The Stairs of Dao 

While everyone claimed that there were few who were more talented than the others in this batch of applicants, in fact almost everyone was at the same starting line. 

What this meant was that none of them had comprehended a single Dao completely, not yet anyway. 

Because just like everyone else who was born in the Dao Realm, no one started by trying to learn Dao from the very beginning. 

Instead, they'd spend the beginning years of their life purely in cultivating Qi, so that they could increase their life span and body function as much as possible. And only once they were sure to have at least a few hundreds years of vitality would they start trying to comprehend Dao. 

After all, no one knew how long it could take for one to understand a single Dao, and in case they didn't have enough lifespan and were lost in a trance, they wouldn't even know how they died. 

Therefore cultivation of Qi was vital for everyone even though none of them used Qi during fighs, and never used it after they started comprehending Dao. 

However unlike everyone else here, Felix wasn't born in the Dao Realm, and he came to the Dao Realm by using his own strength. So it could be said that he was the only one who had a major advantage in terms of just strength over the others. 

Unfortunately, the Stairs of Dao had nothing do with one's personal strength, but only their comprehension capabilities. 

Shaking his head and getting rid of all the unnecessary thoughts, Felix didn't wait for anyone else as he started walking up the stairs. 

As soon as his foot landed on the first golden step, Felix could feel an unknown energy swirling around him in great mass. And it was even trying to enter his mind and body. Almost as if it wanted him to get used to it. 

'So this... Is Dao....'

Sensing the Dao around him, Felix figured out that the first step was related to the Dao of Spirit.

To his knowledge, the Dao of Spirit was a toned down version of the Dao of Space. All it could do was help one sense the presence of other living beings around them. 

Not wanting to learn such an inferior Dao which he would never use, Felix closed his mind off to it, and took the next step. 

By now the other had recovered from seeing Felix take the first step boldly, while the real talents such as Wendy and Hector still hadn't. 

Narrowing his eyes at Felix who practically didn't give him any face and walked up the stairs first, Hector glanced at Phoebe who was looking at Felix as well. 

'Tsk, going up first so that you can capture all of Phoebe's attention? Humph! Even if you take the first step, I'll be the one who ranks first!'

Not wasting any longer Hector started walking up as well, after which Wendy, and the others hastily got on them as well. 

... 

By now all of the spectators had noticed that something weird was happening on the Stairs of Dao. 

Unlike what everyone expected the most talented two people Hector, and Wendy weren't the ones who were walking in front of everyone else, but it was some named Felix who no one knew anything about. 

Also, the distance between Felix and Wendy who was second in place was growing by the second. And Felix was close to the 90th step, while Wendy still hadn't even crossed the 30th step! 

However not a single one looked shocked by Felix's speed, but in fact, almost everyone was looking down on him. And the reason for this was because no step that Felix walked on was glowing in the slightest. 

The Dao of Stairs did not only allow one to comprehend Dao, but it also showed everyone how much of the Dao the individual had comprehended. 

The step would glow brighter with the more Dao they've comprehended. And in case someone was unable to comprehend the Dao at all, the stairs would not glow and the individual would be kicked off from it. 

As long as one had comprehended even the slightest of Dao from the step, they could then proceed to the next step whenever they choose to. Until finally they passed all of the stairs. 

"Is something wrong with him?"

"I don't know he's not comprehending any Dao and just walking up the stairs?."

"But how is it possible? Since the stairs aren't glowing, it means he hasn't been able to comprehend Dao from them right? In that case shouldn't he be kicked out?"

Finally, to take this anymore, one of the college's senior students who came to see the proceedings just for fun started explaining about the Stairs of Dao. 

"Like most of you already know, every step on the Stairs of Dao allows those who step on it to comprehend the particular Dao. And the steps glow depending on how much of the Dao they have comprehended."

"However this doesn't mean that just because you stepped on them, you need to comprehend it. After all, no one can force you to learn any Dao."

Shaking his head and shrugging, the senior student continued his explanation. 

"Though it is generally believed that you need to comprehend a part of the Dao in case you want to go to the next step, it isn't completely accurate."

"As long as you are capable of comprehending the Dao, but choose not to, the stairs will deem you worthy allowing you to proceed forward."

"However this isn't for everyone, because if someone chooses to go to the next step, but the steps deem their talent isn't good enough, they'll be kicked out immediately."

"Due to this most of them comprehend as little Dao as needed at every step, and only then proceed to the next step.."

Once the senior spoke, no one else made any comment on Felix. But deep down marked him as an arrogant boy who was showing off, instead of taking the opportunity to comprehend Dao. 

Finally, the steps started glowing when Felix placed his foot on the 91st step. 

One of the individuals who came to register the names was standing beside Phoebe, and seeing that the step Felix stood on was glowing brightly, he said, "Does that idiot think he's a big shot just because he has comprehended a single Dao?"

The reason he said that was because he had noticed how Phoebe was looking at Felix, and decided to usE this opportunity to get close to her. 

Unfortunately, his plan didn't work because the next moment Phoebe looked at him as if he was an idiot. 

"It's understandable that those bunch of newbies don't know about the stairs, but how could you a student of the college not know?"

Seeing the lost expression on the man's face, Phoebe snorted out of anger but still taught him. 

"The Stairs of Dao have a total of 99 steps on it. And each step allows one to comprehend a different Dao. Though the first 90 steps are all of low level Daos, it isn't the same for the final 9 steps."

"The last nine steps have higher level Dao on them, and comprehending just one of them is equal to 30 low level Daos."

"It is due to how difficult those Daos are to comprehend in a short time, that you don't need to comprehend to pass the test."

Just like Phoebe said out of the 99 stairs, as long as anyone passed by the first 90 stairs they can enter the college and take the next examination.

As for those who are able to comprehend a little Dao from the last 9 stairs, they are right away marked as the greatest geniuses of the particular bunch.