Onward and upward. Hui leaped upward, slowing out of boredom. He paused and yawned, then leaped up again. How long do these stairs keep on for? I feel like I’ve already been climbing them for a year and a half.

He looked up, checking the sky. The sun still beamed hot from high in the sky, casting his shadow directly below him Ah, in reality, it’s only been half a day, and yet…

This! This is the mental pressure again, isn’t it? Causing me to feel tired… I’ve slowed down. That pressure wave must be catching up to me!

Hui leaped onward, speeding up once again. He shifted Zhubi to his other arm and wiped his forehead. Phew! I almost fell into the stairs’ trap. No, no. Hurry up, Hui! Don’t fall into the trap!

Far above, on a peak overlooking the lower trial peak, a group of All-Heavens’ Peak Lords looked down on the trial. A crystal screen displayed the top contestants as they climbed the stairs, all of them tenacious and powerful competitors.

The two elders who’d started the trial, Mu Bingshi and Sui Linli, stood slightly apart from the others. Raising his hand, Mu Bingshi pointed at one of the cultivators on the screen, a young man in gold and white, long dark hair streaming behind him. “He’s fallen a bit behind, but keep an eye on that Jing Ruchen. He’s a well-known sword cultivator, and inherited the ancient Seven Autumnal Swords technique.”

“Jing Ruchen? Ha,” Sui Linli muttered, scowling.

Mu Bingshi chuckled. “Don’t be bitter just because your favorite dropped out. I thought your Sheng Caiyi had more potential than that.”

Looking at the young lady spitting blood on the stairs, Sui Linli’s face twisted again. “She was tricked by that filth in blue.”

“Ha, the young man carrying the child? What a tenacious young man. But he won’t last for long, wasting his strength like that. The stairs test one’s mental strength, yes, but they don’t neglect one’s physical strength, either. He won’t make another thousand steps at this rate.”

Sui Linli crossed her arms. “How about we make a bet?”

“A bet? Go on,” Mu Bingshi said, interested.

She nodded. “I bet that man in blue makes it to the top hundred.”

“Top hundred? I thought you hated him.”

“I do,” Sui Linli said simply. “A thousand spirit stones that he makes it.”

Mu Bingshi looked down at the screens again. The cultivator in blue wasn’t even highlighted on the crystal, completely neglected in the top listings. He stroked his beard, then nodded. “I’ll take you up on that.”

Sui Linli smirked. She nodded. “That boy has more potential than Sheng Caiyi.”

“But not more potential than Jing Ruchen,” Mu Bingshi said, shaking his finger.

“How about this? Two thousand if he beats Jing Ruchen,” Sui Linli replied.

“Ha! Your bitterness has led you astray. Sui Linli, you’ll come to regret this!” Mu Bingshi said.

“Well? Taking it or not?” Sui Linli asked, crossing his arms.

“Of course I’m taking you up on it. There’s no way he’s surpassing Jing Ruchen,” Mu Bingshi said, shaking his head. “A random healer no one’s ever heard of, surpassing the inheritor of one of the greatest primordial sword arts? He’s a thousand years too early!”

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Sui Linli smirked. “We’ll simply have to see.”

--

Hui rubbed the back of his neck. I feel like someone was talking about me just now…?

“Oy. Where are we? Feels like a trial realm.” a familiar voice asked.

Hui glanced down, startled, and almost tripped backwards down the stairs. A crow’s head poked out of his robes. A moment later, Chen Wuya fluttered his wings and came to rest on Hui’s shoulder.

“Senior? How did you get in here?” Hui asked, confused.

“How’d I get in a lowly trial realm like this? Ha! You ask as if I haven’t just spent an eternity cracking one of Fen Long’s most powerful barriers,” Chen Wuya scoffed.

Hui bowed. “My apologies, Senior! Small cultivator should have known!”

Chen Wuya cleaned his wings with his beak. “That, and this body isn’t exactly ordinary. It’s easy for me to slip into places I’m not supposed to be.”

“Oh?” Hui asked, interested.

“Mmm. It’s something like a residual illusion and possession spell… in any case, what are you doing? Some kind of trial?”

“Ah, that’s right. Senior, currently I’m attempting to join All-Heavens Sect,” Hui explained.

“That bastard Fen Long’s sect? Hmph. Bet it’s still as trashy as ever. Does he still have that mountain-chain mess of a setup?” Chen Wuya asked.

“Yes. I thought it was interesting,” Hui said mildly.

Chen Wuya scrunched up his beak. “Ptui. It’s hideous. What’s the point of floating peaks? The whole point of mountains is to be massive and immovable! To be a contest to mortals and immortals alike, enormous hunks of rock that wow simply due to their mass and size. Not these floaty cloud-like pointless pebbles.”

Er, I still thought it looked pretty imposing… Ah, oh well. Senior is entitled to his own opinion. I suppose I understand, from a certain point of view, but…

“Anyways, Senior, since we’re partaking of the trial, we shouldn’t…” be too explicit about what we’re doing, Hui thought to himself, giving Chen Wuya a meaningful glance.

“Hmph! Who do you think you’re talking to? I’m the number-one expert at sneaking into Fen Long’s pitiful sect. I used to come over every other week to give him a good thrashing. As long as I’m around, they might as well be blind and deaf old goats. They won’t see a thing you do.”

“In…including the trial?” Hui asked, concerned.

“No, just including me,” Chen Wuya said.

Hui clapped, hefting Zhubi into the nook of his arm to free his hands. “Chen Wuya is indeed a very convenient senior!”

Zhubi sniffed curiously at Chen Wuya. Chen Wuya lifted his claw and stomped Zhubi in the face. Zhubi let out a little cry and fell back, covering his face.

“Chen Wuya!” Hui said, shifting Zhubi to his other arm and giving the crow a glare.

“What? Do you want your undercarriage sniffed by random animals?” Chen Wuya asked.

“No, but stomping on him is excessive,” Hui returned.

Chen Wuya fluttered his wings and landed on Hui’s head. “Look at you, defending your pets. Have you finally learned to stand up for yourself?”

“Eh? Was I being too assertive? My apologies, Senior. But even so, please don’t attack Zhubi. Attack me if you must,” Hui said, bowing carefully to avoid knocking Chen Wuya off his head.

Chen Wuya snorted. “Now that makes more sense.”

Zhubi patted Hui’s shoulder and shook his head.

“You’re okay? Got it,” Hui said, nodding.

Pulling free of Hui, Zhubi stood on his own. He reached down and crawled up the stairs, climbing up to the next step.

Hui offered him a hand. “If you want to walk on your own, we can still walk together, right?”

Zhubi beamed at Hui, showing off his array of fangs. He reached up and took Hui’s hand.

Experimentally, Hui reached out to the other clones, but the node simply pulsed in return, unable to connect. Ah, I’m not surprised. It is a trial realm, after all.

I haven’t seen anyone in a while. I suppose that means the other clones are doing well. That, or they’ve all dropped out…

…

Well, either way, I won’t give up! Even if I have to spit blood, I’ll still climb to the top.

But, uh… isn’t this trial too simple? Is it a trial to climb stairs until you get bored to test one’s resolve? I haven’t felt any pressure yet. That girl I passed seemed to feel something, but…

--

Overhead, the elders chuckled. Mu Bingshi shook his head. “See? I knew he wouldn’t be able to carry that child forever. It’s just a matter of time before he loses.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. He hasn’t shown a single sign of strain yet,” Sui Linli returned.

Mu Bingshi waved his sleeve dismissively. “Isn’t setting the child down a sign of strain?”

Sui Linli chuckled. “Or the boy wished to walk on his own two feet. Children are mercurial.”

Mu Bingshi snorted and said nothing, turning away. Too bitter over her favorite’s loss to face reality! Ah—and look, he’s coming up on my Jing Ruchen now. Show this man in blue what a true chosen is like, Jing Ruchen! Put that trollop Sheng Caiyi in her place!