"Please follow me. We need to test your spiritual root attributes and your cultivation base."
Zhou Chuan probably never expected that the person he ignored would become the number one in this trial.
"I finally crawled up! That damn near killed your granddaddy!"
"This is so hard! I've never encountered such a difficult trial; I almost gave up!"
"I want to sleep soundly. Nobody wake me up."
"So this is a third-tier immortal sect! The grand gate is indeed not easy to enter!"
People climbed to the summit one after another, stepping through the mountain-opening gate to behold the true appearance of the millennium-old sect.
At the moment they laid eyes on the true appearance of the immortal sect, everyone was overjoyed, feeling a sense of bitterness turning into sweetness. The first impression the Water Talisman Sect gave was that of a fairyland—stunningly beautiful, wreathed in ethereal immortal mist, and magnificent on a grand scale. Relying on such an immortal sect gave a deep sense of belonging, and they never wanted to go anywhere else.
At the entrance of the mountain-opening gate, two disciples were conversing.
"The eighty-eighth person. Are there any more behind? This batch of disciples is quite good; their overall quality is very high."
"How could they not be? Since our sect was promoted to a third-tier immortal sect, we haven't yet tidied up the other spheres of influence, so the outstanding disciples from those areas have all run over here."
"At this rate of development, our sect's outer disciples will become more and more numerous, and the quotas for promotion to inner disciples will also increase. You and I have a great chance."
"You and I are only at the 5th Layer of Qi Condensation. I noticed just now that quite a few of them are already at the 4th Layer of Qi Condensation. Our advantage isn't that big. We'd better not bully the newcomers, lest we incur formidable enemies."
"Is there anyone else?"
Wounds were everywhere, and red blood dripped onto the clean stone steps. These fresh wounds were intentionally inflicted upon himself by Zhou Chuan; the stinging pain allowed him to burst forth with strength so he could climb one more step. However, excessive blood loss would worsen his dizziness and double his hunger. This was definitely a case of drinking poison to quench thirst.
Using extreme methods to spur himself on, Zhou Chuan walked a few more steps. He still could not see the summit, but the thought of giving up was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, a breeze blew, and he heard conversation.
"Senior Brother, how many times do I have to say it? I'm not dizzy, just tired, and lying here to sleep for a bit. The moment you came, I woke up. You can't rule me out; I've had such a hard time making it this far," a clever and cute girl said.
"I advise you to give up. Your spiritual power is already exhausted," a young disciple wearing sect robes replied coldly.
"Senior Sister, you look so pretty, and you've always had a kind heart. Look, I'm just a pitiful person with a low cultivation base and no one to help me, completely relying on myself to walk up step by step. Please give me another chance," the clever girl turned to face another kind-faced female disciple of the Water Talisman Sect.
"The road is still long. It's not that we are intentionally blocking you; we're doing this for your own good." The female disciple couldn't bear it, but spoke objective words.
"Senior Brother, Senior Sister, please help! If I become a fellow apprentice sister in the future, I will surely repay this kindness and look upon you as my seniors. Please don't drag me away, okay?" the clever and cute girl begged on her knees.
Zhou Chuan happened to be downwind and heard their conversation clearly. It was a crisp voice—a young girl's voice at first hearing—and she was very articulate. He hadn't heard a voice in a long time, and upon suddenly hearing one, his whole spirit revived significantly.
From the dialogue, he caught an important signal: someone was still going, and the entrance trial was not over. Moreover, the inspectors hadn't announced that climbing was no longer required, which meant the recruitment quota hadn't been filled yet.
This was absolute spiritual nourishment. Zhou Chuan gritted his teeth and climbed several more steps. If he didn't fight now, when would he?
Half an hour later.
"Hey! There's someone behind! There's actually someone slower than me!"
The speaker was none other than that cute girl. She had finally persuaded the inspectors to let her keep her trial opportunity. The ones who had been persuaded were none other than Zhang Biao and Li Yu. Her name was Zhong Xiu.
Zhong Xiu's cultivation base was only at the early stage of the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation, making her stronger than only Zhou Chuan among the climbing crowd.
Having walked this far, her spiritual power had been exhausted multiple times, and the effect of taking spiritual-replenishing pills was getting worse and worse, forcing her to walk and stop intermittently. The longer she stopped, the more her conviction wavered.
Zhou Chuan raised his head and saw a delicate and pretty girl. He smiled faintly. The feeling of seeing another person was simply wonderful.
"Why are you hurt like this? Did you run into a monster?" Zhong Xiu couldn't help asking when she saw Zhou Chuan covered in blood stains.
"No, I did it to myself," Zhou Chuan said.
"You did it to yourself?" Zhong Xiu didn't understand.
Zhou Chuan pulled back his sleeve, bit his arm with his teeth, and didn't let go until he bit out blood. Faced with such a bloody scene, Zhong Xiu let out a scream and hurriedly covered her eyes.
"Sorry for offending your eyes."
"Why are you self-mutilating?! It's truly terrifying!"
"If I didn't do this, I would have failed and been taken away long ago."
"That's certainly a way. But..."
Zhong Xiu understood at a hint and stopped covering her eyes. However, she might not be able to bring herself to do it.
"I have a rather presumptuous request. Would Fellow Daoist be willing to help?" Zhou Chuan asked.
"Speak."
"Do you have anything to eat?"
Zhong Xiu burst out laughing. The spiritual Qi here was dense; taking a hearty breath and refining it would relieve hunger—who needed to eat anything? She didn't know yet that Zhou Chuan hadn't even formed a spiritual ocean and couldn't condense spiritual power at all. Probing someone else's cultivation base required divine sense, but with her spiritual power exhausted, her divine sense had naturally withered as well.
"Sorry to bother you. I'm just genuinely hungry, which is why I asked," Zhou Chuan explained.
"Don't you have a storage bag?"
"A storage bag? I don't."
Zhou Chuan had never used a storage bag, but he had heard of them. Opening and closing a storage bag required spiritual power; since he hadn't successfully entered Qi Condensation, he naturally couldn't use one.
"Even without a storage bag, you don't need to ask me for food. The spiritual Qi here is so dense; just inhaling a few breaths can ease your hunger," Zhong Xiu said.
"I..." Zhou Chuan found it hard to put into words.
Besides, he realized that if he kept talking, he would only get hungrier. Better save some saliva to warm his stomach.
Then, relying on his body's instincts, Zhou Chuan crossed a step, his expression appearing quite ferocious. Seeing this, Zhong Xiu revealed a look of sudden realization.
"You can't even be at the Qi Condensation stage, can you?"
Zhou Chuan panted heavily, brushed it off with a smile, and brewed himself up for the next step.
"Goodness!" Zhong Xiu cried out. She couldn't imagine a person who had never cultivated being able to walk this far.
In her view, the pressure of this grand array was something a mortal could simply never withstand.
Three steps. Zhou Chuan was only three steps away from Zhong Xiu. He gave off the feeling of being full of fighting spirit, refusing to bow to fate.
"I must join the sect and become a cultivator!" he muttered to himself.
A large flatbread fell onto the stone steps. A breeze blew past, carrying a waft of fragrance. Zhong Xiu had been about to give up, but encouraged by Zhou Chuan's spirit, her yearning to join a major sect surged once more.
"Hurry up and come up to eat! I didn't know your situation earlier, it's not that I didn't want to give it to you," Zhong Xiu explained.
"Thank you. My name is Zhou Chuan—Chuan as in mountains and rivers."
"My name is Zhong Xiu—Xiu as in embroidered rivers and mountains. Hehe!"
"What a coincidence!"
Zhou Chuan took the flatbread, but instead of devouring it ravenously, he first broke it in half, tucked one half into his bosom to reserve emergency rations for himself. Only then did he take the other half, nibbling on it in small bites and chewing slowly and thoroughly. Eating this way allowed him to savor the deliciousness of the food without wasting even a shred of it.
The grace of a single flatbread made Zhou Chuan immensely grateful, and he etched Zhong Xiu into his memory. She was beautiful, and her soul was even more beautiful—that was how he viewed Zhong Xiu.
Encouraged by Zhou Chuan, Zhong Xiu's spirits improved. Supporting each other, the two charged toward the final stretch of the road.
I come from the mountains,
Bringing Nine-Fragrance Grass.
Planting it in the small garden,
Hoping for early blossoms.
Checking three times a day,
In the blink of an eye, autumn arrives.
In a good mood, Zhou Chuan hummed a little tune.
"What song is this? It sounds so nice." Zhong Xiu liked it very much.
"This song is called 'Nine-Fragrance Grass'. Legend has it that it blooms only once in a lifetime, transforming into nine different forms when it opens and bringing nine kinds of exotic fragrances. Each exotic fragrance is utterly unique, lingering unforgettably in one's mind. Nine-Fragrance Grass—its entire life is a legend."
"How interesting. I want to learn this song too."
Thus, the road up the mountain didn't seem quite so tedious. Although their speed remained very slow, the thought of giving up had vanished beyond the highest clouds. When they truly couldn't bear it anymore, one would keep watch while the other closed their eyes to rest for a moment. Because the place was so high, the slightest mishap would result in being smashed to pieces.
Whenever they felt they couldn't hold on, one of them would sing "Nine-Fragrance Grass." Hearing the song and thinking of how even a blade of grass could bloom brilliantly and live out a legendary life, a person had even less reason to abandon themselves and live out an obscure existence through to the end.
Who knew how much time had passed? Perhaps three days, perhaps four.
Both of their bodies had long since been overdrawn, but their spirits remained, and their eyes still emitted a glow. They saw the mountain-opening gate, giving them even more reason not to give up. Therefore, their bloodshot eyes didn't dare to blink even a little. They were afraid that if they blinked, they would fall asleep and pass out.
Wounds covered their bodies—whether Zhou Chuan's or Zhong Xiu's, they had inflicted them on themselves using needles. Puncturing the same spot too many times caused pus to form, forcing them to switch to new locations.
"The last five steps. I must hold on, hold on."
"The last four steps. It's almost over."
"The last three steps. Victory is right in front of us."
"The last two steps."
"The last..."
The final step. The moment their feet stepped into the mountain-opening gate, all their strength was exhausted—not a shred remained—and their minds finally relaxed. The boy and girl collapsed onto the ground, falling soundly asleep, and smiles rested upon their faces.
There were quite a few people waiting to receive the two of them, because they were the final two participants of this trial.
"They made it! They made it!" Li Yu was both surprised and delighted.
She had watched the entire final stretch of Zhou Chuan and Zhong Xiu's journey. The two of them never gave up, and their indomitable spirit had touched her. The moment they completed the ascent, she was the first to feed medicinal pills to Zhou Chuan and Zhong Xiu, sustaining their lives and slowing the loss of their life force.
"How is this possible! How is this possible!" Zhang Biao's face turned ashen white.
He had lost his gamble! His proud heart was shattered, stinging him with pain. Zhou Chuan had originally failed in the second stage, but it was he who had given him a push, allowing Zhou Chuan the opportunity to break into the third stage. In this stage, which could be described as enduring every hardship and suffering every torture, his original intention was to make him suffer more pain and retreat in the face of difficulty.
Zhou Chuan had ruined his plans and wounded his arrogance, making Zhang Biao hate him even more without a shred of being moved. If not for the fact that everyone was present, he definitely would have done something.
"No way. Upon reaching the mountain gate, there turns out to be a mortal who hasn't even opened his spiritual ocean!"
"Goodness! It really is so! Quick, go report to the Elder!"
The two disciples guarding the mountain gate had waited for the final two people, bringing their task to a close. However, the result shocked them greatly: a mortal had actually meddled in and disrupted things. Unable to make the decision themselves, they had to report to the Elder immediately.
Li Yu successfully awakened Zhong Xiu; Zhong Xiu possessed a cultivation base, after all. Afterward, she led Zhong Xiu away to test her spiritual root and cultivation base. Once the testing was complete, the sect would assign her to cultivate on different mountain peaks based on her talent. The better the talent and the stronger the strength, the more superior the conditions of the place she went to would naturally be.
"Early stage of the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation—the cultivation base is somewhat low. Her spiritual root is a fire spiritual root, which is quite decent." Zhong Xiu's test results came out very quickly.
Only Zhou Chuan was left alone, lying on the ground and lingering in unconsciousness. After a short while, a middle-aged man flew over the sky stepping on a sword. He was Liao Qingshan, the person in charge of this entrance trial.
After understanding the situation, he was also unable to make up his mind. The rules didn't state that mortals were forbidden from participating in the trial, but what if someone lacked a spiritual root or couldn't cultivate? Wouldn't that be a sheer waste of resources and quotas? Merely possessing a spiritual root did not necessarily mean one could cultivate; if the spiritual ocean was blocked, one still could not condense Qi Condensation spiritual power.
If a major sect took in a piece of trash as a disciple, once word got out, it would certainly damage their reputation.
However, relying purely on his own ability to walk this far meant Zhou Chuan possessed immortal affinity, and he shouldn't deprive him of it. Finding it hard to make a choice, he decided to report the matter to the sect.