Breakfast had been eaten and the group was now ready to locate the Stairway.
"Wherr should we start first?" Rex asked.
He was looking forward to advancing now. He was truly ready to set foot into the Seventh Realm. Why? Tournaments were the most popular in the Seventh Realm. Always having someone to help him cover the basics is always a good thing.
"There is a problem though." Violet said with a worried face.
"What is the problem?" Rex replied with the same worry.
"You have to find the Stairway underground in the Sixth Realm yourself." Violet replied.
Rex was stunned. Why would the Stairway require him to look underground for it?
"What makes the Stairway go underground?" Rex asked.
"Because you are from below the Sixth Realm and trying to advance. It is also to ensure that you did not just easily pass the other Realm or Realms without any difficulty.
Personally, I know of two of them. The third is part of the completing the other two parts. The last one changes so that it is hard in trying to find the last entrance. The entrance can be at the same place as others but the way in will change." Violet said.
"So much for a easy trip forward." Rex thought.
"Oh well. Just hand me a map of where the other entrances are. I will do whatever I can to make sure to get the places done in a hurry." Rex said.
"That is not the issue." Violet tugged on Rex's clothes.
Rex felt that something indeed did trigger this emotion from Violet. He was not sure what the trigger was.
"It is okay. You can speak freely. No one will hurt you for speaking the truth." Rex said gently patting her head.
"There is so much studying in involved inside the underground places that people have spent almost five years before trying to figure out the solution to the problem or problems down there only to find that they were wrong.
The truly big changer is that time is different in there as well. It is almost like the solution to those problem or problems is something unrelated to the time difference."
Rex was baffled. There should not anything like that. Even on the old forums that he read, he always knew the answer was the day of the year that he entered into the Stairway. It was not underground but in a statue belonging to a serpent.
"Oh well. I guess it is time to exchange news about thinking." Rex decided.
"What is today's date if we were on Earth?" Rex asked.
"August 14th, 2062" Iris replied.
Rex knew at that moment what was going to change. He got a map showing where the locations were. As he speculated, the last entrance should follow the normal routine that he knew.
"Wait for me in the Stairway." Rex said and hugged each of them.
War God was carrying the baby. She followed without making the baby worry too much.
Rex darted to the location that he knew. Without going to the first or second stop. He traveled slowly. Making sure that he was not being followed nor was he getting into any traps.
He traveled for a week. Making the day August 21st, that is the only day that the activate without the need to worry about entering the first two spots.
"I wish to ascend into Higher Planes." Rex spoke.
A glow on the serpent statue sent Rex into a black void.
"Good. Now the serpent should be awakening any moment now." Rex thought.
A rumble sounded. It was the serpent that Rex knew.
"Good morning, Serpent of the Stairway. It is great day to see you not only age in a year but be able to witness your awakening." Rex spoke in a loud voice.
The black void vanished and a bright clear sky came in view.
"Who wishes to use the power of the Serpent to enter the Stairway of the Nine Realms?" A deep voice asked.
"My name is Rex. I am currently the Demon King of Annihilation. I wish to climb the Stairway with a symbol of your pride." Rex spoke.
The sky vanished, the black void with a solid pair of green eyes were seen.
"I, the Serpent of the Stairway, wish to know how you know of this place. Also the timing of my awakening."
"You are a serpent born from the planet Earth. This was the day you were borned and vanished from the Earth by accepting an invitation to the Nine Realms in the year 2037. You were born into a laboratory and vanished within minutes.
I too came from Earth. The year that I started cultivating was much later. News that a serpent mysteriously vanished from the laboratory kept headlines for years.
Now, I wish to enter the Stairway the same way you did so many years ago." Rex said.
The serpent flipped over its body. The sky looked like it was under Rex's feet just a few steps away.
"Get on my belly if you wish to traverse the dark corridors of the Sixth Realm."
Rex gently walked over and got on the belly of the serpent. He felt the years of the snake has he watched the growth, advancement, and finally the staling of the serpent.
He watched as the baby serpent had to fight against countless more hungry predators and humans. He had to fight against his Stairway trials because he was too weak.
Once he had finally gotten enough strength, he could not enter the Sixth Realm's Stairway without carrying someone on its belly.
Rex cried as he saw the Stairway shut its doors on the serpent. He knew exactly how it felt to be there.
"Just ahead."
Rex wiped the tears away and was ready to face the trials that the serpent faced years ago.
He was also looking forward showcasing the pride of the Sixth Realm's Guardian Serpent, the Blue Sky.