Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"He's at nine hundred! Nine hundred!"

Everyone present, except for Luo Qingci, looked tense. Gu Zhichao leaned forward, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the celestial steps. Jiang Yuebai's eyes were wide open, his fists clenched tightly, while Qin Jian gritted his teeth and kept muttering under his breath.

Outside the hall, disciples who had caught wind of the news formed several circles, buzzing with chatter.

"Just one more step, and he'll reach the nine hundredth celestial step."

"So impressive—I only made it past six hundred."

"I heard from the master that no one has reached the nine hundredth step in over a hundred years. The last time was when Lady Zitan and the others did it."

"He did it! Nine hundred and one. He's still standing, and he can keep going!" Gu Zhichao was visibly excited, standing up with unconcealable enthusiasm.

"It's not just him. Yue Wuxin and Hua Xuwan are catching up too." Qin Jian's eyes burned with excitement. Could it be like back then, when three disciples crossed the nine hundredth step at once?

"I didn't expect Yue Wuxin, who's been so quiet all this time, to shine so brightly in this trial." Gu Zhichao also noticed him.

The young man's face was cold and stern, with a solemnity that didn't match his age. He would pause for several breaths after each step before continuing.

Hua Xuwan was already struggling, but she managed to step onto the nine hundredth step. Although she half-knelt, unable to steady herself, she didn't give up and continued to climb.

Everyone's attention was focused on the top five who were charging toward the nine hundredth celestial step.

Especially Xu Mushan, who had now reached the nine hundred and eighth step. It seemed he could still go further.

Every step beyond nine hundred was as difficult as ascending to heaven. It wasn't just a test of mental fortitude; the physical strain was unbearable even for those who had reached the Golden Core stage. Each step was like walking on a knife's edge. The slightest misstep in comprehension would halt progress immediately.

Xu Mushan's performance ignited a fervor in everyone, even Xue Cheng forgot about Ruan Li's existence.

Only Luo Qingci, noticing that Ruan Li was no longer in the scene, lowered her head, her sleeves draped over her hands, seemingly lost in thought.

No one paid attention to Ruan Li, nor did they notice Luo Qingci. They were all fixated on the new generation of geniuses.

People yearn to become geniuses themselves. If they can't, they yearn to possess a genius.

But Luo Qingci didn't care about geniuses. She only cared about the female lead—or perhaps she didn't even care about the female lead, because she already knew the ending. She just cared a little about the dragonet.

Ruan Li was struggling, pausing for a long time after each step. Her knees were on the ground, her face pale with an unnatural flush.

Sweat had long drenched her entire face. Her bright, deep eyes were half-closed, her forehead pressed against the steps. Sweat dripped from her temples and eyelashes, falling onto the steps one drop at a time.

After a moment, she reached out and placed her hand on the step. Her fingers, in stark contrast to the tension in her body, were soft and relaxed, gently touching the step as if measuring its height.

In the small spiritual mirror hidden in Luo Qingci's sleeve, her figure and fingers were clearly reflected.

Suddenly, Luo Qingci noticed that the step beneath Ruan Li's fingers trembled slightly, as if it were made not of stone, but of water.

Ripples spread out and quickly receded. A faint light gathered at her fingertips, then abruptly scattered and disappeared, causing Ruan Li's clothes to flutter.

In the next moment, Ruan Li pushed herself up and took another step, then stood upright.

Luo Qingci's heartbeat, steady for years, suddenly leapt as if jolted by an electric shock, racing faster.

A long time passed. Xu Mushan let out a low roar of frustration and knelt on the ground, then collapsed onto the celestial steps, unable to move.

Nine hundred and fourteen steps—that was where Xu Mushan's journey ended.

Hua Xuwan had already stopped at step 903, Yue Wuxin at step 905, and Ye Kong was stuck at step 898, unable to advance.

Bai Jing, in fifth place, surprisingly managed to take half a step more than Ye Kong.

By this time, everyone should have stopped. Xue Cheng and Wan Che exchanged glances and nodded in satisfaction.

"We can shut down the formation now. Send someone to retrieve them quickly. And we'll personally go to retrieve those five," Qin Jian said, unable to sit still, and quickly stood up to urge Xue Cheng and the others to shut down the formation.

Xue Cheng nodded and was about to shut down the formation when Wan Che suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Wait, there's still someone walking!"

At this, Qin Jian stopped abruptly, and Gu Zhichao, who had just stood up, was also stunned. He frowned, "Someone is still walking? How is that possible?"

Usually, once the top few reach over 900 steps, no matter how resilient the others are, they can't keep going. Moreover, the fewer the steps, the shorter the time taken, so it's unlikely anyone could still be moving.

"Who is still going?" Gu Zhichao immediately asked.

Wan Che quickly reviewed the list, and almost as soon as he uttered Ruan Li's name, she appeared in the scene.

She stood beside Ye Kong, ignoring him as he sat immobilized on the ground and Bai Jing, who was half a step ahead. She raised her right foot and stepped onto step 899.

Ye Kong stared at her in disbelief, his eyes wide with astonishment, but he could only watch helplessly as she raised her left foot to take another step. Bai Jing merely glanced at her and smiled.

Ruan Li leaned on her sword, her palms bleeding profusely, and swayed as she stepped onto step 899.

Her light gray short robe, drenched in sweat, had turned dark gray, and blood mixed with sweat dripped onto the steps.

Each drop proved that she had overtaken Ye Kong.

For a moment, everyone who had stood up to leave froze. Gasps rippled through the crowd, but no one spoke.

Because Ruan Li had stepped onto step 900.

She stood there, and she was still standing.

It was as if she carried a weight of ten thousand catties on her back. With each step, her spine bent further, but what shocked everyone was that she managed to lift her foot with each step. Beneath her feet, white spiritual energy clung to her like silk threads, spiraling and coiling.

It grew brighter and purer.

She walked past Hua Xuwan, who opened her mouth to speak, but Ruan Li couldn't quite hear her.

At this moment, her ears were ringing, her vision darkened. She couldn't hear or see, but she could feel the dense spiritual energy around her, wrapping around her like iron chains, refusing to let her go.

It was like the hatred that had been ingrained in her day after day, and the nightmares that never faded, constantly dragging her into the abyss.

Ruan Li refused to submit to her fate. She just wanted to keep walking, to go a bit further, so she could get closer to her goal. She would wait.

She then passed Yue Wuxin, and in the stunned silence of the crowd, she stepped closer and closer to Xu Mushan.

Xu Mushan had completely exhausted his spiritual energy and physical strength. He struggled helplessly a few times before sinking into darkness. The last blurred scene he saw was Ruan Li's right foot stepping up.

"She... she surpassed..."

"Shh! Don't speak," Gu Zhichao didn't dare to breathe, raising his hand to stop the disciple who was stammering in shock.

"She's about to reach step 919!" Jiang Yuebai couldn't hold back either, grabbing Luo Qingci's sleeve in a rare moment of losing composure.

Luo Qingci no longer knew what she was feeling. Her eyes were fixed on the girl with blood streaming from her nose and mouth, her hair disheveled. She could no longer stand steadily, her body completely prostrate, crawling step by step with both hands and feet.

Her fingernails had long since broken and peeled back, her fingers bloody and mangled, leaving trails of blood on the steps behind her.

The original depiction let readers sense the heroine's extraordinary talent, satisfying the thrill of a group of readers. But now, seeing it with her own eyes, Luo Qingci felt no thrill at all.

She felt nothing but shock and heartache.

What experiences, what thoughts, could push someone to such extremes?

She even felt the urge to stop her, to say, "Enough, stop climbing!"

Jiang Yuebai clenched tighter, holding her breath. At nine hundred and twenty, she had surpassed her senior brother.

Nine hundred and twenty, nine hundred and twenty-one!

Luo Qingci's brows knitted tightly, her presence growing increasingly oppressive. Finally, Ruan Li halted, then shakily rose to her feet.

The celestial steps to Sunset Peak pierced through the clouds, enveloped in mist. The narrow celestial ladder appeared to hang in mid-air, and a slender figure managed to stand upright.

She pressed her lips together, blood trickling down, which she softly wiped away. She smiled, then let go and collapsed forward.

Gu Zhichao and Qin Jian, present at the scene, instinctively stepped forward, eager to assist, but Jiang Yuebai took a sharp breath.

When they glanced over, Jiang Yuebai clutched a piece of white fabric, and Luo Qingci had vanished.

As Ruan Li drifted into unconsciousness, a flicker of panic remained. Though the pain had numbed her, she still feared tumbling onto the icy, unyielding steps.

But her fading senses told her she had landed in a soft, cool embrace. The sensation was hauntingly familiar.

Chi Qing—somehow, this name, buried in her heart for over a decade, suddenly resurfaced.

Luo Qingci caught her, standing firm on the nine hundred and twenty-third step. She pressed her lips together, gazing at the unconscious figure in her arms, stifling the metallic taste rising in her mouth, and steadied herself.

In an instant, the formation vanished, and the overwhelming pressure dissolved entirely.

Gu Zhichao, Jiang Yuebai, and Qin Jian materialized on the celestial steps.

"Why the sudden interest? Seeing her get this far, have you changed your mind and decided you want her?" Qin Jian frowned. Luo Qingci's behavior was too out of character.

Luo Qingci swallowed the metallic tang in her mouth and shot Qin Jian a look. "Quiet."

Qin Jian snorted but, to everyone's surprise, held his tongue, his gaze on Ruan Li intensifying.

This was so unexpected that he didn't even feel like arguing with Luo Qingci anymore.

Jiang Yuebai's expression was unreadable. Luo Qingci had been watching this girl from the beginning, stepping in for her twice, which completely upended her understanding. Was Luo Qingci, the iron tree, finally blooming? Did she really want a disciple? Wasn't she cultivating the path of detachment? Could she still care about a future disciple?

Xue Cheng and Gu Zhichao's expressions also shifted several times, especially Gu Zhichao. He stared blankly at Luo Qingci, then glanced at the remaining dozens of steps behind him, confirming a fact once again.

Luo Qingci could indeed have gone further back then.

At nine hundred and twenty-three steps, when she teleported over, the formation hadn't even been lifted yet, but she managed to stand firm and even reached out to catch Ruan Li. This was enough to prove that she could surpass the nine hundred and twenty-third step.

He couldn't help but recall his master's words and had to admit that his master was right.

"Don't linger here. Take the injured and exhausted disciples back. Announce the results as soon as possible and handle the follow-up matters for the new disciples' entry," Gu Zhichao said, then turned and disappeared on the spot.

Luo Qingci handed the person in her arms to the disciples who came to handle the aftermath and returned to the mountain gate with Jiang Yuebai and the others.

"Are you really considering taking a disciple this time?" Jiang Yuebai couldn't hold back any longer. She looked at Luo Qingci and asked seriously.

Luo Qingci neither admitted nor denied it.

"You are indeed a great practitioner, but you're really not suited to be a master. You can't even handle Su Yu properly, and now you want to take on another one. Do you have the energy for it?"

Luo Qingci met her gaze, "I didn't have the experience before, but now I do."

Jiang Yuebai was taken aback, "How would Su Yu feel about what you said?"

Luo Qingci's eyes showed confusion, as if she genuinely didn't know, and she asked in return, "How would she feel?" She was merely stating the truth.

She tilted her head, her expression calm, but her eyes carried a hint of genuine confusion. Paired with her white attire, she looked ethereal.

Her demeanor, a blend of incongruity and a hint of contrasting cuteness, was indescribably captivating. Even Jiang Yuebai, who had roamed the cultivation world for hundreds of years, was momentarily stunned.

She snapped out of it and shook her head, muttering to herself, "Beauty can really be deceiving. Su Yu must be regretting it now. I wonder if the little girl you've taken a fancy to will fall for this. I hope she doesn't fall for your looks again."

If it weren't for her "sanctimonious" demeanor, which new disciple could withstand her icy exterior?

Luo Qingci, upon hearing this, replied, "You don't fall for it."

After Luo Qingci left, Jiang Yuebai was left with her mouth hanging open. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Was this really Luo Qingci?

Luo Qingci was unaware of the impact she had on Jiang Yuebai. She pondered seriously for a moment. Based on her understanding of the little dragon from its childhood, it might still fall for this.

That little one had always liked round and beautiful things since it was young. Her face was still presentable.