Unlike Yuan Ming's fearless progress, Wu Yu and the Giant Tree King were struggling at this moment.

When they reached around Level 850, they were overwhelmed and had to pause to rest.

Wu Yu looked up, gazing at Yuan Ming's gradually receding figure, and couldn't help but mutter softly, "Where is his limit?"

At this moment, a rush of footsteps suddenly came from below.

Wu Yu turned his head and saw Su Wu quickly catching up.

His speed was incredibly fast, swiftly surpassing Wu Yu and the Giant Tree King.

On the narrow staircase, Wu Yu and the Giant Tree King hastily stepped aside, clearing the way.

Su Wu passed between them expressionlessly, continuing to climb toward the summit without even glancing at the two of them.

At this moment, he saw evidently only Yuan Ming, who was still climbing close to the one thousand steps mark.

"Who's this person? His speed in climbing the steps is even faster than Wan Tianren's!" Wu Yu's eyes flickered slightly, curious about Su Wu's strength and identity.

"Her Majesty the Empress, we must also speed up. Seeing the speed of Wan Tianren and that young man in black, I'm afraid they'll reach the top soon. If the trial ends by then, all our previous efforts would be in vain. We must reach nine hundred steps before that to obtain that item!" The Giant Tree King transmitted to Wu Yu, his tone full of urgency.

"I know, but the resistance of these stairs far exceeds our previous expectations. Unless we use the Devil Ancestor Origin Power, there's no way we can speed up." Wu Yu responded helplessly.

She knew in her heart that the Devil Ancestor Origin Power was crucial to her potential advancement to Mahayana, and she couldn't afford to use it lightly.

"Her Majesty the Empress, there's no need to worry too much." A spark of determination and resoluteness flashed in the Giant Tree King's eyes, and his right arm suddenly transformed into a green vine, shooting out rapidly and tightly wrapping around Wu Yu's wrist.

A scorching airflow flowed through the vine, slowly infusing into Wu Yu's body. Her face instantly changed dramatically, and she hurriedly shouted, "No! How can you give me the Devil Ancestor Origin you accumulated over a thousand years? This will not only ruin your cultivation future but also significantly reduce your strength, possibly even falling out of Level 6!"

However, the Giant Tree King laughed heartily and said, "Your Majesty, you don't need to worry. My aptitude is mediocre, and I originally have no chance of advancing to Mahayana. As long as Her Majesty the Empress can break the shackles of my Ten Thousand Demon Country and bring hope to my people, then everything is worth it." As he spoke, the scorching airflow he transmitted sped up a bit more.

A few breaths later, the green vine slowly retracted, and the Giant Tree King's body fell weakly onto the steps.

His face looked even older, and his breath quickly weakened, yet his mouth managed to show a faint smile.

In the next moment, a green light flashed, and the Giant Tree King's figure disappeared from where he was, reappearing at the bottom of the stairs.

Wu Yu glanced downward, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes.

She clenched her teeth tightly and turned back to continue climbing the steps.

At this moment, a green glow surged around her body, and her energy seemed completely restored. Her climbing pace quickened, though not quite matching Su Wu's, it was not far off.

Su Wu, at this point, had no mind to bother with Wu Yu. His eyes were solely on Yuan Ming's back, that figure steadfastly advancing despite the increasingly fierce attacks.

Yuan Ming's body was occasionally sliced by Wind Blades, scorched black by Thunder, yet his Qi Blood Power was burning wildly, the vigorous vitality constantly healing the injuries, his steps never slowing down a bit.

On the last hundred steps, Yuan Ming had already crossed more than half, with less than twenty steps to the top remaining.

Seeing this, Su Wu's eyes flashed with urgency.

His climbing speed had far exceeded everyone else, but due to Yuan Ming starting too early, even his furious chase had yet to reach nine hundred steps.

"If he continues, it'll really be bad." Su Wu thought to himself.

While pondering, he turned his wrist, and a green-black wooden key appeared in his palm.

This key had an ancient style, without any carvings, seemingly naturally formed, and was precisely the World Tree Key he acquired from that scorching cave.

With another turn of his wrist, the key fell vertically, hitting the stairs.

At the moment they collided, circles of cyan ripples lit up on the stairs and directly sank into them.

In the next moment, from Su Wu's step as center, a cyan-gray light spread instantly toward both ends of the stairs, radiating from each step.

At this moment, Wu Yu was just four or five steps away from Level 900.

She was about to rush forward in one go, but her feet were tightly entangled by a layer of cyan-gray light.

She suddenly felt as if she was stuck in a quagmire, her feet entwined by an attraction pulling downwards, unable to move any further, just like being bound on the steps, unable to budge.

At the same time, the cyan-gray light also lit up under Yuan Ming's feet, enveloping them so they couldn't lift.

Not far below, Su Wu's whole body was shrouded in a layer of cyan-gray light ring, continuing his rapid ascent, soon reaching the nine hundredth step.

He didn't pause to ask for compensation, but instead continued to hastily ascend the higher steps without stopping.

The overwhelming attacks flooded down instantly, yet they were all absorbed by some force around him, disappearing without a trace.

Su Wu's speed remained unaffected, and the distance between him and Yuan Ming rapidly closed.

"What kind of divine skills is this person using? It's even more mysterious than Wan Tianren's Undying Body, which relies on an almost abnormal recovery ability to force its way through. Yet this person seems capable of absorbing all attacks completely." Below the steps, everyone exchanged puzzled looks.

Each of them was considered a notable figure in the outside world, even core members of major forces, well-versed and experienced.

However, ever since entering the Three Realms Immortal Boat, almost everything surpassed their expectations; unheard-of events occurred one after another.

Being the defeated ones now, except for Nan Shangfeng and Wulu, none of the others had any psychological burden, watching the competition between Yuan Ming and Su Wu with an attitude of enjoying the spectacle.

Yuan Ming was still trapped with his feet ensnared by the cyan-gray radiance, sensing Su Wu rapidly approaching from below, he couldn't help but become anxious.

He suddenly urged his magic formulas, elevating the power of the Undying Body to its peak, causing blood mist to surge around him instantly.

With a low shout, he expanded his arms to the sides, a tremendous force erupted from within him, causing visible ripples in the nearby void.

As he exerted force, a World Tree root sprouted from his leg, piercing into the staircase, lest he lose control after breaking free and his body ascend.

Yet under this mountain-shattering force, the cyan-gray radiance binding his feet merely trembled gently before returning to normal.

"What divine skill is this cyan-gray radiance after all!"

Yuan Ming's pupils contracted, starting to envelop the cyan-gray radiance with the seven-color vortex of the Primordial Dao Seal, attempting to extract its Spiritual Power, weakening the cyan-gray radiance's power, then breaking free using the strength of the Undying Body.

At that moment, his hand motion halted.

He faintly sensed that the cyan-gray radiance was suffused with a familiar aura, precisely the unique wood qi of the World Tree.

Yuan Ming first froze, then joy filled his heart.

The Undying Tree within his Dantian seemed to have sensed something, its roots instantly broke through its confines, naturally delving into the stairs below, greedily absorbing the World Tree's wood qi contained within.

Previously, he had tried to absorb the wood qi from the stairs using the roots of the Undying Tree, but the stairs were imbued with a mysterious forbidden, tightly confining the World Tree's wood qi.

However, at this moment, due to Su Wu's release of cyan-gray radiance, the forbidden was quietly unlocked.

In this way, the wood qi in the stairs faced no obstacle, freely available to Yuan Ming's wishes.

The wood qi was pure and vast, and after flowing into the Dantian, the Undying Tree quickly transformed, its branches and leaves growing more lush, the aura of the World Tree becoming more intense.

Simultaneously, within the World Tree, Ten Thousand Wood Origin's green light flickered, originally numbering only a dozen, now quickly increasing, twenty rays, thirty rays, fifty rays...

Each ray of green light represented an even deeper comprehension of the wood path by Yuan Ming.

As the wood qi within the steps was continuously absorbed, the cyan-gray radiance shrouding Yuan Ming's feet gradually weakened, like flames losing fuel, finally completely dissipating.

The restraining power binding his legs vanished along with it, he regained his freedom.

Joy flashed in Yuan Ming's eyes, he controlled the Undying Tree's roots to continue extending forward, absorbing the World Tree's wood qi within the steps ahead, sweeping away the cyan-gray radiance one by one, then continued to swiftly ascend.

Su Wu had already reached the nine hundred and fifty steps, witnessing the scene, a look of surprise emerged in his eyes.

With a slight gesture of magic formulas, he touched the staircase, and the cyan-gray radiance quickly dispersed, the World Tree's wood qi became dormant again, as if it had never been disturbed.

Yuan Ming sighed inwardly, knowing he could no longer extract wood qi from these steps, thus withdrew the Undying Tree roots, concentrating solely on climbing further.

Just then, a muffled sound suddenly came from behind.

Yuan Ming looked back, only to see Su Wu's clothes inflate, an overwhelming black energy suddenly erupted from his body, instantly enveloping him completely.

The black energy was dense and uncanny, seemingly alive, swirling around Su Wu.

The next moment, the black energy suddenly shot forth, morphing into the shape of a Black Dragon, rushing directly at Yuan Ming above.

Simultaneously, the attacks descending from the high sky seemed to sense the presence of the black energy, becoming more concentrated and swift, striking at the rolling black energy.

Yet surprisingly, once those attacks entered the black energy, they vanished completely, like a mud ox entering the sea, seemingly absorbed entirely by the black energy.

The Black Dragon of black energy was extremely fast, catching up to Yuan Ming in just a few breaths.

Xi Ying's voice sounded in Yuan Ming's ear, with a solemn tone: "Be careful, this black energy is extraordinary!"