On the Asking Dao Ladder.
Once Lu Ping awoke and received the infusion, the eightieth step was empty. He had vanished.
Before the crowd could react, light and shadow twisted before them.
Lu Ping staggered into view at the foot of the Asking Dao Ladder.
The pillar of Spiritual Qi had fulfilled its purpose, dissolving into a sky full of shimmering motes.
A dead silence fell before the Asking Dao Ladder, broken only by the sound of the wind whipping at the hems of their clothes.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes were fixed on Lu Ping, who had just achieved Foundation Establishment.
GULP.
Someone in the silent crowd swallowed hard.
The sound, startlingly loud, snapped the tension that had been stretched to its breaking point.
"He… he reached Foundation Establishment?"
