First Steps

Standing on top of the dragon like a proud upright rod was a 5'7 beauty, only a head shorter than Cynthia.

She had long jet black hair and face gave one the inclination that she was of royalty. Not comparable to the heavenly facial structure of Cynthia but it still had its own cute charm to it.

As the dragon slowly landed in front of the formation, Syla hopped down to the ground from the dragons head. 

She wore a purple dress that hugged tightly around her thighs, stomach and chest area.

With a fiery gaze she looked toward her family who were standing within the formation together.

She really looked like she was about to go off on a tantrum.

"You guys are simply unbelievable, you were really going to take him to the stairway without me? Yan you would leave your big sister behind when such an important part of your life was about to happen… and mother how dare you try to trick me, this is why you made me do so many chores today, isn't it? You wanted to distract me… I see, I see… this… this can't go unpunished"

The dragon behind her seemed to understood Syla's intentions and adopted the same attitude, breathing out fiercely from its nose. 

The raw steam and power made the ground directly beneath it crackle and boil from the intensity of the heat. 

The bystanders watching the interaction quickly made much more distance between themselves and the family, no one wanted to be caught in any cross fire.

Cynthia lightly smiled.

An extremely frosty and cold energy pervaded outwards from her body, time itself seemed to be slowed down as the cold wafted from her body.

The dragon, who was moments ago proudly standing tall, didn't dare to try and challenge such a cold energy and its body language was no longer so proud and its breathing also became less fierce.

Once Cynthia saw this she spoke clearly in her calm and soothing voice

"Now, now, no need to cause such a commotion, this is the very reason I didn't notify you Syla. You can never control your temper"

"You and your dragon would cause a messy scene at the Stairway with all the arrogant young masters who don't know their place"

Syla could only pout at her mother's words not bothering to refute.

Yan quickly interrupted to try and cool, or maybe in this case heat up… the situation, actually that doesn't make sense-… ahh I don't know anymore, he didn't want to be late to the Stairway.

"Big sis we also need someone who can hold down the fort while mother and father aren't here, I'm sure you can do that better than anyone"

Yan smiled warmly and Syla was a sucker for this kids cute face.

"Hmm well I guess…" she became a lot more relaxed a now but was still quite obviously pouting.

"At least give your big sister a hug before you leave"

'Seriously...' Yan quickly made his way towards his sister, she bent down and engulfed him in her arms and all her glory. 

She whispered "good luck, don't forget to remember the faces of any arrogant young masters who dare to be rude to my little brother"

"Yes, yes."

Yan could only agree so that Syla would be at peace of mind.

After a few more pleasantries, the trio teleported to the main city.

It was very busy and the bustling activity of the main city was on full display.

When the family of three walked outside of the teleportation formation, they got many stares and looks as others couldn't help but notice how beautifully sculpted all their faces were.

Many assumed they were one of the unknown powers from the inner area of the Ku world.

Not many dared to cause trouble with them.

Although they hadn't made their way to it yet, the Stairway could already be seen, and most likely could be seen from anywhere within the main city due to the sheer magnitude of it.

It really was massive.

It looked as if it was made for giants whose steps would make the entire world shake.

They quickly made their way towards it, as they got closer and closer there were less people on the streets and there was a lot noise pollution.

The status of the few people around was most certainly increasing.

As the status increased, the respect that the trio received decreased, when they were only 5 minutes away from the Stairway, some of the young masters who were likewise making their way towards the Stairway were pointing and laughing at Yans lower quality robes.

As a small sect on the outskirts they didn't have a lot of resources to work with so their capital was not nearly as lucrative as sects closer to the central area of the Ku world.

Rauna could only shake his head inwardly, these people really didn't know their place.

His wife alone could freeze all of these young masters parents into whole ice cubes.

He wanted to teach them a lesson for daring to disrespect his family in such a way but he knew not to cause commotion so he could only let it go, something Syla would not be able to do if she actually came along.

Her temper would've got the best of her.

Once they arrived to the Stairway, Yan marvelled at the size although it already looked big from far, now it was on full showcase.

Seeing it so closely he understood why it was given the name 'stairway to heaven.'

Although knowing there was only 100 steps, Yan simply could not see past the 50th step, which was already impressive for a mortal. People around him would only assume he was lying if he was to say it out loud.

Around him there was a lot of other families who had brought their children to participate.

A few of which were shrouded in what look like a fine layer of black mist, concealing their faces and bodies so that they wouldn't be able to be identified.

This was usually done by either families or sects who had been ruined and were trying to rise back up quietly or by one of the inner sects who were suffering from internal strife.

Either way it didn't really matter to Yan, his blood was boiling and he wanted the Stairway to open up right now. 

Both Rauna and Cynthia could sense Yans eagerness and smiled at eachother. 

When the time struck midnight and the moon hung high up in the sky, gracing the earth in its light.

The Stairway started to shake and the golden steps which had looked dim throughout the day, started to shine brightly, the light intensity didn't seem to want to stop and it kept increasing as though it was competing with the brightness of moon.

Once this phenomenon ended the steps still shone brightly but it was now bearable to look at and one wouldn't be at risk of burning their eye sight out.

A couple of figures quickly rushed forward toward the giant steps.

As though the Gods watching from above were unhappy with their lack of respect, the figures who had rushed towards the steps felt an overwhelming pressure press down onto them and their steps were completely halted. In fact it wasn't gods watching from above that had stopped them but it was simply the immense of pressure of challenging a Peak difficulty Stairway.

The Peak difficulty was rarely available to be challenged, as most eras were not Peak eras.

Due to the rarity of the current Era, many didn't quite understand / underestimated the amount of fate one had to have to be able to easily run across these giant steps.

One of these figures who had rushed forward had been one of the people who were concealed in darkness, however upon entering onto the steps, the darkness shrouding them was actually dispersed.

This was not a normal occurrence as it was common practice to hide the identity of a challenger.

As the darkness dispersed a boy with sharp eyes and bright orange hair looked back towards his parents when he felt that his appearance was being revealed.

A few of the other families couldn't help but gasp quietly when they saw his appearance. Though they might as well have gasped as if they were in a drama, as all cultivators had incredible hearing and wouldn't even miss the whispers unless it was concealed in Qi.

The family who was with the orange haired boy decided that there was no point hiding their identity and directly dispersed their own disguise.

"What are you all so shocked about? Did you think that I wouldn't allow my son to participate because a few sects said that I couldn't?"

The man who had just spoken was the head of the Vermillion Stars sect.

He looked very rough and brutish. He had a muscular body and messy orange hair on his head and a full beard.

Although it was well known that his sect was being pressured by some of the top powers within the inner zone, none dared to speak up as this was someone who was still amongst the inner area. Meaning it wasn't something the majority could be involved with.

Unless they were looking for problems.

Another family who was hiding showed their appearance.

A cold and calculating voice washed over the area around the Stairway.

"The Vermillion Stars have really grown arrogant, do you think those powers won't take action when they learn of this slight of yours."

A beautiful woman who was 6'0 with very pretty flowing hair that was a rich purple.

Her chest area was also larger than most of females around her and they seemed to bounce as she spoke.

This gained her the ire of many of the female cultivators at the Stairway. 

Though they wouldn't dare to show it as this was Matriarch Merilda, the matriarch of the Purple pheonix clan.

Another one of the powers that resided within the inner area of the Ku world.

"You almost make me laugh Merilda, such lofty talk and yet you yourself are hiding among the riff raff here, maybe if you could keep a husband you wouldn't have to be hiding from those powers who wish to court you"

The head of the vermillion stars, laughed with a jolly tone like he couldn't feel the daggers Merilda was staring into him after he had fired those shots and continued

"I would be more than happy to help you out Merilda, join me for a night and I'll wash your problems away"

Merilda countered

"Nonsense you can't even take care of your own sect, your clan is being pressured and you think your mediocre son who can't even walk normally on the first step is going to save your situation" She was clearly pissed off about his earlier comment.

Although she said this about her son, it was to be expected, during a Peak era not many could complete a single step easily on the Stairway. This feat was mostly reserved for people with incredibly high potential.

Reaching the 10th step during a peak era was equivalent to reaching the 99th step in a Higher era.

The difference was simply too big.

This still wouldn't stop Merildas words from offending the Head of the vermillion stars.

The situation between the two started to became volatile and two different types of Fire Qi were flying off from their bodies out into the surroundings.

After seeing this scene the families around became slightly wary and didn't let their children go ahead onto the stairway, they wanted to see how the situation played out first.

All except one.

Yan calmly made his way forward directly walking in between the 'no mans land' between Merilda and the head of the Vermillion Stars. 

He completely ignored their confrontation and jumped onto the first step, he then continued to stroll lightly past the vermillion stars young master, before everyone could even get over the shock on the balls on this young man for clearly ignoring the commotion between the two heads, they were shocked again by the absolute ease he was walking on the steps.

Before they knew it he had alrdy made it all the way up to the 10th step.

The onlookers could only stand and watch in a daze.

Even Merilda looked over when she realised how quickly he made it up.

Would her child be able to display such ease when walking up the steps? 

She wasn't so sure.

When he reached the 10th step Yan came to a grinding halt.

Those spectating finally recovered from their shock and started to sneer at the arrogant young man, who was finally starting to feel the pressure of Stairway.

Contrary to their beliefs, Yan only stopped because he was surprised.

He was surprised there was still no resistance at all, it felt the same as when he was on the first steps.

He assumed that he would feel some sort of pressure once he reached the 10th.

After his internal shock, Yan continued walking forward at a quick pace like he wanted to get it done with.

The families who were sneering a second ago quickly stopped and their sneers turned into frowns when they realised that the young man was still walking so freely.

When Yan started walking along the 10th step, he felt a soundless energy rush into him, power that he felt he had always had was being unshackled from within him.

The Stairway was unsealing parts of his talent obelisks.

He could now sense that both his body and bones had become incomparably harder, although he still couldn't quite hear the name of them yet he most definitely felt a qualitative change.

Before he felt like he could punch a hole through a stone wall, he know felt he could topple an entire building.

Around Yan space slightly tore, no one noticed, not even his fsther, Rauna who was an expert in manipulating space.

Space ripping when talent was being unlocked was not the usual.

Every time Yan would move along the tenth step, he would stop to feel his body each time it had an extreme gain in power, by the time he reached the end of the 10th step, Yan could now slightly sense his spiritual sea, meridians, mental realm.

He still hadn't grasped his weapon talent yet however this wasn't something that he was worried about.

Behind him, after his explosive showcase, all the other families allowed their children to start to participate, not a single one showed the same ease as Yan did when climbing but there was one girl who had already made it to the 7th step and was still making her way up with fairly quick speed.

She had big cute doughy eyes and long purple hair.

The purple hair being a prominent trait of the Purple Pheonix sect.

This was the daughter of the Matriarch who had gone back to staring daggers at the head of the Vermillion Stars.

The Purple Pheonix clan was incredibly adept at conjuring a purple flame that would aid them in all parts of their cultivation, whether that was purifying their body or incinerating their opponents body and soul to ash.

Infront of Yan, energy rushed up from the stars and formed a human body that was no bigger than Yan himself. 

It had no face or hair, it just looked like a mannequin with a profound cosmic colour. It was dark blue all over and stars of different colours seemed to twinkle on its surface.

It held a huge rectangle shield that adopted the same cosmic colour as its skin.

The shield was the same height as the being.

This was the first opponent that Yan would be facing.

'Looks more impressive than the Node awakening realms that I fought back home'

Yan couldn't help but notice the serious pressure the shield was giving off.

'That's one big shiel-'

before he could even finish his thought the faceless being appeared infront of him, slashing down with its mighty shield.

Yan wasn't expecting the sudden burst of speed and could only cross his arms infront of him to defend.

The shield slammed against Yan, sending him flying backwards. 

If this was before he had walked along the 10th steps he knew for sure all the bones in his arms would be broken right now.

'Lucky..'

"Let's try again shall we"

This time Yan took the initiative and dashed forward with a speed, no less than that the mannequin displayed.