“Why are there so many sword marks?” Tao Yu looked at the sword marks on the rocks of the surrounding mountain paths with a surprised expression on his face.

These were all Ancestral God Stones, and their hardness was no less than a top-grade divine artifact.

However, now, they were surrounded by terrifying sword marks. Each of these sword marks was six to seven inches deep. These sword marks crisscrossed the walls and rocks around them, and there were no fewer than three thousand of them. Each of them was so shocking.

Right now, Qin Yun and the others were less than five hundred meters away from the peak of the mountain. In front of them was a 999-step staircase. The staircase was about three meters wide, and on both sides were incomparably tall boulder cliffs. It was three to four meters long, and those sword marks were scattered all over these stone cliffs.

The stairs were straight, and when they looked up, they went straight to the Heavenly Gate. At the end of the stairs was the main hall they had been looking for.

“Sister, look, that’s the main hall. The Qingqiu Tower must be inside.” Tao An pointed at the hall on the top of the mountain and shouted excitedly. He was as excited as a cheering sparrow.

“Yes, we’re finally arriving.” Tao Yu’s face also revealed a look of joy. He smiled, but it was incomparably beautiful.

Qin Yun frowned. He looked at the hall above the stairs with a solemn expression. His gaze glanced at the mountain walls on both sides of the stairs. He had a strong bad premonition in his heart.

“Don’t be happy. If I’m not mistaken, this staircase won’t be so easy to climb. There must be an extremely terrifying danger in it.” Qin Yun suddenly turned to the excited Tao sisters and said.

Previously, the Blackstone Puppet had said that a few people had passed through his checkpoint, but in the end, they did not succeed in climbing to the top. This was enough to show that there was still danger ahead of the mountain peak. In front of them, there was only this staircase left. Therefore, Qin Yun was sure that the staircase was filled with danger, and it was extremely dangerous.

“En!” Hearing Qin Yun’s words, Tao Yu’s expression also calmed down. Obviously, she also agreed with Qin Yun’s words.

“What kind of danger can this staircase be? Auntie, I don’t believe it.” Tao An curled his lips and stepped on the stairs.

“No!” Qin Yun and Tao Yu hurriedly shouted, but they were still a step behind.

Tao An’s foot had already stepped on the stairs. As she stepped on the stairs, a profound light suddenly burst out from the originally dark stairs.

Following that, an incomparably terrifying sword light shot out from the hall above the stairs and rushed straight towards Tao An.

This sword light came like a gale and was as fast as lightning. It did not give Qin Yun and the others the slightest bit of time to think about it. However, the aura contained on the sword light was extremely fierce.

“Ah” Tao An saw the sword light gradually enlarging in front of him, so frightened that he hurriedly took a step back and let out a cry of alarm.

However, just as she was about to be sliced in half by the sword light, a powerful hand instantly grabbed her arm and threw her aside. Instead, it appeared in her original position and slashed at the sword light.

Clang!

The sword light collided with Qin Yun’s divine saber, emitting the sound of thunder collapsing. Even if Qin Yun was sent flying, he collided with a huge rock behind him, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

On the side, Tao An was completely stunned. His face revealed an extremely frightened expression, and his entire body froze on the spot.

“Young Master Qin!” Tao Yu’s pretty face also revealed an extremely panicked expression as she looked at Qin Yun with a worried expression.

“I’m fine!” Qin Yun said, but at the same time, he glared at Tao An fiercely.

Seeing Qin Yun staring at her, Tao An immediately shed tears of grievance.

Qin Yun was speechless when he saw this scene. Before he could say anything, he just glared at her and Tao An cried as if he had done something to her.

On the other hand, Tao Yu had a helpless expression as he hugged Tao An in his arms and comforted him softly.

Qin Yun ignored the child-like Tao An and looked at the stairs.

Tao An’s unintentional actions had clearly confirmed what he was thinking.

This staircase was indeed as dangerous as he had imagined, but Qin Yun did not expect it to be so dangerous.

Qin Yun had used the fusion divine power and used the Lightning Collapsing Divine Ability to block the sword light just now. However, he was still sent flying by the terrifying power contained in the sword light, and his body was seriously injured.

Qin Yun involuntarily looked at the walls on both sides of the stairs. Looking at the sword marks, he finally understood where these sword marks came from. These sword marks were all caused by the sword light flying from the top of the mountain.

The power of this sword light was self-evident when it reached seven inches into the stone.

At this moment, the sword light did not appear again, which meant that as long as he did not step onto the stairs, the sword light would not appear.

“A single step represents a sword attack. The 999 steps here represent a total of 999 sword beams. Only by surviving the 999 sword strikes can one successfully ascend the mountain peak.” Qin Yun said.

“So difficult? Isn’t it very difficult to reach the top of the mountain?” Tao Yu asked with a frown.

Qin Yun did not reply to Tao Yu’s words, and his expression was incomparably solemn.

This was what he had observed so far. If the power of each sword corresponding to the 999 steps was the same, then it was better to say that the power corresponding to each step would be even more powerful, and it would be even more difficult.

“Find a safe place to hide. I’ll try this staircase again.” Qin Yun said to the Tao sisters.

“But” Tao Yu was about to say something, but when she saw Qin Yun’s firm gaze, she swallowed her words and could only care, “Be careful!”

Qin Yun nodded slightly.

Seeing that, Tao Yu and Tao An didn’t say anything else, so they ran to the side behind the big rock.

After Qin Yun saw the Tao sisters hiding behind the boulder and not being injured by the sword light, he started walking towards the stairs.

He wanted to verify his previous conjecture and see if the sword light on this step was stronger than a single sword strike, but only if he had to resist two consecutive sword strikes.

Buzz!

Qin Yun stepped on the first step, and an extreme buzzing sound came from the top of the mountain. A sword light rushed towards Qin Yun.

However, Qin Yun’s footsteps did not stop. He actually took another step at this moment.

Buzz!

The sound of a sword cry suddenly rang out. Right after the first sword light that was rapidly approaching, another sword light actually shot out. This sword light was not only greater than the first sword light, but also more terrifying in power.

“Damn it!”

Seeing this scene, even Qin Yun, who had always had a good temper, could not help but curse.