Chapter 89: A Minor Dao Foundation Cultivator, Second Update

The path of the mountain wound and twisted, branching endlessly from the foot, yet the farther one climbed, the more those forks dwindled away until only a single road remained.

Looking at the thirty-odd youths ahead, Luo Feng’s expression was steadfast and resolute. Though he was already gasping for breath, he refused to give up.

After another three hours, the weary climbers could finally glimpse the summit shrouded in cloud and mist.

Luo Feng swept his gaze across the mountain road. After this long trial, the difference between the climbers had become plain.

They could be roughly divided into three tiers.

The twenty-odd youths and maidens in front were far ahead. Most of them were sons and daughters of feudal lords, nobles of distinguished families, born with decent constitutions. For a trial like climbing a mountain, endurance and physical strength were what mattered most.

There was never absolute fairness in this world, only relative fairness. Birth was a skill in itself; a good one could give a person advantages beyond the reach of most others.

These youths of extraordinary birth had managed to endure until now, proof enough that their willpower was no poor thing.

With innate physique combined with later cultivation and upbringing, such results were only natural.

Genius was not frightening. What was frightening was genius who worked harder than you.

In the middle were scattered clusters, perhaps several dozen in all, spread through the center of the crowd, moving back and forth in groups of three or five like a long dragon.

Most of these people did not come from princely or noble households. To get this far, they had relied entirely on their own character.

As for the more than a hundred trailing behind, they formed a dark, densely packed mass, crowding together.

Many were already at the end of their strength, yet refused to resign themselves, sustained only by one last breath.

They had to climb this mountain and see the immortal with their own eyes.

Another hour passed.

The summit of Cloud and Mist Mountain was now in sight. Faint traces of immortals could be made out, with flashes of immortal radiance and blooming lotuses.

This greatly encouraged the crowd.

In the middle of the mountain path, someone from the second tier finally could not hold back any longer. Those who could participate in the Ascension Assembly were hardly fools, and there were precedents for the Seven Xuan Sects taking in disciples.

In years past, the faster one reached the summit, the more attention one received from the immortal sects.

The immortals of the Seven Xuan Sects did not place much importance on endurance, but they certainly did not ignore it either.

If one were the first to reach the mountain top, one would surely be given special cultivation by the seven sects. The immortal road was long, and no one knew what the future would bring. Trying would cost nothing.

The first to move was a dark-skinned youth in plain coarse clothes, straight-backed and sturdy. He stared ahead at the others, gave a low roar, and strode forward.

Clearly, he was squeezing out his own potential, forcing himself onward.

Once one moved, others followed. The dark-skinned youth’s action was like the first domino falling, setting the rest in motion.

Those in the middle surged forward with him. Seeing this, the hundred-odd at the rear were unwilling to lag behind; more than a dozen who still had energy left broke into a run, gritting their teeth as they charged toward the front.

The middle and rear surged so, and even the noble young masters and heirs at the very front felt the pressure, unknowingly quickening their pace.

Luo Feng seemed stirred by the blood-hot fervor all around him.

He also wished to show that he, too, was a youthful lad who had to fight for his future.

His eyes often brimmed with tears as he struggled onward.

Alas, with such a frail constitution, how could he compete with the others?

From twenty-fifth place, he gradually fell behind: twenty-five... twenty-seven, twenty-eight... thirty... thirty-seven...

Seeing himself about to be overtaken by all the others, Luo Feng struck the ground resentfully.

He gathered every last shred of strength and launched a desperate burst forward, but in the end he still sank to the thirties.

...

Another hour passed. They were nearly at the summit, yet the weight upon their bodies grew stronger and stronger.

Those who had earlier launched their charge were becoming more and more exhausted, once again being knocked back down and returned to their starting point, even slipping far behind their earlier positions.

Only a scant few broke through their own limits and surpassed where they had been before.

Luo Feng kept pressing onward, now close to breaking into the top thirty.

Just then, a thought flashed through his mind, and by accident he brushed against a pebble. He lurched, nearly unable to steady himself.

With that, he fell to thirty-third place.

Half an hour later.

A sliver of light burst open from the heavenly gate.

Fishes and dragons danced in the sky; celestial banners swept away the evening haze, where heavenly light met the horizon. Everything shimmered and gleamed, filling the world with radiance.

The clouds dispersed, and above the seven directions, cloud platforms appeared one after another. Some bore sword-riders, some reclining figures, some immortals holding wine gourds... a thousand scenes of the immortal realm washed away mortal longing and made one forget the dust of the world.

A female cultivator of the spirit body realm came into view before the exhausted crowd. She wore a water-blue robe with pale pink brocade gauze draped outside it. As the breeze passed, the light veil fluttered, and she gave off a faint aura of spiritual grace.

At her feet rode a gleaming flying sword of clear blue water, its bright light reflecting on a pair of snow-white jade feet.

"I, Zining, congratulate all fellow daoists on breaking through the heavenly pass and entering the immortal path. This is a joyous occasion indeed."

The spirit body female cultivator smiled faintly, then flicked a finger. Spiritual rain fell, nourishing the bodies of all present.

In an instant, all fatigue vanished like smoke.

"Many thanks to Immortal Zining!"

Led by a richly dressed young master, all bowed together in gratitude.

Luo Feng used a spatial-folding method to conceal his height and blend into the crowd, utterly unremarkable.

To harmonize with the light and mingle with the dust.

If he were to bow, Luo Feng feared the spirit body cultivator would be worshipped to death on the spot, and even the Seven Xuan Sects would collapse.

Immortal cultivator Zining nodded and said, "Those holding Ascension Tokens may go directly to the cloud platforms of the various sects."

At these words, more than ten people stepped forward, bowed, and departed.

Clearly, they had long known of this and had merely climbed the mountain as a formality.

Then the spirit body cultivator Zining looked at the remaining hundred-odd and said calmly, "Since you have all completed the mountain ascent, whether you possess cultivation or not, you are considered fated."

"Those without cultivation, come to my right; fellow daoists with cultivation, come to my left."

"Follow me to test your aptitude."

At once, the crowd split into two sides.

Among those who climbed the mountain, mortals accounted for ninety, while thirty-three had come to seek a master with some skill or accomplishment.

...

Upon the high platform, clouds cut off all view below, yet the cultivators of each sect could still communicate through transmitted divine sense.

The white-haired earth immortal of the Clear and Peaceful View gazed downward and nodded in satisfaction. "This assembly may be called a complete success."

Then he looked toward the master of the Tower of Heavenly Unity and smiled. "As usual, for this hundred-year cycle, the foremost climber shall belong to the Tower of Heavenly Unity."

The tower master of the Tower of Heavenly Unity was silent for a moment, then rose and bowed to the immortals in all directions.

At once, the immortal cultivators all stepped aside. The earth immortal in red robes let out a sigh. "Fellow daoist, why force yourself so?"

The tower master gave a soft sigh. "All fellow daoists know the state of my Tower of Heavenly Unity. The old and the young do not connect."

"I am willing to relinquish the first-place disciple. Here, we need only take three disciples of the highest talent."

"What say you?"

The surroundings fell into silence. The earth immortal of the Clear and Peaceful View turned a thought and immediately found an idea.

The seven sects could not descend into chaos. For the Clear and Peaceful View, the Tower of Heavenly Unity, with only one earth immortal, posed no threat; on the contrary, it could help check the other sects.

"Agreed."

...

After a round of discussion, among the Seven Xuan Sects, the first three agreed, the last two opposed, and the sixth kept silent.

By four to two, the matter was settled.

Luo Feng withdrew his divine sense. As for the Tower of Heavenly Unity, it had nothing to do with him.

In any case, the talent he intended to reveal next would certainly appear mediocre.

Before the stone stele used to measure aptitude, there stood an old Taoist priest, a spirit body cultivator with a goatee and a stern face.

Of the thirty-three who had come seeking a master, the highest in cultivation was a middle-aged golden core cultivator.

Luo Feng stood in the middle, and soon it was his turn.

The old Taoist in charge of the test lifted his eyelids slightly and said blandly, "Your realm."

Luo Feng stepped forward a little stiffly. A trace of nervousness showed on the youth's face as he smiled and said, "This humble one is a foundation-building cultivator. In my hometown, we call that acquired innate."