CHAPTER 303: CHAPTER 303: TALENT BOOST, BENZ ARRIVES

"Are you guys trying to steal the Dragon Pulse? That’s a crazy dream!" The Tidal Giant walked past Johnnie and the others, still making fun of them.

Johnnie just frowned slightly and ignored him.

"Big guy, are you looking for death? If we could fight here, I’d tear you apart for sure!" The Red Carp put one hand on her hip and pointed the other almost at the Tidal Giant’s nose.

Johnnie and the others were a bit shocked for a moment.

Was The Red Carp really that hot-tempered?

The Tidal Giant was also surprised, then his eyes flashed with anger.

"A little girl like you dare to talk big? You’re asking for death!" He clenched his huge fist and swung it in the air, but still didn’t actually attack.

Fighting here would get you killed by the strength law. Not even a Divine Soul could recover.

"Come on, you’re too scared to fight? A real coward!" The Red Carp sneered and spat in disgust, making a mocking face.

"Idiot!" The Tidal Giant roared in frustration, his face red with anger. "Little girl, I hope you can reach the top. I’ll be waiting for you there!"

With that, he turned and continued climbing up the stairs, struggling against the strong pressure.

"Wow, he’s really not going to fight. What a big guy, but such a coward." The Red Carp said again, mocking.

The Tidal Giant’s body trembled slightly, almost losing his balance. He took a deep breath, didn’t stay any longer, and sped up his steps.

"This guy is really patient. He’s like a ninja turtle." The Red Carp said, disappointed. She had hoped to anger him into fighting, which would have instantly killed him.

Maiev and Nalorin Sylvia both gave The Red Carp a thumbs-up without saying a word.

Brave. So brave.

But The Red Carp looked down, and looked at Johnnie, "Master, I think I’ve really made this guy angry. You have to protect me."

"You’re scared now?" Johnnie said unkindly. "That guy is a Lesser God. You’re just making enemies for me!"

A lot of people here wanted to kill him—Pitiless, the Demon Race, even the Tidal Giant didn’t like him.

Now, The Red Carp had even made him a foe of a Lesser God.

The Red Carp smiled and said carelessly, "Master, I know you’ve killed a Lesser God before. With your great strength, beating this big guy would be a piece of cake."

"Hey, that sounds nice." Johnnie nodded, but then realized what she said and scowled, "Stop sucking up. When did you become so smooth-tongued?"

"You have to let me out sometimes." The Red Carp muttered in annoyance.

She was the Soul of the Dragon Patterned Sword, and usually stayed inside the sword.

Johnnie ignored her and the group kept climbing slowly.

[Ding, your physical body has improved. Body strength +1, strength comprehension +1.]

...

The prompt messages kept coming.

As they climbed higher, the pressure grew stronger. Johnnie’s Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art and his strength comprehension increased faster.

At this point, his strength talent had already broken through to 19%.

Soon, they reached the 9,999th step and stopped again.

It wasn’t that Johnnie had reached his limit—it was the girls who couldn’t go on.

"Master, what’s going on? You haven’t hit your limit yet?" Nalorin Sylvia asked in surprise.

Johnnie smiled slightly and said, "My strength talent just broke through to 20%, so I should be able to go a bit further."

"20%?!"

The girls opened their mouths, speechless for a moment.

They had trained hard on their strength talent before, but never managed to unlock it. It was only through the power of these steps that they barely understood it.

But Johnnie had already unlocked 20% in just a few days. That was beyond crazy.

"Master, I really think you’re not human." The Red Carp said with a sigh.

Johnnie gave her a sharp look, then took another step forward and reached the 10,000th step.

The pressure around him suddenly increased. A strong force of the laws pressed down on his body, but it was still within his limits.

And this place was still within Maiev’s healing range, so there was no danger.

He looked at the girls and said, "Let’s train here first."

They nodded and sat down cross-legged, focusing on their training and trying to understand their strength talent.

[Ding, your physical body has improved. Body strength +1, strength comprehension +1.]

[Strength talent improved. Current level: 21%]

...

The prompt messages kept coming. Johnnie’s strength talent kept rising steadily.

But his Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art still hadn’t broken through. After reaching the sixth level, breaking through to the next one would require even more pain.

At the 10,000th step, he was losing ten million health points per second. Without Maiev’s Life Spring skill, he wouldn’t have been able to survive.

But this damage wasn’t enough.

"I wonder if these stone steps can help me break through to the seventh level of the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art." Johnnie said, looking up at the steps that disappeared into the clouds.

He guessed there were at least tens of thousands of steps above, and the damage would keep getting worse. It should be enough to help him reach the seventh level.

But he wasn’t sure if he could survive the pain after that.

Johnnie stopped thinking about it and focused on his training, trying to understand his strength talent.

...

Time passed. Without realizing it, three days had gone by.

At this point, Johnnie stopped training.

His strength talent had reached 40%, and the progress was now very slow.

The pressure around him also dropped a lot, and the rate of his Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art’s growth slowed down.

To go further, he would have to keep climbing higher.

But the girls were still deep in their training.

Johnnie didn’t disturb them. He just waited in silence.

"Master!" A happy voice called out. Looking down, he saw a figure at the bottom of the steps, struggling to climb up.

"Benz?" Johnnie was surprised and confused.

It was Benz. He had actually made it this far.

At that moment, strong force laws surrounded him, helping him fight against the pressure from the stone steps. He climbed up quickly.

"Whew! Finally caught up with you guys." he said, taking a deep breath and falling down onto the stone steps.

"Hey, this life recovery is so strong!" Benz exclaimed, feeling the flow of Maiev’s life force. He moved closer to her, and his lost health points started to recover quickly.

Johnnie was surprised and asked, "You’re not afraid of the heavy pressure from these steps?"

The other girls, except The Red Carp, were all divine powerhouses. The Red Carp had even broken through to stage 10. Their strength was way beyond Benz’s. But climbing this far was already their limit.

Yet Benz, who was only at stage 9 and at the peak of legend, had also made it here — and he looked very relaxed. It was clear he hadn’t reached his limit yet.

He looked proud and said, "Master, I’ve already learned the law of strength. This pressure doesn’t bother me much. If I can take the damage, I can easily reach the top."

Learned the law of strength?

Johnnie had no words.

The law of strength was common, just like basic laws, but learning it wasn’t easy.

Benz must have a very high talent for strength. No wonder Skye took him as a disciple.

Johnnie asked curiously, "Benz, have you already been able to face the heavenly tribulation and become a god?"

"Yep." he nodded. Learning the law of strength meant passing the heavenly tribulation was no problem.

Benz continued, "But Master Skye said he had a way to help me break through to stage 10. He told me to hold off on becoming a god for now."

"Breaking through to stage 10?!" One of the girls gasped, and the others stopped training. They all looked at Benz in shock, especially Maiev and Nalorin Sylvia.

"Master, I regret breaking through to the Domain so early." Nalorin Sylvia said with a sigh. "If I had met you earlier, I might have broken through to stage 10 too."

The other girls all looked envious.

Benz looked a little embarrassed and scratched his head.

"Oh, right." he said, pulling out ten black jade stones from his pocket and handing them to Johnnie. "Master, these are the rewards for learning the law of strength. I don’t need them anymore. Here, take them."

"Strength Spiritual Stone!" Johnnie was shocked.

This was a strength spiritual stone, just like the elements. When refined, it could boost one’s strength talent.

But he had the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art, which could absorb the damage and help increase his strength comprehension. Using it felt a bit wasteful.

Plus, his strength talent had already broken through to 40%. Refining these strength spiritual stones would give him only a tiny boost.

"Divide them among yourselves." Johnnie said, handing the spiritual stones to Maiev and the others.

The girls’ eyes lit up. They talked about how to share them.

There were three of them, but ten spiritual stones. It was impossible to split them evenly.

The Red Carp thought for a moment and said, "We’re helping Master pass the test. Maiev can heal, so she has the biggest role. Let’s give all ten strength spiritual stones to Maiev. If we can’t keep going, we’ll just enter The Map of Heaven and Earth."

"Me too." Nalorin Sylvia nodded.

Maiev didn’t refuse. She said, "Okay, I’ll refine them. I’ll try to understand the strength law. When I get the reward from the spiritual stones, I’ll give them back to you."

"Sounds good." the girls agreed.

Maiev immediately started refining the stones.

Her strength talent had already reached 15%. After refining ten of them, she quickly broke through to 20%, and her power improved a lot.

"I feel like I can pass this Stone Stair Trial now." Maiev said, feeling the change in herself.

As a divine powerhouse, she had a strong body. With 20% strength comprehension, she could easily handle the pressure of the stairs.

"Let’s go. Keep moving." Johnnie didn’t stay long and continued climbing.

Maiev still used her life source to help the others recover health.

Soon, they reached the 15,000th step and stopped again.

"Master, we can’t go on. Let’s go back to The Map of Heaven and Earth. You two keep climbing." Nalorin Sylvia said, breathing hard.

The Red Carp also nodded. She was even worse — she was almost lying on the stairs.

Johnnie said, "Let’s train for two days. If you can’t break through, go into The Map of Heaven and Earth first."

"Okay." the two girls nodded and sat cross-legged, focusing on their strength talent.