Right! Every time she died before, the pain would multiply upon waking.
It was a torture of both soul and body, agonizing beyond belief.
Compared to that, this little bit of pain was nothing more than a massage.
Yan Xiaoyi came to a sudden realization at that moment: "Does this mean I should actually thank that white-haired old man? Turns out he's a good guy."
Trash System: "If he had any spirit left in heaven, he'd surely come down tonight to have a heart-to-heart with you!"
"Not necessary at all, we're not that close." With that, Yan Xiaoyi quickened her pace.
In the first two assessments, she had indeed used dishonorable means.
But in this one, there was not the slightest trace of trickery!
Before long, she had reached past the thirtieth tier, and the people around her were dwindling.
"She says what's a little wind and rain to pain like this..." Yan Xiaoyi laced her hands behind her head, humming a tune as she leisurely strolled upward.
This sight left the elders in charge of the assessment staring in blank astonishment.
"What's going on? Why is she unaffected?"
"Could she be hiding some supreme treasure on her?"
"True, she is notoriously cunning. She might really have a treasure hidden! Search her!"
Immediately, several strands of divine sense swept down, taking turns to give her a full-body scan.
"Nothing." The few of them exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
"It seems we really wronged her."
"Who would have thought that this notorious eldest miss of the Yan Clan would have such firm resolve! Rumors truly cannot be trusted."
"I'm quite looking forward to her performance. Who knows how far she can go in the end."
Gao Jiannan, mixed in the crowd to watch the spectacle, spotted a red figure still making her way continuously upward from afar.
Having arrived late, he didn't know who the person was and curiously asked the person beside him, "Hey buddy, who's that?"
"Who else could it be? It's that notorious tumor of the Cultivation World, the eldest miss of the Yan Clan, Yan Xiaoyi!"
"What?!" Gao Jiannan was utterly shocked, his face full of disbelief as he stammered, "How could it be that good-for-nothing?"
He could accept anyone, but he simply could not accept that it was Yan Xiaoyi!
This was practically more painful than killing him.
"It's her!" a buddy next to him said through gritted teeth, "This accursed wretch just stole my melon seeds, peanuts, and Peach Blossom Brew! Even reduced to ashes, I'd recognize her!"
"This..." Gao Jiannan's expression turned extremely unsightly, his mood as deeply wretched as if he had swallowed shit and choked on it!
The next second, an even more wretched moment arrived: "Huh? Why do you look kind of familiar to me... Ah! I remember now, you're the one who lost a bet against her and had to run naked—what was your name again?"
"Naked-Running Bro!"
"What the fuck!" Gao Jiannan turned pale with fright, hurriedly covering his face with his hands. "No! It's not me! You've got the wrong person!"
"It is you! I saw it crystal clear, you even have a black birthmark on your ass! Do you dare drop your pants and let me check?"
"No! It's not!" Gao Jiannan shrieked, bolting out of the crowd and vanishing from sight.
...
Above the Cloud-Climbing Ladder.
"Hoo~ what tier is this?" There was no one else left around Yan Xiaoyi; the closest ones were reduced to blurry shadows.
Trash System: "Still early, only seventy-eight."
"My legs are soft, taking a break." She didn't continue upward, sitting down right where she was and beginning to massage her calves.
Climbing this high in one breath had caused her calves to cramp up slightly.
Seeing this, the spectators on the ground breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief: It seemed she would stop right here.
Still, the seventy-eighth tier was enough to make people look at her in a new light, barely qualifying her as a fractional genius.
Unexpectedly, a moment later she stood up again.
Judging by her stance, she seemed ready to continue climbing.
Eighty!
Eighty-three!
Eighty-eight!
Ninety!
Amidst the gaze of all, Yan Xiaoyi made it to the ninetieth tier in one breath.
She rubbed her chin, gazing up at the few remaining tiers above, and muttered, "If I remember correctly, Leng Qingxue climbed to the ninety-fifth tier, right?"
Trash System: "Yeah, your score is pretty much enough..."
Enough?
No! Nowhere near enough!
A sharp glint flashed in Yan Xiaoyi's eyes: "My goal is the one hundredth tier!"
With that, she strode forward and continued upward.
The onlookers at this moment were already petrified, holding their breath as their gazes converged on a single point—Yan Xiaoyi's right foot.
Some person even accidentally reached their hand into someone else's crotch without noticing.
Yet, halfway out, her right foot suddenly pulled back.
"Sigh!" The crowd deflated: It looked like she couldn't go any further and had reached her limit.
Unexpectedly, the next second, she switched to her left foot and firmly planted it down.
Then, she looked back and smiled: "Sorry everyone, my other foot just had a cramp."
The crowd: "..." This show-off behavior was truly getting a bit out of hand!
At that moment, a voice suddenly piped up from the crowd: "Not gonna lie, I just realized she... actually looks pretty good! Especially that backward glance just now—I almost thought some celestial maiden had descended to the mortal realm!"
"Hmph! Just a pretty shell, nothing more. A hundred years from now, isn't she still just a pile of withered bones?"
"Well said! What's the use of looking good? You can't eat it. If you're looking for a dao companion, you should find someone honest like me!"
The one speaking was a broad-shouldered, heavily bearded fierce woman, who flexed her bulging muscles as she spoke. "One of me is worth at least two of her!"
The crowd glanced at her frame, which weighed at least five hundred pounds, and thought: Truly honest, both solid and heavy!
One of you is worth more than just two of her? Five of you would be overkill.
If you were to marry her home, you'd crush a brick kang to pieces.
*
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Climbing five tiers in a row and looking down from the heights, the scenery was indeed magnificent, giving one the feeling of it being lonely at the top.
"Is this the spot Leng Qingxue reached? Pity, it's still not my limit!"
Yan Xiaoyi took a deep breath and pressed onward!
Down below, cries had already erupted:
"S-S-She actually surpassed Leng Qingxue!"
"Gosh! Who has pee? Hurry up and spray me awake! Large volume preferred!"
"No! This isn't real, my dog eyes must be broken..."
"Look! She's reached the ninety-ninth tier!"
Just as spoken, Yan Xiaoyi had now arrived at the ninety-ninth tier.
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she looked at that final step and muttered to herself, "I wonder if I can endure the pain of this very last step?"
Seeing her hesitate, the Trash System egged her on: "You're someone who's already died to a rotten mess, what the hell are you afraid of?"
Regardless, dying once more was no big deal! Let's fucking go for it!
"Stop right there, young man, you're already outstanding!" Elder Hu's voice was transmitted directly into her ear.
"No! I can be even more outstanding!"
Youth, after all, was defined by rebellion.
She resolutely took that final step.
Expecting to be in agonizing pain, the moment she stepped onto it, she didn't feel the slightest bit of hurt!
Instead, she felt a warm glow all over her body, quite comfortable indeed, and even the fatigue from the continuous climb vanished without a trace.
An aged, majestic voice suddenly drilled into her mind: "Five thousand years! Finally, someone stands here! ...This final step tests your courage! After the bitterness comes the sweetness!"
"Who? Who's speaking?" Yan Xiaoyi was startled, instinctively looking around, but not a single figure was in sight.
System: "Stop looking, it's just a wisp of divine sense left behind by the Founding Patriarch, and it has completely dissipated."
"Is that so~" Yan Xiaoyi rubbed her chin, then immediately threw out a question, "Then why doesn't my body feel any changes?"
"What kind of changes were you hoping for?"
Yan Xiaoyi raised an eyebrow, blurting out, "Aren't there like, Heavenly Dao blessings or something? Improve my physique, or let my cultivation soar by leaps and bounds!"
The system retorted: "Read too many novels, have you?"
"Aren't I literally in a novel?"
"No! Right now, this is reality to you! However... the foundation damaged by Leng Qingxue seems to have been somewhat repaired."
Fine... put that way, it was barely acceptable. Yan Xiaoyi didn't argue with it further, sat down right where she was, and pulled out a handful of melon seeds to crack open.
Watching Yan Xiaoyi sit on the ground and spit out melon seed shells haphazardly, Elder Hu's expression was extraordinarily complex.
This girl... really was a... um... uh, unable to find an adjective for a moment, he simply defined her as a freak.
After all, being able to step onto the one hundredth tier meant the word "genius" was no longer quite enough for her.
A quarter of an hour later, everyone had stopped, and Elder Hu cleared his throat and stepped forward to announce:
"The third round of assessment is over. Those who passed, follow me on the Flying Boat to the Sect Main Hall! Those who failed, um... go wash up and sleep, tomorrow might be a better day."