"Boop. Boop. Boop."

Yuelan kept tossing rocks at Xuan every time he climbed a new step. It didn’t help that she was also making weird noises and trying to boop him or something.

Regardless of that, Xuan dodged everything effortlessly and, alongside Sierra and Hanbi, arrived at the very top.

Once he was there, Xuan just let out a sigh and side-eyed Hanbi.

"So much for a difficult climb."

Hanbi raised a brow.

"I never said it’d be difficult. Anyways, you’re here, so follow me."

She stepped ahead, and after walking past the mischievous Yuelan, she approached the temple ahead. It was just a golden temple, and for a moment, Xuan had to stop.

"This temple doesn’t belong to the Heavenly Faction or something, right? We have a bit of a problem with those people."

Hanbi turned around, then shook her head.

"No one can own the Heavenly Steps. It’s a neutral zone."

Ah.

That made sense.

The fine marble pillars held up the temple beautifully. Not to mention, with so much gold, Xuan was really considering just ripping off a piece or two and selling it later. Sadly for him, once he approached the main temple gate and playfully placed his hand on the gold, he realized that it was infused with powerful Qi.

No matter how much Qi he infused, he couldn’t even make the gold budge. Elemental Qi didn’t work either.

Whoever made this is really strong, aren’t they? Xuan thought with admiration, and then continued following after Hanbi.

As it so happened, the inside of the temple wasn’t that well decorated. Instead, there were just a bunch of random old, worn statues of all sorts of faceless cultivators. Statues of swords, and even two giant statues of both the sun and the moon, likely representing Yin and Yang.

Lastly, in the very center of the temple, amidst all those statues, was a large blue archway. When Xuan focused his intent on it, he felt a deep profoundness that made him pause for a moment, admiring it.

Yuelan was just like Xuan. Sierra, on the other hand, didn’t share the same enlightenment. Instead, she just continued to blankly feel up the archway with her Qi until, finally, Hanbi stomped her foot down and puffed out her chest.

"Normally, if you go through this, then you’d be able to either choose to go to a different world of your same Tier, or a higher world of a slightly higher Tier. However, when you have someone like me who’s already been to the Lower Heavens, all I need to do is guide you three."

She extended her hand toward Sierra, and although a little confused, Sierra grabbed it.

Then Hanbi said:

"Sierra, you grab Xuan’s hand, and Xuan, you grab Yuelan’s hand. There needs to be physical contact, or Qi contact, with me for this to work, and walking in a straight line while holding hands is the most common method. Do you understand?"

Xuan and Yuelan exchanged a glance.

"I mean, yeah? It sounds pretty simple."

Yuelan smirked and said:

"It reminds me of those secret rooms. Say, what happens if someone from the Supreme Heavens descended and did this? Would we be able to go to the Supreme Heavens right away?"

Hanbi thought about it for a moment, then replied:

"It’s possible, but you’d need to go through such a difficult personal mission that I don’t think there’s ever been anyone who did that. At least, there are no records of it."

Hmm...

So it was technically possible, then. Very interesting~

"I’ll be waiting for you in the Lower Heavens. Since it’ll take you a few hours to choose your mission, I’ll run back to my sect and come with some reinforcements to make your journey to the sect a little smoother," Hanbi said, a determined look appearing on her face.

"Okay, now don’t let go no matter what, okay? If you do, you won’t be able to enter my world."

And with that, Hanbi ensured the three of them were holding on tightly, and finally stepped through. Her body disappeared, but her hand remained. Sierra seemed a little nervous, but even so, she stepped through. He was next, and in the end, with Yuelan still holding Xuan’s hand, she came in last.

He was half expecting to immediately be met with a mission, but when he glanced around, Xuan saw a pitch-black nothingness. The air reeked of iron, and with every breath, Xuan felt his lungs slightly burn.

But at least he wasn’t alone there, as Sierra’s and Yuelan’s figures glowed brightly beside him.

However...

"She’s gone," Xuan said, not seeing Hanbi anymore.

"Did she say we can let go after we get in? My nose is a little itchy," Yuelan questioned.

Xuan scoffed.

"If you let go even while seeing this, then you’re an idiot. Just wait a little."

Sierra tightened her grip on his hand, then said:

"I can’t feel or sense anything..."

Sensing her panic, Xuan tightened his grip as well, assuring her everything was fine.

"It’s probably because we’re in some empty vacuum. I can’t feel my Qi either."

She stood there quietly for a moment, then nodded at no one in particular.

"Don’t let go."

"I won’t."

"Humph. Don’t you two dare do something funny while holding my hand. On that note, we’re in, like, a waiting room. That’s usually how it is in games. Since most of this world’s been like a game, give it 7 more seconds," Yuelan chimed in.

Xuan raised a brow.

"Why 7 seconds?"

"Eh, shitty loading screens, mostly? Though it’s almost always 30 seconds. So let’s see... It should be over in about... now—"

<Ding!>

<You have entered the path of the Dao and climbed the Heavenly Steps for the first time.>

<You are currently trying to enter a Tier 4 world.>

<You must complete a mission judged by the following parameters: Tier 2 World Difficulty - Tier 3 World Difficulty - Tier 4 World Difficulty - Lower Heavens Realm Difficulty>

<Combining the difficulty and producing a list of missions...>