Chapter 722 - 643 Ascending the Peak 52
Tan Shuangshuang lay on the stone steps, gasping for breath, her eyes barely open as she looked ahead. The blizzard had turned the snow into a massive vortex, roaring past her with a deafening sound. Close contact with it truly felt terrifying, oppressive—this was the might of heaven and earth.
This place had such thick snow; Tan Shuangshuang truly feared the blizzard would trigger an avalanche, or that the whirlwind might pick her up and fling her somewhere. This was not an Illusion Realm; here, bad luck could indeed be deadly.
The previous gravity suppression had already intensified once. Upon reaching here, Tan Shuangshuang felt the gravity suppression on her body intensifying further. Under such immense gravity suppression, Tan Shuangshuang couldn’t stand up.
She could only lie on the steep stone steps, as if oppressed on the ground by a thousand-pound boulder. Her Spiritual Power, under such suppression, operated as slowly and sluggishly as a snail.
Now, her Spiritual Power’s operation speed barely ensured she had some strength to move forward and prevented her from freezing to death on the stone steps. As for using Spiritual Power to resist the cold, that was wishful thinking.
Tan Shuangshuang had wrapped herself into a large ball, and every step she climbed took her half a day’s effort, making progress extremely difficult.
The gravity suppression was so powerful that Tan Shuangshuang could only crawl on the ground, inching forward bit by bit. She couldn’t even climb two steps before needing to stop to circulate her Spiritual Power for half an hour to barely recover her strength.
Under such suppression, her progress was extraordinarily slow, but her physical exertion was enormous, making her hunger particularly fast. Eating was also a torment because the buns she took from her Storage Bag, originally steaming hot, turned cold and hard like ice as soon as they were exposed to the air.
Tan Shuangshuang struggled to put the frozen buns into her mouth, enduring the urge to spit them out while forcing them down like she was eating a huge block of ice.
Food was essential for providing body heat. The buns were extremely expensive, made with the skin of high-quality spiritual wheat flour, excellent spiritual vegetables, and Level 5 Magical Beast Meat rich with Spiritual Energy. The taste of the buns was exceptional, but at one Gold Coin for ten buns, most people couldn’t afford them.
Tan Shuangshuang bought the buns because Fei Hu particularly loved them and pestered her with adorable whining until she bought a whole Storage Bag’s worth, thinking they could take one out to eat any time.
Now, not many buns were left. Originally, Tan Shuangshuang was reluctant to eat them because they were bought in Qingyun City and couldn’t be found in the Wuji Sect. She saved them to give Fei Hu a treat every day. But now, she had no choice because these buns, besides the Spirit Fruits, held the most abundant Spiritual Energy in her possession.
Spirit Fruits, akin to ordinary fruits, could be eaten whenever, and even a full stomach couldn’t satisfy hunger during starvation. Eating them in excess led to stomach pains, but though the buns filled her and were energizing, they were incredibly uncomfortable to eat.
This bite of what used to be a top gourmet bun tasted nothing delicious. Instead, her lips were numb and stiff with cold, her teeth shivered from the chill, and swallowing a bite of bun sent a frosty chill from her throat to her heart, torturing her to no end!
Toughening up her Spiritual Power to coax the Spirit Energy from the buns through her digestive system, she slowly circulated it to soothe her discomfort from eating the icy food. Yet she didn’t hesitate to continue swallowing the food, knowing without eating, she wouldn’t survive; Tan Shuangshuang was utterly sure of this.
After swallowing several mouthfuls of icy buns, Tan Shuangshuang gritted her teeth and couldn’t resist mentally complaining about how damn brutal the Wuji Sect’s final test was! Were they trying to assess people to death? She seriously doubted how those disciples who passed the test managed to do it.
It wasn’t self-conceit from Tan Shuangshuang; given her Cultivation Level and physical condition, this place already made her want to curse, and those less qualified than her in the assessment couldn’t possibly pass. The Wuji Sect’s test aimed to wipe out all participants in a frenzy!
Little did Tan Shuangshuang know, while she was ranting about how brutal the Wuji Sect’s test was, the upper echelons of the Wuji Sect were all stirred by her performance. Sect Leader Wei Tianxiao, along with a group of elders ready to take on disciples and the Eighteen Peak Masters also prepared to recruit, were all out secretly observing Tan Shuangshuang—like a gigantic woolly worm persevering upwards along the Heaven-Reaching Road.
Actually, it wasn’t the Wuji Sect’s fault; Tan Shuangshuang herself was just too remarkable. This road was called the Heaven-Reaching Road, found in every sect. It garners its name from a hopeful aspiration, symbolizing that walking this path might cultivate one beyond mortal physique, ultimately reaching powerful God status.
The tests on the Heaven-Reaching Road are graduated, providing practice from martial master to Great Martial Artist, military general, and Martial King. Essentially, the farther one goes, the greater the gravity suppression and difficulty level.
Disciples undertaking the test on the Heaven-Reaching Road don’t need to complete it. They only need to reach their limit, and when apprenticing, placements are divided into Outer Sect, Inner Sect, and Direct Inheritance based on their advancement.
Tan Shuangshuang wasn’t aware of this; she believed finishing the Heaven-Reaching Road meant passing, leading her to stubbornly climb upward, reaching a place only a Half-step Martial General could withstand.
Being here, Tan Shuangshuang hadn’t been completely immobilized by gravity yet; she was still crawling up the steps. This performance was extraordinary, indicating how much advantage she gained from cultivating the Triple Transformation Body Sculpting Technique beforehand.
At this moment, a group of Wuji Sect dignitaries watched Tan Shuangshuang, including a man dressed in a black magic robe. Despite his robust charm, he exuded a stern aura, observing Tan Shuangshuang stubbornly crawling upwards on the Heaven-Reaching Road and speaking with admiration.
"This girl is remarkable; her resolve and tenacity far exceed the ordinary. The road to her cultivation will undoubtedly surpass most people in the future."
Si Kaojing, beside him, laughed proudly in agreement, "This girl’s talent is excellent, resembling her parents, and what’s more commendable is her resilient mind, capable of enduring hardship and willing to strive. If it weren’t for being a generation apart from her, I would’ve wanted to take her as an apprentice myself; how could it be your benefit? Her becoming a disciple under you, the Hall Master of the Law Enforcement Hall, means she’ll surely join your Law Enforcement Hall in the future. You must proceed step by step; don’t overwhelm her with everything from your hall. You might scare her!"
It turns out this robust yet stern man was Ling Wuchen, one of the Eighteen Peak Masters. Since he headed the Law Enforcement Hall of the Wuji Sect, he named his independent peak the Law Enforcement Peak, establishing the Law Enforcement Hall on it.