Chapter 721 - 642: Ascend to the Peak 51, 4000 Words_3
The gravity here is fascinating; even the operation of spiritual power is suppressed. During meditation, spiritual power seems burdened, moving with extreme sluggishness.
However, Shuangshuang distinctly feels that as spiritual power circulates, she clearly senses her body’s meridians seem to have expanded slightly. Although they recover quickly, as long as they continue to expand and circulate repeatedly, the meridians will inevitably widen.
This is a significant advantage. Widening of meridians means increased reserve of spiritual power within the body and faster circulation speed. It is a benefit that appears only when breaking through levels. Each time a cultivator breaks through a minor level, the meridians widen slightly, and with a major level breakthrough, both the meridians and spirit mansion widen.
Shuangshuang, nearly greedy, sat in meditation and cultivation for a long time before she reluctantly opened her eyes and continued climbing upward. Because she indulged in the benefits of cultivation, the meditation time was longer than usual, and now several people had climbed ahead of her.
Shuangshuang wasn’t in a hurry; she continued to climb steadily and slowly. Her pace wasn’t fast, but she kept circulating her spiritual power internally as she climbed, never stopping. From dawn to dusk and into the darkness of night, Shuangshuang continued her cultivation meditation.
After a whole day of relentless climbing, Shuangshuang once again left everyone behind. It’s unknown whether there is an array blessing the stone steps, but after six or seven days of consecutive climbing, the front is still shrouded in mist, seeming endless.
In the past couple of days, no one could catch up with Shuangshuang. A group of participants lay on the mountain path, lamenting as they gazed towards the unseen peak, muscles sore under continuous gravity suppression.
Those who patiently meditated and cultivated at night fared better; spiritual power nourishing the body mitigated significant issues. Those impatient to reach the summit, lacking patience, found their body paralyzed with soreness due to gravity suppression, unable to ascend another step.
They had to spend more time meditating and cultivating to restore physical condition. Everyone had endured the Maze Illusion Realm, and those who made it were resilient souls, unlikely to retreat and leave.
The selection on these mountain stairways is no longer about eliminating disciples but determining whether the recruited disciples will be Outer Sect Disciples, Inner Sect Disciples, or Direct Disciples. Direct Disciples certainly must lead the group, like Shuangshuang, and Inner Sect Disciples must be among the earliest to reach the peak.
Shuangshuang climbed the path for a whole month. At first, she could see the disciples below, but eventually, Shuangshuang couldn’t see anyone anymore. The surrounding air became extremely frigid; the mountaintop was covered in snow, devoid of vegetation or any hint of green.
The higher she climbed, the colder it became, eventually rivaling the biting cold within the Illusion Realm. Fortunately, in this place Shuangshuang could still circulate her spiritual power, although sluggishly, it was enough for warmth. Coupled with clothing from the storage space, she could stay warm. It was unlike the Illusion Realm, where wearing more clothes still left one freezing.
The breath Shuangshuang exhaled instantly froze in the chilling temperature. She climbed almost glued to the stone steps due to increased gravity at the frigid summit. It was the first time Shuangshuang appeared so ragged; even cultivation in Hurricane Valley was not this arduous.
Shuangshuang always thought her martial master level and strong physical strength would easily handle the Wuji Sect disciple entrance exam, without difficulty. However, reality slapped her. The environment she thought difficult turned out nothing compared to this simplest yet hardest last challenge.
Cold air, spiritual power suppressed by intensified gravity, steep steps where one almost crawled, and the slippery ice snow, careless movement might lead to falling.
Later, a sudden snowstorm blurred vision, rendering people unable to open their eyes, surrounded front and back by a world of white, feeling like oneself alone, endlessly climbing never-ending stone steps. The constant pressure, this place is truly a brutal trial!
Shuangshuang was finally certain: this supposedly simple checkpoint was far more difficult than the Maze Illusion Realm. The Maze Illusion Realm, thanks to Qin Shaofeng’s prior warnings, was known to be fake and safe, devoid of real danger. Although enduring pain in the Illusion Realm, knowing there was no real harm meant no psychological pressure; resilience alone sufficed.
But these stone steps were entirely different. Here was true reality—true cold, true hunger, gravity suppressing body to immobility, true loneliness with no one in sight, true risk of mortal danger due to steepness—all physically, mentally, patiently, strength-wise, willpower thoroughly tested.