Li Yunxian felt a sudden flutter of unease stir within her heart.
- What’s going on?
- Am I not going to finish climbing these more than thirty steps?
Having come this far, I have to obtain the reward on the fortieth step.
- For someone in the Qi Refining stage, making it this far is already impressive.
That surge of greed that appeared at the thirtieth step had cracked open a fissure in her soul.
Li Yunxian was certain these thoughts weren’t truly hers, but others might not be so sure.
They could subconsciously believe these were their own thoughts and be shaken.
She carefully sensed her inner world and found the Heavenly Staircase quite intriguing. Suddenly, she felt no rush to continue ascending.
Those powerful cultivators above the fiftieth step also noticed Li Yunxian’s change in pace this time.
“This is… greed awakening?” the experts murmured in surprise.
The rewards on the Heavenly Staircase didn’t stir Li Yunxian’s heart until the thirtieth step…
“Li Tianying really spoiled her kid,” one elder said bitterly.
They must be quite wealthy.
Others sighed, “For her to only have a crack in her soul from material temptation at the thirtieth step, that’s impressive.
I wonder if she can resist it.”
Those above the fiftieth step speculated inwardly, but it didn’t affect Li Yunxian one bit.
She didn’t feel that having desires was a bad thing.
Having greed, anger, ignorance, and resentment is what makes one human!
She always earned what she wanted openly and gave everything she had to others generously.
This small crack in her soul, Li Yunxian could easily snuff it out, but she chose not to.
Listening to the voices surging inside, Li Yunxian pondered for a while before stepping onto the next stair.
At that moment, the entire Heavenly Staircase seemed to shift drastically in her eyes.
The ladder vanished suddenly, replaced by drifting clouds and mist between trees.
She stood atop a mountain peak.
Around her were rings of crumbling ruins, the eroded remnants of pavilions and towers that once graced this mountaintop.
Li Yunxian looked up at a massive ginkgo tree beside her.
Its trunk was so wide it would take over ten people to encircle it, and the golden leaves rustled softly overhead, as if whispering of a beautiful time long, long ago.
She reached out to gently touch the rough bark.
This was the tree she had personally planted before.
“So it really can happen,” Li Yunxian mused.
Letting go of her desires, she saw again the scenes from her past in the cultivation world.
Truly fitting for a primordial spiritual treasure.
Li Yunxian tested the ground beneath her feet.
This time, the Heavenly Staircase didn’t shake.
It seemed that ascending with a Tribulation Crossing stage consciousness was impossible, but letting the ladder come to her was fine.
She rested briefly against the ginkgo tree, then rose to clean a fallen stone tablet beside it.
She wiped the dirt from the stele inscribed with “XXX’s Tomb” and carefully reinserted it into the now level ground.
“Good night,” she said softly, patting the freshly cleaned tombstone before turning to step onto the unseen thirty-third step beneath her.
The powerful cultivators watching from above exchanged glances.
They couldn’t see the illusions the Heavenly Staircase projected for Li Yunxian; they could only observe her movements.
What kind of soul fissure illusion made a person sleep, then wake to clean a tombstone?
They were puzzled.
Moreover…
“Isn’t she spending a bit too much time on the thirty-second step?” someone asked.
It took Li Yunxian about two hours to reach the thirty-third step.
For a normal Qi Refining stage cultivator, two hours on the thirty-second step wasn’t long.
After all, most Qi Refiners never reach the thirtieth step.
But that’s not how it’s calculated.
Typically, the first soul fissure takes only minutes before the next step.
The new step then requires around ten minutes to half an hour.
The third step might take one or two hours.
The fourth step several hours to half a day.
And so on.
The stronger one’s heart, the shorter the time needed to break through each step.
Judging by Li Yunxian’s previous progress, they expected her to encounter difficulty only after the fortieth step.
Why was she struggling at the thirty-second?
And it didn’t look like she was suffering any tribulations.
Could her hardship be simply lack of sleep?
Under their baffled gazes, Li Yunxian stepped onto the thirty-third step.
This time, the scene before her was a bustling, lively street.
She sat in a private room on the second floor of a tavern, surrounded by familiar faces she had never forgotten.
“Yunxian’s back! Tell us, what did you encounter all these years?” everyone laughed, eagerly questioning her.
This was what happened after she returned to her mortal town following Foundation Establishment.
“Well, let me think… Uncle Niu once said Jin Mu Xianzun is truly hypocritical! He built a…”
Li Yunxian patted her thigh and began recounting stories from long ago—real events those around her never had the chance to hear.
Four hours passed as Li Yunxian smiled, watching the last listener in front of her drift into drunkenness with a happy expression.
After gazing at their faces for a while, she stood and headed for the next step.
The powerful cultivators above were speechless as they watched Li Yunxian steadily ascend each step.
They felt what was happening exceeded their understanding.
Two minutes on the thirty-first step was acceptable, two hours on the thirty-second was plausible, four hours on the thirty-third matched the Heavenly Staircase’s time progression logic…
But why were the next several steps each taking between four to six hours?
Some more, some less, but mostly stable within that range.
This didn’t seem right.
They stared blankly as Li Yunxian inexplicably reached the fortieth step, then, after about six hours—just as before—she smoothly broke through without any noticeable gate or threshold.
This time, what emerged was a trace of Dao resonance.
Bit by bit, it sank into Li Yunxian’s dantian without causing any physical changes.
This was natural.
Such things were meant for those at Foundation Establishment refining Jindan.
***
After gaining some Dao insight, one condenses their soul into a core.
Li Yunxian lacked nothing in Dao comprehension; Dao resonance was less useful to her than her previous sword qi.
But no one would refuse having more of it.
Especially given her current soul state.
Li Yunxian gathered the Dao resonance within her body, then naturally stepped onto the forty-first step.
@InfiniteGoodStories, only at Jinjiang Literature City
The scenery shifted with Li Yunxian’s thoughts; familiar faces appeared again, but she didn’t react immediately.
She felt her blood and spiritual power flow slow drastically inside her body.
At the forty-first step, she could still control the scenes she wished to see, but her body was beginning to fail.
Her physical strength, at the late Foundation Establishment stage, was still lacking.
However, she should be able to push two or three more steps higher.
Li Yunxian judged quietly, then turned to the person before her with a bright smile.
“Li, I’ve come to drink with you!”
The cultivators above also noticed Li Yunxian’s physical limitations and were momentarily speechless.
“Isn’t she a Tian Tong disciple? With all those body tempering resources, her physical strength still isn’t enough?!”
Then the academy’s administrator spoke fairly, “She’s only a freshman this year.
In just over half a year, she pushed her body’s strength to late Foundation Establishment. No one can say the Tian Tong body tempering resources aren’t effective.
The body has an adaptation period—it can’t be tempered non-stop.
Even steel will become brittle if hammered endlessly, let alone the human body.”
@InfiniteGoodStories, only at Jinjiang Literature City
Some sighed regretfully, “What a pity.”
Everyone felt they had seen Li Yunxian’s final result on the Heavenly Staircase.
Li Yunxian herself thought so too.
After meeting old friends on the forty-third step, she looked at the faint, seemingly endless ladder ahead and did not take a step forward.
Her bones creaked and groaned.
She had reached her limit.
She decided she’d come back another time.
Li Yunxian lowered her gaze to the steps beneath her feet.
Come to think of it, no one had told her how to descend the Heavenly Staircase.
Could it be by going backward?
Confusion gleamed in her eyes.
The powerful cultivators above also noticed her awkwardness.
They too were at a loss.
Like the Blood Pool of Tian Tong, the original way down the Heavenly Staircase was automatic: if a climber couldn’t pass the heart trial and lost themselves in illusions, they would be sent back down.
But Li Yunxian was different.
Her consciousness was perfectly clear; she wasn’t lost.
Her body simply couldn’t continue.
What could be done?
They looked at each other and finally directed their gazes toward their school principal.
Would they intervene to send her down the ladder?
If they did, wouldn’t that reveal they had nothing better to do than watch a junior climb the Heavenly Staircase? That would be embarrassing.
The Wenwu Academy principal said nothing, watching Li Yunxian carefully to see what she planned, ready to act if necessary.
But… the principal didn’t move.
Others did.
Or rather, non-human entities did.
Before everyone’s eyes, a small glowing orb suddenly appeared in front of Li Yunxian.
“I heard you don’t want to continue.”
“Why not?” the orb’s childish voice asked curiously.
@InfiniteGoodStories, only at Jinjiang Literature City
The voice was soft but exploded inside the minds of the experts.
They immediately realized what this was.
Spirit of the Heavenly Staircase.
Primordial spiritual treasures sometimes birthed soul spirits.
But… the Heavenly Staircase has a soul spirit?! How could anyone know that?!
Li Yunxian was also somewhat surprised by the spirit before her, but this wasn’t her first encounter with a Spirit of a Treasure, so she wasn’t too shocked.
She answered honestly, “My body can’t support it anymore.”
The small orb then focused on her body and scoffed, “Human bodies are truly fragile.”
After that, it didn’t pay much attention.
“If you’re leaving, I’ll leave with you.”
“I like the scenes in your mind.”
“I want to play with you!” The orb danced happily and swayed.
Before Li Yunxian could respond, the world spun violently.
In a flash, she found herself at the Heavenly Staircase’s entrance.
She sensed it was an intervention by someone at the Consolidation stage and, knowing there was only one Consolidation expert at Wenwu Academy, Li Yunxian cleared her throat.
Her expression innocent, “I really didn’t do anything this time, I just climbed the ladder. I never planned to take over the ladder and run off with it!
I swear!”
Meanwhile, atop the ladder, those watching their principal coax the Heavenly Staircase’s little spirit to stay quietly at home—
Remembering their earlier pleas for Li Yunxian to stay at Wenwu…
They wiped nonexistent sweat from their brows.
Well… it seemed they didn’t actually need students who could refine their hearts enough to hijack the Heavenly Staircase.
FALL…
One elder who had contact information for Li Tiansuo quietly sent her a message.
“You should come to Wenwu quickly.
Climbing the tower isn’t as important anymore.
Bringing your student back seems to be the most urgent matter.”
Li Tiansuo received the message:
“?”
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