shouldn't be any announcements when you clear it."

"Hm? You know about the Rashara's System?" Yuan didn't expect this.

"Of course. Such information is necessary for Tian'er to work with it," she nodded.

"Then do you know about the Shura's System?"

Tian'er calmly shook her head.

"Then am I still considered a player?" Yuan then asked.

Tian'er stared at Yuan for a moment before nodding her head, "Master is still a player in Tian'er's eyes."

"Thanks a lot for the information, Tian'er." Yuan was relieved to learn that he would be able to ascend without worrying about alerting the Celestial Emperor.

"Then I will be right back."

Yuan exited the Stairway to Heaven.

"What? He got kicked out already?"

"Hahaha! He lasted even less time than the players!"

As the players laughed at him, Yuan spoke in a loud and clear voice, "I am willing to carry nine players through the Stairway to Heaven. Raise your hand if you wish to come."

In order to acquire the best rewards in the Stairway to Heaven, Yuan decided to increase the difficulty to the max by bringing as many people as he could.

The entire place fell silent as the players stared at Yuan with wide eyes.

"W-we can do that? Being carried by an NPC, that is…" One of the players suddenly asked out loud.

"I have never heard of this before…"

Despite their suspicions, many players there raised their hands.

Seeing this, Yuan smiled and said, "There are too many people here, so let's do it like this—the nine highest-paying players will get to ascend with me!"

"What?!"

The players began exchanging looks with each other. It didn't take long before the players started shouting their offers.

However, even if every single one of these players handed their entire fortune to Yuan, it would still only be pocket change at best. In the end, Yuan ended up choosing nine random players who hadn't made fun of him to mess with these players.

"Fuck! Are you messing with us?!" "Come down here, and let's fight!"

Yuan jumped from the door to the ground, where the players were gathered.

"I'm here, now what?" Yuan released a tiny fraction of his aura, which was more than enough to terrify these players.

When nobody dared to move a moment later, Yuan said, "To those nine of you who were chosen, grab a badge and follow me."

These players hastily went to grab a badge from the dumbfounded individual working there and proceeded to follow Yuan up the staircase.

Once all of the holes were filled, Yuan entered the Stairway to Heaven with the random players.