Abundant Martial Arts Virtue
Chapter 74 - 58: The Ladder to Heaven

Chapter 74: Chapter 58: The Ladder to Heaven

Wu Xiaode stood motionless in his place.

The mist enshrouded him.

He waited a while longer, until there was no movement at all in the great hall, then he carefully looked down at his feet.

The entire hall was left with countless cracks.

The arms that had suddenly appeared had all retracted underground, their destination unknown.

This spell was too terrifying.

If his knife hadn’t been quicker by that split second—

The consequences would’ve been too ghastly to imagine.

A deep unease surged in Wu Xiaode’s heart.

Who could contend with such a spell?

Suddenly, he remembered something.

The Demon Armor could absorb souls!

But just now, the armor hadn’t reacted at all—could it be that it wasn’t able to absorb the souls of those two people?

—Drip drip drip!

His mobile phone suddenly rang.

Without hesitation, Wu Xiaode crushed the phone, threw it with all his might, and it smashed violently against a wall dozens of meters away.

In the instant he threw away the phone, he had already leapt into the air, jumping seven or eight meters amid the heavy Demon Mist, using his five fingers to firmly grasp the magnificent relief murals on the ceiling of the great hall.

—He hung there in mid-air, motionless.

Once again, the great hall returned to silence.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

"Whoosh"—At the spot where he had stood and where the phone had fallen, a black arm emerged from each location.

The palms opened wide, revealing writhing eyeballs that looked around in all directions.

So, the reason this spell was so terrifying was that something was buried beneath the hall!

Wu Xiaode held his breath and did not move a muscle.

Time once again trickled by slowly.

Seven or eight minutes later.

The two black arms burrowed back into the ground, leaving deep holes in their place.

Wu Xiaode’s body released a deep, gray, silent Demon Mist, gradually enveloping the entire ceiling.

He did a pull-up, gripping the rugged reliefs on the ceiling with both hands, moving quickly and silently towards the entrance of the hall.

In the midst of deathly stillness.

He faced the great hall, retreating step by step out the door, until he finally reached the staircase and left that place far behind.

It wasn’t until he returned to the confessional that the tense string in his heart loosened slightly.

He moved the secret door back into place on the wall, sealing everything shut.

Outside was also quiet.

Wu Xiaode sensed a strong presence of death and thought of Xiao Baihong, immediately heading towards the front of the Church.

He quickly arrived at the front hall.

There sat Xiao Baihong, perched on a table, sheltered by a black umbrella, eating a small bear-shaped cookie.

In the center of the hall, dozens of corpses were piled up.

"How come... so many people got killed?" Wu Xiaode exclaimed in shock.

"Ah, because they were a bunch of beasts." Xiao Baihong licked her lips, her tone slightly irritated.

Wu Xiaode walked forward, moving aside the corpses.

Within those clad in church robes, there lay the bodies of seven or eight children.

These children had died differently; their bodies were ashen and their faces bore a look of utter despair.

"Killed by the Church?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Yep, they seemed to be performing some kind of sacrifice. By the time I got here, these children were already dead," Xiao Baihong replied.

Wu Xiaode looked at the believers, who had long, slender wounds all over their bodies, a horrifying sight, and their faces were twisted in extreme agony.

Xiao Baihong had not made their deaths easy.

Ding-a-ling-ling—

Xiao Baihong’s phone rang, and she answered it quickly.

"Little Hong, is Wu Xiaode next to you?" the Emperor’s authoritative voice sounded.

"He is, Your Majesty, stop calling me Little Hong," Xiao Baihong complained, covering her forehead.

The Emperor didn’t acknowledge her complaint.

The loudspeaker on the phone automatically turned on, "Wu Xiaode, why didn’t you answer my call just now?"

"It got smashed during the fight—Your Majesty, next time you try to reach me, could you please turn on the camera to see the situation first before letting it ring?" Wu Xiaode complained.

"Ha ha ha, that is my fault. I’ll make it up to you with a new phone. By the way, how’s the situation?" the Emperor asked.

"There’s something beneath this Church," Wu Xiaode replied.

"Something?" the Emperor asked, puzzled.

"I killed the bishop here. Before he died, he seemed to have summoned a creature hiding beneath the ground, and it nearly finished me off," Wu Xiaode replied.

The Emperor seemed to think of something and his tone suddenly became tense, "What kind of creature is it? Describe it to me."

"It’s all arms, black, with an eyeball in the palm of each hand," Wu Xiaode said.

The Emperor let out a great sigh of relief, murmuring, "You scared the life out of me. It’s just the Stairway to Heaven. Alright, don’t worry about it, go rest for now. I’ll send someone to seal it."

The Stairway to Heaven?

"Your Majesty, do you have a way to deal with it?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Deal with? No way, I’m going to have it sealed—that’s the limit of what humans can accomplish," the Emperor replied.

"What exactly is it?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Nothing but evil magic that sacrifices human lives to the gods," the Emperor said with a cold laugh.

"Gods..." Wu Xiaode murmured.

"Yes, gods—ha ha ha, they all think about devouring humanity," the Emperor said with a scoff.

"Shall we continue to hunt these people down?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"Let’s call it a day."

"Today?"

"It’s getting late, and in a few hours, it’ll be midnight. Little Wu, Little Hong, go rest up. Try to make it back alive—but even if you die, it doesn’t matter, I’ll erect a monument for you," the Emperor said.

Wu Xiaode glanced at Xiao Baihong.

Xiao Baihong looked unhappy, but faced with the Majesty of the Imperial Emperor, she didn’t really have much to say.

The call ended.

A message appeared on the phone screen:

"10 PM, meet on the rooftop of the classroom building at Southern City Fifth High School."

—This was a new announcement from the S-Class Club.

"Let’s go," Xiao Baihong sighed.

"It’s only 8 o’clock," Wu Xiaode said.

"Yeah, so what do you want to do? Go to the net café and team up for a game?" Xiao Baihong asked.

"Team up, just the two of us? I’m hungry. Let’s grab something to eat while it’s still early," Wu Xiaode said, patting his stomach.

"Alright then," Xiao Baihong agreed.

Ten minutes later.

They were sitting in a noodle house.

Xiao Baihong ordered a bowl of mushroom and pork intestine rice noodles.

Wu Xiaode glanced at the bowl of intestines, his eyes twitching.

"What? You have an issue with what I’m eating?" Xiao Baihong asked.

"Can’t stand innards," Wu Xiaode mumbled.

At that moment, his order, a bowl of braised beef noodles topped with plenty of cilantro, was served.

He was about to start eating when he saw Xiao Baihong pull out a napkin, wrinkle her nose, and cover her nose.

"What?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"You actually eat cilantro! I think it’s best if we sit at separate tables," Xiao Baihong said, taking her bowl to an adjacent table.

Then the drinks were served.

Xiao Baihong had a box of yogurt, and Wu Xiaode had an ice-cold cola.

"Nerd juice..." Xiao Baihong said with a smirk.

Wu Xiaode looked at the yogurt in her hand and muttered, "Kid stuff..."

Both were somewhat annoyed with each other, they glared at one another, making a mental note to never eat out together again.

But speaking of which—

One shouldn’t judge someone solely by what they eat, but by their skills too!

Wu Xiaode thought of the pile of corpses in the great hall.

Xiao Baihong remembered... the nuclear bomb.

"Let’s eat!" Wu Xiaode said to Xiao Baihong with a smile.

"Yeah, let’s eat. We still have to meet up later," Xiao Baihong also said with a smile.

The atmosphere immediately relaxed, and they started to eat in earnest.

After a few minutes.

Someone pushed open the door of the noodle house and walked in, heading straight for Wu Xiaode.

"Huh? What are you doing here?" Wu Xiaode exclaimed in surprise.

The visitor was Zhao Junyu.

"I had nothing urgent to do. The Emperor said he felt bad about your phone getting smashed, so he sent me to give you a new one," Zhao Junyu said.

"The Emperor bought me a phone?" Wu Xiaode was incredulous.

"The latest model, not yet on the market, a Royal limited edition. Whether for streaming or downloading, the speed is extreme," Zhao Junyu boasted.

Wu Xiaode took the phone and examined it. Everything seemed fine, except for a QR code set in gold on the metal back of the phone.

"Feels good in hand, but why is there a QR code on the back?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"It’s to facilitate your affairs in the future—if you run into any Imperial departments, whether it’s the police or the military headquarters, or some secret service, and if anyone gives you trouble, just let them scan this QR code," Zhao Junyu said mysteriously.

Wu Xiaode and Xiao Baihong exchanged looks.

"Let me try," Xiao Baihong said.

She took out her phone, pointed it at the QR code on the back of Wu Xiaode’s phone, and scanned—

Beep!

A light sound chimed.

Immediately, four big characters appeared on Xiao Baihong’s phone screen:

"Act on Imperial Orders"

At the same time, her phone’s volume shot up to the maximum, filling the room with various sounds of drums and knocks, followed by the commanding voice of the Emperor:

"As if I, myself, were there!"

Wu Xiaode looked stunned.

—What on earth was this?

An Imperial QR code?

Zhao Junyu cleared his throat and explained, "This QR code is bound to you personally; it will only work if you are holding the phone and it detects your biological waves, so yes, that’s right—"

"It’s the Imperial QR Code."

"Does it mean I can eat meals without paying?" Wu Xiaode asked.

"No," Zhao Junyu replied.

"Can I get into clubs for free?" Xiao Baihong asked.

"No," Zhao Junyu replied.

"Then can it waive my tuition fees? I’m about to go to college. Oh, and can I ride a car for free? Even just those electric ones on the street," Wu Xiaode lowered his expectations.

"It’s for handling big matters... behave normally," Zhao Junyu said expressionlessly.

"I was just joking. Actually, I’m very grateful the Emperor gave me this phone. Don’t leave yet. Join us for dinner," Wu Xiaode stood up, sincerely inviting him to stay.

"Well then, I am quite hungry," Zhao Junyu said.

He went to the counter, ordered a bowl of noodles, and then came back to sit at the table between Wu Xiaode and Xiao Baihong.

"What is the Ladder to Heaven really all about?" Wu Xiaode asked as he ate.

Zhao Junyu’s expression turned serious, and a hint of fear flashed in his eyes.

He recited in an unusual tone:

"Divine spirits descend on the Ladder to Heaven, picking out the purest souls among mortals, freeing them from the prison of sin, guiding them back to the heavens."