Every single one of them was climbing with all their strength. Even if they couldn't be amongst the top 40 disciples, they didn't want to become a laughing stock by falling down. Especially now that every single disciple from the big sects and their families were here.
In a prestigious and famous competition like this, losing to their fellow disciples of the same sect was nothing to be ashamed of, yet losing to someone from the other sect was nothing but disgraceful.
" look at your pathetic faces, you all should have stayed in your dorm rooms in the first place"
A disciple from the MorningStar who didn't participate in the competition shouted at the Golden Valley disciples as his fellow disciples laughed out loud and ridiculed them.
"At least we are in this competition not like those cowards who didn't have the guts to participate"
The Golden Valley disciples shouted back
"We prefer to be here rather than participate and bring shame to our sect, unlike you scumbags, hehe"
"Hey don't spit such nasty words in front of the girls, hey girl, I'm not like them"
"What the f**k, dude!?"
"Hey girl, yeah you from the SilverMoon, don't talk with those MorningStar scumbags, they have skin disease"
The stairway was in an uproar and there was no shortage of entertainment for the crowd to enjoy. Many of the disciples were cursing each other and showing all kinds of signs using their hands.
Fortunately fighting on the steps was prohibited or this place would have already become a battleground. But that didn't stop them from abusing each other using words and some of them took the cursing game a step ahead and scolded their dead ancestors.
However, all of them froze and shut their mouth when they noticed a black-robed youth calmly walking past them. The SilverMoon girls almost stood there with a slightly opened mouth in shock and wanted him to look at them despite this current situation.
"Who the f**k is he?"
"Is he from our sect?"
"No, and look at his black robes, he doesn't belong to any sect"
Inside Micheal's head, the system was rewarding him with badass points and converting the soul pressure into experience points. He was extremely happy as he tried his best not to laugh in joy.
"Oh my god! He's only fifteen steps away from reaching Evan and Victoria"
The disciples of the Sunrise sect felt their heartbeats rising and prayed to their gods that he honor his words. They doubted Riyan, their best disciple would have reached this level as he was making climbing the steps so easy and effortless.
"Human, it's not a shame to rest a bit"
"Rest? This is like a walk in the park to me"
"You're an arrogant f**ker, do you know that?"
While Micheal was calmly walking towards the top,
Evan Clarke, Victoria Parker, Hannah Berry, and Nyla Reid had already reached the 45th step and by the time they reached the 50th step, the previous calmness on their face and demeanor started to change. Their climbing speed dropped considerably as the pressure they were feeling increased significantly.
"Look, it's the GHOST!"
Just when Micheal stepped on the 40th step and stood alone, someone from the crowd shouted.
"You mean the Ghost who destroyed the Blood and Bone sect?!"
"Yes! He's the Ghost from River town!"
The moment the crowd heard this, all of their gazes left the celebrity disciples and landed on Micheal as the system continuously awarded him badass points. Not only the crowd, but the celebrity disciples also stopped the discussion among them and looked at the one the crowd calling Ghost.
His face still carried a warm smile as he walked towards the top like the soul pressure they were creating was nothing but a gentle breeze.
"Shit, we are F**ked"
Gaya sighed as Celina gritted her teeth remembering the incident that happened at the waterfalls.
"How the f**k he killed an entire sect with his cultivation level?"
"You moron!, can a normal Body refining stage level 1 cultivation reach the 45th step?"
The people who initially mocked for no reason felt a cold chill running through their spine.
"News travels fast,"
He was glad that someone from the river town came here and recognized him. On earth, he made sure that no one recognizes him but here, the more people recognized, the more badass points he got from the system.
"I never expected that this young man is the famous Ghost of River town. It looks like he isn't a normal youngster after all"
Elder Mark let out a small smile and sighed.
Looking at a youth who was younger than them climbing higher and higher, most of the disciples started to crawl towards the top using their both hands and feet, like a baby. However, Micheal still looked calm and step by step reached the 50th step and stood only ten steps away from the four celebrity disciples.
"Who is he? Where did he come from?"
Hannah Berry and Nyla Reid were gawking at them as they tried to climb forward using all their strength.
"Pervert"
Celina's heart was trembling in anger but she couldn't show it in front of Alex. If Alex had done something to him because of her, both of them would be punished by the sect for disrespecting the competition, so she could only swallow her anger and watch him showoff.
Four of them including Evan Clarke tried their best to move forward. Each of them took pride in being the best among their generation and didn't want to lose to an outsider like him. Unfortunately for them, the pressure on the 60th step was just too strong, and they knew that they were at their limits. So At this point, they could only watch him calmly take one step at a time and hope that he wouldn't reach the 60th step.
"Human, the pressure on the higher steps will be too strong, stop here, you have already reached the top 10"
Micheal could sense the nervousness in her voice but he was not in the mood to quit now, especially since the experience points and badass points were raining down on him like crazy.
"Is he going to reach the 60th step?"
"If he did, the sects would go crazy to recruit him"
"Elder Mark, do you think he would still want to join our sect?"
Claire knew that at this point, the three big sects would give him an abundant amount of resources and ask him to join their sect. They even didn't have a suitable dorm room for a talented youngster like him, let alone the resources for his cultivation.
"The people of River town said that he destroyed the blood and bone sect because they massacred a village full of commoners, it might sound illogical but I have a feeling that he will honor his words"
"Then the Sun will really rise in our sect"
"Do you think he's single?"
"Look at him bitch, handsome guy like him wouldn't be single"
"I bet he has a bunch of girlfriends"
The female disciples including the ones in the three big sects couldn't help but admire him. The SIlver Moon disciples looked at him like they were going to eat him alive while he reached the 59th step and stood just a step away from the four celebrity disciples.
Using their last bit of strength, Evan Clarke and Victoria Parker took another step and reached the 61st step leaving Hannah and Nyla behind.
"He reached it"
"Oh my god!"
The crowd became restless when they saw him standing beside Hannah Berry and Nyla Reid. And in a blink of an eye, he took another step and arrived beside Evan Clarke and Victoria Parker.
"Who are you?"
Evan Clarke was exhausted as he asked him breathlessly. He still looked calm like he was immune to the pressure and for the first time in his life, Evan felt inferior to someone of his age. At first, when he heard about the destruction of the blood and bone sect and the Ghost who did that, he didn't pay much attention because, with the right plan and spells, anyone could accomplish that feat.
However, he had never thought that he would be this powerful and talented, especially considering his cultivation level. A nobody couldn't reach this far and looking at his calm face, he couldn't help but admire and respect him.
"Didn't you hear? I'm called Ghost"
He gently patted Evan on the shoulder and continued to step forward towards the top.
"How could this be possible?"
Victoria and Evan's eyes were wide open, and their face was full of disbelief.
"He's only at the level 1 Body refining stage, how is he resisting the pressure?"
"He doesn't belong to any sects but he managed to surpass us"
The three girls were startled and watching his back as he continued to move forward towards the top.
"He must have used some pill to resist the soul pressure, with weak cultivation level, I can simply blast him away with one spell if we met on the battleground???
Victoria calmly said as the three of them could feel the arrogance in her voice but they also couldn't disagree with her. There wouldn't be much of a fight between her, a Body refining stage level 8 cultivator, and the ghost, who was only a level 1 Body refining stage cultivator. All of them were thinking that he must have used some kind of tactic to kill Ralphy and refused to believe that he could defeat Ralphy fair and square.