[The Heart-Questioning Stairway, Breaking Through to [Foundation Establishment], [Heaven's Mandate] Fully Awakens]
[The towering mountain gate soared into the clouds, wreathed in Immortal mist, its Dao Resonance naturally formed.]
[On the gate's plaque, the words "Dao Yan Sacred Land" coiled like dragons and serpents, every stroke seeming to contain the ultimate truths of Heaven and Earth.]
[The Sacred Land's oppressive might was as profound as an abyss, as vast as the sea. Ordinary cultivators would already have been trembling in spirit upon arriving here.]
[Yet before the mountain gate, there were none of the stern guards or mountain-protecting formations you had expected,]
[Only an ancient-looking bluestone stairway lay quietly before you, ten steps in all and barely ten feet wide, forming a subtle contrast with the magnificent gate.]
[Your [Eye of Illusion] activated automatically, and information appeared:]
[Target: [Heart-Questioning Stairway]] [Type: True Lord creation] [Opportunity category: Not an opportunity] [Danger level: None] [Description: A stairway of ten steps. It tests neither talent nor aptitude, asks nothing of one's origins, and judges only will.]
["Big brother, this stairway..." Dao Wudi's voice sounded behind you, laden with suppressed, complicated emotions,]
["It wasn't here before."]
[You merely answered indifferently, "Oh."]
[Without hesitation, you raised your foot and stepped onto the first step.]
[There was no pressure at all.]
[The second step, the third, the Fourth Tier... it was like walking on level ground.]
[Beyond the [Sacred Land]'s mountain gate, everything was deathly silent, as though no one was there. But you knew countless gazes were falling upon this place from every dimension.]
[On the fifth step, pressure descended abruptly!]
[It was no burden on your flesh, but an interrogation striking straight at your soul]
[—Why had you come? Greed? Arrogance? Or... to seek death?]
[You did not pause. You lifted your right foot and planted it heavily on the sixth step.]
[Your True