C25 - The Summit
Night fell before the last stretch of the staircase.
Oil lanterns hanging from ancient stone pillars cast warm pools of light across the final steps, while a cold mountain wind swept through the clouds. The summit seemed close enough to touch, yet every remaining step demanded more from the weary candidates than the hundred before it.
Ye Chen's breathing had become ragged.
Every muscle in his body ached.
His legs felt as though they no longer belonged to him.
He could no longer remember how many steps he had climbed.
He only knew there was one more.
And then another.
---
Around him, the remaining candidates struggled in silence.
Some had thrown away their heavy robes.
Others climbed on trembling hands and knees.
No one cared about appearances anymore.
The mountain had stripped away pride, wealth, and status.
Only determination remained.
A sudden cry echoed from behind.
A young noble boy lost his footing and collapsed onto the stairs. His ankle twisted beneath him, and pain spread across his face.
"I can't..."
His voice broke.
"I can't stand."
The other candidates looked back.
Then looked away.
Everyone understood.
Helping another person now meant risking their own chance of reaching the summit.
The silence that followed was heavier than the mountain itself.
Ye Chen stopped.
His body screamed for him to keep walking.
The summit was only a short distance away.
If he delayed...
He might fail.
He closed his eyes.
His father's voice echoed from somewhere deep within his memories.
"The value of a person is revealed by what they do when no one is watching."
Ye Chen turned around.
He slowly walked back down several steps until he reached the injured boy.
Without saying a word, he tore a strip of cloth from his sleeve and wrapped it tightly around the swollen ankle.
The boy stared at him in disbelief.
"Why?"
Ye Chen checked the bandage.
"Can you stand?"
With effort, the boy nodded.
"Good."
Ye Chen offered his shoulder.
"We'll climb together."
The noble boy hesitated.
"I mocked you earlier."
"I know."
"And you're still helping me?"
Ye Chen looked toward the summit.
"We're here to climb a mountain."
"Not to climb over each other."
The boy lowered his head, unable to speak.
---
High above, the elders continued watching through the night.
One elder sighed.
"He'll never become ruthless enough."
Another shook his head.
"He has the heart of a healer."
Elder Han quietly smiled.
"No."
He corrected them.
"He has the heart of someone who remembers suffering."
"There is a difference."
---
The final fifty steps felt endless.
Ye Chen supported the injured boy while climbing one slow step at a time.
Many candidates who had rushed ahead during the morning were now sitting on the ground, completely exhausted.
Some had reached the summit.
Others had stopped only a few steps away, unable to continue.
No one laughed.
No one celebrated.
Every person there understood the price of reaching this height.
Finally...
Ye Chen placed one foot upon the last step.
A broad stone plaza stretched before him.
Ancient pavilions rested among towering pine trees, while clouds drifted peacefully beneath the mountain itself.
He had reached the summit.
Not first.
Not last.
Simply...
By refusing to stop.
---
A deep bronze bell rang across Azure Cloud Mountain.
Its sound echoed through every valley.
A blue-robed disciple stepped forward and announced,
"The first examination has ended."
He looked across the exhausted survivors.
"Five hundred and eighty-two candidates began today's ascent."
A pause.
"Seventy-three reached the summit."
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Nearly nine out of every ten had failed.
Ye Chen slowly looked back down the endless staircase disappearing into the darkness below.
Only then did he truly understand how far he had climbed.
---
The disciple continued.
"Tonight, you will rest."
"Tomorrow..."
His voice grew solemn.
"...begins the second examination."
Several candidates smiled with relief.
They believed the hardest part was over.
An elderly instructor quietly shook his head.
"The mountain tests the body."
He looked toward the distant Hall of Trials.
"The next test..."
His expression became unreadable.
"...will test the heart."
---
Later that night, Ye Chen sat alone beneath a centuries-old pine tree overlooking the sea of clouds.
He removed his father's small farming knife from his waist.
The blade reflected the moonlight.
It was old.
Plain.
Worthless in the eyes of cultivators.
Yet to Ye Chen...
It was more precious than any treasure.
He remembered his father sharpening it after every harvest.
His mother laughing nearby.
The peaceful evenings that would never return.
He gently returned the knife to its sheath.
"I haven't forgotten."
The wind carried his quiet promise into the endless sky.
---
Hidden on the roof of a distant pavilion, the mysterious old wanderer watched him silently.
"Still carrying the past..."
he whispered.
He did not sound disappointed.
Only thoughtful.
A soft voice suddenly came from behind him.
"You've been watching that child since the beginning."
The old wanderer smiled without turning around.
Elder Han stood several steps away.
Neither man's spiritual aura leaked in the slightest.
To anyone else, they appeared to be two ordinary old men enjoying the moonlight.
"He reminds me of someone," the wanderer replied.
Elder Han folded his hands behind his back.
"Or perhaps..."
he said quietly,
"...of yourself."
The old wanderer chuckled.
"Perhaps."
Silence settled between them.
After a long while, Elder Han asked the question that had lingered in his heart for months.
"Who are you?"
The old wanderer looked toward the endless stars.
"When the time is right..."
he said with a faint smile,
"...the boy will ask me the same question."
Before Elder Han could speak again, the old wanderer's figure dissolved into the drifting mist, leaving behind only the faint scent of mountain pine.
Elder Han stood alone beneath the moon.
For the first time in decades...
A trace of uncertainty appeared in his calm eyes.
The second examination had not yet begun.
Yet he had the strange feeling...
That Azure Cloud Mountain was no longer testing only the candidates.
Fate itself had quietly entered the game.