The Martial Arena of the Azure Cloud Sect was already crowded when Lin Mo arrived.
Thousands of Outer Sect disciples stood around a massive circular platform carved into the mountainside. Elder Han and several other elders observed the gathering from a high pavilion, their expressions calm yet imposing.
Chen Yu hurried over, slightly out of breath.
"I thought you overslept!" he laughed.
Lin Mo smiled faintly.
"I woke up early."
Only he knew that he had spent what felt like weeks training inside the Silent Interval, even though only a single night had passed outside.
A middle-aged elder stepped onto the platform.
"I am Elder Mu, instructor of the Outer Sect."
His voice echoed across the arena without the need to shout.
"Today is your first trial."
"No battles."
"No cultivation techniques."
"We will test only one thing."
"Your will."
With a wave of his hand, the ground trembled.
From the center of the arena, a staircase of black stone slowly rose into the sky.
It contained exactly three hundred steps.
The disciples stared in amazement.
"What is this?" someone whispered.
Elder Mu answered before anyone could ask.
"This is the Stone Steps of Resolve."
"The higher you climb, the greater the spiritual pressure."
"If your determination is weak, you will fall."
"If your heart is unstable, you will quit."
"But if your will is unbreakable..."
"...the mountain itself will acknowledge you."
"The trial begins!"
Immediately, hundreds of disciples rushed toward the staircase.
The first twenty steps were easy.
Laughter filled the air.
By the fiftieth step...
The smiles disappeared.
Many disciples began breathing heavily.
At the hundredth step, the first participant collapsed.
"I... can't..."
He tumbled back to the ground, defeated.
One after another, more disciples failed.
Chen Yu reached Step 86 before his legs started shaking violently.
"I... think... this is my limit."
Lin Mo looked back.
"You've done well."
Chen Yu laughed bitterly.
"I'll cheer for you from down here."
With that, he stepped aside and allowed himself to be carried down by the formation protecting the staircase.
Far ahead, Lu Feng continued climbing confidently.
Flames danced faintly around his body as he reached Step 150.
"The Fire Spiritual Root really is exceptional," an elder commented.
Another elder nodded.
"He'll likely enter the Inner Sect within a few years."
Lin Mo continued at a steady pace.
Step 120.
Step 140.
Step 160.
His breathing remained calm.
But he soon realized something strange.
The pressure on the staircase was different from ordinary spiritual pressure.
It wasn't attacking his body.
It was attacking his mind.
Memories began surfacing.
The loneliness after his parents disappeared.
The whispers of villagers calling him unlucky.
The countless nights wondering whether his parents had abandoned him.
Each memory became heavier than the last.
For a brief moment...
His foot hesitated.
Tick.
The silver watch vibrated beneath his robe.
Not enough to stop time.
Just enough to remind him.
"Keep moving."
Lin Mo took another step.
Then another.
His expression became calm once more.
"My past doesn't define my future."
Step 200.
Only seven disciples remained.
The spectators watched silently.
Even Elder Han narrowed his eyes.
"Interesting..."
Suddenly—
A cry echoed across the staircase.
Lu Feng stumbled.
The pressure had become overwhelming.
His knees hit the stone.
"No!"
"I refuse to lose!"
He forced himself to stand and climbed two more steps before collapsing unconscious.
The elders quickly rescued him.
He had reached Step 217.
A remarkable achievement.
Now...
Only one disciple remained.
Lin Mo.
The arena became completely silent.
Step 220.
Step 230.
Each step felt as though an entire mountain rested on his shoulders.
His bones creaked.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Yet his eyes remained steady.
Unknown to everyone else...
The silver watch began glowing faintly.
Not because Lin Mo was using its power.
But because something at the top of the staircase was responding.
At Step 250, he finally saw it.
A weathered stone tablet stood at the summit.
Its surface was covered in ancient silver symbols.
The moment Lin Mo looked at them, his heart skipped a beat.
They were the same runes that appeared inside the Silent Interval.
Far below, Elder Mu frowned.
"Strange..."
"That tablet hasn't reacted in hundreds of years."
Another elder stood abruptly.
"The Formation is resonating."
"How is that possible?"
Ignoring the whispers below, Lin Mo climbed the final fifty steps.
Each one demanded every ounce of strength he possessed.
Step 297.
Step 298.
Step 299.
Finally...
He placed his foot on the 300th step.
The instant he reached the summit, the ancient tablet erupted with silver light.
A deep bell rang throughout the entire Azure Cloud Sect.
DONG!
The sound spread from mountain to mountain.
Every elder in the sect looked toward the Martial Arena in shock.
Even cultivators meditating in seclusion slowly opened their eyes.
Deep beneath the sect, the ancient stone statue that had awakened the previous day whispered in a voice filled with disbelief.
"He... reached the summit."
"No..."
"It isn't the summit that chose him."
"The Tablet of Time has recognized its master."
Far above the clouds, the mysterious man with crimson eyes smiled.
"So..."
"You've finally revealed yourself."
His figure dissolved into black mist as he disappeared toward the Azure Cloud Sect.
The peaceful days of Lin Mo's cultivation had come to an end.