Struck by the sword aura, the blue curtain surged like a stormy sea.
An enormous vortex formed at its center, right where the sword aura struck. The curtain stretched backward like a sheet of cloth being pulled taut, but did not break.
Xu Ziqing found the sight rather strange.
Still, however powerful a restriction might be, repeated attacks concentrated on a single point would eventually break through it.
Yun Lie pointed three more times. Each beam of sword aura struck the same place, blow following blow without interruption.
At last, on the third strike, the vortex seemed to stretch backward to its limit. Xu Ziqing abruptly opened his mouth and released a sphere of azure light, sending it straight toward the weakened point.
Bang!
With a tremendous crash, the curtain shattered like glass. The suspended Geng-Metal immediately began to fall.
Xu Ziqing hastily swept his sleeve, sending out azure light to wrap around it and draw it to him. Only then did he relax a little. Holding up the Geng-Metal, he said, “Senior Brother, please keep this.”
Yun Lie swept his sleeve as well and put the Geng-Metal away.
They moved swiftly. Having collected it, they hurried onward.
They passed two more chambers displaying rare natural treasures. As they reached the third, they encountered the master and servant and the other two cultivators once again.
The four appeared surprised to see Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie.
The languid youth smiled. “You caught up remarkably quickly.”
The other Golden Core perfected master and the Essence Transformation cultivator looked even more astonished.
They glanced toward the nine-chi giant, thinking that the two brothers had taken no longer than he had.
With that realization, they became still more wary of Yun Lie, treating him as a dangerous opponent comparable to Jiazi.
The six resumed traveling together. None of the objects in the remaining chambers tempted them enough to stop. Since obtaining the Geng-Metal, Xu Ziqing had become increasingly aware of another thing farther ahead, something that seemed to draw at his very heart. The closer they came, the stronger the pull became.
What was happening?
At length they reached the end of the corridor.
Just as expected, none of the chambers had held the inheritance. They had contained only treasures that Perfected Master Luofu left to later generations, serving as the first trial.
Those who reached the end had passed that first test.
Beyond the corridor stood an enormous white-jade palace floating in the air. It was as beautiful and intricate as a celestial terrace or the Jade Pool of legend, seemingly fashioned by divine craftsmanship.
A flight of steps had appeared outside the palace, each step wide enough for no more than two people. More steps were continuously extending downward like a ladder descending from heaven. Everyone understood that only when the staircase reached the ground would they be permitted to enter the palace.
Xu Ziqing’s group was the first to arrive outside it. But the heavenly staircase had yet to reach the ground, so they could not enter.
If they had to wait much longer, people from the other four corridors would surely arrive.
The advantage they had fought so hard to gain would then disappear.
The Golden Core perfected master looked displeased. He stepped closer to the point where the heavenly staircase would land.
The Essence Transformation cultivator did the same, though he had enough sense to remain a step behind the Golden Core cultivator. Meanwhile, he stole glances at the other four, apparently observing them.
The languid youth smiled but made no move. Naturally, his attendant Jiazi stayed where he was.
Xu Ziqing glanced at his senior brother and remained equally composed.
Sure enough, after the staircase had extended by thousands, even tens of thousands of steps, people suddenly emerged from two of the four remaining passageways. Each exit produced at least five or six people, all determined enough to resist the previous temptations and presumably eager to claim the inheritance.
In moments, more than ten additional rivals had arrived.
They looked dismayed to find Xu Ziqing’s party already waiting. But when they saw the descending staircase, they relaxed slightly. They were probably grateful to Perfected Master Luofu for the delay, unlike the earlier Golden Core cultivator.
When the staircase finally touched the ground, people emerged from the last two passageways. These groups were smaller, with only three or four people each.
Counting them all, twenty-five had reached the palace.
Nearly half of the original forty-nine had been eliminated.
Xu Ziqing glanced over the crowd and noticed that two of the fellow disciples from the Wuling Immortal Sect had stopped somewhere along the way. As he expected, the two who remained were Geng Zheng, the strongest of the four, and Shen Yinglan, the exceptionally determined female cultivator. Neither had a personal master, so an ancient cultivator’s inheritance was especially valuable to them. Perhaps the other two had chosen useful artifacts or precious materials after careful consideration. Among the four, these two had always seemed to have the greatest prospects. That, too, might be a form of choosing.
He let the thought pass without dwelling on it.
The cultivators gazed eagerly at the heavenly staircase and the vast white-jade palace. They understood that ascending in pairs would probably let them enter faster, but those without companions faced a dilemma. After some reflection, most gritted their teeth and decided against joining strangers. Better to move more slowly than entrust themselves to someone they could not trust.
Because Xu Ziqing’s party had arrived first, the Golden Core perfected master impatiently stepped onto the staircase the instant it touched the ground. He had resisted so many temptations already. Now that the palace was within sight, how could he endure any further delay? He meant to seize the advantage!
The Essence Transformation cultivator who had followed him closely immediately stepped up after him. He no longer cared about offending anyone else. His thoughts were fixed entirely on the opportunity before him.
The others gradually gathered near the stairs. The languid youth gave a faint, mocking smile, then leaped up together with Jiazi, landing on the third step.
Xu Ziqing smiled at Yun Lie. Their fingers moved, and they rose hand in hand, landing upon the fourth step.
The moment his feet touched it, Xu Ziqing felt as though his body had suddenly gone weightless and then become heavy again.
Only then did he realize that he could no longer sense the true essence in his dantian. His body seemed to have reverted to that of an ordinary mortal, suddenly cumbersome and weak. If he had not still sensed Rong Jin stirring deep within his dantian, and if he had lost the ability to use his spiritual sense, he might have wondered whether his years of cultivation had all been a dream.
But he understood what was happening. Some force had merely sealed his cultivation. Presumably this was another of Perfected Master Luofu’s trials.
Looking down, he saw that what had once been open ground below had become an abyss filled with swirling white clouds. The passageways and broad stretches of land behind them had disappeared.
Other cultivators also stepped onto the staircase. Upon discovering the same change, their expressions altered.
Xu Ziqing considered it briefly, then sent Yun Lie a spiritual message. “Senior Brother, how do you feel?”
“As though I have a mortal body.”
So it was the same for him.
Xu Ziqing tightened his grip on Yun Lie’s hand and smiled. “It seems the two of us will have to support one another if we mean to climb all these countless steps.”
Yun Lie nodded slightly. “It is merely a trial of resolve. Be careful.”
Hearing his senior brother’s reassurance, Xu Ziqing felt no nervousness at all. Holding Yun Lie’s hand, he felt a particular sense of solidity and certainty.
These circumstances suddenly reminded him of something mortals often said in his previous life.
To hold your hand and grow old together. Perhaps this was what those words meant. He and his senior brother might never grow old together, but if they could walk the path of immortality hand in hand and enjoy boundless freedom forever, that would be more wonderful still.
Xu Ziqing shook his head and laughed at himself.
Once again, he was indulging in foolish dreams. They had not even confessed their feelings, so what right did he have to imagine a lifetime holding hands? Still, even if their present handholding was not the kind the saying described, he was delighted.
Yun Lie might have mistaken his junior brother’s distraction for unease at encountering such a test for the first time. He held Xu Ziqing’s hand and walked with steady steps. When he sensed that Xu Ziqing was lost in thought, he tightened his grip slightly to bring him back to his senses.
“There’s nothing to fear.”
Xu Ziqing sighed inwardly. He knew perfectly well that Yun Lie did not understand his feelings. Yet every time his senior brother spoke like this, Xu Ziqing could not help feeling helpless.
He smiled. “Don’t worry, Senior Brother. With you supporting me, I’ll be fine.”
Yun Lie’s hand tightened again.
Xu Ziqing’s smile deepened. Suddenly even this endlessly long road no longer seemed tiring.
The heavenly staircase truly was extraordinarily long. Cultivators were accustomed to riding the wind, using escape techniques, traveling upon magical artifacts, or mounting spirit birds and beasts. Nearly everything they did relied upon spiritual energy and true essence. Forced to travel by bodily strength like ordinary mortals, they naturally suffered far more than they were used to.
As the saying went, affection could make even water a satisfying meal.
With Yun Lie beside him, Xu Ziqing was rather like that. He was slower to notice his own fatigue than the others. As for Yun Lie, his will was extraordinary. He had once trained for years at a time in a sword cave, enduring the assault of fierce astral winds. A little physical exhaustion meant almost nothing to him.
Thus the brothers continued side by side, their manner entirely at ease.
Three steps ahead, the Golden Core perfected master in the lead was beginning to flag. He struggled on in hopes of being first to enter the palace, but his steps grew slower and slower.
The Essence Transformation cultivator close behind him was in even worse condition. The Golden Core cultivator swayed unsteadily and accidentally stepped backward. He collided with the cultivator behind him, who was already dizzy and barely able to continue. The impact knocked the unfortunate man off balance, and he fell from the right edge of the staircase.
A scream rang out. The Essence Transformation cultivator vanished into the clouds and plunged into the abyss. Even the echo of his cry gradually disappeared.
Everyone else’s faces turned pale.
They now possessed mortal bodies. If they fell, how could they survive?
Only then did the remaining cultivators correct their attitudes. The present cultivation world was dangerous everywhere, and ancient times might have been even more perilous. Perfected Master Luofu might have been generous and merciful, but how could he hand down his inheritance without demanding that prospective heirs overcome difficulties?
Shaken, the Golden Core cultivator drew a deep breath and struggled upward once more.
Xu Ziqing felt a little regret for the fallen man, but continued climbing.
Once they endured the heavenly staircase, they would enter the white-jade palace.
And at last he would discover what had been drawing him so powerfully onward.