Martial Arts Genius with Proficiency System

The staircase was engraved with countless divine patterns, carrying the weight of infinite ages, as if it had existed at the end of ancient myths.

Then.

Everyone's heart and spirit felt a terrifying tremor and shake.

Rumble!!

Some martial artists couldn't even endure the vibration, falling backward. Strangely, behind each fallen martial artist, a chair would bounce out.

As if it was prepared in advance.

"Every time I see the celestial ladder, it's this shocking. The celestial ladder pulls the heart and spirit into a realm, and even the most outstanding must fall once here."

Chang Dong muttered in a low voice.

His gaze swept across the scene, noticing even Tianjiao like Mu Wuyang and Feng were, after a brief moment of enduring, on the verge of collapse.

But at this moment, Zhou Dong noticed an odd figure, seeing Su Tu moving under the celestial ladder's guidance, even adjusting the chair behind him to a comfortable height.

Unlike the others who fell onto the chairs, Su Tu sat down by himself.

Before closing his eyes, he even nodded politely to Zhou Dong, and then... slowly closed his eyes.

Zhou Dong, witnessing this scene, was utterly stunned as if struck by lightning.

He even incredulously rubbed his eyes.

Seeing Su Tu half-lying on the chair, his mouth involuntarily dropped open.

"What... is... what the heck kind of monster is this!!"

"What level of heart and spirit talent is this, that even the celestial ladder couldn't draw him in immediately!"

...

When Su Tu opened his eyes again, he saw an immensely towering celestial ladder, situated before everyone and appearing at the edge of the sky.

This was a world shaped by heart and spirit, the world of the celestial ladder.

The other students appeared quite disoriented, only Feng and others, thanks to Su Tu's reminder, managed to steady their heart and spirit beforehand, appearing somewhat better.

They had only heard of the celestial ladder before but never seen it; now witnessing it, they found it indeed extraordinary.

"A step a day, step by step to the heavens!!"

At this time, an ancient and timeworn voice echoed through this world, instantly waking the bewildered candidates with its sound.

They all looked towards the majestic celestial ladder.

Upon it lay an indescribable power; the gaps between steps seemed not large, yet these mere ninety-nine steps connected heaven and earth, seemingly blurring the boundary of distance.

"Is this the celestial ladder??"

"Gosh, I thought it was just stairs, didn't expect it to be a whole realm!"

"What now? Do we go and climb directly??"

Each candidate whispered among themselves.

"West-023 to West-103, North-036 to North-151, East...."

Suddenly, the ancient voice resounded again, calling out numbers, and the moment the numbers were called, the figures seemed pulled by an inexplicable force, disappearing from where they stood.

In the next moment, appearing on the celestial ladder, each student fell onto it, as small as ants.

Everyone stepping onto the ladder felt an inexplicable force, pressing directly on their heart and spirit, questioning their origin, uncaring of the height of one's divinity, only seeing the purity of essence.

Amongst them, Zhao Budian and Luo Fan were summoned onto the celestial ladder beside Su Tu.

Luo Fan climbed a few steps forward, each step feeling like a mountain weighing down on him, with abyssal chasms ahead, stepping forward meant a demise of body and Dao.

But even so, he gritted his teeth and pressed onward, managing to reach thirteen steps.

Thump! Thump! Thump!!!

At this point, he could even hear his own heartbeat. His heart and spirit aptitude was not high; it was only through sheer will he barely etched the image of the Moon God in his mind, and even now, his heart and spirit height had not reached suffering.

Luo Fan knew he was not a Tianjiao; compared to Su Tu, he was as a hill to the Five Peaks, but having reached this far, he would not give up!!

Around him, many candidates with insufficient heart and spirit talents were halted, sent away by the celestial ladder, but Luo Fan remained unwilling.

But eventually...

Whoosh!!

His heart and spirit could not withstand the terrifying force any longer and was ejected from the celestial ladder.

Returning to where Su Tu and others stood.

"How did it feel?"

Su Tu asked.

"Difficult, extremely difficult, like carrying the heavens on my shoulders..."

Luo Fan helplessly shook his head; seeing him like this, Su Tu wanted to offer some encouragement but was at a loss for words.

More candidates' figures gradually disappeared and reappeared around them.

Those with insufficient talent couldn't even step onto the ladder before being bounced off; indeed, the heart and spirit foundation of the human race was lacking somewhat.

At this time, the seven divine sons had already stepped onto the celestial tier, climbing swiftly, the slowest also reaching over fifty steps, among them the fastest, Jiu Hua, had already reached over sixty steps, showing no signs of fatigue.

Progressing steadily.

Among the humans, only Mu Wuyang and a slim youth could barely keep up with Jiu Hua, though signs of strain were appearing.

The others like Feng and Tian from Bei Men Street struggled beyond fifty steps; their martial talent was decent, but their heart and spirit remained shackled by racial limitations.

The divine sons said nothing; they merely stood on the high tiers, overlooking the martial artists who fell from the celestial ladder, a slight smirk at the corners of their lips, saying it all.

Human race... heh~

The martial artists who fell from the celestial ladder, seeing their gazes, felt a bitterness in their hearts; in the face of absolute power, all efforts seemed futile.

The path of heart and spirit talent, the human race's foundation was too shallow.

"I say, you all did well, but alas, this round's victory only goes to Jiu Hua."

The Vine Immortal stood on the fifty-eighth step, looking at Mu Wuyang nearby and spoke softly.

The two bore the repelling force of the celestial ladder; while advancing was difficult, the ladder couldn't easily sweep them away.

Upon hearing Vine Immortal's words, Mu Wuyang could not help but look up, seeing the divine maiden Jiu Hua in nine-colored scales, who had reached the seventy-second step.

Standing above the limit of the human race!

Mu Wuyang's brows furrowed unwittingly; he glanced at the slim youth beside him, seemingly acquaintance: "Not exerting yet."

"Too far, can't lock, can't borrow, can't help it."

The slim youth shrugged helplessly.

"Don't even think about it, the human race's heart and spirit talent is at the bottom among all races, this is an innate deficiency; being able to stand alongside me should be enough pride for you."

"But to keep up with Jiu Hua is nothing short of a fool's dream; the Snake-man Race is favored by the heart and spirit, and Jiu Hua is specially blessed by the gods. In matters of heart and spirit, for millennia, none have hoped to rival her, impossible among all races, and even more impossible for humans!!"

The Vine Immortal spoke arrogantly.

"You're begging for a beating." The slim youth's voice carried a lazy drawl, as if eternally sleepy.

Mu Wuyang nodded: "Hmm."

But they both knew, Vine Immortal's words bore no exaggeration; judging by Jiu Hua's exhibited heart and spirit talent, indeed, humans could not rival her.

As long as she did not fall, she could even push forward the record for fastest to become a great divine power user in the Star River.

"It's a mess now, I was supposed to intercept them, but now it's blown, though we are a nation of courtesy, letting them take the first round so ceremoniously is too courteous..."

The slim youth murmured quietly.

At this moment, Mu Wuyang's gaze swept across the first layer of the celestial ladder, spotting a familiar figure; his mouth curled into a smile unwittingly.

"Let it go, who said?"

Upon hearing this, the slim youth's eyes twitched, looking at Mu Wuyang: "Another expert??"

"Guaranteed."

Mu Wuyang mimicked a phrase he borrowed from someone else.

Then, he looked at the Vine Immortal and shouted: "You seem quite confident, that your friend can reach the top, why don't we place a bet?"

At this moment, Su Tu had no idea what trick Mu Wuyang was up to.

The ancient voice finally called his name, and he stepped onto the celestial ladder, heart and spirit tensed, expecting pressure.

However, unexpectedly, upon Su Tu stepping onto the celestial ladder, the anticipated pressure did not come.

On the contrary, a joy surged from the celestial ladder, the entire ladder seemed to move under his feet.

This was not a metaphor but a fact, because as Su Tu stood on the celestial ladder, without lifting a foot, his body began to ascend layer by layer.

The celestial ladder was carrying Su Tu upward of its own accord.

"This... ah?"

"Wasn't it said that this celestial ladder is hard to climb, step by step to heaven?"

"What's this, no one told me the celestial ladder is an elevator!"