The massive hand bearing down on me pulsed with dark energy. Each surge threatened to crush my newly reformed body back into dust. But I wasn''t about to let that happen—not after everything I''d endured.


    "Mr. Snyder!" I growled, recognizing the source of this attack.


    Through the crushing pressure, I caught glimpses of his face contorted with hatred and fear. He hadn''t expected me to survive the heavenly mes, much less emerge stronger.


    "You cannot be allowed to reach the top!" he roared, channeling more power into his attack. "The method is not meant for outsiders!"


    The colossal hand pressed harder, forcing me down against the step. My bones creaked under the strain. After all I''d been through—the lightning strikes, the heavenly fire, theplete reconstruction of my body—I still might fail here, just one step from my goal.


    No. I refused to ept that.


    I reached deep within, calling upon the purple me that now resided at my core. It responded instantly, surging through my veins like liquid power.


    "Get. Off. ME!" I mmed my fist upward with everything I had.


    A column of purple fire erupted from my hand, colliding with the dark energy. For a heartbeat, neither force gave way. Then, with a sound like thunder, Mr. Snyder''s attack shattered.


    The bacsh sent him stumbling backward, his face pale with disbelief.


    "Impossible..." he whispered.


    I didn''t wait for him to recover. With a single bound, I cleared the final step,nding on the eighteenth level of the stairway to heaven.


    I had made it.


    Below, spectators erupted into cheers. No one in recorded history had ever reached this height. Even through my exhaustion, I felt a surge of pride.


    Mr. Snyder scrambled backward as Mariana materialized beside him, her eyes cold with fury.


    "You dare interfere with a fair trial?" she demanded, her voice like ice. "This is treason against the Guild."


    Mr. Snyder''s eyes darted frantically between Mariana and me. "Pavilion Master, you don''t understand. He can''t be allowed to—"


    "Enough." I cut him off, my voice carrying easily despite the distance. "Pavilion Master, this is between him and me."


    Mariana looked at me with surprise. "Liam—"


    "I''ll deal with him myself," I said. "When the timees."


    Mr. Snyder''s face drained of color. He knew what I meant. This wasn''t over—it was merely postponed. With a final venomous re, he disappeared in a sh of movement.


    I turned my attention to the tform before me. It was bare—no scroll, no inscription, nothing but smooth stone.


    "There''s nothing here," I murmured, scanning the area.


    The Fifth Elder''s voice reached me from below. "What do you see, Liam Knight?"


    I frowned, examining every inch of the tform. "Nothing. No method, no technique."


    A wave of disappointment washed over me. Had I endured all that for nothing?


    Then understanding dawned. Iughed, the sound echoing down the stairway.


    Carefully, I made my way back down to where the Fifth Elder and Mariana waited.


    "There was no physical cultivation skill at the top," I exined once I reached them. "The journey itself was the reward."


    Mariana nodded, a knowing smile on her face. "The ancient masters were clever that way."


    "The stairway changed me," I continued. "Each step I climbed, each trial I faced—they transformed my body, strengthened my meridians."


    I raised my hand, calling forth a wisp of the purple me. It danced across my fingertips, beautiful and deadly.


    "My qi cirction has improved tenfold," I said. "The paths are wider, stronger, more efficient. And this new me..."


    "The Purple Spirit Fire," the Fifth Elder whispered reverently. "A legendary power not seen in generations."


    Sofia approached cautiously, her eyes wide with wonder. "You climbed all eighteen steps."


    I nodded. "Apparently, that hasn''t been done before."


    "Not in the recorded history of our guild," Mariana confirmed. "Liam Knight, you have aplished something truly extraordinary today."


    Word spread quickly. By the time I left the Celestial Apothecary Guild, The Warrior''s Scroll was already aze with news of my achievement. Anonymous posts detailed how I had conquered all eighteen steps, survived heavenly fire, and emerged with a mythical purple me.


    My name was on everyone''s lips. Liam Knight—the man who had done the impossible.


    "They''re calling you the Stairway Conqueror," Mariana told meter that evening as we sat in her private chambers. "Your reputation grows by the hour."


    I sipped the restorative tea she had prepared for me. Despite my transformation, I was still exhausted. "Fame wasn''t my goal."


    "Nevertheless, it has found you." She studied me thoughtfully. "Your enemies will not be pleased."


    "Let theme," I said simply.


    * * *


    In the luxurious ckthorne family estate, Dashiell ckthorne mmed his fist into the wall, cracking the ornate stone.


    "Another milestone?" he snarled, throwing themunication talisman across the room. "First he humiliates me in public, and now this?"


    His father, Roderick ckthorne, watched with cold eyes. "Control yourself. Such disys are beneath our family name."


    "How can I remain calm?" Dashiell demanded. "This nobody, this former doormat of the Sterling family, keeps rising higher! He reached the eighteenth step of the stairway to heaven! Even I could only manage twelve!"


    "Indeed," Roderick murmured, his expression calcting. "His progress is... concerning."


    "I want him dead," Dashiell hissed. <i ss="in-imprint-b">Sourced directly from *.</i>


    "Death would be too merciful," Corbin Ashworth interjected, stepping from the shadows. As the current head of the Ashworth family, his presencemanded immediate respect. "We need to crush him so thoroughly that he bes an example—a warning to all who would dare challenge the established order."


    Roderick nodded. "Agreed. But we must be cautious. His connection to Mariana Valeriusplicates matters."


    "The Pavilion Master''s protection means little against thebined might of our families," Corbin said dismissively. "And now that he possesses this purple me, we cannot afford to wait."


    "What do you suggest?" Dashiell asked, his eyes gleaming with malice.


    "We strike at what matters most to him," Corbin replied. "Not his life, but his heart."


    Dashiell smiled cruelly. "Isabelle."


    "Precisely." Corbin''s expression hardened. "My niece has been defiant too long. It''s time she remembered where her loyalties should lie."


    "And Liam Knight?" Roderick asked.


    "Leave him to me," Dashiell said, his hands clenching into fists. "I''ll deal with him personally."


    * * *


    Back in my quarters, I examined my transformed body. Veins of purple energy pulsed beneath my skin when I channeled my qi. My vision had sharpened, my senses heightened. Even my wounds from previous battles had vanished, reced by unblemished skin.


    I thought of Isabelle, wondering if she would notice the changes in me. The thought of her face brought both warmth and determination. Everything I endured, every power I gained—it was all for her.


    "If they could, who would be willing to risk their lives to climb those stairs?" I murmured to myself. "Yet for her, no price is too high."


    I needed to grow stronger still. Despite my achievements, I knew the Ashworth and ckthorne families were far from defeated. They would regroup, plot, and strike again—perhaps harder than before.


    The purple me responded to my thoughts, ring briefly around my hands. This new power would help, but would it be enough? Time would tell.


    * * *


    In the grand hall of the ckthorne estate, Dashiell knelt before his father, his pride set aside in service of a greater purpose.


    "Father," he said, his voice tight with controlled rage, "I need to enter closed-door training at the Veridia City Martial Guild."


    Roderick raised an eyebrow. "The guild seldom epts outsiders for such training."


    "We have the connections," Dashiell insisted. "I need this. When I emerge, I want to be strong enough to crush Liam Knight with my bare hands."


    Silence stretched between them as Roderick considered his son''s request.


    "Very well," he finally said. "I''ll make the arrangements."


    Dashiell''s eyes gleamed with dark satisfaction. "When I return, Liam Knight will regret the day he ever crossed paths with the ckthorne family."


    "See that he does," Roderick replied coldly. "For both our sakes."