The closer an Intent was attuned to an aura, the better it was at affecting that, both positively or negatively. And there was no closer attuning than learning the Dao of that aura’s origin.

Having learned the Dao of Gravity, Alex was certain he was as ready as he could ever be to cross all of the stairs. He had the best Intent to fight off this imaginary weight he felt on himself.

As soon as Alex applied the Dao of Gravity on himself, to make himself lighter, all of the weight lifted at once. He didn’t even have to use that much of his Intent anymore as the Dao itself was doing half the job.

Without any further delay, he began climbing the stairs.

His feet were swift, climbing the steps one after another at a rapid rate, sometimes even skipping a few. He crossed 14500 steps and then reached 15000 steps.

The weight around here was supposed to be just around 15 thousand tons. And yet, Alex barely felt anything at all. He didn’t even feel that impacted mentally by the usage of his Intent.

He could continue moving ahead with no worries.

Alex felt the first hint of heaviness around 16000 steps when the weight on him increased to 20 thousand.

‘That’s weird…’ Alex thought. Something was wrong here. With his understanding of the Dao, he should have easily crossed this much without feeling any weight on himself at all.

Why was he feeling more weight this soon? Was his Intent not enough?

He continued his journey, going further higher. Halfway between the 16000 and 17000 steps, Alex’s fake weight increased by a few thousand more tons. And while his Intent surrounding the Dao itself was still working excellently, it wasn’t enough for some reason.

‘There’s another aura here,’ he thought, very much surprised with his own discovery.

Gravity was not the only thing affecting him. There was something else within this aura that he hadn’t completely managed to learn.

‘What is it?’ he thought. ‘What else is there?’

He wanted to stop and figure it out, but right now, he had no time for that. At least, whatever it was, his Intent was attuned fairly close enough to it that he most likely did not have to worry. Alex continued climbing the stairs, moving far past the first threshold of his requirements. With 16000 steps crossed, 1 ticket was guaranteed for him. Now, he needed to get 4 more.

He crossed 17000 steps and made his way toward 18000 steps. As he approached, the weight around him had gotten so heavy that he simply couldn’t continue as easily as he had the past thousands of steps.

With over 50 thousand tons of weight filling him as he approached the 18000 steps, Alex had to use all he could to fight back the weight.

The full force of his Dao made it all a lot easier suddenly, allowing him to cross the next threshold easily. Another 2 tickets were guaranteed now as well.

He continued along, the weight increasing at a sharp speed. Every step felt as though the weight increased by a hundred tons or so.

His Intent was working at its maximum capacity and allowed him to get close to 19000 steps, but at the same time, his Spiritual energy was depleting at an equally rapid rate as well.

He kept attention at the level, but he didn’t know how much longer he could hold on. The increment in gravity was so sharp that it made it harder to continue.

The other part of the aura that he had gotten close to but hadn’t learned the Dao for was obviously adding to the weight, but even the Dao of Gravity was failing to help him as much anymore.

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His Intent could only take him so far with his Dao. The energy that created the aura around the final stages was too strong for even him with his Dao. It was no different from him getting burned by fire should it come from a person far stronger than him.

His Dao would do nothing to help him in that case.

Alex struggled with every step, but he didn’t let that stop him. Even as the weight approached 75000 tons, he continued climbing.

He soon developed a one-track mind, using everything he had within him while ignoring everything else. The only thing aside from his goal that he kept his mind on was his Spiritual energy.

He could not let that run out. That would be a repeat of the first day, which he did not want.

Alex continued climbing but his steps had slowed down. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he continued climbing. The hourglass should have run out of sand by now. He was thankful the stairway hadn’t closed just yet.

The weight continued adding on and on. Very soon, even with everything he could use, he couldn’t continue.

Alex finally paid attention to where he was and looked ahead of him. There were less than 200 more steps to go. 200 more steps and somehow the peak felt an eternity away.

Alex could see the many gathered individuals at the top of the sect, each watching his climb intently. Not a single person had moved since the beginning.

‘I have to do this,’ he thought.

He took his next step.

‘I have to go further.’

He took another step.

‘I can’t stop.’

Another step.

‘Not now.’

As he took another step, Alex truly gave it his all. He had done all that he could by himself, so now it was time for his body to help him.

The Sun God’s Celestial Yang Body acted immediately, sending out a warm feeling throughout his body. He felt a wave of energy take over him at that very moment, as though a warm bath after a long day of hard work.

After finally deciding to use his body at long last, Alex could now see the peak much closer than it was before.