The young man who had been kicked out of the top ten by Su Ping—currently grabbing the 159th handle—was looking at Su Ping's back in fury.
The tenth and the eleventh were very close, but their prizes were vastly different!
But very soon, he saw that Su Ping had caught up to the ninth, who was at the 163rd ladder. It had only taken the guy ten minutes to pass over those handles.
"That's fast!"
The young man's pupils were constricted, and he eventually let go of his fury. Although still angry, he knew he only had himself to blame for not being strong enough.
The young man at the 163rd handle was also shocked when he saw Su Ping as he brushed past him; his expression changed after recognizing him. Su Ping had left a deep impression on him, since he had protected many fellow contestants in the earlier battles.
However, what took the guy so long to surpass me?
Su Ping continued his climb without looking back. The attacks were even more powerful after the 160th handle; he had to try his best before he merged with his pet.
That was the only way he could maintain such a high speed.
Bang!
A bone dragon made of laws roared and swooped close; its bones contained the profound air of laws. That beast had been formed by dozens of deep laws.
However, the next moment, Su Ping's astral power radiated a golden light; he then struck the bone dragon and slashed it apart.
Su Ping climbed again.
The geniuses who had reached their limits down below had stopped climbing at that point. They looked at the nimble man up above, too shocked to say anything.
It had only taken an hour for Su Ping to leap from the 110th handle to the 160th.
He was still moving forward at a high speed, passing one handle every few minutes!
He was absolutely unstoppable!
An hour later—
Su Ping had reached the 180th handle; he was already ranked second at the moment, only behind the young man with a divine constitution who was currently at the 199th handle.
The second and the third places who were below Su Ping were looking up in shock.
Su Ping was still shockingly fast after passing the 180th handle. Unlike the others who were held back for a long time, Su Ping took three to five minutes per handle.
"Good lord, he's already in second place!"
"This is unbelievable. How long has it been? Two hours?"
"There are three hours left. Considering his speed, is he really going to make it to the top?"
"What a shame. Three hours is still too little. He's slowed down; it's going to be hard for him to catch up with the other kid."
"What a monster. He would have been first place if he had moved at such a speed sooner."
"It's useless. He couldn't have stayed at the very top."
The balcony was seething. A lot of Ascendants were shocked by Su Ping's high speed; their casual comments became heated discussions. Many hoped that Su Ping could reach the top.
Maybe the kid could really work a miracle!
However, many felt sorry for Su Ping, thinking he would have undoubtedly been the champion in previous competitions, since he wouldn't have run into the young man with a divine constitution.
He would have amazed a lot of people.
However, he was destined to be eclipsed by an even more talented individual.
That was the horror and charm of the brilliant existence called the universe; there were always unimaginable wonders.
"He's the second now!"
Ciro was also shocked, given the strength Su Ping had unleashed. Shock then became thrill. It didn't matter whether or not he could rise to the top; second place was already enough to brag about. Not even Lord Hai Tuo could have foreseen the appearance of such a genius in his galaxy!
He may become even stronger than me if he rises to the Ascendant State! Ciro was delighted by the thought.
His dissatisfaction with Su Ping's arrogance was long gone; a man as strong as him should be proud. He could have been even more overbearing.
Su Ping had climbed further than 180th handle at the moment.
He slowed down again; it took him ten minutes to pass every handle.
The attacks he was enduring became increasingly powerful. He glowed like a deity above everybody's heads. He also fully activated the aggressiveness of the Astral Painting in his body, unleashing his most powerful attack with all his astral power.
Break! Break! Break!
Su Ping shattered the obstacles and absorbed the fragmented laws. His strength would grow significantly once he digested them.
Su Ping found that battles were even more difficult after passing the 185th handle.
Calculating the time he had left, Su Ping then chose to summon the Inferno Dragon and merged with it.
Roar!
The Inferno Dragon roared and flew into Su Ping's body. Surprisingly, the pet wasn't visible this time.
However, Su Ping became much stronger. His body changed too, with scales and horns growing out.
"He merged with his pet!"
The climbers behind him were stunned, eyes wide open.
Su Ping had been climbing so fast that a lot of people had yet to realize such an important fact. Did Su Ping reach the 185th handle with his own strength?
"He truly is a monster."
The contestants behind him were lost for words; they had merged with their pets when they approached their limits, and had already resorted to all their abilities. Still, Su Ping had been hiding his ability all this time.
Su Ping's power became even more abundant after the merging, and his control over laws was even more accurate. His speed increased so he could handle a handle every three minutes.
Fifteen minutes later—he reached the 190th handle.
Su Ping immediately detected that the pressure was much greater than before when he reached that point; the intense air of paths was disseminated everywhere.
The pervading laws seemed to be complete paths.
Su Ping narrowed his eyes. He saw a shadow that seemed to be a reflection of himself, standing in the void but with a lifeless feel.
The shadow raised his hand; countless and horrifying fiery blades slashed at him, setting space on fire.
A complete path of fire?
Su Ping was truly shocked after noticing the attack at the 190th handle.
Such a move was comparable to that of a Star Lord, except for the lack of the power of faith.
However, it wasn't flawless due to the missing power of faith.
"Little Skeleton," said Su Ping, to summon the Little Skeleton and merge with it.
Bang!
His aura was significantly enhanced. His scale-covered body was further reinforced by bones. He suddenly accelerated and slashed forward.
The shiny blade of laws was able to cut the void apart as well as the shadow did.
Su Ping created an illusionary hand with astral power and transferred the energy of the now broken body into his own. Then, he resumed his climb.
The scene left the Ascendants and the other contestants in a stupor.
Su Ping's speed had increased while being at the 190th handle?
It had taken him a couple of minutes to pass one handle, yet he only stayed for one minute on this one?
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Su Ping charged unstoppably like a ferocious tiger, as if he was going straight to the top of the Heavenly Path Mountain.
"He's so strong!"
"Does he have one of the nine divine constitutions?"
"He must be using some sort of secret technique that has side effects, or he wouldn't have waited until the 190th handle," speculated the Ascendant State expert.
Many others agreed with him.
Su Ping would have used it a long time earlier if it were a regular method.
"He's not really going to the top, is he?"
"A monster that even a Reincarnation Divine Constitution can't eclipse? It's unbelievable."
To the Ascendants' amazement, Su Ping became stronger and stronger, arriving at the 195th handle in a mere few minutes; he was only four handles away from the young man with a divine constitution.
Everybody felt suffocated by his impressive speed.
Linghu Jian and the others trailing behind were completely dumbfounded.
Su Jin'er was also stunned; her alluring eyes glittered with amazement.
"Huh?"
The young man with a divine constitution—who was currently at the 199th handle—felt an immense pressure coming from his rear; he looked down and then saw Su Ping.
The guy was really catching up.
"Interesting."
The young man became solemn, but soon his competitive edge came forth. He knew how difficult the 195th ladder was; it was beyond his expectation that Su Ping would manage to reach that place. Solely relying on constitutions wouldn't have been enough to get there; his secret techniques and pets were among the very best too.
He had been born with an unusual divine constitution, and he was very talented when it came to his training; he quickly grasped every technique he saw, having mastered laws while in the Ocean State!
He had been able to fight early Star State experts with an Ocean State cultivation!
He became horrifyingly strong the moment he reached the Fate State; it seemed that his level could hardly be further improved.
And yet, when he was already that strong, he was only four handles above Su Ping?
He could not help but feel curious about that competitor.
He suddenly changed his expression when he lowered his head, since Su Ping had climbed yet again, reaching the 196th handle.
He was only three handles ahead.
"Do you remember our bet?"
Su Ping sensed something and looked up, chuckling.
The young man with a divine constitution changed his expression yet again. He had only made the bet because he didn't think the guy could catch up to him. Su Ping was only three handles away at the moment; he knew he couldn't sprint to the 206th handle just to leave him behind.
The guy was clearly an unparalleled genius, yet he accepted such a bet?
"Catch up if you can!" said the young man with a divine constitution with a gloomy demeanor.
Su Ping smiled. "I've already caught up. Didn't you say that you would admit defeat if I managed to be within ten handles of you?"
The young man said with a face showing discomfort, "Did you take it seriously?"
"Yes."
"You…"
"Why? Do you want to go back on your word?"
"That's impossible!"
The young man gnashed his teeth and said, "I will admit defeat if I can't leave you behind. But the game isn't over yet; don't be confident so soon!"
Su Ping chuckled and said, "You should have said that to yourself."
"…"
The young man clenched his teeth. He ignored Su Ping and vented his fury with the weird creatures he was facing.
Su Ping smiled and continued climbing when he saw the other act.
He had slowed down at the moment, even though he had initiated a dual merging. The attacks made with complete paths were very hard to crack.
Ten minutes later—Su Ping climbed to the 197th handle.
Twenty more minutes passed, and Su Ping reached the 198th handle.
He was only one handle away from the young man with a divine constitution. He looked at the latter and said, "Hi!"
The young man was almost scared off after hearing that greeting, which was only a few meters behind. He looked back and asked Su Ping in shock, "When did you get here?"
"Just now," replied Su Ping with a smile.
"…"
The young man was dumbfounded; he remembered that Su Ping was at the 196th handle a short while back. Still, the guy had already caught up with him.
He had also lingered for a long time at the 198th handle; it wasn't easy for him to pass.
"I'll surpass you soon if you don't hurry up," Su Ping teased with a smile.
The young man had marked wariness in his eyes. Fury burst out in his eyes as he declared, "You want to surpass me? In your dreams! Nobody has ever surpassed me in my entire life! You're forcing me to do this!"
He then ignored Su Ping and devoted his attention to the battle.
If anyone were to notice his pupils, they would have found that his eyes seemed to have turned into bottomless black holes; it was a secret technique related to his reincarnation constitution.
Su Ping smiled and climbed on.
This time, he made use of the power of his Force Field; he found that Force Fields were mysterious powers. It was properly documented by the Federation, stating that it was the concretion of one's mind, but Su Ping had noticed that they contained deep secrets.
Soon after, Su Ping reached the 199th handle and was parallel to the young man with a divine constitution.
Su Ping was currently encountering similar attacks, which were performed by a devil with two opposing laws.
Su Ping's attained laws collapsed and were suppressed the moment the attacks collided.
He then focused his attention on fighting the devil.
He first tried to melt the power of laws into the Force Field in order to create a Field of Laws. Unfortunately, his attempt had failed; he could only fight the devil in a brutal manner.
Su Ping felt gloomy when he noticed his inability to finish the enemy off after a long time passed; he didn't hide his strength any longer. His God of Blood's Divine Blood boiled, and he then activated the God of Blood's Divine Constitution.