Several days after Rong Yu emerged from seclusion, countless people came to pay their respects outside Shangxu Peak, including members of his own sect and people from other sects.
Since the Demon Lord appeared in the world, only Rong Yu has truly fought against him. As the saying goes, "know yourself and know your enemy." To deal with the Demon Lord, one must understand his current strength. Therefore, those who come to his door are all well-known figures in the cultivation world. However, the master and disciple on Shangxu Peak are very eccentric and have not met with any of them.
Inside Qingyou Pavilion, Rong Yu stood beside the cold jade bed, his pure white inner satin draped over his body. He fastened his waist sash, fastened the palace bell, and finally draped himself with a moon-white brocade outer robe. His jade crown was tied high, and he was as bright as the moon. His clear eyes showed no fluctuation. His gaze shifted slightly and fell on the silver longsword beside him. He grasped Zuiying in his palm, turned around, and walked out.
Today is the day the new disciples enter the sect, and the communication talismans are so frequent that they are about to break through the protective barrier of Shangxu Peak.
After hiding for more than three months, it's time to go and see those people.
Three months ago, the scene of parting at Pipi Mountain was still vivid in my mind. The soft lips imprinted on my lips, the complex emotions that were hard to discern, and the last lingering bloodstains. The wound on the corner of my lips had healed, but the mark left behind lingered in my mind.
I've thought about going to see him, but I can't.
Since returning to the sect, there have been spies everywhere outside Qiushu Mountain. People from the outer sect are watching him leave the mountain, while people from the inner sect are waiting for him to emerge from seclusion. No matter how high his cultivation level is, he cannot leave Tianzhi Sect under such heavy surveillance.
The arrival of a new disciple is a momentous occasion for the sect, and they have chosen this time to send a message talisman. As the sect leader's first disciple, there is no reason for him not to go.
Outside Qingyou Pavilion, surrounded by green bamboo and filled with spiritual energy, Rong Yu glanced at the clouds, and just as he took a step, he suddenly stopped.
A sudden burning sensation rose in his chest, and he raised his hand to touch it. A strange light flashed in his usually cold and aloof eyes as he looked down the mountain.
At the foot of Qiushu Mountain, on the jade steps, the prospective disciples who had passed the first round of assessments were still struggling to climb the stone steps. Some gave up halfway, while others collapsed halfway down because they couldn't withstand the spiritual pressure.
When Geng Qi reached the nine hundredth step, he began to feel dizzy and couldn't see where the next step was. He almost couldn't help but release his cultivation to resist the spiritual pressure, but at that moment he saw several more people on the jade steps.
As dusk fell, the setting sun painted the evening sky crimson. The first round of assessments for the day must have concluded. Those who passed the first round would now climb the Jade Ladder to be selected as the true disciples.
Stepping onto the last stone step, Geng Qi finally stood before the sect leader. His spiritual pressure suddenly vanished, as if a thousand-pound iron hammer had been removed from his shoulders. He seemed to float on the clouds, but he had no strength left.
The person in charge of the assessment had already arrived at the summit via the teleportation array. He used his last breath to ask, "Did I... pass the assessment?"
No one answered.
Geng Qi looked up and saw them staring at him as if he were a monster, and his heart sank.
Has it been...exposed?
He asked weakly, "What's wrong?"
Lin'er opened her mouth: "You...can you still walk?"
Geng Qi glared: "Are you still leaving?"
"No...no." Lin'er waved her hands repeatedly, her words somewhat incoherent.
At this moment, an older leader stepped forward, his eyes wide with excitement: "It's been a hundred years! Young friend, you are only the second person in a hundred years to have walked up the Jade Ladder on your own. You are truly a prodigy, a genius of the heavens!"
He stroked his little goatee, and Geng Qi was worried that he might pull it off if he used too much force!
After taking three seconds to process the information in his words, Geng Qi looked back at the seemingly bottomless jade staircase and asked incredulously, "This jade staircase, we don't have to climb to the end?"
Fu Ruo said, "The Jade Ladder is the second round of assessment and a test. With each step, the spiritual pressure will gradually increase. For ordinary people, being able to withstand two hundred steps is considered passing. Even with the cultivation of the Qi Refining stage, it is difficult to persist to five hundred steps. In the hundreds of years of Tianzhi Sect, only two people have been able to complete nine hundred and ninety-nine steps."
Geng Qi: "..."
Damn it! Why didn't you say there were evaluation criteria earlier?!
Do you think it's easy for him to climb those stairs?
If you had said earlier that he could pass at 500, he definitely wouldn't have made it past 501!
His body seemed to have reached its limit; his legs buckled, and he collapsed straight down.
Everyone present was startled and rushed over to try to stop the person. They were fast enough, but someone was even faster. A silver streak flashed through the sunset and landed right behind the person who had fallen backward, catching him safely.
The silver light faded, revealing a figure, like sunlight reflecting off snow, dazzling yet captivating.
The person in charge was the first to recover, hurriedly taking half a step back and bowing, saying, "Young Sect Master."
The others bowed their heads and respectfully addressed him as "Grandmaster Uncle".
Rong Yu didn't call them to get up. He just looked at the person in his arms, whose clothes were soaked with sweat, whose hair was disheveled at the temples, whose whole body was hot, and who was so tired that she leaned softly on his shoulder, her red lips slightly parted, sleeping soundly.
She was just asleep.
He looked down at the bottomless jade steps below, where several people were still struggling halfway up. He pursed his lips and murmured, "He... climbed up by himself?"
The steward thought he was questioning the man's qualifications, and his voice was tinged with excitement: "Yes, this man completed the Jade Ladder through his own perseverance."
Rong Yu remained silent, feeling a sharp pain in his heart.
How could he not see that this person had suppressed his cultivation? He had walked the Jade Ladder before, and no one knew better than him how difficult it was. This person had lived a life of luxury in the Demon Palace; when had he ever suffered like this?
"He came alone?"
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