Yuan Ming naturally had already sensed the approach of the black energy, and with a jolt in his heart, he immediately activated the seven-color vortex within his Dantian, attempting to envelop it and refine it to devour.

At the very instant the two met, he immediately felt an incredibly terrifying devouring force.

The seven-color vortex crumbled instantly in the face of this force, even some of its own power was completely swallowed by the black energy.

Although Yuan Ming had anticipated that the Primordial Dao Seal would be difficult to resist the strange black energy, he had never expected to be defeated so brutally.

He bellowed, the mana within his Dantian frantically circulating, and around his Nascent Soul a dazzling light burst forth.

Immediately afterwards, a towering Dharma manifestation emerged from outside his body, a giant palm stretched out across the void, descending thunderously as if wielding the force of thunder.

Within the Dharma manifestation giant palm, spirit light gathered and condensed into two massive mana vortices, one of which was multicolored, precisely the seven-color vortex transformed by the Primordial Dao Seal, and the other was the Life and Death Reincarnation Path, mysterious and unfathomable.

Moreover, numerous Dao Seals such as the Dream Butterfly, All Living Beings' Dream, and Shared Fate were simultaneously activated, and a surging power of Dao erupted from within the Dharma manifestation giant palm like a wild storm, sweeping all directions.

Yuan Ming exerted his utmost effort, deploying all the attack means he could exhibit, attempting to smash that black energy in one fell swoop.

Yet when the Dharma manifestation giant palm collided with the black energy, a world-shaking mana fluctuation exploded forth, causing even the space to quiver.

But astonishingly, the black energy did not scatter as a result; instead, it became even more turbulent, enveloping the Dharma manifestation giant palm tightly like a black torrent.

In an instant, the Dharma manifestation giant palm collapsed under the corrosion of the black energy, turning into nothingness.

The various true meanings of Dao contained within the giant palm were rendered completely ineffective against this black energy, vanishing without a trace as if a clay ox entering the sea.

The black energy advanced with the unstoppable momentum of breaking bamboo, continuing its corrosion upwards, instantly devouring Yuan Ming's Dharma manifestation's entire arm as well as shoulder, and then lunged towards the body of the manifestation.

Yuan Ming's heart sank, his figure rapidly retreating while he chanted an incantation aloud.

The enormous Dharma manifestation contracted inward abruptly and then exploded with a roar, sending rolling waves to forcibly repel the surging black energy.

Self-detonating the Dharma manifestation caused considerable damage to the Nascent Soul; Yuan Ming's face turned pale, yet he dared not hesitate in the least, turning around and sprinting towards the top of the staircase.

This was the final sprint!

However, although his speed was fast, the black energy was even faster, sweeping past from the left and right, forming a dense black fog wall in front.

Meanwhile, the black energy behind surged like a tide, completely sealing off Yuan Ming's retreat.

Yuan Ming's expression turned extremely grave, forcing him to halt his steps.

He was utterly shocked; the strangeness of this black energy far exceeded his imagination. Even when facing a mighty opponent like Sima Changqin, he had never felt so powerless.

Although he knew he wasn't a match, Yuan Ming had no intention of giving up.

A flash of red light appeared on his right hand, and a red stone stele emerged, the mighty Xi He Tablet.

He had already refined nearly half of the runes on this treasure, enough to exert considerable power.

At this moment, Xi Ying's voice suddenly echoed in Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness: "Open the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space!"

Yuan Ming's eyes flashed, and without any hesitation, he opened a passage between the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space and the outside world.

Xi Ying clasped her hands in front of her chest, seeming to pray, and simultaneously seemed to be performing some sort of secret technique.

Yuan Ming could clearly sense a hitherto unseen power of Divine Soul surging within her, enveloping an ocean-like Desire Power, unleashing an astounding ripple.

Xi Ying spread her hands and threw a white light sphere the size of a fist, which flew through the passage to the outside world, directly landing on Yuan Ming.

As soon as the white light sphere touched Yuan Ming, it blossomed with a dazzling brilliance, which flashed and disappeared, quickly shriveling into Yuan Ming's body, vanishing without a trace, leaving not a hint.

Yuan Ming tried to sense his body but did not detect any anomalies.

However, he had no time to examine closely, as the black energy from all directions had already pounced upon him like hungry wolves.

Yuan Ming's brow furrowed tightly, an intense sense of crisis surged within him, and without hesitation, he activated the Xi He Tablet, the red light bursting forth, attempting to resist the surging black energy.

At this moment, thunder suddenly rolled high in the sky, and several thunderbolts of interwoven purple and gold lightning struck fiercely from the clouds onto the churning black energy.

"Uh…"

A somewhat pained muffled groan issued from within the black energy.

With this groan, the nearby surging black energy suddenly paused, surprisingly showing a brief collapse.

Yuan Ming's eyes brightened; seizing this rare opportunity, the Protective Treasure Light illuminated all around him, and he launched upwards without hesitation.

As he dashed into the black energy, the treasure light around him instantly dissipated, his clothes were eroded, creating large holes, and even his flesh dissolved, emitting plumes of white smoke.

Despite enduring extreme pain, Yuan Ming did not dare hesitate at all.

He exerted all his strength to break through the blockade of the black mist, and when he finally did, his forehead, arms, and chest were already eroded and riddled with cuts, a horrifying sight of flesh and blood.

Ignoring his injuries, Yuan Ming moved like flowing water, astonishingly transforming into a billowing blood mist and resolutely rushing toward the top of the stairway.

Within the blood mist, dozens of Immortal Beans shot out like stars, bursting into dazzling light immediately.

In an instant, these points of light transformed into dozens of "Yuan Ming," each with a different form but all displaying powerful Dharma manifestations, like a group of courageous warriors standing on the narrow stairs.

These clones worked together to resist the surging black mist.

Yet the black mist, like a devil's claws, swept over swiftly, devouring the clones one by one, leaving only their anguished screams echoing in the space.

This shriek lasted only a breath or two before it was swallowed by the boundless darkness.

The black mist, like a raging torrent, climbed rapidly, pursuing Yuan Ming relentlessly.

As it intertwined with the blood mist Yuan Ming had become, a large portion of the blood mist was mercilessly consumed by the black mist.

Only at this moment did Yuan Ming deeply comprehend the terror of this black mist.

The blood mist he transformed into was supposed to be an undying body, difficult to destroy completely. Yet under the devouring of the black mist, it seemed to be wiped away from this world, and his connection to it was thoroughly severed.

With thoughts spinning rapidly in his mind, Yuan Ming continued climbing upward, spreading the blood mist as much as possible to slow down the black mist's devouring speed.

As he climbed closer to the top of the stairway, the pressure in the space grew more intense, and attacks became increasingly dense, assaulting him like a tempest.

Su Wu, however, seemed particularly unfortunate, with most attacks hitting the black mist, leaving only a few for Yuan Ming.

This inadvertently slowed down the speed at which the black mist devoured the blood mist Yuan Ming had become.

Seeing Yuan Ming was only ten steps away from the top, Su Wu also couldn't spare any effort for other means, disintegrating his body into dense black mist and shooting straight upwards.

This black mist split into two streams, one entangling the blood mist Yuan Ming had become, trying to prevent his progress, while the other surged to the sky, bypassing Yuan Ming, racing directly to the top of the stairway.

At the moment when the black mist was about to surpass Yuan Ming, thunder suddenly rumbled in the sky, and a fierce wind howled.

Dozens of blood-red storm tornadoes descended from the sky, intermingled with purple-gold entwined lightning, like angry dragons, all striking the black mist Su Wu had become.

The black mist, caught off guard by this sudden fierce attack, struggled to absorb all these forces and was momentarily slowed down.

Taking this opportunity, the blood mist Yuan Ming had become rushed out swiftly, closing in on the final summit.

At this moment, Su Wu's entire Mana burst forth, and the black mist suddenly transformed into a several-meter-tall black mantis.

This black mantis moved all six of its limbs simultaneously, becoming a black shadow streaking through the attacks of thunder and storm, also heading for the summit of the stairway.

Ultimately, a patch of blood mist and a black mantis reached the top of the stairway at the same time.

The blood mist reformed into Yuan Ming's figure, his face exceptionally pale, his chest heaving subtly as he panted.

The black mantis also twisted and transformed back into Su Wu's form.

His complexion was as usual, but his expression seemed a bit sinister.

The two exchanged a glance, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

"To think they reached the top simultaneously…"

Below the stairway, spectators gazed up at the unreachable thousandth step, their eyes revealing a variety of emotions, some astonished, some envious, while others carried a hint of worry.

Wu Yu's figure also quietly appeared among the crowd, observing silently with deep eyes.

Since Su Wu unsealed the blue-gray glow's Forbidden, she smoothly climbed to the nine hundred steps, and after obtaining her reward, she was content to stop and proceed no further.

As for the reward she received, no one paid attention, thus it remained unknown, becoming a mystery.

In the Stealing Heaven Tripod Space, Xi Ying suddenly collapsed to the ground, her body trembling violently, as if she had just undergone a life-and-death battle.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming's main soul, which had been hiding in the tripod, hurried forward to inquire.

He was shocked to find Xi Ying covered in sweat, her pupils flickering uncertainly, her face as pale as paper, appearing even more severe than Yuan Ming's injuries.

"Was that series of attacks in mid-air targeting Su Wu related to that white light orb you released earlier? Could it be some Forbidden-type Divine Skill causing you such great consumption?" Yuan Ming asked with concern.

Xi Ying took a deep breath and slowly replied, "That's a Divine Skill I awakened after advancing to Life Witch, called Causality Decree."

"Causality Decree?" Yuan Ming repeated, a myriad of sentiments rising in his heart.

"I'll explain this to you in detail later; I'm fine. You should quickly return to your main body and focus on dealing with that person, making sure to seize the Three Realms Immortal Boat." Xi Ying gestured gently, indicating to Yuan Ming that he need not worry.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming's main soul nodded, then left the Stealing Heaven Tripod and returned to his body.

```