Is that a Wisp?
chapter-1102

"That was refreshing." Feifei stretched her arms, heaving a pleasant sigh in relief. Having rested for enough, she was completely healed now. She then got up, grabbing hold of Krune as she pulled him into a hug. "I'm glad that you're safe."

"Of course," Krune boasted. "I obtained my Spiritual Mark within four days. I am…speed!"

"Right, right." Feifei rolled her eyes, saying, "Let's get going now. We'll head towards the Immortal Staircase now."

"Alright," Krune replied, condensing the Cloud Whale around them as it took off towards the sky, slowly turning invisible as it began to move. All along, Krune used his Soul Needle to detect treasures. After all, if there was a chance he could obtain something useful, he didn't wish to waste the opportunity.

As they continued to travel, they unearthed numerous treasures, soon getting lucky as they found a couple of spatial rings. Feifei used it to store any and all treasures they came across, segregating them into the respective storage rings to keep everything in order.

Eventually, Krune noticed the Soul Needle whirring nonstop before pointing in a certain direction, causing him to say, "There's a treasure on the level of the Soul Needle there. This level of reaction shows that they're somewhat similar in nature."

They soon arrived atop a lake situated within a ring of mountains, a place never ventured forth by humans. And, hovering atop the center of the lake was a lamp, emitting a gentle energy fluctuation, nurturing the place's vitality.

Upon making eye contact, Feifei arrived before it, gently touching it once as it made a connection to her soul, fusing into her. Sighing, Feifei turned around, saying, "No wonder. This is an amazing treasure. It would help us in establishing our sect."

"I'll tell you more about its properties along the way," Feifei said soon after, entering the Cloud Whale as they took off once again.

"This treasure is called a Soul Lamp. People that I allow can place a fragment of their souls in this. If they die, their respective soul flame vanishes. Moreover, it would also display their state of being through its flickers. Its greatest use is to act as a guiding beacon for the Spiritual Incarnation fragments of the dead people and condense it within it. Eventually, using the soul fragment as the core, it would help the cultivator revive faster. This is its greatest use." Feifei then concluded, "It would be safer to use in comparison to other forms of survival with our Spiritual Incarnations."

While journeying towards the Immortal Staircase, they dug up numerous treasures, causing the number of storage rings on the fingers of Feifei to continue to increase. Eventually, she had no other choice but to place all the storage rings in her bag.

There was enough to cause clinking sounds.

Finally, after traveling nonstop for another six months, they arrived at the Immortal Staircase. It was a series of thousand steps that spanned over a chasm, reaching the foot of the Immortal Peak at its end.

Each step only spanned a meter in height, but it had a length of 100 meters and a width of two kilometers.

A sizeable crowd had gathered before it, watching the people struggle to climb the staircase. All of them were the local populace that were aware of what the Immortal Staircase entailed. Beyond that, a very small section of the people came from outside.

Information about the Immortal Staircase was strictly kept under wraps. After all, it was situated on a secluded island in what appeared to be a sea. Due to the water currents, no ship was able to naturally reach there, unless they went against the currents with the map of the island in their hand.

Once the Cloud Whale arrived above the island, it gently touched the ground, vanishing as Feifei and Krune calmly behaved like they had arrived at the place through natural means. They then looked around, noticing the buildings mostly consisted of single stories.

Only some inns meant for those visiting from outside had two stories. In fact, they were mostly vacant.

Krune and Feifei calmly arrived before the Immortal Staircase, hearing the cheering sounds of the people.

"He reached the 95th stair. He's almost at the top!"

"Look, Hicka is only thirteen years old this year. But, she has managed to reach the seventh step within an hour. She's the most talented among our village this year."

"Stinci isn't any inferior. She's right behind Hicka."

The discussions were in a frenzy as Krune and Feifei felt the presence of the people around them, muttering simultaneously, "They're stronger than your average cultivator."

"They probably have cultivation techniques perfectly suiting them," Feifei said, sensing the variations in the Spiritual Energy fluctuation from each villager.

"Since they have been with the Immortal Staircase for generations, they have produced generations of heroes. So, they have improved overall," Krune said, then expressing his doubt, "But if that's so, why is their village so barebones in development?"

"Haha, it's because this is just the starting village." A villager overheard their conversation, laughing as he intruded, "We are those that have decided to remain here and pass on our village's legacy to the future generations."

'He's…strong.' Feifei could instinctively feel the old man's strength.

Sensing the change in her gaze, the man laughed. "I have journeyed through a lot on the Immortal Peak. And, once I felt I have gone high enough, I sealed my cultivation and returned to live in my birthplace. Now, I focus on imparting my experiences to the younger generation."

"This is our village's tradition. Once we complete our journey, we return to our hometown to live our old age." The old man laughed as he continued. "And, we have established a village at every point of the Immortal Peak. So, the higher up you proceed, the more developed our village becomes. We have just made it like this to symbolize progress and development."

"That's an interesting culture," Krune said before gazing at Feifei. "Well, shall we start our journey as well?"

"Might as well." Feifei nodded as they approached the foot of the Immortal Staircase, taking in a deep breath before stepping on the first step.