Max slowly made his way towards the 450-meter mark while the rest of the geniuses had either given up or already fallen.

Nathan and the others were teetering on the edge of the 400-meter mark. The pressure they faced was so overwhelming that they forgot about crossing the 400-meter line; they were struggling just to breathe.

"The pressure here is too great," Tom said, feeling the constant weight bearing down on his body. It made him feel as if his entire body would break down if he stayed under the pressure any longer.

"Damn, is this my limit?" Nathan cursed, realizing he couldn't even move his body. He felt frustrated and humiliated that he had lost to someone from the East Region, especially since Max only had the strength of a level 4 in the Apprentice Rank.

"Damn it!" He shouted, letting go of his grip on the surface of the monolith as he fell down before it.

Tom glanced at Nathan before turning to Princess Aveline and Evlin. "Good luck crossing the 400-meter mark," he said. With those words, he also let go of the monolith and fell down, regrouping with Nathan.

"The brothers have such a bond… one goes down, and the other shortly follows," Evlin said softly, her eyes drawn to Princess Aveline. Her expression turned solemn. "So, what will it be, Princess? Giving up, or doing your best to reach the 400-meter mark?"

Princess Aveline smiled. "Isn't it obvious?"

With those words, she began ascending again, though her speed was no faster than a snail's crawl.

Evlin sighed, glancing down at the Drake brothers and then at Aveline. "Fine," she said, a look of madness clouding her face. "I will join you in your madness."

With those words, she resumed climbing the monolith, hoping to reach the 400-meter mark.

Currently, they were at the 350-meter mark, only a 5-meter chasm separating them from their goal. However, that 5 meters felt like 5 kilometers with their crawling pace.

Both Aveline and Evlin gritted their teeth as they moved toward the 400-meter mark, pushing themselves as hard as they could.

Meanwhile, Mikale and the scarred-faced young man gave up, knowing their strength was insufficient, and fell down, joining the others.

Alex, who was just behind them, tried his best to continue his ascent but fell down, unable to withstand the pressure above the 350-meter mark.

The results were almost the same for the other guilds. After reaching the 350-meter mark, they were all forced to the bottom.

Only the duo from the Black Lotus Guild remained in the end.

"Brother, it's time we go down as well," one of the masked young men said to the other.

The other one nodded. "Let's go."

After discussing among themselves, they also descended, only to witness a scene they didn't want to see.

---

After getting used to the pressure at the 400-meter range, Max steadily increased his pace, heading toward the 500-meter mark.

On the other hand, the two beauties were doing their best to reach the 400-meter mark.

"Only a few steps left… I can do it," Princess Aveline muttered as she used all her strength to crawl forward.

Evlin, too, didn't give up and continued moving alongside Aveline.

After a strenuous half hour of struggle, they finally reached the 400-meter mark.

"I didn't expect the future witch to be so hardworking," Princess Aveline commented, impressed by Evlin's perseverance. Discover stories with My Virtual Library Empire

Evlin smiled in response. "Same about you. I had heard that the princess of the West had lived her entire life as a princess, but I guess those are just rumors," she said, her tone intriguing.

She glanced down and added, "Well, I'm going down. I can't go any higher. This is my limit." With those words, she let go of the monolith and fell.

Princess Aveline glanced down, then at Max, who was still ascending, and sighed. _'We'll see how strong you are once you're down.'_ She thought, before also letting go of the monolith and jumping down.

With that, Max became the sole ascender of the monolith.

The blob of slime observed the monolith, its eye narrowing as it noticed only one figure ascending.

Glancing down, it announced loudly, "Now only one genius remains on the monolith, and from the speed he is ascending, he doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon."

The words rang throughout the hall, surprising many. Some had witnessed Max's change in pace—from fast to slow, to slow again, and now back to fast—and now he seemed unstoppable. They were clearly shocked by such developments.

"Damn, where did such an odd guy come from? His strength is only at level 4, and yet he's better than everyone else here."

"True. It just doesn't make sense, no matter how you think about it. To maintain this pace even in the 400-meter range would only be possible if he had already comprehended an aura, but that's impossible as well."

"When did such a genius rise in the East Region? Moreover, from the looks of it, they don't seem too surprised by his performance."

"Genius? We don't know if he's truly a genius or someone cheating his way to the top."

"I also believe it's impossible for someone at level 4 in the Apprentice Rank to surpass everyone here, so the only plausible explanation is that he's cheating."

The crowd of geniuses buzzed with murmurs, seeing Max as the sole ascender of the monolith. They found it hard to believe that someone at level 4 in the Apprentice Rank had left everyone behind, while some allegedly blamed Max for cheating.

Meanwhile, Nathan and Tom were terrorizing a group of young geniuses from the East Region, especially those from the Phoenix Order Guild. The entire group of geniuses from the South Region surrounded the geniuses from the Phoenix Order Guild.

"I heard that he's from your guild…" Nathan smiled sinisterly at Alex. "Care to tell me more about him?"

Alex frowned, glancing at Nathan and Tom. Knowing that their entire group stood no chance against them or the geniuses from the South Region, his expression turned serious.

"Hahaha, so this is how the South Region handles things," a group of masked individuals from the Black Lotus Guild arrived and intercepted those from the South Region.

"Brother, you should know… South Region is the place of criminals, so that's to be expected from them," one of the masked individuals sneered at Nathan, glancing at the others.

Nathan's expression turned cruel as he saw them. "Don't think I've forgotten about you two. I'll take care of you once I'm done with these trash."

Alex and Vance exchanged looks, sweat forming on their faces as they heard Nathan's words. If a battle truly broke out between them, they stood no chance against the geniuses from the South Region. Only a few of them could really fight against them without loosing.

Their only advantage was in numbers, but would it be enough to hold them off until Max finally descended?

"Good, you managed to cross the 500-meter mark," the blob's voice reached everyone's ears at that moment, causing Nathan and Tom to turn their heads toward Max.

They watched in shock as Max reached the 501-meter mark. He crossed the 500-meter threshold when they couldn't even touch the 400-meter mark.

"He is still ascending, though at a somewhat slower pace than before," Aveline said, glancing toward Nathan with a smile on her face.

"He won't cross the 550-meter mark," Nathan said, gritting his teeth. Last time he declared that Max wouldn't reach the 500-meter mark, which he failed miserably, and now again, it was with the 550-meter mark.

He added boldly, "Without aura, it's impossible to ascend past the 500-meter mark."

"Hehe," a look of mockery appeared on Alex's face as he heard Nathan.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay