Chapter 1002 - Surrounded Once they arrived in front of the staircase, Yuan started climbing it while being pressured by an invisible force. However, unlike the first time, he was not bothered by it at all. As for Meixiu and the others, they climbed the staircase without feeling anything. "Is it supposed to be this easy?" Li Jinxi asked. "No, it's not. Since we're not taking the trial, we won't need to do anything. However, Yuan will have to bear our share of effort, so it's going to be a lot harder on him than normal." Chu Liuxiang explained to her. "What? If that's the case, why don't we just let him do it by himself? The Stairway to Heaven will probably open for everyone else after he clears it. There's no reason to make it harder on him for no reason." Li Jinxi said. "He's probably already thought about that, but since he isn't saying anything, he probably wants the challenge. After all, it would be too easy if he went inside by himself." Chu Liuxiang shrugged. "Will he be okay…?" "Of course. He passed the last Stairway to Heaven while carrying three other people as well." "Really? Who was the third one? And where is this person now?" "He helped a fellow disciple from the same sect to escape her family. She joined one of the Seven Spiritual Academies with the others." "I see…" Sometime later, once Yuan and the others arrived before the grand doors of the Stairway to Heaven, they started inserting their badge into the slots. However, right as Yuan prepared to insert his badge into the door, he suddenly stopped and started looking around. "What are you looking for?" Chu Liuxiang asked him, but he didn't say anything. "Feng Feng, Xiao Hua, Yingying." He suddenly called them. The three of them appeared before him the next second. "Protect them." He said. "Yes." "What's going on, Yuan?" Meixiu asked him with a slight frown on her face. "We're surrounded." "Huh? By who?" Chu Liuxiang looked around, but she couldn't see anyone. Suddenly, a tremendous pressure that surpassed even the staircase Yuan climbed appeared. Feng Yuxiang and Xiao Hua used their cultivation to protect Meixiu and the others. "Where do you think you're going, Yuan?" A familiar voice suddenly resounded in the area. Eight figures appeared in the air above them a moment later, all of them emitting the aura of a Spirit King. Yuan smiled when he saw the person leading this group. "I was wondering when you'll come back, Lord Ji. So, where did you go after disappearing without a word? What happened to my judgment?" "Your judgment was a little unique, so I had to delay it." "You couldn't have picked a better time? I'm finally about to ascend after many delays, and you're here to delay it again? It's almost as though this world is trying to prevent me from ascending for some reason." "Hahaha!" Lord Ji suddenly started laughing. He then spoke, "Don't worry, Yuan. This will be your last delay because you will not survive another day. If you're dead, you won't need to worry about being delayed or ascending." "So you're going to kill me today? What happened to not meddling with outside affairs unless it breaks the balance of the world? Don't tell me that I am going to break the balance of the world by ascending?" He asked. "Oh no, what you did is far worse than breaking the balance of this world." Lord Ji said. "Since I am going to die today, can you enlighten me for a moment? What exactly did I do?" Lord Ji pointed his sword at Yuan and spoke in a cold voice, "You offended the Heavens, that's what you did." "I offended the Heavens? How and when did I do such a thing?" Yuan raised an eyebrow. "That's something I wish to know as well." "So you don't know how or if I even offended the Heavens, yet you're here trying to kill me? Can you be any more unreasonable?" "I may not know how, but I definitely know that you have offended the Heavens. When I called upon Heaven's Judgment on you, the crystal became pitch black. I didn't know what it meant at that time because I have never seen such a result before, so I went back home to check." "After some research and much to my shock, I learned that when the crystal turns black after Heaven's Judgment, that means the Heavens wants you dead at all cost! Although it has never happened in the lower half of the Nine Heavens before, the crystal only turns black when someone has done something or is planning on doing something that will harm the Heavens!" "Such a heinous crime cannot be fully rectified even with your death, so I am going to shatter your soul and erase your existence entirely! This is Heaven's judgment for you, Yuan!" Lord Ji declared. And he continued, "Don't even try running away into the Stairway to Heaven. As the Lord of this realm, I have control over the Stairway to Heaven. You won't be able to open that door even if you put in your badge. There's nowhere to run." "Is that so…" Yuan mumbled. "Ahahaha!" A familiar-sounding laughter suddenly resounded. "Yuan! I am finally going to get the chance to avenge my brother and my son! With the Seven Legacy Families and the Ji Family working together to take you down, not even the Heavens can save you today! Oh right! Even the Heavens want you dead!" Patriarch Gu, who was among the group of Spirit Kings, suddenly exclaimed in a spiteful voice, his aura filled with killing intent. Indeed, the 7 individuals that Lord Ji brought with him were all leaders of their own Legacy Family from the Seven Legacy Families. Right after Patriarch Gu's sentence ended, Yuan and the others could see a sea of people approaching them from all directions like a tidal wave. They were all people from the Seven Legacy Families and the Ji Family, and they were all there to carry out Heaven's Judgment by killing Yuan.