A winding stone path cut through layer upon layer of wards, leading straight to the mountaintop.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Ren Wencai led Gu Chengming up the steps.
Though his expression was calm and carefree, the corner of his eye kept stealing glances at the young man behind him.
He had agreed to Gu Chengming's request partly because of the upcoming Disciple Assessment. He wanted this piece of uncut jade to shine even brighter in front of everyone. But another reason was a little private thought he couldn't bring himself to admit.
He was curious. Just how far could this oddball—who had given a tricky sword art like Flowing Light Sword Shadow the flavor of a "Sword Cultivator slayer" in a matter of days—go before the Sword Seeking Stone?
"We're here."
Ren Wencai came to a halt.
With a sweep of his sleeve, the clouds before them were torn apart by an invisible hand, revealing a sight so imposing it stole the breath from their lungs.
Gu Chengming's breath caught, and his pupils contracted slightly.
It was a massive boulder.
Or rather, a towering little mountain.
Its entire surface was a deep, dark blue-green. Rising over a hundred zhang, it looked like a colossal broken sword thrust point-first into the earth. The stone was mottled, crisscrossed by countless marks of varying depth.
Some looked like dragons and snakes rising from the earth, some like trickling streams, and some were no more than a glint of cold light. Even from dozens of zhang away, the Sword Pressure still bore down on him, stinging Gu Chengming's skin.
Several Stewards tasked with guarding the Sword Seeking Stone saw the Great Elder of Huiyuan Gate arrive and quickly withdrew their auras, bowing respectfully.
"Greetings, Elder Ren."
Ren Wencai gave a slight nod without saying much. He turned to the side and pointed at the giant stone.
"This is the Sword Seeking Stone."
He looked at Gu Chengming and explained:
"There's a field around the Sword Seeking Stone. The closer you get, the more its Innate Sword Qi presses down on your Divine Soul and body. It will put your Dao Heart to the test and crush your will."
"For First Realm disciples, making it thirty steps up the Ninety-Nine Steps means you have a steadfast mind. Reaching the seventieth step makes you one of the Outer Sect's elite."
Ren Wencai paused, his gaze sweeping over the shocking Sword Marks across the stone face.
"As for those Sword Marks..."
"Only by withstanding pressure like mountains and seas, facing your true self, and still striking an unregretful sword when your Divine Soul and body have reached their limits can you leave a mark—and only if the Sword Seeking Stone accepts it."
"Usually, those who can do this are Sword Cultivators at the Second Realm or above."
Gu Chengming listened in silence, but his eyes were fixed on the faint marks in the bottom corner of the stone face. They were inconspicuous, but they were still there.
"Go ahead."
Ren Wencai stepped back, clearing the way to the steps.
The steps stretched up into the heavens.
Gu Chengming took a deep breath, steadied his breathing, then took his first step.
"Buzz—"
The instant his foot touched the step, a low sword hum seemed to ring in his ears.
The air grew thick, as if he were walking through water. But to Gu Chengming as he was now, it was nothing much.
His steps were steady. He climbed one after another, neither hurrying nor slowing.
Five steps, ten steps, fifteen steps...
Ren Wencai stood at a distance and nodded faintly.
"Mm. The first twenty steps should be level ground for him. After all, he's at First Realm Level Five. If he can't even manage this much, then that would be..."
Before the thought could finish, Gu Chengming had already passed the thirtieth step.
He crossed the dividing line that marked a "steadfast mind" as easily as stepping over his own doorstep.
Ren Wencai raised an eyebrow, his hand coming to a stop.
At last, Gu Chengming felt a trace of pressure.
It wasn't merely a matter of increasing gravity. It was a sharp pain that came from deep within his mind.
It was as if countless tiny swords were slicing at his skin, burrowing into his pores, searching for a weakness in his resolve.
[Flowing Light Sword Shadow: CG Unlock Progress +1]
That familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang out in his mind.
[Huiyuan Sword Art giggled] [It asked if you needed its help. As long as you used that move, an obstacle of this level wouldn't amount to anything...]
Gu Chengming paused.
He knew she wanted to help him. If he used that Advanced Sword Art and its sharp Sword Intent to resist the pressure, things would indeed be much easier.
But he said nothing. He simply lifted his leg again.
The fortieth step.
Sweat began to bead on his forehead and trickle down his cheeks.
Gu Chengming's breathing grew labored, and the thud of his heartbeat pounded in his ears.
The eightieth step.
The pressure surged!
Every inch of muscle wailed. His bones creaked, threatening to buckle beneath the strain.
Ren Wencai's expression finally changed.
He had originally thought eighty steps would be Gu Chengming's limit.
After all, this was a trial that interrogated the Divine Soul. If one's Dao Heart was unstable, even taking a single step would be impossible. And one's cultivation level also mattered greatly.
No matter how steadfast his resolve, he was still only at First Realm Level Five.
But this kid...
He looked at that figure. Though it trembled, though his clothes were soaked through with sweat, his back remained ramrod straight.
"How can this kid's resolve be so unbreakable?"
The eighty-fifth step.
Gu Chengming's vision began to blur.
The Sword Seeking Stone before him seemed to come alive. Countless jumbled voices exploded in his mind.
"Go back. You're just an ordinary person."
"You only have a few years left to live. Why put yourself through this..."
"Use that Advanced Sword Art! It'll make things easy! Why keep pushing yourself?"
"Isn't it better to be alive?"
Gu Chengming stopped.
He stood on the eighty-fifth step, his whole body trembling. Blood seeped faintly from his seven orifices, staining the gray robe of an Outer Sect Disciple with a patchwork of colors.
Seeing this, Ren Wencai's heart tightened. He instinctively began to raise his hand and call a halt.
Too much of a good thing was no good.
Gu Chengming had already gone far beyond his expectations. If he kept forcing himself, he might hurt himself.
"Gu Chengming! That's enough! Come back down!"
Ren Wencai's voice rang out, heavy with Spiritual Power, trying to rouse the young man lost in his obsession.
But Gu Chengming didn't retreat.
He slowly lifted his head. Through his blurred vision, his bloodshot eyes locked on the Sword Seeking Stone, close at hand.
"I want to live."
"But I don't want to turn you into something else just so I can stay alive."
[...]
The voice in his mind fell silent.
Gu Chengming smiled.
"I know you're scared. You're afraid you're only a Basic Sword Art. You're afraid you can't keep up with me. You're afraid I'll leave you in a corner to gather dust one day."
"So even if it meant twisting yourself into something you wouldn't recognize, you still wanted to prove you were useful."
As he spoke, he felt his Gala Soul burning!
"But I don't need that..."
"I made it this far not because of Flowing Light Sword Shadow, but because of you—the one who stayed with me as I swung my sword a thousand times, ten thousand times, day after day!"
"I don't want a perfect tool. I want Huiyuan Sword Art!"
Something seemed to shatter deep within his soul.
The ornate shell called "Flowing Light Sword Shadow" was torn away and smashed to pieces by Gu Chengming's almost obsessive will.
[Huiyuan Sword Art: Flowing Light Sword Shadow (CG Unlocked)]
The line of text flickered wildly. At last, the four characters "Flowing Light Sword Shadow" slowly faded, returning to that plain, unassuming name.
And with it came a feeling unlike any other, an intent pure to the extreme.
Before Ren Wencai's eyes, the figure that had been on the verge of collapse moved again.
He didn't shuffle forward one step at a time.
He erupted into action!
Under the terrifying pressure that could crush a First Realm Cultivator to dust, he charged like a madman, leaping ten steps at once and reaching the Sword Seeking Stone in an instant!
Blood gushed from him like a spring. His skin split, his muscles tore, and in the blink of an eye, he was drenched in blood.
But the Wooden Sword in his hand was as steady as a boulder.
There were no flashy afterimages, no uncanny aura, and none of that dazzling speed.
Gu Chengming gripped the sword with both hands. His eyes held nothing but the enormous stone before him, bearing the glory of countless prodigies.
He remembered that afternoon when he had first joined the sect. He remembered how awkward it had felt to hold a Wooden Sword for the first time.
With the last of his strength, Gu Chengming thrust the ordinary Wooden Sword forward with all his might.
Among the deep Sword Marks that crisscrossed the stone and reached for the heavens, beside the marks that represented peerless prodigies and the supreme Great Dao,
A tiny, faint White Dot appeared.
It was the most basic, simplest, most insignificant move in the whole world.
And it was the only Sword Mark left by Huiyuan Sword Art in the thousands of years since the Sword Seeking Stone had existed.
Gu Chengming held his sword-thrusting stance, his consciousness already lost to unconsciousness, and his body crumpled to the ground.
The instant he fell, the CG that had remained locked in his mind finally seemed to break free of some unseen restraint and slowly lit up.
The scene held no dazzling special effects, nor a graceful immortal maiden.
There was only a tiny Phantasmal Image in coarse cloth linen clothes, sitting amid the ruins and hugging a Wooden Sword taller than she was. Though tear tracks streaked her face, she turned toward the viewer and gave a silly smile—not perfect, but radiant beyond compare.
[Huiyuan Sword Art Favorability +10] [Huiyuan Sword Art Favorability: 100/Life and Death Mutual Reliance] [Bond Mission Complete.] [CG Unlocked]
P.S. I updated eight thousand words in total, equivalent to four chapters.
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