CHAPTER 304: CHAPTER 304: REACHING THE SUMMIT, REALIZING THE LAW OF STRENGTH

Johnnie and Benz didn’t train. They just waited quietly.

Soon, two days passed. The girls’ strength talent comprehension improved a lot again.

Especially Maiev, whose strength comprehension broke through to 30%.

Nalorin Sylvia and The Red Carp also made some progress, but they still couldn’t handle the pressure from the stone steps.

The higher they went, the stronger the pressure became. If they could break through 20% strength comprehension, they might have a chance.

But right now, they couldn’t pass the stairs.

Nalorin Sylvia sighed and said, "Master, we should go back to The Map of Heaven and Earth."

Johnnie nodded. If the two girls stayed here to train, without Maiev’s healing, they wouldn’t last long.

He turned to Benz and asked, "Benz, do you want to go back to The Map of Heaven and Earth?"

Benz looked up at the stairs that went all the way to the clouds and shook his head. "Master, I want to go up and see."

"Okay." Johnnie didn’t refuse.

Benz had already learned the law of strength, so the pressure here was nothing to him.

He thought for a moment, then sent the two girls back into The Map of Heaven and Earth.

"Let’s go. Keep moving."

The group continued climbing.

At this point, Maiev’s life source could no longer fully stop the damage they were taking. She kept using healing spells.

It was a simple healing skill, and the cost was almost nothing for her.

But the healing power was still impressive — it restored over ten million health points per second, and lasted for ten minutes.

The group had no problem climbing. They went higher and higher.

Two thousand steps, three thousand steps...

As they climbed higher, the pressure around them grew stronger, and the health loss increased.

Maiev’s forehead was sweaty, and she kept casting healing spells.

Luckily, they could now see the end of the stairs. There were about ten thousand more steps to the top.

Around them, there were a few other figures. Almost all of them were Lesser Gods or Core Gods.

Only those who had over 20% strength comprehension could stand the pressure here.

"Maiev, can you keep going?" Johnnie asked, worried.

Maiev wiped the sweat from her forehead. She hesitated for a moment, then said, "Master, please hurry to the top. I’m using too much spirit energy. I can’t keep going for long like this."

Johnnie nodded and sped up a bit.

Maiev followed behind, looking a little tired.

Her strength talent had only reached 30%, and she had to keep using healing skills to help Johnnie and Benz recover health. It was a big burden.

Luckily, they were not far from the top. There were only about a hundred steps left.

The group pushed forward with all their strength and rushed toward the summit.

"Hey, is that you? How is this possible!" a shocked voice called out.

It was the Tidal Giant who had mocked them before. He watched Johnnie and the others rushing past him and widened his eyes in disbelief.

"Damn it, I don’t believe I can lose to a human!" he shouted angrily, then clenched his teeth and sped up.

Johnnie gave him a cold glance but said nothing.

If the guy was smart, he would stay out of the way. But if he really tried to attack them, Johnnie wouldn’t mind killing him to gain more strength.

Boom...

The heavy footsteps echoed. The summit was just ahead.

Johnnie and Maiev were now struggling to move forward. Each step took them tens of seconds to take.

But Benz had it the easiest.

He had learned the law of strength, so the pressure here didn’t affect him much.

If he could handle the damage, he would have already reached the top. But because he couldn’t take the life damage, he had to stay near Maiev.

"Maiev, give me another Life Song. It can help us reach the top quickly. That way, you won’t have to take so much pressure." Benz said, looking ahead.

"Are you sure? The pressure gets stronger the higher we go." Maiev said, struggling to speak.

Benz nodded confidently. "The pressure doesn’t bother me much. As long as my life can take it, it’s fine."

"Okay." Maiev said, and began chanting a spell. A strong power of The Rules of Life spread around her.

Life Song was a high-level healing spell, just below the Forbidden Spell. It could restore one hundred million health points per second, and lasted for ten minutes.

Buzz!

A bright green light surrounded Benz. His health points quickly recovered, and even his energy was a little better.

"Master, I’ll go ahead first!" he said, then ran off with confidence.

Whoosh...

Even though he was only moving as fast as walking, compared to others who were stuck, it was already amazing.

Benz easily reached the top.

Suddenly, the pressure disappeared, and his health stopped dropping. All he could hear was the wind blowing loudly.

Benz looked around. The place was open, and besides him, there were only five others.

Pitiless, two Core God warriors from the Dragon Race, a Mechanical Race figure, and a Tidal Giant. The last two were Lesser Gods. They had made it through the stairs so fast, which meant they had also learned the law of strength.

When Benz suddenly appeared, everyone was shocked.

Especially Pitiless. She recognized him as one of Johnnie’s subordinates. Her face turned cold.

If it wasn’t for the fact that they couldn’t fight here, she would have grabbed him and used him to threaten Johnnie.

Benz ignored them and sat by the stairs, watching below.

At that moment, Johnnie and Maiev were still climbing slowly but steadily.

Though the pressure got stronger the higher they went, they should still make it to the top.

Benz felt a bit better and sat cross-legged, waiting quietly.

...

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

[Strength talent has increased. Current level: 77%.]

...

The system messages kept coming. Johnnie looked at the summit, just a short distance away. He gritted his teeth and kept going.

His strength talent had reached 77%, but there was still a big gap before he could truly understand the law of strength.

There were less than a hundred steps left. He could easily climb them now, but he wanted even more — he wanted to truly master the law of strength.

After reaching the top, the pressure would disappear, and no more strength comprehension would be gained.

"Maiev, can you keep going?" Johnnie asked. He wasn’t at his limit yet and wanted to stay here and try to understand the law of strength.

But Maiev probably couldn’t take much more.

She was only a Half-God, and her strength comprehension was still under 30%. Coming this far had already pushed her beyond most Half-Gods — even some Lesser Gods.

Maiev looked up at the summit, just a short way away. She forced a weak smile. "Master, don’t worry. I can still make it to the top."

Johnnie nodded and slowly pulled her forward.

The closer they got, the stronger the pressure became.

The health loss per second had reached over 40 million.

Johnnie’s health was only around 43 million. Without Maiev’s healing, he wouldn’t last two seconds.

Finally, they reached the last five steps.

Maiev’s body trembled. Each step felt like a battle. She almost completely relied on Johnnie to carry her forward.

"Maiev, go ahead. I need to try and understand the law of strength."

Johnnie said, then lifted her with all his strength. His forehead and arms bulged with veins, and with a final push, he threw her up.

Benz quickly reached out and caught Maiev. With both of them working together, they managed to pull her to the top.

"Phew..."

Maiev let out a breath, catching her breath. Her short hair stuck to her forehead, and she looked a little messy.

"Master, can you hold on?" She tried to recover, then looked down at Johnnie with concern.

"Give me a healing spell!" Johnnie quickly said.

Without hesitation, Maiev cast a powerful healing spell — the Life Song.

Buzz...

Green light surrounded Johnnie. His health was restored instantly, back to full.

The Life Song cost one hundred million health points per second and lasted for ten minutes.

Johnnie felt a little better. He sat cross-legged and kept trying to understand the strength talent. With Maiev’s healing, he had no fear of danger.

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

...

The system messages kept popping up. The attacks here were terrifying, but Johnnie was using his Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art to the maximum. His body strength and strength comprehension were rising fast.

[Ding, your strength talent has improved. Current level: 90%...]

In less than a day, Johnnie’s strength talent had reached 90%. The pressure around him had also gotten much weaker.

But the Eight Desolations Body-Tempering Art still hadn’t improved.

"Keep going!" Johnnie stood up, took a few steps, and reached the last level of the stairs. Just one more step, and he’d be on the top.

He stayed where he was, sat cross-legged, and continued to practice, trying to understand the law of strength.

"Who dares to train here? His talent must be incredible." a cold, female voice said behind him.

It was Pitiless!

Maiev and Benz both looked shocked. They got ready, watching her carefully. They knew the history between Johnnie and Pitiless. This woman had sneaked up behind them, and she definitely had bad intentions.

Pitiless looked at the two of them and said in a calm voice, "Don’t worry. Even if I wanted to fight, I wouldn’t do it here."

The two exchanged a glance, remembered the rules of the Dragon’s Lair trial, and let out a small sigh of relief. They stopped paying attention to Pitiless.

Maiev kept casting healing spells, helping Johnnie restore his health.

On the stairs, more powerful people kept appearing, struggling to take the last step.

They all looked at Johnnie in shock — he was training right here.

Another half day passed. Most of the Lesser God-level warriors had already reached the top.

[Ding, the first trial of the Dragon’s Lair will close in one hour. Those who haven’t reached the top will lose the right to claim the Dragon Pulse.]

At that moment, a system message appeared. Those still stuck on the stairs became very nervous.

Some even turned angry, gritting their teeth and rushing forward without thinking.

Boom...

Suddenly, a loud explosion. Blood mist filled the air.

A Half-God warrior tried to force his way to the top but couldn’t take the pressure. He blew up instantly, and even his Divine Soul was completely destroyed.