With the Grand Elder dead and the Heirloom Heaven-Treasure lost to the enemy, even though the Heavenly Phoenix Clan still had two high-tier gods and twenty-one mid-tier gods, none of them dared to challenge Ian Song anymore.
"Swear an oath that you'll never be my enemy again, and I'll spare you!" Ian Song declared, looking straight at the Heavenly Phoenix Clan gods. It wasn't that he didn't want to wipe out the entire clan, but he sensed that hidden powers were already stirring in the shadows—if he kept killing, those forces would definitely intervene.
He hadn't entered the Creation Sky Monolith yet and didn't want to expose his true trump cards, so he chose to take a step back.
Hearing this, the Heavenly Phoenix Clan gods felt utterly humiliated. For the continent’s second-ranked race to survive, they now had to swear an oath just to keep their lives.
"What, you refuse?"
Ian Song's face grew colder, a chilling killing intent in his eyes. He casually tossed the Heirloom Heaven-Treasure to Vivian Ouyang—it could only be activated with Heavenly Phoenix Clan power.
"Fine! We'll swear!"
Under Ian Song's cold, pressuring gaze, the Heavenly Phoenix Clan gods finally surrendered and swore their humiliating oath.
Seeing this scene, the surrounding spectators fell silent.
But the Human camp was ecstatic—one man had forced the Heavenly Phoenix gods into such disgrace. As fellow Humans, they felt proud and vindicated.
"Truly the student surpasses the master—Evan Chu, you're the pride of Humanity!"
As the Heavenly Phoenix Clan retreated in disgrace, Eldon, the God of Longevity, stepped forward to express goodwill.
"You're too kind, God of Longevity!"
Ian Song replied humbly.
Next, the Human gods arrived one after another. Eldon, the God of Longevity, personally introduced them: "Evan Chu, this is Goddess Cassandra, this is Medicine Elder, this is the God of War, and so on!"
"Greetings, Goddess Cassandra. Greetings, Medicine Elder. Greetings, God of War..."
Ian Song greeted each of them respectfully, showing none of his previous arrogance. The Human gods were surprised, and their approval of Ian grew greatly.
After some polite conversation, Ian Song invited the Human gods into his formation as guests.
Every Human god had lived at least several thousand to tens of thousands of years and possessed countless secrets. After a long, lively discussion, Ian Song gained much from their wisdom.
This time, the Human gods fielded two high-tier gods, fifteen mid-tier gods, and more than thirty low-tier gods.
Because these gods have cultivated for much longer, their divine power is far more refined, and each has created their own unique divine abilities. As a result, they're all stronger than the new gods who broke through inside the Creation Forest.
As their conversation drew to a close—
Eldon, the God of Longevity, suddenly spoke up, his tone serious.
"The Dragonfolk and Heavenly Phoenix races have always been close. Now that you've publicly humiliated the Heavenly Phoenix Clan, you must be extra careful once you enter the Creation Sky Monolith!"
"Thank you for the warning!"
Ian Song nodded solemnly.
Two hours later, the Human gods bid farewell. Before leaving, they each took out various divine fruits and spirit herbs to give Ian Song—these were all picked casually after entering the Creation Forest.
Those divine fruits and spirit herbs were nearly useless to them, but giving them to Ian Song was a way to build goodwill—why not?
After sending off the Human gods, Ian Song entered the Divine Temple once more.
Originally, he hadn't planned to enter the Divine Temple again, but his clash with the Heavenly Phoenix Clan had left him feeling a sense of crisis. If he could strengthen himself further before entering the Creation Sky Monolith, he'd be more confident in seizing the Creation Divine Light.
Three days passed outside.
Inside the Divine Temple, three thousand days went by.
"Sigh!"
In the Divine Temple's training room, Ian Song let out a soft sigh, then rose to his feet. He'd used up all the divine fruits the Human gods had gifted him, but still couldn't push his Body of Ten Thousand Stars to the fifth layer.
With a thought, he stepped out of the Divine Temple.
Prince Rowan Vance, Princess Myra, and the others had already stopped cultivating. All of them were quietly watching the Creation Sky Monolith.
At this moment, the Yin–Yang time-space power surrounding the Creation Sky Monolith was growing thinner and thinner—the opening was imminent.
Ian Song dismissed his formation and led the group to within a hundred meters of the Creation Sky Monolith.
By now, a huge crowd had gathered all around—at least ten thousand beings, with three thousand of them gods.
From the Human gods, Ian Song learned that gods didn't need Creation Divine Beast cores to enter the Monolith; only non-gods required those beast-core 'tickets.'
So at least half the people present weren't qualified to enter.
"Brother Chu, why don't we travel together?"
The Human gods walked over to Ian Song, and Goddess Cassandra smiled as she spoke.
"No need, I plan to go alone!"
Ian Song shook his head, then asked the Human gods if they could bring Prince Rowan Vance, Princess Myra, and the others along with them.
As for the Dragonfolk and Blood Demons, their own clans had sent powerful experts, so Drake Liu, Muse, Winnie, and the rest would travel with their own people.
"Evan Chu, I'm coming with you!"
Vivian Ouyang said, her tone pleading.
"No!"
Although Vivian Ouyang wielded a powerful weapon and would be a great help, Ian Song's goal was all forty-nine strands of Creation Divine Light—which meant he'd make enemies of every god and race inside. Keeping her by his side would be far too dangerous.
As for the others, none of them made such a request; they all knew their strength was too low and that staying with Ian Song would only hold him back.
Rejected by Ian Song, Vivian Ouyang grew sullen and unhappy.
Time passed.
Finally, the Yin–Yang time-space field outside the Creation Sky Monolith completely vanished. The Monolith revealed its true form: a towering stele over a hundred thousand zhang tall, its surface covered in dense, profound divine runes.
Ian Song knew that those runes all came from the God Realm.
Boom!
A colossal portal appeared—five hundred zhang tall and two hundred zhang wide—big enough for countless beings to rush inside.
"Go!"
Immediately, the crowd surged into the air, racing toward the portal.
Inside, they found an immense chamber. Ahead was a broad stairway, wide enough for a hundred people, with ninety-nine tiers radiating ancient and sacred aura.
"This is the Stairway to Heaven. Only by reaching the ninety-ninth step can you enter the second level!"
An ancient god spoke up to remind everyone.
At once, some people couldn't wait and rushed forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
At least three hundred beings charged up, including many gods, but more than half were repelled by the invisible force on the steps.
Those who managed to step onto the stairway grew solemn and their movements heavy. Many tried to ascend the second step, but their foot hovered in the air, unable to land for a long time.
Still, a few did make it to the second step.
After a brief observation, Ian Song strode forward and stepped onto the first stair.
Immediately, he felt a heavy pressure pressing down on him, making his movements sluggish.
"Hmph!"
With a soft grunt, he stepped onto the second stair, then continued upward, climbing all the way to the thirty-third tier before stopping.
"No wonder they call him Demon King Chu!"
Seeing this, the crowd was full of amazement. Even the high-level gods who tried the Stairway to Heaven only managed twenty steps at most—far behind his pace.