Chapter 40: THE EXAMINATION(14)

Gu Jun stared at the ridiculously large mountain in front of him.

Was this the Mount Tai they often joked about?

Li Yan stared at the mountain; there was a clear path to the top. No signs of danger anywhere.

It looked like a normal mountain.

Though there was one alarming factor: the pressure—would it increase the higher they went? If that was the case, then that would make progressing ten times harder.

"Gu Jun..." Li Yan crossed his arms. From what he had counted, they were more than eighty thousand steps until they reached the summit.

This also made him consider the risk factors.

One could fail the examination from exhaustion, fear of heights, and the third unknown factor they had yet to discover.

"Let’s start moving; we have a lot of ground to cover. Three days is not enough time to climb up the mountain; we will have to resort to other methods."

The other method being Xiaoxiao. "How do you reckon we complete this examination? We need speed on our hands..." he asked, most people had begun making their way up but he was not ready yet.

"We cannot rush, or we will be quick to exhaustion. We cannot take our time because we do not have enough. It seems impossible when you think about it..." Gu Jun sighed, and he had heard from the core disciples that this was the easiest examination.

Li Yan waited for Xiaoxiao’s response; her insight would at least help him with an idea of what to do.

"You will need speed, something to make your steps light and faster. But you have already noticed the pressure here; the higher you go, the harder it will be to move your body. The key to breaking through that pressure lies in your mental capabilities."

Xiaoxiao’s response unfortunately did not leave him with an idea; instead, he only became more confused.

Well, there was no use thinking about it. It would only waste more time.

"We will use the minimum of our strength at the beginning and maximum as we get closer to the top. We have to get to the middle section of the mountain by day two, so we reach the summit on the third day."

Gu Jun agreed with the plan, and the two began climbing. They did not rush; there was no reason to waste their strength while the pressure was still manageable, so Li Yan carefully maintained a steady pace as they climbed the seemingly endless staircase.

The first ten thousand steps passed without any incident, but Li Yan soon noticed that the pressure had increased slightly. It was not enough to hinder his movement, yet his body could clearly feel the difference from when they had first entered the mountain.

He continued forward without changing his pace; there was no reason to waste Qi fighting against a pressure that had not yet become a real obstacle.

Gu Jun also noticed the change and adjusted his breathing as they continued.

"This mountain is much more troublesome than it looks."

Li Yan glanced at him before looking toward the summit. "We have barely started. Save your strength."

Gu Jun nodded and followed his advice.

Several thousand steps behind them, Mo Lang and his group were also making their way up the mountain. Su Lianhua remained beside Mo Lang, while Bi Chen and the other young men followed behind them.

The group had initially moved quickly because the pressure at the bottom of the mountain was weak enough that none of them felt the need to conserve their strength.

That changed after they crossed the ten-thousand-step mark.

Su Lianhua’s breathing became heavier as the pressure began weighing on her body, and she tightened her grip around Mo Lang’s arm to keep her balance.

"Brother Lang, can we slow down a little? My legs are beginning to feel heavy."

Mo Lang slowed his pace as he could already feel the same pressure affecting his own body. He did not want to admit that he was struggling, especially with several people watching him, so he maintained a calm expression while supporting Su Lianhua.

"Stay beside me. We still have plenty of time."

Su Lianhua smiled and leaned closer to him; she knew Mo Lang would never refuse her when she acted this way.

Bi Chen watched the two from behind and kept his thoughts to himself. Mo Lang was clearly beginning to struggle, yet he was still trying to maintain the image of a wealthy young master who could handle anything.

One of the young men beside him wiped the sweat from his forehead before looking toward the distant summit.

"Senior Brother Mo, the pressure is already this strong. If it continues increasing, reaching the summit will not be easy."

Mo Lang’s expression darkened when he heard the concern in the young man’s voice.

"We have three days. There is no need to worry about what has not happened yet."

The young man immediately stopped speaking and continued climbing.

Bi Chen glanced toward Li Yan’s distant figure and noticed that his group had already created a considerable distance between themselves and everyone else.

He had expected Li Yan to struggle because of his first-level Martial Qi cultivation, yet the young man had maintained a steady pace without wasting any obvious amount of Qi.

Bi Chen’s eyes narrowed.

That fellow really is not simple.

He had originally planned to provoke Li Yan after entering the mountain, but seeing him conserve his strength so carefully made him reconsider.

There was still plenty of time.

If Li Yan eventually became exhausted, there would be no need for him to take any risks.

Not far behind Mo Lang’s group, another group of examinees had also begun following Li Yan’s path.

There were six of them, and they had deliberately remained together since entering the array. Their scores had been good enough to qualify for the final examination, but none of them possessed the background or cultivation to make the other examinees pay much attention to them.

The young man leading the group was Zhou Yuan.

He had watched Li Yan throughout the previous examinations and had been particularly impressed by his perfect score.

"The mountain is testing our minds, yet none of us knows what we are supposed to do," one of the young men muttered as he looked toward Li Yan. "If we stay close to him, we might learn something."

Zhou Yuan considered the suggestion before nodding.

"Keep some distance. We do not know whether he will welcome us."

The group slowed slightly after hearing that.

They were not planning to cause trouble for Li Yan. They simply wanted to see how he handled the mountain before deciding whether they should approach him.

If he continued performing well, they would have no reason to reject the opportunity to form a connection with him.