Senior Brother Dai, Please Calm Down

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou squatted on the ground, using daggers to dig a pit, burying the bottom of the ladder in the pit, stomping on the ground, and compacting the soil.

Lu Yang kicked the ladder, but it didn't budge. Instead, his right foot went numb from the impact.

"Not bad, very sturdy. I'll try it first, and you can come up after I succeed."

"No problem." Meng Jingzhou nodded.

Lu Yang rubbed his hands together, took three steps at a time, and nimbly climbed the ladder. When he reached the corner of the ladder, which was at the same height as the fiftieth step, he secretly thought, This is bad.

Lu Yang forced himself to look ahead, not down, inching forward like a caterpillar.

The people on the steps looked up, watching Lu Yang approach the fiftieth step step by step, dumbfounded.

What were they seeing? A huge ladder stood on the ground, bent at a ninety-degree angle, with the end point being the fiftieth step.

It wasn't that the others hadn't seen Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou making a ladder below, but they hadn't given it much thought.

They had finally made it to the fortieth step. If they went down to see what the two were doing, and it turned out they were acting crazy, they wouldn't have the strength to return to the fortieth step. This trial would truly be a complete failure.

Man Gu was the fastest among them, already at the forty-ninth step, but the fiftieth step was like an insurmountable chasm. He felt like he was carrying a mountain on his back, about to be crushed.

Then, he watched helplessly as Lu Yang climbed past him, reaching the fiftieth step.

Lu Yang made it through without any real danger, successfully passing the trial.

Meng Jingzhou followed closely behind, also successfully passing the trial.

The first and second place were born.

At the same time, outside Heart Questioning Mountain, the Dao Seeking Sect disciples were in chaos.

"Don't stop me! I must teach those two guys a lesson today! I promise I won't kill them!" Dai Bufan's muscles bulged with anger, like a bear whose honey had been stolen.

The junior brothers and sisters quickly stepped forward to dissuade him:

"Senior Brother Dai, you can't hit them!"

"Senior Brother Dai, you need to calm down."

"If something happens to the people participating in the trial, the reputation of our Dao Seeking Sect will be ruined!"

"Bullying the weak won't look good for your reputation, Senior Brother Dai!"

"Senior Brother Dai, don't forget, the third trial is a test of the Dao Seeking Heart. You absolutely mustn't get angry!"

Dai Bufan calmed down upon hearing the last sentence.

That's right, the third trial was testing them, not him! Getting angry like this would not be conducive to future cultivation.

"...No, the third trial is testing them, not me!"

The Dao Seeking Sect disciples were once again in chaos.

The River Spirit, seeing this, felt much more balanced and retreated back into the river, no longer looking for trouble with the two.

Perhaps inspired by the example of Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou's sincere cooperation and success, the disciples participating in the trial roared one by one, finally rushing onto the fiftieth step.

Man Gu was the first, followed by people Lu Yang didn't recognize. They were all ranked behind Lu Yang, and Lu Yang didn't know what was special about their spiritual roots. Finally, there were a few dual spiritual root cultivators, whom Lu Yang had seen before.

The remaining people continued to try, but were unable to take a single step. They also wanted to go down the mountain and use the ladder made by Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou to climb to the fiftieth step, but unfortunately, descending the mountain also meant enduring immense pressure. Their bodies were no longer able to move up or down a single step.

"The third trial is over. Those who remain on the mountain have lost their qualification," Yun Zhi coldly announced, asking Dai Bufan to bring the people down.

Heart Questioning Mountain forcibly pulled people to the point where ordinary people couldn't remove them. Even Dai Bufan couldn't do it. If he wanted to retrieve people from the mountain, he could only climb the mountain step by step, enduring the pressure of Heart Questioning Mountain.

Dai Bufan glared fiercely at Lu Yang before climbing Heart Questioning Mountain.

He climbed to the fiftieth step with ease.

The disciples who had just passed the third trial saw how easily Dai Bufan did it, and then thought about how they had risked their lives to climb to the fiftieth step, feeling a great sense of disparity.

"There's nothing hard to understand. You're only fourteen or fifteen years old. Even if your families support you from behind and you've come into contact with cultivation early, it's still like a reflection in the water or a flower in a mirror. You don't have a real sense of it and can't truly understand what the Dao or what Immortality is."

"Cultivation is also about cultivating the heart. When you've achieved something in your cultivation, climbing Heart Questioning Mountain will no longer be difficult."

At the end of the explanation, Yun Zhi seemed to remember something and added a symbolic sentence: "Congratulations on becoming Dao Seeking Sect disciples."

Yun Zhi waved her fair hand, and the bells on her wrist jingled, causing water mist to rise and form clouds, lifting everyone up.

Lu Yang stood on the cloud, watching the distance to the ground getting higher and higher, and swallowed hard, his heart in his throat.

Damn, cultivation is so exciting.

Yun Zhi stood on the cloud and said to the junior brothers and sisters below who were doing the finishing work, "You've worked hard today. After you've cleaned up, you can continue with your own matters."

The junior brothers and sisters said in unison, "Yes," and then shouted "One, two, three! One, two, three!" as they disassembled and carried away the ladder made by Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

What would it look like to have a ladder on Heart Questioning Mountain?

Lu Yang didn't dare to open his eyes on the cloud, but he heard others excitedly talking about something, praising the beautiful scenery. He couldn't resist his curiosity and opened his eyes, immediately stunned by the scene before him, staring blankly.

A mountain stood in the center of the mountains, with sheer cliffs rising thousands of feet straight into the clouds. The four sides were steep and vertical, like a well-tempered immortal sword, majestic and grand. Eight mountains emitting a mysterious aura arched around the central mountain, and the outermost layer was surrounded by undulating mountain ranges, enclosing the nine core mountains.

The mountains were layered upon layers, like a blooming lotus flower, making people yearn for it!

The hazy mist shrouded the nine mountains, adding an extra layer of mystery.

Yun Zhi said softly, "The core of the Dao Seeking Sect consists of nine peaks. The central peak is where the Sect Master resides, called Heavenly Gate Peak. The other eight peaks are under the names of the eight elders. The eight elders each have their own strengths, and correspondingly, these eight peaks also have different functions."

"The other peaks are either trial grounds for the sect, extensions of the elders' peaks, places for Dao Seeking Sect disciples to cultivate, or some are dangerous places where insufficient cultivation leads to death and the dissipation of one's Dao... It's not something that can be explained in a few words. You can gradually explore them in the future."

"Cultivation is all about fate. In the next month, you can freely move around the Dao Seeking Sect, visit the peaks, go to the Scripture Repository, and ask for guidance from senior brothers and elders."

"After a month, you must choose an elder to be your master, provided, of course, that the elder agrees to accept you as his disciple."

Man Gu asked whatever came to mind: "Can we only choose an elder? Can we choose the Sect Master?"

"You can, but the Sect Master has never liked teaching disciples, so your chances of success are very small."

Even though Yun Zhi said this, there were still many people who wanted to cultivate under the Sect Master.

The Dao Seeking Sect, as one of the Five Great Immortal Sects of the Central Continent, has a Sect Master whose position is transcendent and whose strength is beyond doubt. He has few rivals in the world of cultivation. To be able to become a disciple of such an expert, the obvious and hidden benefits are countless!

"Later, someone will take you to your respective cave dwellings."

"Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, you two stay behind."