Chapter 453: 453: Competition at the Judgment Platform
Chapter 453: 453: Competition at the Judgment Platform
Translator: 549690339
Lin Zhen quickly got off the bridge, and there were not many people ahead of him by now.
“The Judgment Platform should be just ahead.”
Above the wasteland in front, a high platform rose from the ground.
The high platform looked like a giant pyramid, which could be climbed from all four sides, with tiers of steps stacked one upon another, each step a hundred meters high.
“Such a high Judgment Platform, probably with a hundred tiers of steps, I’m afraid it’s tens of thousands of meters tall.”
Lin Zhen arrived in front of the Judgment Platform, looking up.
Quite a few people had gathered here, some trying to bypass the Judgment Platform and enter the wasteland area ahead to search for Cosmic Crystals, but they found that they couldn’t pass at all, no matter what they did, they would just walk back to the original point of the Judgment Platform.
“What is this Judgment Platform for?”
Just as Lin Zhen was puzzled, Chris suddenly appeared.
“Master, there is a communication request in the Dimensional Universe, do you want to accept it?”
Lin Zhen was stunned: “A request in the Dimensional Universe? This is the World Stone, another world, how can it connect to the Dimensional Universe?”
“The communication signal is not from the outside world, but from the space of this world itself, the requester is…. Yama, the World King.”
“What? It’s him? Didn’t he die?”
“This is a signal field, everyone who comes here will automatically receive this request, which was left a long time ago.”
“Then accept it and see what message Yama, the World King has left for us outsiders.”
The request was quickly accepted, and text messages were automatically sent in the Dimensional Universe.
“Foreign friends, I am Yama, the World King, and the owner of this world. Your arrival in the Yellow Springs Netherworld proves that you are all sinners. Now climb the Judgment Platform and accept my judgment, it’s time to wash away your sins. The higher you climb, the more sins you will erase.”
There was no more text. Lin Zhen rubbed his hands: “What does Yama, the World King think he is? The God of justice?”
“Master, the only way now is to go through the Judgment Platform. If you don’t want to go higher, you can bypass it at the first step, you see, some people are already doing that.”
Lin Zhen looked up and saw indeed that some people had climbed onto the first step, seemingly enduring some pressure and still making their way around.
Because the steps were surrounded on all four sides, they could bypass the Judgment Platform by going around to the other side and enter the wasteland area.
Once someone started, more and more people followed suit. In their eyes, getting into the wasteland to obtain Cosmic Crystals as quickly as possible was their main purpose, and everything else was irrelevant.
But Lin Zhen didn’t think so. They had three months for this World Stone mission, so searching for Cosmic Crystals wasn’t a matter of urgency. Besides, he didn’t need money that badly for the moment. What he really wanted were the treasures left behind by Yama, the World King.
If there were treasures on this Judgment Platform, Lin Zhen believed they would be at the apex.
So he wanted to give it a try.
Many others also had the same idea. They didn’t immediately bypass the Judgment Platform, but climbed up the tiers one by one. However, they all seemed to have a hard time. Many of them stopped after climbing a few tiers, and it was unclear what they were doing.
“Let’s go up and see!”
Lin Zhen came to the steps, leaped up dozens of meters high, and climbed up like rock climbing, using his hands and feet to crawl up along the rough surface. He soon reached the first step.
As soon as he got up, Lin Zhen almost lost his footing and fell off due to a sudden overwhelming pressure from above, which made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
After steadying himself, Lin Zhen realized: “So this is a Gravity Field, the higher you go, the greater the gravity.”
However, the gravity on this first step was still not difficult for Lin Zhen.
He himself wasn’t quite sure just how strong his physical strength was.
With a slight surge of emotion, Lin Zhen quickly climbed to the second tier.
The steps, a hundred meters high, were densely packed with people climbing upward. Everyone had received the news that there should be a treasure left by the World King at each site, and the Judgment Platform would be no exception.
The first ten tiers were almost effortless for everyone to climb.
By the twentieth tier, most people were still able to keep going.
Starting from the thirtieth tier, people began to gradually fall behind.
The immense gravity made the bones of the climbers creak and thump. The strength of their physical and actual abilities were revealed at this moment, and those who were not strong enough simply couldn’t make it.
Some of them, dripping with sweat, sat down and meditated on the platform, adjusting their breathing, waiting for the next climb.
Others continued to struggle upward but often ended up unable to withstand the gravity that fell from the sky in the middle of the step, and were smashed down alive!
Since people were not allowed to fly here, the dozens of times heavier gravity could easily crush the powerful martial artists into pieces!
When death occurred, many martial artists realized that courage and perseverance did not guarantee that they could pass this test. Once they failed, it meant being crushed to pieces!
At the fortieth tier, the number of climbers had already decreased by half.
Fifty floors, the number of people was halved again.
Some people died, while some others felt unable to continue, and immediately began to climb the stairs and go to the wilderness area in front to look for Cosmic Crystals.
By the time they reached the sixtieth floor, Lin Zhen also felt a considerable pressure, and the number of people still climbing had dwindled to just a few hundred.
“Almost there, it’s been almost a day, and we’ve climbed more than half the way, just forty more floors to the top.” Lin Zhen said, and Chris immediately reminded him, “Master, according to the information provided by Yama the World King, this Judgment Platform is only considered halfway climbed when we reach the ninetieth floor. The last few floors are the hardest to climb.”
Lin Zhen nodded, “I understand, but since I’ve come this far, I might as well strive to climb to the top and see what’s on this high platform.”
Sitting cross-legged, Lin Zhen took a short break to catch his breath. Feeling that his condition had improved, he immediately stood up to climb again.
Sixty-three, sixty-five, sixty-eight, seventy!
For this mere ten floors, Lin Zhen had climbed for a whole day, and when he reached the seventieth floor, there were fewer than a hundred people left beside him.
“Such strong gravitational pressure, those who can persist to this point must be real geniuses. The real challenge has not yet begun.”
Enduring the great gravity at all times poses an extreme challenge to a Martial Artist’s body. You have to constantly exert force to resist gravity, or you could be crushed into a pancake at any time.
If you accidentally fall, the immense gravity is enough to turn you into a mural.
This is when strength and endurance come into play.
It took Lin Zhen five days to finally reach the eightieth floor.
There were only fifty people still climbing beside him.
“Phew! This has to be nearing the human limit by now. The gravity is a thousand times stronger than on a normal planet. I imagine if I were to weigh a strand of my hair now, it would be measured in kilograms.”
Lin Zhen looked left and right. After a few days of climbing, he had a better understanding of his competitors.
The strongest opponent among them should be a man named Apollo from the Dragon Totem.
Apollo is a blond-haired, green-eyed man with a golden Divine Dragon tattoo on his body. He has an extremely strong build, and when he reached the eightieth floor, he didn’t show any signs of fatigue like the others. He seemed calm and unruffled, as if he still had a lot of hidden potential.
“A formidable gangster, he must be my main opponent.”
“But now that I’m here, I’m going to leave you behind. I must be the first to climb the Judgment Platform!”
When Lin Zhen stood up, Apollo, who was not far away, also stood up.
“Partial Armorization!”
With a thought from Lin Zhen, black scales appeared on his body, causing his outer garments to spread out immediately.
After Partial Armorization, his muscles bulged, and his strength doubled. His legs, which had felt as heavy as lead, immediately regained their strength.
“Let’s go again! This time I’ll rush to the ninetieth floor all at once!”
Lin Zhen began a new round of climbing. Over the past few days, these people had been competing intensely. Seeing Lin Zhen start, the others didn’t want to fall behind and pursued him fervently.
At this moment, the Golden Dragon Tattoos on the man named Apollo began to glow.
“Inscription Power!”
As the Golden Dragon Tattoos glowed, a powerful bloodline force began to rise, and Apollo’s speed increased as well.
In addition to the two of them, several children of prestigious families and members of multinational corporations also began to use their hidden abilities to climb faster.
However, many more people couldn’t keep up. People lagged behind on every floor. But at this point, those who felt they couldn’t hold on simply chose to quit.
An hour later, twenty people managed to climb to the ninetieth-floor platform.
“So heavy… I can’t hold on even with Partial Armorization.”
Sweat began to appear on Lin Zhen’s body, making him acutely aware of the difficulty of this Judgment Platform.
If it weren’t for the support of Partial Armorization and relying solely on physical strength, he would’ve probably collapsed by now.
“A journey of a hundred miles is half done at ninety. Now is the time to test the limits of my humanity. I must climb to the ninety-first floor and leave most of my competitors behind!”
It’s impossible to fight here due to the overwhelming gravity, so Lin Zhen could only choose this approach.
With great effort to suppress his body’s fatigue, Lin Zhen resumed climbing.
Originally at their limits and prepared to rest, some people, seeing Lin Zhen’s incredible ability to continue climbing, mustered the strength to follow him, while others lost heart.
Never mind, this Judgment Platform is too difficult. It’s better to save time and go to the wilderness to look for Cosmic Crystals instead.
Of the twenty people, one immediately chose to give up. The remaining nineteen, including Apollo, didn’t want to lose to Lin Zhen and followed him to climb the ninety-first floor.
Two Level 9 Constant Star experts, unable to endure it any longer, fell from the Judgment Platform halfway and died on the spot!