Wind, fire, mountains, and forests could aid people, but they could also become natural disasters and calamities.
For Ming Yueye, however, they posed no great challenge, and she passed through them one by one.
After the Four Calamities Formation came trials of perseverance, such as a scorching desert, an ancient road through an endless night, a voyage across the ocean, and a journey above the mountains. Ming Yueye likewise crossed them all without any pressure.
She had always possessed a firm will, and having lived another lifetime, her resolve far surpassed what it had once been.
When she emerged from the four calamities and four tribulations, she reached the final hurdle before the summit.
By now, the bright moon hung high, and time had long since slipped away.
She looked up and saw flights of stone steps extending down along the mountain's contours, all the way to her feet.
She knew this was the final stretch of the ascent up Tiantai Mountain, consisting of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps.
Of those, nine thousand nine hundred steps formed the Heart-Questioning Path.
Talent, brilliance, will, and perseverance were certainly important, but to the Immortal Clan, a cultivator's moral character and understanding of why they cultivated were clearly very important as well.
Ming Yueye looked at the steps before her and stepped onto them without hesitation.
In an instant, the scene changed completely.
She returned once more to the scene of the deepest obsession within her heart.
At the summit of Tiantai Mountain.
The Dao Lords stood in their respective spots, observing the outstanding seekers of immortality.
Just as they had predicted, the nine peerless prodigies of the Nine Provinces soon pulled far ahead of everyone else. Many little-known dark horses also distinguished themselves in this trial.
Standing with Xuanming and