When Su Ling'er stepped onto the hundredth stair, the world spun around her.
All the blood and fire, all the warmth and loneliness, faded away in that moment. Nothing remained before her but emptiness.
Then she saw it.
She saw the "fruit" that awaited her after her long journey of seeking immortality and pursuing the Dao.
She also saw the scene she least wanted to face.
She had succeeded.
The Myriad Transformations Return to Origin True Manual had reached the pinnacle of mastery, and Spiritual Power surged through her like the tide.
The Sword Refining Art had also reached great mastery. With a light tap of her toe, she could rend space itself.
The bottleneck that had driven her to despair through countless sleepless nights because of her aptitude and Spiritual Root seemed to have long since been overcome.
One more step, and she could transcend mortality and ascend to immortality!
And yet, there were no auspicious signs from the heavens, no golden road, and no celestial music.
Her body kept breaking apart and reforming.
A supreme force welled up from the depths of her soul, forcibly twisting and tempering her flesh, bones, meridians, and even her soul...
In the end, she became an immortal sword.
An unparalleled immortal sword, flowing with supreme Dao resonance and infused with the righteous might of the Righteous Path and the aura of slaughter!
Her consciousness was imprisoned within the sword's cold body.
She could not cry out or move.
The only thing she could feel was the hand gripping the hilt.
It was Lin Qingfeng's hand!
He wielded her as he left the Gui Xi Sect and struck down one mighty enemy after another.
Wherever the sword light passed, mountains and rivers shattered, and the sun and moon were overturned.
With her in his grasp, he ascended to the peaks of the great sects. Amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood, beneath countless gazes filled with reverence or fear, he forged an undying reputation.
Everyone praised the unparalleled sharpness of the Divine Sword:
"Look! That's Lin Qingfeng's sword!"
"This sword is called 'No Self.' They say it has a spirit inside, can choose its own master, and can even devour all techniques and make them its own!"
But no one knew that imprisoned within the Divine Sword called "No Self" was a soul filled with despair and unwillingness.
She had become the strongest sword in his hand.
She had become the perfect weapon in his hand.
Only, she was no longer Su Ling'er, who could wholeheartedly pursue the immortal Dao and yearn for eternal life and freedom.
This wasn't the destination she wanted!
Nor was it the immortal Dao she sought!
After enduring countless hardships and overcoming endless trials on a path where death awaited at every turn, was she really going to end up as an immortal sword in someone else's hand?!
She couldn't accept it!
She couldn't accept the sight of herself being casually swung around by Lin Qingfeng in the illusion!
That man wore a compassionate smile as he spoke of the seemingly profound principles of Heaven and Earth.
Yet it made all her unwillingness and struggles seem utterly laughable.
He had turned everything she was into the edge he used to strike down others.
The power was so immense that even she, the "sword spirit," trembled before it. It was so powerful that it left her breathless.
That so-called "path of the Dao" had been a dead end leading to becoming a "sword" from the very moment she entered the sect.
Seeking immortality and ascending to become an immortal...
That had been her sole conviction in setting out on this path.
But when she had given everything and finally touched the pinnacle of power, what awaited her wasn't freedom beneath the heavens.
It was the annihilation of the self.
She would no longer be herself.
She would be the sharpest tool in that man's hand, a mere appendage to his power.
This was a net woven specifically for her.
She couldn't escape it, and she couldn't hide from it.
Agony and conflict tore violently at her soul.
Had she endured humiliation and hardship all this time just so that one day she could become that devil's peerless weapon of slaughter?
Was she to clear the path to immortality for him and slaughter all living beings on his behalf?!
"The Righteous Path... eternal life..."
"Ascend to immortality..."
The convictions that had sustained her through every desperate trial now turned into the sharpest mockery, roaring through her mind.
Senior Disciple Brother's figure seemed to become an eternal nightmare, occupying all her senses.
Every step she had taken, every path she had followed, had led to the same destination.
Becoming "the sword in Senior Disciple Brother's hand."
The light in Su Ling'er's eyes went out, one flicker at a time. Her pupils lost focus.
"Ascend to immortality..."
"Ascend to immortality..."
"Ascend to immortality..."
The words slipped from her lips in an endless murmur.
The heart that had pursued the Dao and carried her up a hundred stairs shattered in that moment.
Her obsession became a heart demon, swallowing all her clarity in an instant.
At the foot of the Dao Seeking Ladder, everyone watched as the slender figure finally stopped on the hundredth stair.
She no longer moved.
She didn't take another step. She only stood there, eyes vacant, murmuring to herself.
"One hundred stairs! The new junior sister climbed a hundred stairs on her first try. Who'd believe that if you told them?"
"Incredible! Ridiculous! Her aptitude might be awful, but she's truly amazing at climbing the ladder!"
"Looks like she's fallen into a heart demon. We'll have to wait for her to come around before she can claim the hundred-stair reward."
Everyone talked excitedly as they watched her.
The Artifact Refining Pavilion disciples who also cultivated the Sword Refining Art looked as though their eyes were about to shoot out golden light.
"See that? That's Dao heart! That's willpower! Isn't she practically born for the Sword Refining Art?!"
"Exactly!"
"Senior Brother must get Junior Sister to cultivate the Sword Refining Art!"
"With her aptitude, not cultivating it would be a complete waste of her Dao heart and willpower!"
"With a Dao heart and will like that, how could her future cultivation improve if she doesn't practice the Sword Refining Art?"
"Junior Sister's path doesn't lie in transforming herself into a pill and smelting all things. Becoming a peerless immortal sword is the Great Dao that leads to the heavens!"
"She has to cultivate the Sword Refining Art!"
"Even if we have to tie her up, we'll make her do it!"
Lin Qingfeng gazed at the figure frozen atop the hundredth stair, his eyes resolute.
In private, Lin Qingfeng had already contacted Junior Disciple Brother Zhan in the Sword Mound and asked him to prepare a good show.
Later, he would take Junior Sister to the final Sword Mound and strengthen her resolve to cultivate the Sword Refining Art!
Then he eagerly discussed his hopes for the future with the group of disciples:
"Don't worry. Leave it to me."
"Once I've mastered Myriad Swords Returning to Origin, you can team up with me and Junior Sister. We'll crank all the special effects up to the max, and we'll be the coolest people in the world!"
"We're definitely going to show off like this from now on!!!"
But every word of it reached Su Ling'er's ears as she awoke from her heart demon, making her jolt in alarm!
And the instant she came to!
Hum—
The entire Dao Seeking Ladder suddenly blazed with ten thousand rays of rosy light. A tremendous surge of Spiritual Power crashed down from the sky and poured into Su Ling'er.
This was the reward for reaching the hundredth stair—the Dao Seeking Ladder's gift to her Dao heart!
Rumble—
The Spiritual Power entered her body, completely beyond her control, washing through every inch of her meridians.
Before she could even think, the method for the Myriad Transformations Return to Origin True Manual that Elder Qian had previously imparted to her automatically began circulating in her mind.
Then she began frantically refining the immense Spiritual Power.
The cultivation within her began to soar at an unbelievable speed!
Her disguise of Qi Refining Level 3 was instantly broken through, but no one noticed the subtle change, because her bottlenecks were being smashed one after another at incredible speed!
Qi Refining Level 5!
Qi Refining Level 7!
Qi Refining Level 10!
And the torrent of Spiritual Power was still washing over the inferior "Dust Seal" that had formed when she first joined Qing Xu Temple and began cultivating.
The Dust Seal trembled violently under the torrent, flickering between bright and dim. The dust covering it seemed to have been washed away a little.
Everyone's attention was drawn to the aura rising steadily around Su Ling'er.
At last, under the gaze of countless people, her aura continued climbing until it struck an invisible barrier.
Qi Refining Great Perfection!
But the torrent of Spiritual Power was blocked by that invisible barrier.
With nowhere else to go, the immense Spiritual Power began to divide on its own. A small portion quietly nourished her Worry Flower, while another part sank into her wooden sword.
Only after all that was done did the torrent of Spiritual Power slowly dissipate.
Su Ling'er opened her eyes. Feeling the abundant power within her, she couldn't help but freeze.
She... had reached... Qi Refining Great Perfection?!
She'd reached Qi Refining Great Perfection just like that?!
All from climbing a few stairs?!
A surge of joy swept over her in an instant.
The fear and unease that had arisen from her heart demon were somewhat dulled by this sudden leap in cultivation.
She clenched her fists, feeling the power within her like never before.
What a pity.
She was just one step away from Foundation Establishment!
But no matter how her Spiritual Power surged, the barrier leading to Foundation Establishment remained like a natural chasm.
This was the shackles of her Pseudo Spiritual Root, the dead end imposed by her aptitude.
Su Ling'er's joy soon subsided.
If my roots and aptitude weren't so poor, then with that enormous surge of Spiritual Power just now, perhaps...
I wouldn't even have needed to prepare a so-called Foundation Establishment Pill. I could have broken through to Foundation Establishment in one go!
Just then, she clearly heard Senior Disciple Brother and several Artifact Refining Pavilion disciples loudly plotting beneath the Dao Seeking Ladder.
"Senior Brother! You should have her practice the Sword Refining Art!"
"That's right! If Junior Sister doesn't suffer a little through tempering, she'll be letting down that heart of hers that seeks the Dao!"
"We can't let a peerless immortal sword this perfect for the role slip away!"
Su Ling'er: "..."
The joy she'd felt after her sudden leap in cultivation vanished in an instant.
Against her will, the final scene of the illusion resurfaced in her mind:
That face wearing a compassionate smile, that hand reaching for her, and the world-shaking praise heaped upon the wielder of the Divine Sword...
The corner of Su Ling'er's mouth twitched.
I will never become an immortal sword in your hands!
I will never use my body to make you devils more infamous!
And you devils—when you're plotting to harm someone, could you at least do it out of earshot?!
Afraid I wouldn't hear you or something?!
Before you continue