Golden light poured down from the summit like a heavenly river.
The moment it touched the Stairway of Resolve, the invisible pressure changed.
It no longer weighed only on the body.
It descended upon the mind.
Lin Yuan suddenly found himself standing in complete darkness.
The mountain...
The stairs...
The other candidates...
Everything had vanished.
"What is this?"
His voice echoed into the endless void.
Then, a familiar laugh reached his ears.
"Brother Yuan!"
His body froze.
That voice...
It was impossible.
A gentle light appeared before him.
The darkness faded, revealing his village exactly as it had been before the massacre.
Children chased one another through the roads.
Smoke rose from cooking fires.
Villagers greeted each other with warm smiles.
His father stood outside their small house, repairing a wooden fence.
His mother waved from the doorway.
"Yuner!"
"Come home. Dinner is ready."
Lin Yuan's eyes widened.
His hands trembled uncontrollable.
"...Mother?"
She smiled warmly ,exactly as he remembered with her hands stretched out before him she said,
"Why are you standing there?"
"Hurry on inside and eat before the food get cold."
His father laughed.
"You've been wandering the mountains all day again come on in."
For a brief moment...
Lin Yuan forgot everything.
He took one step forward.
Then another.
His heart longed to believe.
To stay.
To never leave this place again,and for a brief moment he forgot it all, the revenge, the tests and the outside world
But just as he reached the door and was about to take his mother's hand, the chain shook which released a gentle stream of energy clearly his mind immediately...
He then began to noticed somethings.
There was no wind.
The trees did not sway.
The smoke from the chimneys never moved.
Even the birds in the sky remained frozen.
His expression slowly hardened. He looked at his mother again with her hands stretched calling for him and slowing shook his head.
"This..."
"...isn't real."
The smiles on the villagers' faces became stiff.
The entire village began to crack like fragile glass.
His mother's voice suddenly became distorted.
"Stay..."
"You don't need revenge..."
"Stay with us forever..."
Lin Yuan closed his eyes tears slowly dropping from them .
When he opened them again...
There was on hesitation again, only resolve.
"I miss you."
"I always will."
"But if I remain here..."
"...your deaths will have meant nothing."
He raised his hand.
The First Chain inside his dantian resonated.
Crack!
The illusion shattered into countless fragments.
Outside...
Lin Yuan took a deep breath and without looking back he took another step forward .
Then another.
The golden light around him flickered before disappearing completely.
Elder Mo's eyes widened.
"He broke the Heart Illusion..."
"So quickly?"
One elder beside him nodded slowly even he was surprised .
"Most candidates struggle for hours."
"He escaped within moments."
"But look."
Lin Yuan's face was wet with tears.
He had not escaped because the illusion was weak.
He had escaped because he had accepted reality.
The staircase grew steeper.and as they moved higher Only a few hundred candidates remained.
Many had collapsed from exhaustion.
Others sat on the steps, unable to continue.
Among those still climbing was the young noble who had mocked Lin Yuan earlier.
His luxurious robes were soaked with sweat.
He glanced at Lin Yuan, who was steadily overtaking him.
His face twisted with disbelief.
"Impossible..."
"How can a nobody..."
"...surpass me?"
Driven by jealousy, he suddenly stretched out a foot.
Lin Yuan, focused on climbing, nearly stumbled.
The noble sneered.
"If you fall now..."
"No one will know."
Before he could act again, a cold voice rang out from above.
"Attempting to sabotage another candidate."
"Immediate disqualification."
A streak of blue light descended.
The noble youth was lifted into the air by an invisible force and thrown from the staircase.
His furious screams echoed all the way down the mountain.
The remaining candidates climbed in complete silence.
No one dared break the rules again.
Step after step, Lin Yuan climbed.
Eight hundred stairs.
Nine hundred.
A thousand.
Each breath burned like fire.
His muscles screamed.
His vision blurred.
Just as his strength began to fail...
He remembered Gu Chen's words.
"A Sovereign does not kneel to the heavens but he takes every challenge as an opportunity to grow stronger."
Lin Yuan straightened his back.
"No matter how heavy the mountain is ..."
"...I will climb it."
With one final burst of determination, he crossed the last remaining steps.
The pressure vanished instantly.
A cool breeze brushed against his sweat stained face.
He had finally reached the summit, looking around Only ninety-three candidates remained from the thousands who had begun.
A vast square stretched before them, paved with white jade.
Beyond it stood magnificent halls nestled among the clouds.
Spirit cranes circled overhead.
The air itself shimmered with spiritual qi.
Many candidates collapsed where they stood.
Others laughed in relief.
Lin Yuan simply looked around quietly.
For the first time...
He truly felt that he had entered the world of cultivators.
Elder Mo appeared before the successful candidates.
His sharp gaze swept across them.
"You have passed the first trial."
"But do not celebrate."
"The second trial..."
"...is far more dangerous."
With a wave of his sleeve, a huge stone monument rose from the center of the square.
Ancient characters glowed upon its surface.
TRIAL OF THE SPIRIT VEIN
A murmur spread through the crowd.
Every cultivator knew that a person's spirit vein determined how easily they could absorb spiritual qi.
Some possessed ordinary talent.
Some were geniuses.
A few were monsters destined to shake the world.
Elder Mo continued,
"The monument will reveal your cultivation aptitude."
"It cannot be deceived so don't even try ."
"It cannot be hidden."
As Lin Yuan looked at the towering monument, the First Chain deep within his dantian emitted a faint pulse.
For the first time since leaving Black Crow Mountain...
It reacted on its own.
Lin Yuan's heart sank.
"If the Chain is exposed..."
"...everything will change."
Begin.