Others could afford to lose, but Zhou Chuan could not, so he did not leave.
It had taken him ten years of wandering just to reach the eastern region. If he gave up now and turned back, another ten years would be wasted on the journey home. How could he just let such precious time slip away? Was he willing to accept that?
Adept at forbearance, he stood up and returned to the valley floor to chop branches. He bound them together, spliced them, and wove them into a raft. Humans could not touch the water, but objects could; his keen observation had already led him to this realization.
To float the raft, he was relying on a crude method.
Standing alone by the riverbank, sweating profusely, he managed to complete in the span of a single afternoon what an ordinary mortal would have taken at least three days to weave. Years of wandering had honed his daring and patience beyond the ordinary, granting him formidable practical skills.
"As long as I don't use Spiritual Power, the river won't swell. As long as I don't wade into the water, it won't sweep me away. I've traversed thousands of mountains and rivers—what is a fifty-zhang river compared to that?"
"My life has always been tough enough to endure!"
With that, his confidence grew. Now, he was gambling with his fate. He pushed the raft into the river, leaped onto it with agile grace, and landed firmly, standing steady.
Because his body did not touch the water and the current here was gentle, the raft was not washed away. He held a long bamboo pole; although he could not touch the riverbed, he could use it to push against the water.
"Time to cross, and I must keep it steady!"
"The examiner didn't mention any time limit, did he? If one day isn't enough, I'll take a month to cross!"
This was no ordinary river. The moment he began to pole, the current suddenly accelerated, churning up small whirlpools.
The raft could only creep forward. Before long, Zhou Chuan's back was drenched. He had to exert every ounce of his strength just to move the raft—it was far more arduous than he had imagined.
"Hold on! Keep it steady!"
Ignoring how far the end might be, he gritted his teeth and pressed on.
Creak! Creak! The raft groaned in protest. The closer he got to the center of the channel, the more violent the current became. The raft showed signs of breaking apart—it was a critical moment.
The gale was fierce, blowing him off course again and again, yet Zhou Chuan never panicked. Summoning the strength of an ox, he drove the pole into the water. His hands began to bleed.
"I must become a cultivator! I must attain eternal life!"
It was this conviction that sustained him, making him insensible to exhaustion and pain.
Protected by its grand protective array, the Green Maple Valley remained bright and luminous despite the setting sun. Zhou Chuan had survived the first day.
Zhang Biao and Li Yu were patrollers responsible for escorting the failed disciples out of the valley. Elder Liao Qingshan's declaration that they would be responsible for their own lives and deaths was merely meant to frighten the cowardly; if a large number of trial disciples were to die during the selection, what would happen to the Water Talisman Sect's reputation?
"Who is this? Why is he still in the river..." Zhang Biao muttered, slightly astonished as he caught sight of Zhou Chuan.
"This method... I'm speechless," Li Yu said upon noticing him as well.
"Should we go drag him out? His method won't work. Once his stamina runs out, he's bound to fall into the river, and we'll just end up fishing him out anyway."
"It looks like he hasn't given up. This is the first time I've ever seen someone so brave. Look, there isn't a shred of Spiritual Power on him."
"No Spiritual Power? Good grief! Do you really think our sect would recruit someone like that?"
"So what if he doesn't have Spiritual Power now? That doesn't mean he won't in the future. What he lacks in Spiritual Power, he can make up for with ingenuity."
"He clearly lacks Spiritual Power, so he's making up for it with sheer brawn."
"The rules didn't say he couldn't. Who cares what method he uses, as long as he reaches the mountain peak?"
"Ha! Junior Sister, you actually expect him to pass the third test and reach the peak?"
"Whether he can reach it or not, we won't know until he tries."
"Could it be that Junior Sister has taken a fancy to this pretty boy, which is why you keep defending him?"
"Could it be that Senior Brother is just bitter because you're ugly?"
"Uh... Fine. Since Junior Sister puts it that way, I suppose I can't be petty."
"What are you about to do?"
Seeing Zhang Biao suddenly make a move toward the river, Li Yu could not help feeling tense. But after seeing the outcome, she smiled knowingly.
Zhou Chuan was right in the middle of the river, paddling along, when a sudden gale whipped up like a hurricane and flipped him completely over. He flew into the air, the raft spinning away along with him.
Tumbling over and over in the wind, he lost all sense of direction and could see nothing at all. This was the strangest wind he had ever encountered; though immensely powerful, it did not harm him.
Thud! Finally, he crashed down onto the muddy ground, every organ in his body throbbing with pain.
"Ah! I've crossed the river! I've reached the other side!"
It took Zhou Chuan a good moment to gather his wits, but when he looked around, he was overjoyed.
Zhang Biao had given him a helping hand, allowing him to smoothly pass the second test and earn a chance at the third.
If anyone thought Zhang Biao had done this out of the goodness of his heart, they would be gravely mistaken. It was practically impossible for a mortal to pass the third test; he wanted to prove to Junior Sister that her judgment was wrong.
"Hmph! You might think I'm helping you, but I just feel that the suffering you've endured so far isn't even the worst of it. Junior Sister, I can't wait to see the look of disappointment on your face." Casting his spell, Zhang Biao curved his lips into a smile and departed first.
Li Yu sympathized with Zhou Chuan because of her own troubled past, but the sect's rules were strict, and she lacked the courage to help him openly. She never imagined that an infuriated Zhang Biao would end up giving Zhou Chuan a hand, helping him safely cross the second test.
"I hope you succeed and make it out alive."
Li Yu cast one last deep look behind her, then turned to leave and rescue the remaining candidates.
Zhou Chuan had been saved once again, though he still had no idea who had helped him. It seemed some unseen destiny was proving his stubborn resilience true.
Across the river stood a towering mountain range—just a single, massive peak. A long, winding stone path stretched upward, disappearing endlessly into the sky.
Though the end was nowhere in sight, he could spot several figures the size of ants crawling up the mountain ahead of him—those were the candidates who had beaten him there.
The Elder had said that whoever climbed to the peak would become a formal disciple.
"I'm so starving!"
He did not know that in places dense with spiritual energy, physical stamina was consumed at twice the rate if one could not absorb that energy to replenish themselves. After a whole day of paddling across the river, his physical strength was entirely depleted, and he was now hungry enough to devour an entire ox.
Since he was not a cultivator, he had no storage bag, so all his provisions were tied to his body. A portion of them had already been washed away when he entered the river for the trial.
Seeing the impossibly long flight of stone stairs, he pulled out some food, then put it back again.
"I've already reached the final test; there's no turning back now. I need to save the food for later."
Driven to desperation by hunger, he plucked some wild grass and shoved it into his mouth.
Pfft! Pfft! After chewing a couple of times, he spat it out immediately as tears welled in his eyes.
"So bitter! Why is this Nine-Dragon Grass so bitter?!"
This was no Nine-Dragon Grass; it was a century-old Wangshi Herb, a spiritual plant. He tried chewing a few other varieties of grass, eventually swallowing the ones that were less bitter. He didn't know anything about spiritual herbs, but if he happened to poison himself, so be it.
What he didn't know was that any spiritual herb with true toxicity would have long since been dug up by outer disciples; poisonous spiritual herbs were actually prized goods that could fetch a high price.
After this chaotic meal, his physical strength recovered slightly. Because he possessed spiritual roots within his body, he didn't have to fear accidentally consuming spiritual herbs; as long as the excess spiritual energy wasn't too overwhelming, his roots could absorb it or purge it from his body.
With his strength restored, Zhou Chuan began his ascent. He knew the others had left him far behind and he was dead last. More than a hundred people had passed the second test, but the recruitment quota was capped at a hundred, so every moment counted.
"The third test seems to be a contest of endurance. With a mountain this tall and peak-less, it's bound to weed out a lot of people. I still have a chance."
He climbed for a full day. Relying on sheer grit and the mountain-climbing experience he had accumulated over countless journeys, Zhou Chuan reached the midway point of the mountain. Clouds and mist coiled above his head, the wind howled, and the narrow path grew rugged.
He dared not look down, for the abyss below was terrifying enough to drain a man's soul.
"My footsteps are getting heavier. I suppose this is some kind of special array restriction designed to keep my legs from lifting!"
Zhou Chuan realized what was happening; his legs refused to rise on their own, forcing him to use his hands to lift them step by step.
"If anyone could enter the immortal gate just by climbing a mountain, every ordinary farmer could cultivate and become an immortal. Still, this is fine—certain people won't be able to take it and will give up this opportunity, leaving it all for me, haha!"
Remaining optimistic, he persisted for another hour, though during that time he had only managed to climb forty-nine stone steps. Looking up, he still could not see the mountain gate; there was no telling how much further the road went.
He was exhausted! He had no choice but to stop and rest—his legs simply refused to lift!
"I refuse to admit defeat! I must reach the mountain peak!" he shouted aloud.
He had struggled so hard just to reach this day. He thought back to the hardships of the past ten years: the time a tiger had blocked his path and almost mauled him to death; the three-zhang python that had chased him all over the mountains; the three days and nights trapped in a snowstorm with no food and no firewood; the two months he had spent walking alone through a desert, caught in a blinding sandstorm.
Hahaha! He burst into laughter. What were the hardships before him compared to all that?
He set off again. An hour later, he had climbed another thirty-nine steps. Another hour passed, and he managed twenty-four paces—one step per stair.
After that, he stopped counting the hours, stopped counting his paces, and stopped even looking up at the road ahead. His body had long since gone numb, and he had bitten his tongue so hard he could no longer feel the pain. His eyelids drooped shut, only to be forced open again by a sharp, stinging pain. He had lost count of how many times he had stabbed his own thighs with a silver needle.
"Well, well! Look at that pretty boy—he actually made it this far!" Zhang Biao said, spotting Zhou Chuan during his patrol and speaking deliberately.
"It really is him!" Li Yu was even more shocked.
"Without a shred of Spiritual Power, he actually made it this far. I really have to hand it to him! How on earth did he survive the grand protective array?"
"What else could it be if not sheer willpower?"
"Junior Sister, should we stop him?" Zhang Biao tested the waters.
"No!" Just as Zhang Biao had anticipated, Li Yu flatly refused.
"Junior Sister! It's not that I have anything against him. He's not a cultivator, so there's no way he can succeed. The mountain is this high—if he falls, there won't even be a corpse left to bury."
"Precisely because of that, don't you find it interesting? He isn't even afraid of death."
"Cultivation relies on innate talent and demands true strength. I can see he's older than me; if he had any talent, he would have reached the Qi Condensation stage long ago!"
"In any case, we act according to the rules. He hasn't passed out, and he hasn't given up—he's relying entirely on his own ability. We have no right to stop him."
"Junior Sister..."
"Say no more. There's a situation ahead, let's go."
As she parted, Li Yu murmured to herself: Life and death are up to fate, you must look after yourself.
She could sense Zhang Biao's malice toward Zhou Chuan, and thus she dared not argue any further. The more she defended Zhou Chuan, the more perilous his situation would become; the best course of action was feigned indifference.
"Hmph! No matter how high you climb, the only result will be an even worse fall. I originally wanted to watch you plummet into the abyss and shatter into pieces right in front of Junior Sister. Since she doesn't want to look, I'll spare you this once," Zhang Biao muttered with a sinister smile before leaving.
Zhou Chuan knew nothing of their hidden animosity. All he felt was that the spiritual pressure weighing on him was different from what others experienced—arguably, he had it the easiest. The higher one's cultivation base, the stronger the array's suppression.
However, while others could absorb Spiritual Stones and consume pills to restore their Spiritual Power, he had nothing to rely on but his own willpower.
On the third day of the entrance trial, someone finally reached the summit.
"Congratulations on taking first place in this trial, Junior Brother. What is your name?"
"Lu Yao."