Retrieving Memories

"Clang--"

The bronze bell atop the mountain suddenly shook with a deep sound wave that rippled away the clouds. Amidst the bell's toll, the bluestone long stairs before the mountain gate widened by a good two or three fold in the blink of an eye.

For many years, the Ninefold Trials of the Heavenly Mystery Assembly had always followed a fixed pattern, and this year was naturally no exception. Any cultivator who yearned for the Profound Heaven Sect and intended to cross its gates had inquired about the relevant matters to varying degrees, knowing the general process.

The start remained the same: the Heavenly Ladder.

The mountain gate of the Profound Heaven Sect sat halfway up the mountain. Below the gate lay ordinary stone steps, while upward lay nine hundred and ninety-nine spirit steps meticulously crafted from the sect's unique bluestone.

Spirit spells were set upon the spirit steps. When not activated on ordinary days, they merely exerted slightly more pressure on people than ordinary stairs, which also served to facilitate the cultivation of the sweeping disciples.

However, when the Ninefold Trials officially commenced, the situation became entirely different. From the mountain gate upward, with every single step one ascended, the gravity would increase by a fraction like a gradually tightening rope. The remaining eight trials awaited these uninitiated disciples upon those fixed stairs.

Naturally, the trials were not so harsh as to demand that uninitiated disciples successfully walk all nine hundred and ninety-nine steps. As long as they ultimately met the entrance requirements, they stood a chance to step through the gates of the Profound Heaven Sect.

--After all, in the past several hundred years, the entire Profound Heaven Sect had only produced three monstrous talents who managed to walk the entire distance.

"The trials begin, the Heavenly Ladder!"