Ruan Tang raised her hand again.

The skin on her fingers was no longer smooth and tender but had become somewhat loose and wrinkled.

Ruan Tang gazed at the final three hundred and twenty steps of the White Jade Stairway leading straight to the sky, gripping the Suiya Lantern and stepping forward.

"I must quicken my pace."

Ruan Tang didn't know how much longer she could hold on.

She only knew that the lifespan of a Venerable Realm cultivator wasn't much, and even with the Suiya Lantern, she couldn't completely fend off the terror of the Immortal Path.

If she didn't hurry, she wouldn't be able to pick that fruit at all.

Step.

By step.

Yet another step.

Not as easy as walking the previous hundreds of steps.

Now Ruan Tang felt as if her legs were filled with lead; each step was extremely arduous, and an invisible weight was pressing on her shoulders to the point of suffocation.

And as she continued to ascend, this feeling of suffocation grew ever stronger.

Ten steps.

Twenty steps.

Fifty steps.

Ruan Tang paused at the two hundred and seventieth step of the Immortal Path, her hand holding the Suiya Lantern trembled slightly, and sweat poured down her forehead.

"Hoo—"

Ruan Tang took deep breaths repeatedly to adjust her breathing pace. She rested for less than three seconds before lifting her foot again.

This time.

She still crossed fifty steps before stopping.

"Another two hundred and twenty steps..."

Ruan Tang very much wanted to rest on the ground for a moment, even if just for a few seconds.

But she did not.

Ruan Tang feared that if she sat down, she would have no strength to stand back up.

By this time, her black hair had turned completely white, and her skin was no longer smooth as jade. Visibly, Ruan Tang seemed to have aged by twenty years or more.

To pick the Immortal Fruit and save Xu Lai was her breath of life.

Ruan Tang forced herself not to give up, straining her body to keep moving upward, this time... again resting every fifty steps.

But the time taken for these fifty steps was longer than when she previously walked a hundred steps.

"Another hundred and seventy steps."

Ruan Tang remained standing straight, her demeanor as usual, but her appearance made her look older, full of marks from the passage of time.

Ruan Tang routinely paused for three seconds before promptly continuing her ascent.

Little did she know.

Nearby the Immortal Path, the crowd was in an uproar.

All cultivators were staring at this place, unable to believe their eyes.

Months ago.

Great Emperors Bahuang, Jiu Feng, and Jin Shi joined forces to head to the Nine Kings' Palace located in Heaven Beyond Heaven.

The gears of the Emperor's Demise turned.

The nine hundred ninety-nine steps of the Immortal Path appeared!

In less than half a year, ten Emperor Realm experts fell, and numerous Quasi-Emperors and Immortal Venerables nearly stained over three hundred steps of the Immortal Path with mortal blood.

But this was merely a third of the Immortal Path; two-thirds of the intact path remained!

The strongest Quasi-Emperor was that old ancestor from the Zen Sect, who only managed to reach the two hundred thirty-ninth step.

According to calculations from the Holy Lands, only those in the Emperor Realm could ascend more than three hundred thirty-three steps, a third of the complete Immortal Path.

Thus, the cultivators of the Immortal Domain believed.

Only after another half of the remaining six hundred White Jade Steps had fragmented would the Emperor Realm experts, led by Great Emperor Tiangui, appear.

Yet how many steps did this unnamed female cultivator before them ascend?

"Four hundred... four hundred thirty-seven steps." A male cultivator's voice trembled as he spoke.

"Are you sure?"

A Quasi-Emperor strongman stepped forward from ten thousand feet away, a Nine-headed Lion, eyes filled with urgency.

"Sure, sure. She... this senior ascended the Immortal Path right beside me, and at the time, there was also an old man sitting on a ship-like magic artifact."

The male cultivator's words rendered the area around the Immortal Path silent.

Four hundred thirty-seven steps were a distance that a Quasi-Emperor Realm could not traverse, and the number continued to climb...

With each step Ruan Tang took.

The closer she got to the Immortal Fruit.

"Is she in the Emperor Realm?"

The eighteen eyes of the Nine-headed Lion Quasi-Emperor flickered uncertainly; reason told him he should wait.

Wait until he confirmed whether this female cultivator, possibly in the Emperor Realm, fell, then ascend the Immortal Path, thus saving himself dozens of steps.

But in just a brief moment of contemplation, the Nine-headed Lion saw the female cultivator ascend another ten steps. She was only a hundred and sixty steps away from completing the Immortal Path and picking the Immortal Fruit.

"No more waiting!"

The Nine-headed Lion gritted his teeth and flew toward the Immortal Path.

Based on Holy Land calculations, those in the Emperor Realm could ascend more than three hundred thirty-three steps, a third of the complete Immortal Path.

But "more than" included far too much; it could be four hundred thirty-three steps, five hundred thirty-three steps, or even six hundred thirty-three steps.

There were quite a few cultivators like the Nine-headed Lion who faced this choice; only one Immortal Fruit existed.

If picked.

What significance would the Immortal Path hold for those on the brink of death?

Some chose to make a desperate attempt, while others chose to wait a bit longer.

...

Eastern Immortal Domain.

Red Sail Star System.

Great Emperor Bahuang, his body covered in blood, exclaimed joyfully, "Yuan Ying, come again!"

"How well calculated."

Tian Gui Yuan Yin no longer engaged in brute force clashes with Li Bahuang but instead retreated a million miles with a subtle, cold gaze.

"What do you mean?" Li Bahuang frowned.

"The Immortal Fruit."

Yuan Yin's pale face became faintly icy.

Li Bahuang released his divine sense, and moments later, his expression turned to surprise: "Ruan Tang? Why is she on the Immortal Path..."

Li Bahuang was not unfamiliar with Ruan Tang.

He had once visited the Heavenly Court with Great Emperor Jin Shi.

He had personally met Xu Qingfeng's two children and the mistress of the Heavenly Court.

"So her name is Ruan Tang."

Tian Gui Yuan Yin smiled, his smile harboring undisguised killing intent: "Dongfang Youming, do you dare ruin my grand plans!"

"Snap"

Li Bahuang slapped his forehead, quickly grasping the gist of the situation, and couldn't help but burst into laughter:

"I suddenly don't want to die. I truly wish to see the expression on your face when your long-awaited chance for immortality is snatched away."

"She doesn't have the power!"

Previously unarmed, Tian Gui now grasped the Ying Zhu Sword, and his aura was severalfold more frightening than before.

Clearly, he intended to finish the battle quickly and head to the Immortal Path.

"Good!"

Li Bahuang rejoiced: "The previous fight was exhilarating, but still lacked something. Come on!"

"Rumble!"

The two Emperor Realm experts, one not wanting to harm Heavenly Court soldiers and the native inhabitants of the Red Sail Star System, the other not wanting to harm the Tian Gui Clan.

So the two of them simultaneously transformed into streaks of light, rushing toward Heaven Beyond Heaven, as terrifying Emperor Realm pressures clashed without reservation.

Unlike Tian Gui Yuan Yin's anger and urgency.

The calmly resigned Li Bahuang, nearing the end of his life, unleashed one Emperor Scripture and Divine Skill after another, laughing lightly as if regretting nothing else.

"Little Cauldron, Xu Ping'an is quite good; better persuade him to inherit my legacy."

"Yes, Great Emperor..." The Eight Desolate Cauldron responded with tears.

Many cultivators in the Immortal Domain focused on the Immortal Path, but notably more paid attention to the Emperor-level battle.

The outcome of the Red Sail Star System's battle would directly determine the Immortal Domain's future preservation.

Although they all knew that the no longer peak Great Emperor Bahuang was no match for Tian Gui Yuan Yin.

The Emperor-level battle didn't last long, just under half an hour.

In Heaven Beyond Heaven.

An Emperor's Demise slowly floated toward the Land of Reincarnation, a mournful cry echoing through the heavens and earth.

From the Northern Immortal Domain, Li Shenhuang.

Fallen in battle!