This Wudang Ladder Cloud Ascension skill had long been forgotten by Zhang Menglong.

It's not particularly impressive, the speed is quite ordinary, at most tens of meters per second, which in this realm is akin to a turtle crawling.

However, it has a very special feature, which is that it defies the laws of physics; as long as the left foot steps on the right foot, one can climb infinitely upward.

"I understand now!" Zhang Menglong pretended to ponder for a moment, then walked to the center of the crowd.

"Look, Gu Xiao is coming over again!"

"Could it be that he has discovered the secret of this Floating Island?"

"Truly the dark horse of our generation, he's still ahead of everyone else."

"Watch closely, it's not shameful to be behind him, but you must try to get onto this Floating Island before others."

...

It seemed certain that Zhang Menglong had figured out how to climb onto that Floating Island, as everyone refocused their attention on him, even making a large space for him.

"Do you know why you can't climb onto that Floating Island?" Zhang Menglong didn't make any moves but instead first asked those around him.

The crowd looked at each other, this wasn't nonsense? If they knew why they couldn't climb to the Floating Island, would they still be pondering over it and ending up with bruised faces?

"Please, Brother Gu, show us the way!" someone immediately asked humbly.

"Has Brother Gu discovered the method? Please share with us, Brother Gu, we would be extremely grateful!"

"Of course," Zhang Menglong said, "We are all here by fate, and since I've made some discoveries, I'm naturally willing to share with everyone. The reason why people can't climb up to the Floating Island is that their hearts are not pure, their minds filled with all sorts of distractions!"

"Huh?"

Everyone was stunned, what does this have to do with distractions? 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

...

"What's he saying?" Even the elders and disciples of those superpowers on the Floating Island were baffled.

They thought Zhang Menglong truly understood the secret of the stance on this Floating Island, but as soon as Zhang Menglong spoke, they realized he was babbling nonsense.

"Did he say that these people failed to climb the Floating Island because their hearts are not pure?"

"That's ridiculous!"

"I thought he was formidable, but turns out he's just so-so!"

"Hmph, just a charlatan craving attention," Wan Ning, who had a passing acquaintance with Zhang Menglong, began to disparage him without reserve, "I want to see how he plans to climb onto this Floating Island with purity of heart?"

"Brother Wan Ning is absolutely right, there is a very special formation beneath this Floating Island, where everything is reversed within this formation. If one tries to forcefully break through, it only backfires. Only by reversing the operation of energy within the body can one step onto the Floating Island, and this is not an easy task."

"Indeed, reversing the flow of energy is exceedingly dangerous; if not well-controlled, it could even harm one's body. Without practice and adaptation over time, it's impossible."

"I also want to see how he plans to climb up!" Brothers with good relations with Wan Ning echoed his view, and others seemed to agree with him as well.

The secret to climbing the Floating Island lies in the reversed flow of energy, at least for those who have trained even a bit of Divine Breath energy. If they grasp the way of reversing energy flow, they can climb with ease. If it were as easy as relying on purity of heart, there would truly be no threshold at all.

...

"Brother Gu, about that purity of heart you mentioned… we don't quite understand…"

"Well," Zhang Menglong rambled, "I just attempted to climb, as you can see, it seemed like I was trying to get onto the Floating Island, but I wasn't. I just went up to study, and those who know me know that I'm actually an Array Master."

No one disputed this because in the past few days, Zhang Menglong's ancestral lineage had been thoroughly dug up by others. He was skilled in Alchemy and Artifact Refining, and even the most obscure and difficult formations he was highly proficient in. When Zhang Menglong mentioned formations, everyone was more serious about his claim.

Among the geniuses present, many had studied formations, but compared to Zhang Menglong's legendary level of mastery, they all felt inferior.

"Brother Gu, have you discovered the secret of that formation?" someone immediately inquired.

"That's right," Zhang Menglong solemnly asserted, "Through my research, I've discovered it's a very rare formation. Anyone with an impure heart entering would be repelled by the formation's power. Only those whose minds are as pure as blank paper can cross the formation and climb onto the Floating Island."

"Such a magical formation exists?" Whether male or female, everyone's expressions were uneasy. If this formation truly depended on a person's inner purity, did that imply each one of them had an unclean heart?

"If you don't believe me, I'll demonstrate!"

Zhang Menglong slowly closed his eyes, recalling the words of a spa technician from his past visits, inhaling and exhaling calmly.

To the others, this seemed like an act of emptying oneself, somehow resonating slightly with the idea of purity of heart.

Then, Zhang Menglong suddenly exerted himself, rushing toward the Floating Island in the sky.

"Haha, looks like he really knows nothing!" Wan Ning could perceive from afar that Zhang Menglong's energy wasn't reversing, and in his view, Zhang Menglong definitely couldn't escape that stance and reach the Floating Island.

But in the next second, Wan Ning's expression turned ghastly.

As Zhang Menglong's body passed over more than 20,000 meters of high altitude, there was indeed a momentary impediment, but then his left foot stepped on his right foot, and he moved upward a dozen meters.

Then his right foot stepped on his left, once again climbing more than twenty meters.

Like this, he alternated his feet, advancing toward the Floating Island in a slow yet stable manner.

Witnessing this, even the elders twitched at the corners of their eyes.

Reversing one's energy flow was the only known method to climb the Floating Island until now, but Zhang Menglong's tactic shattered their previous understanding.

Could this really be possible?

Zhang Menglong swapped his feet faster and faster, with his ascent speed increasing rapidly. It seemed that the special stance wasn't hindering him at all, in fact, it seemed to be accelerating his rise!

This stance was meant to be a special constraint, the more one tried to break through, the stronger the resistance!

But Ladder Cloud Ascension's feature was to defy conventional force, achieving a double-negative positive effect in this stance!

A few seconds later, Zhang Menglong safely landed on the Floating Island and shouted to the people below, "Remember, eliminate distractions, keep your heart pure, and you can come up!"

"He really got up there!"

"It seems he was right; only the pure-hearted can ascend."

"Could it be that I am actually someone whose heart isn't pure?"

"Oh no, I'm filthy…"