76: Chapter 76: Is Your Dao Heart So Steadfast?

Ten breaths later, Xiao Ran opened his eyes, which were shining with brilliance.

Status, back to Peak!

Not only that, he felt his Guixu Body had improved during the fight just now, and his control over the power of devouring had become more refined.

A blessing in disguise.

Xiao Ran smiled and stepped out of the light gate.

On the platform, someone had already come out.

Li Tianxing stood with his hands behind his back, his aura steady; he had clearly won with ease.

Ling Jianxin stood holding his sword, his Sword Intent even more condensed.

Li Changsheng had pure Qi circulating around him; his Dao embryo seemed to have progressed further.

White Bone Scholar, Jian Wuchen, and Su Qinghan had all come out as well, but they were all injured.

Among them, White Bone Scholar's injuries were the most severe, with a deep wound on his chest that showed the bone, indicating he had gone through a fierce battle.

Liu Ruyan was the last to come out; her face was pale, and her right arm hung limply, clearly broken.

"Where is Ba Dao?"

Xiao Ran suddenly noticed one person was missing.

Before his voice could fade, a light gate exploded.

Ba Dao staggered out, covered in blood, his left arm severed at the shoulder!

But he had come out alive, his eyes filled with a frenzied Battle Intent.

"Hahaha! I won! I won!"

All nine people had passed.

But the price was heavy.

"The second hurdle is passed."

The voice of Elder Gu rang out.

"Reward: Climbing speed increased by thirty percent, lasting for three hours."

A faint light lit up on all nine people simultaneously; the pressure and interference on the steps seemed to have lessened significantly.

"Let's continue."

Li Tianxing was the first to step onto the 2,001st step.

Everyone followed.

With the speed bonus, climbing became much easier.

But everyone knew this was only temporary.

Ahead, there were still over seven thousand steps; they had barely climbed less than a quarter of the way.

No wonder no one had ever been heard of bringing out the so-called Immortal-Demon Inheritance from the Secret Realm before.

It turns out the damn first trial is this difficult.

And there are more tests after the Immortal Climbing Ladder.

...

Since the climbing speed was increased as a reward for passing the two thousandth step, no one wasted any time.

They all used their best skills to climb rapidly.

Li Tianxing and Ling Jianxin were the first to reach the three thousandth step.

The others arrived one after another.

Xiao Ran did the same, and when he stepped onto the three thousandth step...

Ahead, there was no platform, only a stone tablet.

Two large characters were carved on the stone tablet:

"Asking the Dao."

"The third hurdle: The Asking the Dao Trial."

A voice rang out.

"After the three thousandth step, every step will question your original heart."

"What is the Dao? What is a Demon? What do you seek?"

"Those who cannot answer will be trapped on this step forever."

Xiao Ran was stunned.

This time, the test was not a battle or a puzzle, but... Asking the Dao.

It asked the most fundamental questions.

He stepped onto the 3,001st step.

A voice echoed in his heart:

"Xiao Ran, why do you cultivate immortality?"

Xiao Ran paused.

Why cultivate immortality?

Before transmigrating, he saw the protagonists in cultivation novels roaming freely.

He fantasized about one day being able to fly, tunnel through the earth, and live forever.

After transmigrating, he possessed a System; in the Early Stage, it was for self-preservation, for strength, and to... rule the Immortal Realm with his brothers.

"So, my damn cultivation is to reach the top step by step; I want to be the Demon Realm Supreme."

Xiao Ran answered.

He continued upward.

"What is the Dao?"

The voice asked again.

The Dao?

The Supreme Dao Palace cultivates the Dao, emphasizing quietude, inaction, and following heaven's mandate.

But what does that have to do with him?

He cultivates the Demonic Path.

He continued upward.

"What is a Demon?"

The voice rang out a third time.

A Demon?

The Eternal Night Demon Sect cultivates the way of the demon, emphasizing acting on one's nature and changing one's fate against heaven.

As Xiao Ran moved up step by step, more and more questions arose in his heart.

However, he felt his Dao Heart becoming increasingly firm.

Xiao Ran looked ahead.

Li Tianxing walked at the very front, every step incredibly firm.

His Blood-Fiend Devilish Qi was as solid as iron; his Dao Heart was clearly stable.

Ling Jianxin's Sword Intent pierced the sky; his Taiqing Sword Heart was as clear as a mirror, unmoved.

Li Changsheng's Dao embryo was natural, resonating with heaven and earth as if merging with the stairs; he walked the most easily.

White Bone Scholar's bone-deep strength was constant; he moved upward with steady steps.

Jian Wuchen's Sword Heart was clear and bright; Asking the Dao was not difficult for a Sword Cultivator.

Su Qinghan's cold Qi overflowed; she didn't seem to be affected much.

On the contrary, Liu Ruyan's face showed a bit of pain; because her Cultivation Technique required absorbing the strengths of a hundred schools, she seemed somewhat exhausted under so many questions.

As for the last person, Ba Dao... he was kneeling on the 3,100th step.

He held his head in his hands and let out a painful roar.

"What is... my Dao?"

"Pfft!"

Ba Dao spat out a mouthful of blood, and with a flash of light, he was forcibly teleported off the stairs.

Eliminated.

One out of nine is gone!

"Ba Dao..."

Xiao Ran felt a chill in his heart.

This was the terror of the Asking the Dao Trial; it didn't harm the Physical Body but only attacked the Dao Heart.

Those with weak Dao Hearts are eliminated instantly.

But Ba Dao is a Saber User!

A Saber User trains their heart before their saber; how could he be eliminated?

Everyone was puzzled.

In fact, Ba Dao's Dao Heart had collapsed; he was a Genius of the Loose Cultivators Alliance and had always believed he was not inferior to the so-called Sect Geniuses.

However, after entering the ruins, he had successively fought Li Tianxing and Ling Jianxin.

But he didn't win either time.

So his mentality collapsed, and after experiencing so many questions on the steps, his state of mind naturally became chaotic.

The most taboo thing when questioning the heart is exactly this.

Naturally, Ba Dao broke down.

"What a pity!"

Xiao Ran shook his head and sighed.

Then he continued to climb upward.

With every step, a question would strike.

Including but not limited to: Why do you cultivate? Is cultivation really important to you? If your talent were extremely low, would you still cultivate?

...

Various bizarre questions like those mentioned above.

Xiao Ran answered seriously at first, but eventually, he got annoyed by the questioning.

He simply started giving irrelevant answers.

As a modern person, an outstanding youth influenced by the internet...

Xiao Ran's heart was exceptionally firm.

Moreover, he was a transmigrator and didn't belong to this world in the first place.

If a person has no attachments, then they have no weaknesses.

This hurdle of questioning the heart was not difficult for him.

Thus, his climbing speed became faster and faster, and he vaguely reached the first tier.

He was about to catch up with Li Tianxing and Ling Jianxin.

Li Tianxing seemed to sense something; he looked back, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

"Junior Brother Xiao's Dao Heart is this stable?"

In fact, it wasn't that Xiao Ran's Dao Heart was stable, but that Xiao Ran had found a way to cope.

Soon, everyone finally climbed onto the four thousandth step.