Rebirth: A Cinderella's Counterattack-Chapter 1236 - 1216: Heavenly Palace Saintess

I don’t know how many days and nights have passed; Luo Qianqian’s original appearance can no longer be discerned. Her entire body is enveloped in blood scabs, healing by day, cracking open by night, in a never-ending cycle.

But at this moment, Luo Qianqian has climbed to the 610th step, and every step is a struggle.

The pressure feels like it has transformed, with a dense yellow mist covering the entire staircase, making her feel as if she is walking deep under the sea.

Here, her blood doesn’t scab over the ground; instead, it immediately turns into a mist, surrounding her body.

When she stepped on the 611th step, a mouthful of blood spurted out, dispersing into a mist and spreading around her.

The next moment, the scabs on her body cracked open, and she seemed unable to withstand it. She closed her eyes, falling backward, unconscious.

At the instant she fell back, a black-robed figure appeared by her side, sighed softly, and waved a hand, causing the dense mist before them to disperse.

The black-robed figure held Luo Qianqian and slowly ascended the staircase...

When Luo Qianqian regained consciousness, the pressure was gone, and she was dressed in a clean, white robe, lying on a bed draped with white gauze.

Without the annoying pressure, Luo Qianqian felt quite good.

She lifted the gauze, finding herself surprised.

Besides this large bed, there was only a clear spring in front of her, resembling an indoor hot spring, but wasn’t she climbing stairs?

"Is anyone there?" Luo Qianqian’s voice was very soft, still a bit hoarse, clearly indicating she had been unconscious for quite some time.

A girl in blue quickly pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing Luo Qianqian awake, her eyes lit up: "I’ll go tell the Saintess; please wait, miss."

The Saintess? What’s that? Could I have a glass of water first? Or should I drink this?

Looking at the hot spring before her, she silently took out a bottle of mineral water and drank deeply, feeling much more comfortable.

Though filled with doubts, Luo Qianqian had no one to answer her queries, so she could only watch silently.

"You’re awake." A gentle voice came, filled with purity and devoid of any emotional fluctuations, purely concerned.

Luo Qianqian turned around, seeing a girl dressed in a white dress, wearing a golden crown, appear before her.

Her red lips, white teeth, willow-leaf brows, phoenix eyes, small oval face, jet-black long hair, and slim waist—all left no room for Luo Qianqian to find fault.

In her presence, Luo Qianqian felt no competitive urge, only finding herself enchanted by the girl’s beauty.

Indeed, women prefer to look at beautiful women more than men do.

"Yes, thank you. May I ask, Goddess, where is this place?" Luo Qianqian snapped out of her daze and quickly replied.

The Goddess looked at Luo Qianqian and said calmly, "This is the Heavenly Palace, the end of the Heavenly Ladder."

"Huh? When did I climb here?" Luo Qianqian looked bewildered. "If I’d known there’d be such a beauty at the end of the pressure cooker, the men below would have scrambled upward."

"You’ve been unconscious for two days," the Goddess said. After a pause, she added, "I am called Saintess, not Goddess."

Saintess sounds like a sacrifice, Goddess is much better... Though the Saintess’s lips do resemble the beauty of strawberries...

Luo Qianqian nodded: "Saintess, my name is... Luo Qianqian."

The Saintess gently nodded: "Climb this Heavenly Ladder, and you’re qualified to obtain a Domain. Will you go?"

A Domain? What is that?

Luo Qianqian paused for a moment but nodded.

"Follow me."

Once outside the room, Luo Qianqian realized everything around her seemed cloud-like, white and filled with an elusive and ethereal sensation.

Stepping on solid ground, she felt a sigh of relief.

"Three days, whether you succeed or not, you’ll return," the Saintess said plainly, "I wish you a triumphant return."

"Uh, this isn’t outside the Star Path, is it? I still need to secure a spot in the Sect Conference," Luo Qianqian said, waving her hands, seriously looking at the Saintess without pushing the door open.

The Saintess looked at Luo Qianqian: "Complete your task, and your name will naturally appear on the stone tablet."

A task? Luo Qianqian was startled, quickly sitting on the ground, realizing she had another task.

Obtain a Domain.

The four words descended upon her, making her feel suffocated; was the previous task merely a prelude to this one?

And the previous task was oddly completed; upon waking, she was here already. If she’d known, she’d have fainted earlier below.

The cracks on her blood scabs were gone now, which relieved her; if her wounds were so evident, her mother and brother would worry.

"Do I return by myself, or how do I get back? Is there a map?" Luo Qianqian asked after a moment of silence, looking at the Saintess.

The Saintess gently shook her head: "I don’t know. My Domain is innate."

"Can you show me?" Up to now, Luo Qianqian still couldn’t grasp what a Domain was.

The Saintess hesitated momentarily before nodding; a golden light enveloped them: "Holy Domain, the exclusive Domain of the Saintess, increases faith power and has a healing effect."

In the next instant, she withdrew the Holy Domain.

"Wow, that’s amazing." Luo Qianqian felt an unexpected urge to bow before the Saintess, and after she retracted the Domain, the urge vanished.

"Please." The Saintess didn’t say much, gesturing toward Luo Qianqian.

Luo Qianqian nodded lightly, pushed the door open, and tossed a piece of Gold Outfit chocolate: "Thank you for saving me." The Saintess instinctively caught the chocolate.

Then the door closed, leaving silence.

The black-robed figure reappeared by the Saintess’s side, and she bowed slightly.

The black-robed figure picked up the chocolate from the Saintess’s hand with slender, delicate white fingers and turned away.

...

"I feel... a bit confused," Huangfu Yihui said, looking at the books his attendants had organized, an inexplicable panic rising.

The Heavenly Ladder, the stairway to heaven, yet it conceals two paths: one leading upward to the Divine Realm, the other descending to the Demon Realm...

The Demon Realm is merged into the Otherworld, being the kind not accepted.

They are brutally ruthless, devoid of any kindness.

The cultivation method of the Demon Realm is extremely cruel, based on stealing others’ painstaking cultivation.

Killing is not uncommon.

The village in the Star Path was massacred by those from the Demon Realm five thousand years ago.

And one of the seals of the Demon Realm’s passage lies with the Demon Realm’s only Spiritual Beast, not a demonic beast, the Nine Nether Bird.