Although the senior warrior was displeased with Vaan's brief passage, he was unwilling to waste time and effort turning it into a big deal. For him, every moment he spent on the Black Mountain was precious.

"You… okay," Makurim sighed before advising Vaan, "You should avoid passing through other people's steps, or you will end up offending a lot of martial brothers."

"Thank you for the advice," Vaan casually replied, shaking his head after a glance at the senior warrior.

Makurim had joined the Martial Hall thirty years ago. With his above-average martial talent, it wouldn't be surprising for him to be a Rank 4 Body Refiner.

Unfortunately, he had once overexerted himself on the Black Mountain and suffered a grievous internal injury that had never fully healed. As such, his strength has stagnated at Peak Rank 3 Body Refiner.

Normally, Body Refiners of this level could reach up to the 390th step on the Black Mountain.

However, due to the internal injury of the past, Makurim could only train around the hundredth step to avoid aggravating his old wound.

Although Vaan didn't know about Makurim's past, he could at least see the person could not train on higher steps due to his sequela.

…

In a matter of minutes, Vaan had already ascended to the 400th step, surprising all observers.

Although the height of the steps one could reach wasn't directly related to one's body-refining strength, it was still a good indicator.

As such, most warriors who could reach the 400th step were at least Low Rank 4 Body Refiners.

"Damn, that new guy already reached the 400th step in such a short time. His internal tempering is quite solid. Tsk, tsk."

"Only quite solid? You don't believe that young man is a Low Rank 4 Body Refiner yet?"

"Do you think Low Rank 4 Body Refiners that young are cabbages? He looked like he was still in his 20s. Even if he was a 29-year-old Low Rank 4 Body Refiner with a baby face, this kind of talent is still rare in the imperial family and the ducal factions."

"You're right. It's rare but not unprecedented."

While the martial warriors were speculating about Vaan's strength, Vaan continued to scale the Black Mountain Steps indifferently.

Since Vaan had never endured such intense gravitational pressure, the gravitational pressure beyond the 400th step was no joke to him. He could feel the burden from the gravitational pressure, but it was still far from suppressing him to the point that he could no longer advance.

In fact, if Vaan were only aiming to see how high he could climb, he wouldn't have an issue climbing beyond the 550th step—provided that the increase in gravitational pressure remained consistent.

However, that was clearly not his goal.

When Vaan reached the 450th step, he finally decided to halt his ascent and meditate on one of the single-person steps.

At this level, there were fewer warriors around, and of those present, none were practicing martial skills. They were all meditating in silence. As such, the area was quite tranquil compared to the lower steps.lightsnovel

The 430th to 460th step was around the limit of what Mid Rank 4 Body Refiners could endure. As such, Mid Rank 4 Body Refiners on this level would not have the spare strength to practice their martial skills even if they wanted to.

Practicing martial skills under gravitational pressure wouldn't just improve their proficiency in said martial skills but also raise their strength.

However, without adequate internal tempering for the level of steps, doing so was tantamount to suicide.

In the history of the Black Mountain, there had been no shortage of warriors overestimating their abilities and inflicting cultivation-crippling internal injuries upon themselves.

The senior warrior whom Vaan had previously passed was one such example.

Nevertheless, while everyone meditated to temper their internal organs and adapt to the gravitational pressure, Vaan meditated to perceive the Black Mountain's laws.

Even if the Black Mountain was only a tiny fragment of a dead star, it was still part of a living star once upon a time. The stars contained the secrets to the highest level of the Fire Law in the universe. Thus, a fragment of a dead star would still possess lingering traces of the highest level of Fire Law.

No matter how little it was, this level of Fire Law was far superior to the Fire Laws Vaan could perceive in the Red Dragon Tribe's Land of Fire.

How could earthly flames compare to heavenly fire?

Even though Vaan could conjure a miniature sun with his current law comprehension, its power was still that of earthly flames. In essence, it was just a big ball of fire – its temperature was a far cry from a true star.

'I wonder how much of the Fire Law I can perceive and comprehend now that the bottleneck on my law comprehension is breached…' Vaan silently mused with anticipation.

Although Vaan looked forward to his progress in the Fire Law, he had another equally important focus.

While it was true that stars contained secrets of the highest level of the Fire Law, a shattered star was different – it didn't just contain secrets to the highest level of the Fire Law but also the secrets to the highest level of the Spatial Law!

lightsΝοvel

After all, there was a chance the fragmented star core came to Pangea as a result of a supernova explosion, and the supernova of stars had a chance of forming black holes.

Of course, the supernova of smaller stars wouldn't form black holes, but Vaan was confident the Black Mountain was the fragmented star core of an especially large star. Naturally, its impressively strong gravitational field was one factor, but the main deciding factor in Vaan's confidence was the presence of spatial law.

In fact, Vaan perceived the Spatial Law around the Black Mountain more clearly than the Fire Law, which also verified his doubts regarding his potential extreme spatial affinity.

Vaan wasn't sure if there was anything more powerful than stars and black holes in the boundless Chaos regarding the Fire Law and Spatial Law. However, it was certain that in the current chaosverse, stars and black holes embodied the highest level of the Fire Law and Spatial Law.

In other words, until he was powerful enough to perceive the laws from black holes and stars directly, the Black Mountain was the best lucky chance he could come across for perceiving the Fire Law and Spatial Law.

The value of the Black Mountain in terms of enlightenment on the Fire Law and Spatial Law far outstripped its use in tempering the body.

It was a priceless heavenly treasure, but the Great Ratholos Empire could only utilize it primitively.