20: Holy Mountain Trials

When Qin Yue got out of the car and saw the “Holy Mountain,” his only thought was, “This isn’t a ‘Holy Mountain,’ it’s a city wall that reaches the sky!”

The “Holy Mountain” that appeared before Qin Yue’s eyes had no visible boundaries left or right, and no end in sight up or down. It was an almost ninety-degree stone mountain with a stone staircase spiraling upwards.

The mountain was so steep that Qin Yue wondered how people had climbed it before the stairs were built.

The summit was shrouded in clouds, and even with all the tall buildings Qin Yue had seen in his previous life, none possessed such an Aura.

This mountain didn’t seem naturally formed; it was a colossal peak rising from the plains, more like a giant had pulled a stone pillar from the ground and stacked it up.

“Clap! Clap! Clap!”

The muscular man who had driven the car clapped his hands, “Stop looking! You’ll have plenty of time to look later!”

When everyone turned their attention to him, he continued, “From now on, you are officially entering the Holy Mountain Selection Competition. You will do whatever I tell you to do. I will grade you based on your performance. Those who meet the standard can enter the Holy Mountain to Cultivate Martial Arts; those who don’t will go back where they came from. Now, everyone follow me, up the mountain.”

With that, he ran up the mountain, following the winding steps carved into the stone.

All the youths shouldered their luggage and followed the big man up the mountain.

At first, it was fine. Everyone was a Martial Artist in the Blood Qi Realm, so climbing the mountain was easy for them. Even running a bit faster only made them breathe a little harder.

But gradually, some started breathing heavily, running slower and slower.

The situation was a bit strange, not only because they were climbing higher and the cliff beside them made their legs weak, but also because this Holy Mountain seemed to exert a special pressure. The more they ran, the more tired they became, and their stamina quickly ran out.

Qin Yue saw that those ahead were slowing down, but he didn’t wait. Qin Yue believed that the speed of running up the mountain was definitely a Selection Competition standard for the “Holy Mountain.”

Qin Yue overtook the youths ahead from the cliff side, passing anyone who was slow. Some, seeing Qin Yue overtake, followed suit and also passed others.

Slowly, the group split into two parts, with Qin Yue leading the first group in first place.

They ran towards the summit for an hour, and the big man leading the run showed no signs of slowing down.

Qin Yue’s speed also began to slow. Normally, with Qin Yue’s physical endurance, he wouldn't be tired climbing such a long mountain, but under the invisible pressure of this Holy Mountain, even with his ox-like strength, he was gradually struggling to keep up.

He had originally planned to save his Blood Qi to deal with unexpected situations, but now he could only use it to aid his running. Fortunately, the Holy Mountain had no suppressive effect on Blood Qi. With Qin Yue’s abundant Blood Qi, he could definitely sustain himself until the summit.

Following the big man’s pace, the group Qin Yue was in slowly dwindled, and the groups behind were no longer visible. However, there was only one path, so they wouldn't get lost.

From day to night, Qin Yue and the others finally reached the summit.

Upon reaching the summit, they discovered that the Holy Mountain truly was a wall. Behind the Holy Mountain was a valley stretching an unknown distance. Because the Holy Mountain was so high, nothing in the valley could be seen clearly, but they could roughly distinguish farmlands and homes.

Although the summit was very cold, everyone was still sweating profusely.

Upon reaching the summit, Qin Yue’s first action was to consume Blood Replenishing Powder, using the Divine Bull Blood Refining Art to quickly replenish his Blood Qi, in case subsequent trials left them no time to rest.

The others, seeing this, followed suit, consuming medicine and Cultivating.

By the time Qin Yue had replenished his Blood Qi and rested for a long time, the remaining people slowly climbed up.

“You few, write down your names.”

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the big man who drove the car found a small booklet from somewhere and asked everyone to write their names in it.

After everyone had finished writing, the big man began to grade them.

“Qin Yue, fifteen points.”

Because Qin Yue was the first to follow him to the summit, the big man gave Qin Yue the highest score.

The others in the first group to follow the big man all received ten points, the second group all received five points, and those who came up later received zero points.

Only one person was an exception, and that was Zhao Yunhong, who had been talking to others in the car. Although he was in the second group to come up, he also received ten points.

According to the grading big man, he could have kept up with the first group, but he fell behind to take care of others, so he was given ten points. Qin Yue didn't know how the big man, who had been running at the very front, had seen this.

Qin Yue, seeing the big man’s grading method, had some realization. It seemed this Selection Competition encouraged mutual help. It looked like in the next stage, if he had the extra capacity, he shouldn't just look out for himself, but also for those around him. Of course, passing himself was the most important thing. If Zhao Yunhong had been the last to come up, Qin Yue didn't believe he would have received extra points.

After everyone had rested enough, the big man who drove the car again told everyone to follow him, walking along the summit to the cliff on the side facing the valley.

As they got closer, Qin Yue realized that on the Holy Mountain’s summit on the valley side, iron chains were nailed. These chains hung from the summit along the cliff, all the way down into the valley. From the summit, they couldn't see the end.

The big man waited for them to finish looking at the chains and then said loudly:

“Each person takes one chain and climbs down with me. Those who feel they can’t do it can choose to give up. Wait here, and someone will take you back. But once you climb onto the chain, remember that you are responsible for your own life or death. If you can’t hold on, you either climb back up or fall down. There is no third option. Do you understand?”

When he heard the youths reply, “Understood!”, the big man directly jumped off the cliff. The youths rushed to the edge of the cliff to watch the big man.

They saw him descend a section, pull the chain with his hand, then release the chain and descend another section. In a short while, he was out of sight.

The youths looked at each other, unsure how to choose. Only Qin Yue quietly secured his pack and tied his black saber, then chose an iron chain near where the big man had descended. Using both hands and feet, he began to climb down.

Seeing Qin Yue descend, some others couldn't resist and followed him down, one after another. Surprisingly, not a single person chose to give up.

The howling mountain wind swayed the iron chains, but it had no effect on Qin Yue. He climbed down steadily, because given the height of the Holy Mountain, this was not a sprint, but a marathon.

An hour had passed, and Qin Yue was monotonously climbing down. Only the sounds of other youths climbing the chains from above accompanied him, letting him know he was still descending and hadn't stopped. He didn't look down, as that would only distract him and was meaningless.

Just then, a white cloud covered Qin Yue. The cloud grew thicker and thicker, slowly obscuring everything above. After a while, no sound could be heard. Although on the iron chain, Qin Yue felt light and airy, as if his whole body was floating.