Trial of Jueming Cliff

Jueming Cliff lived up to its name.

The sheer cliff rose hundreds of zhang high, its rock face nearly vertical and covered in weathered cracks and slick moss. Looking up from the bottom, its peak vanished into the rolling sea of clouds, as if it led to another world.

At that moment, forty-eight boys and girls had gathered at the foot of the cliff.

Everyone craned their heads, staring blankly at Jueming Cliff, which seemed to have no summit.

"D-Do we really have to climb that...?"

A boy who looked no older than eight or nine swallowed hard, his voice trembling.

"The old people in the village said that no one who climbed it ever came back..." another girl with twin buns said softly, nervously twisting the hem of her clothes in her little hands.

A stir ran through the crowd.

Fear was like invisible vines, quietly wrapping itself around every heart.

They had heard far too many tales about Jueming Cliff. Herbalists had slipped and fallen, leaving not even bones behind; hunters had been bitten to death by the poisonous snakes on the cliff; some even claimed that man-eating mountain ghosts lived at its summit.

"W-What are you afraid of?!"

A tall, lean youth suddenly stepped forward. He looked about fifteen or sixteen, with dark skin and palms covered in calluses.

"Lord Luo said he'll be waiting for us at the top!" The youth turned and shouted at the crowd. "Think about it—Lord Luo also has the White Silkworm martial soul, and his Innate Soul Power was only level 0.5! But what about now? A Title Douluo! Nine Spirit Rings!"

He pointed at Jueming Cliff, which towered into the clouds, flames burning in his eyes:

"This cliff is the first hurdle for changing our fate! If you can't climb it, then crawl back to the village and spend your whole life farming and raising silkworms! But if you make it up there—"

He paused, speaking each word distinctly:

"You can follow Lord Luo and become Spirit Masters!"

Once his words fell, the crowd went silent for a moment.

Then another sturdily built youth stepped forward. "A-Shan is right! We've already come this far. Are we just going to turn back now?"

"My parents gathered herbs in the village their whole lives. They never left Qingshi Town before they died... I don't want to live like that!"

"Me too! I want to become a Spirit Master!"

Gradually, fear was replaced by another emotion—a mixture of longing, unwillingness, and determination. When forty-eight pairs of eyes turned toward Jueming Cliff again, there was no longer any hesitation in them.

"Go!"

A-Shan was the first to approach the cliff face. He took off his outer garment, revealing a lean yet sturdy upper body. Drawing a deep breath, he gripped a crack in the rock with both hands, braced his feet against protruding stones, and began climbing.

With someone taking the lead, the others quickly followed.

The climb was harder than they had imagined.

The rock face was slick, and many places offered no foothold at all. Before they had even climbed ten zhang, a younger girl slipped, her entire body plunging downward!

"Ah—!"

Her scream tore through the valley.

At that critical moment, a thick hand shot out from the side and firmly grabbed her wrist. It was the sturdy youth. Clinging to a crack in the rock with one hand, veins bulging at his temples, he forcibly pulled the girl back.

"Th-Thank you..." The girl's face was ashen, her voice still shaking.

"Hold on tight!" the sturdy youth said in a muffled voice. "Don't look down! Look only at where your hands are gripping and where your feet are stepping!"

The scene made everyone's hearts tighten, and they climbed even more carefully.

At the top of the cliff, above the sea of clouds.

Luo Can sat cross-legged at the edge with his eyes lightly closed, but his mental power had long since spread out and enveloped all of Jueming Cliff.

Every movement, every breath, every word of encouragement they gave one another was clearly reflected in his senses.

"Forty-eight people..." he murmured. "The first hurdle alone will eliminate at least a third of them."

Time slowly passed.

The sun gradually tilted westward from its zenith, and the climbing had already continued for a full three hours.

Just as Luo Can had expected, some could no longer endure.

When a chubby youth had climbed to a height of around three hundred zhang, his hands trembled violently. He looked down at the seemingly bottomless clouds below, like a giant maw waiting to swallow him at any moment.

"I-I can't do it anymore." His face was deathly pale, and his voice carried a sob. "I want to go down. I want to go down..."

"Don't let go!" a thin youth beside him said anxiously. "You're almost there! Look, that rock above you—once you climb onto it, you can rest!"

"I really can't..." The chubby youth shook his head, tears rolling down his face. "Let me go down..."

Using both hands and feet, he began carefully retreating downward. Every step made him shake badly.

At the summit, Luo Can slowly opened his eyes.

"The first."

His voice was calm, without a trace of emotion.

Another half hour passed.

As a girl with a ponytail crossed a rock gap nearly two zhang wide, the stone beneath her feet suddenly came loose!

Crack—

The stone fell, leaving the girl hanging in midair. She could only cling desperately to the edge of the crack with both hands. Gritting her teeth, her arm muscles stretched to their limit as she inched upward.

But her strength had already been exhausted.

Her fingertips were scraped bloody against the rough stone, blood dripping down the cliff face. She tried three times, but failed to pull herself up.

"H-Help me..." She looked toward her companions nearby, her voice weak.

But the nearest companion was three zhang away and had no time to rescue her.

After holding on for ten breaths, the girl finally let go.

The instant her body fell, a gentle force caught her.

The girl was carried to the foot of the cliff by that force. She collapsed onto the ground, looked at the towering cliff face, covered her face, and began to cry.

"The second."

Luo Can's voice remained calm.

At sunset, the dying sunlight was blood-red.

At the summit of Jueming Cliff, the first figure finally appeared.

It was the dark, lean youth named A-Shan. His hands clutched the edge of the summit, his arms covered in scrapes and blood. Then, with a burst of strength, he flipped himself over and crashed heavily onto the grassy ground, gasping for breath.

"I-I made it up."

As soon as he spoke, the second person climbed over as well. It was the sturdy youth, and he was in even worse shape than A-Shan. A deep gash had been cut into his right calf by the rocks.

Yet he had still made it.

One, two, three...

By the time the last ray of sunlight vanished beyond the horizon, thirty-one people had gathered atop the cliff.

Every one of them was covered in wounds and utterly exhausted, yet something indescribable burned in their eyes—the light called "hope," reborn after crossing the line between life and death.

Luo Can rose from the cliff's edge and walked over to them.

Moonlight fell across him, outlining his upright figure. He quietly looked at the thirty-one young, childish faces before him. After a long while, he slowly spoke:

"Forty-eight set out. Thirty-one reached the summit."

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached every ear:

"Those who gave up may not be cowards. But those who can stand here—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping across every one of them:

"At the very least, you have proven that you possess the courage to overcome the fear of death and the tenacity to never stop until you achieve your goal. Those are the two most basic things needed to become strong."

The crowd remained silent. Only the night wind howled across the summit.

"From today onward, you are the first group under my command."

Luo Can raised a hand, and thirty-one pale golden motes flew from his palm, accurately entering each person's brow.

"This is the introductory portion of the Embryonic Breathing Meditation Method. For the next three months, your only task is to cultivate it, sense Soul Power, and complete the initial meditation."

He pointed below the cliff:

"On the eastern side at the foot of the cliff, I have set up a temporary camp with food, fresh water, and medicine. Once your injuries heal, cultivate on your own. Every ten days, I will come inspect your progress."

"Remember, you have only one chance. Anyone who cannot break through to level one within three months will be eliminated."

After saying that, he spoke no further and turned toward the cliff's edge.

"M-My lord!"

A-Shan suddenly spoke, his voice trembling with excitement:

"We... what should we do? How do we cultivate?"

Luo Can did not turn back. Only his voice drifted back on the wind:

"The meditation method is already in your minds. As for the rest—"

He paused:

"Figure it out yourselves."

Golden Dragon Wings spread wide. He leaped off the cliff and vanished into the sea of clouds.

At the summit, the thirty-one youths looked at one another. Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they all sat cross-legged, closed their eyes, and began sensing the profound scripture within their minds.