“He’s definitely being smug! He dares to show such attitude to me!” Hu Jiao Er clenched her jaw and revolved her cultivation technique alongside her sister to resist the cold energy slipping into their bodies. Step by step, they pursued Yang Kai. After the first day, all three of them had finally reached the thousandth step. When they arrived, Yang Kai took another step upwards and was delighted and surprised. The energy that emitted from the steps had now completely changed to Yang Energy. With the change of energy types every five hundred steps, more than 90% of disciples had given up by the time they reached the thousandth. The sudden changes of energy made it unbearable for those disciples, forcing them to stop. Those that had surpassed the thousandth step were all the elites of their respective sects. They all managed to surpass the milestone only due to their cultivation levels. In actuality, Hu Mei Er should not have been able to climb so high due to her limited cultivation level. However, she managed to do so without much hint of exhaustion. On the other hand, her sister Hu Jiao Er was pale with exhaustion. The three rested for half a day before continuing. At that point in time, past the three-thousandth step stood a figure clad in pure white. She was taking her time climbing each step. Even at that level, she continued to climb almost effortlessly. From the start, her demeanour remained calm as she scaled the stairs, similar to taking a leisurely stroll. Even as the sleeves of her clothes fluttered about, she remained indifferent. Occasionally, she would use her hand to gracefully comb the hairs on her face back behind her ears. The energy from the ground invaded the soles of her feet, but before it could even hurt her, the energies seemed to vanish. Her entire face was flawless still, with skin as delicate as a baby’s. Obviously, this was Su Yan. Silavin: (No shit Sherlock!!) Su Yan cultivated Ice Heart Secret Arts. Similar to Yang Kai, she had a superior advantage within this test. She could easily climb without much effort. Of course, out of the three sects, Su Yan and Yang Kai were not the only ones that cultivated Yin and Yang based cultivation techniques. There were approximately 700-800 disciples who cultivated Yin and Yang, but even when they realised the advantages they had in this test, they simply could not hope to compare with Su Yan. The cultivation techniques that each person held had different ranks. Naturally, Su Yan no doubt had the highest ranks of cultivation techniques. There were only a handful of people that made it above two thousand steps. Silavin: (Dang it Yang Kai! Why you so slow D:) Xie Hongchen was sitting cross-legged, gasping for breath with a sinister and vicious look on his face. He was trying to restore his Yuan Qi with Pills. Silavin: (And the guy actually wondered why Su Yan dislikes him : / ) “With me here, the inheritance is mine! So long as I have obtained the inheritance, who cares about the disciples from the three sects? I will make High Heaven Pavilion strong enough to dominate the other two sects, and make them bow down to us! Those that question or defy me will die! And Yang Kai, you are going to be the first! This day will mark me, Xie Hongchen, as the overlord!” Silavin: (My god, take a chill pill man. I apologise that there is no medicine for stupidity though... sorry?) Skoll: (You’re talkative today. What high ambitions this fellow has for a side character though.) Xie Hongchen seemed crazy. The Yuan Qi within his body was chaotic and not flowing normally. With such erratic fluctuations in his Yuan Qi, Xie Hongchen’s strength seemed to be comparable to those in the Qi Transforming Stage. The incident pertaining to the fight against the Tortoise Monster Beast was still flashing through his mind constantly. What was circulating within his thoughts were not the scenes where the three sects colluded to bring down the beast, but instead were of the people’s spiteful gazes towards him. It was mainly due to him that the Monster Beast became enraged. However, it was not him who took it down. It was Yang Kai’s attack that gave the opportunity for the three sects to strike, finally killing the Monster Beast. Although no one had spoken directly to him about this incident, Xie Hongchen could detect their spite and hatred from their gazes. Even his Junior Sisters looked at him with apprehension. This made Xie Hongchen burn with rage. Silavin: ( O.O *jiiiii*) [No one is allowed to look at me like that! No one!] Xie Hongchen thought to himself. Silavin: (Can’t help it man, you look too ridiculous!) In front of Xie Hongchen by several hundreds of steps was Fang Ziji. He was gasping for breath while each of his steps seemed to cause his body to shiver. Silavin: (Several hundreds of steps in front, and that bitch behind still thinks he got this.) Skoll: (Chill Sil, lmfao.) “... It’s time to rest.” Fang Ziji was patient. He knew that the inheritance depended on opportunity, and the flight of stairs was merely a front. Climbing up should not be the determining factor for the successor. Thus, even if he had a strong desire to obtain the Inheritance, he was not as crazed as Xie Hongchen. “It seems that this test is specifically meant for cultivators that cultivate Yin and Yang.” Fang Ziji took out a Medicine Pill from beneath his clothes on his chest and ingested it. “ What’s the point of me actually continuing? Could this all be a simple waste of time? I might as well explore more of the Heaven’s Cave Inheritance with a few Senior and Junior Sisters. There is a much greater chance of getting something.” Silavin: (LOL! Damn, this guy is an A+ flirt. Although no one can beat Yang Kai ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )) The more he thought about it, the more Fang Ziji felt what he was doing was pointless. Before long, he stood up, but only to descend. Once he reached the ground level, he saw Du Yishuang low-spiritedly sitting crossed-legged as well. “Junior Sister Du, why did you come out?” Fang Ziji accidentally asked. Du Yishuang coldly moved her gaze away from him as she recalls his frivolous attitude. Her cheeks flushed a little as she turned her head and snorted. “Junior Sister, I was just looking for a person to be with, only to find you here.” Fang Ziji walked up to Junior Sister Du and hugged her without a second thought. “What are you doing!?” Du Yishuang struggled, but in vain because of Fang Ziji’s strength. With his burning hot, iron-like hands wrapped around her waist, Du Yishuang felt her heartbeat speed up. Rosy: (This guy a obviously a rapist. Poor Yishuang, he justs keeps picking on her) “If you don’t release me, I will bite you!” Du Yishuang seemed like a small tigress and opened her mouth ready to bite. “When a man is doing something, a woman just needs to shut up and wait!” Fang Ziji aggressively forced his actions on. Silavin: (No comment... =.=) Rosy: (As I said ...... a rapist) Skoll: (...I know it doesn’t happen in Chinese novels... but where’s a truck when ya need one?) Du Yishuang felt even worse as she failed to break free of his invasive grasp. Close to the two-thousandth step was Long Jun from the Bloody Battle Gang. He was also sitting cross-legged restoring his energy. Since the three sects’ strongest disciples did not differ too much in terms of strength, it was only normal that the height they were able to reach was about the same. Unlike Xie Hongchen and Fang Ziji, Long Jun was extremely anxious. He was not confident in his ability to obtain the inheritance. Even when his strength was considered to best out of all the three sect disciples, if one were to take into consideration his age, he would not seem to be as impressive as the others. Besides the few disciples who’ve managed to climb close to the two-thousandth step, the remaining few elite disciples were mostly above and around the one-thousandth step. At this point, many people were already struggling to progress any further. After the one-thousandth step, they needed to rest for a long period of time before being able to climb up again. Some people actually considered those as opportunities. With the difficulty of climbing, it would add another set of criteria that would allow them a chance at the Inheritance. As long as they persisted a little bit longer and further and were more determined than the rest, they would have a chance to reach the top and obtain the Inheritance. Lan Chudie, on the other hand, was struggling to climb anymore after her first few hundred steps. Normally, she would stand tall and proud but all of her hair was covered in frost. Her whole body was shaking with her uncontrollably jittering teeth, but she still pushed on and refused to give up. Silavin: (Go! Go!) On occasion, she thought of Yang Kai’s indifferent gaze towards her and could not help but feel upset. Silavin: (LOL, did this to yourself. Although I somewhat sympathise.) With both her fists clenched, her breathing ragged, she took another step up. She was an ambitious girl. She was willing to attach herself to any powerhouse, but was that a mistake? She was merely a girl without much talent. She has been laboriously cultivating the whole time in High Heaven Pavilion to only reach Qi Transforming Stage 7. Compared to the genuinely powerful cultivators, what significance could she possibly be in their eyes? Thus, she had to follow another powerful cultivator, to be protected under their wing. That was her only choice for survival. Silavin: (Girl I understand you, but even those powerhouses would like someone with more loyalty. From your own actions, why would I even bother placing you at my side?) She was not Su Yan. She was not strong. The only thing she had were her wits. Maybe one could include her body which made men drool, but Lan Chudie never regarded that as a strength. If she would classify her beauty, it was more of a burden. Only capable of flaring up men’s desires, while provoking the dangerous envy of women. Several days before at Yang Kai’s moment of crisis, she just stood there silent. She did not wish to get drawn into the conflict. Maybe if she had added a few words of assistance, he would not have held such a gaze of unfeeling towards her. Lan Chudie thought to herself, [ Why can’t you forgive me? If anyone was in such a situation, would they have chosen to support you? If only you were stronger...] Silavin: (TBH, I don’t believe the crap she sprouts.) Skoll: (To answer, yes, others would have supported him if they were friends/friendly) After climbing up a few steps, her whole body seemed to change. When she turned her head to check herself, her pale cheeks suddenly had dimples on it. While she was indulging in her own thoughts, she had suddenly broken through to the next stage. Qi Transforming Stage 8! When she closed her eyes to feel her newfound power circulating through her body, her eyes glimmered in delight. She continued upwards, to discover that the path was now much easier to climb. Her mood had rapidly changed to that of joy as she pressed on. After half a day of rest, Yang Kai and the two Hu sisters finally continued their journey. After the one-thousandth step, they could feel that the difference in energy produced by each step was increasing over the last. At first, the Hu sisters could climb without the need to rest, but the more they climbed, the more rest they required. Yang Kai was also the same. Although he had an extremely strong cultivation technique, True Yang Secret Art, his cultivation level was still too low. It was impossible for him to climb the stairs with ease like Su Yan. Therefore, the three had to take their time to move. Finally reaching the two-thousandth step with their vision blurred from exhaustion, they sat down to rest once more. The climb that changed energies every five hundred steps forced the trial challengers to adapt. This not only made them have to consume more Yuan Qi, this was also a test of their mental endurance. While the two Hu sisters huffed as their bosoms swayed up and down, Yang Kai was still relaxed. Although he had also used large amounts of Yuan Qi, the Yang Liquid in his Dantian made it much easier for him to cope. “Aren’t you tired?” Hu Jiao Er could not bear but ask Yang Kai, whom after so long, did not seem to be the slightest bit tired. If Hu Mei Er did not obtain the inheritance with her, Hu Jiao Er highly doubted that her sister could continue past the thousandth step. Right now, Yang Kai who was also in the Initial Element Stage was able to surpass the two thousand step mark. Furthermore, she had not seen him take any Medicine Pills along the way. How was it possible for him to have so much Yuan Qi? “Fortunately...” Yang Kai sat on the steps and waited for the two Hu sisters. “You monster!” Hu Jiao Er exclaimed while smiling bitterly. LOL, after reading through the comments again, I think I was rather ‘ragy’ here. Apologize to anyone who felt insulted (IDK why you would be but sure) Will tone it down in the future... hopefully – Silavin