Chapter 772: I’m the Champion?

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Li Tong fainted. This was a pitch-black world, and an eternity seemed to pass.

He slowly regained consciousness, and he struggled to open his eyes.

A vast expanse of white appeared before him.

Next to him was a stone tablet, which signified that he had completed one ten-thousandth of this trial.

Hunger, exhaustion, and pain ate at his body.

Li Tong couldn’t comprehend this at all. Could anyone pass such a brutal and inhumane trial?

This broken body of his would probably fail before he could complete the next one ten-thousandth of the trial; there was no way he could reach the finish line! He would die on the journey there… Yes, he would most definitely die on the journey there!

Think about it, he had almost died, yet he had only completed one ten-thousandth of the trial… What kind of experience was this?

This was also the reason why Li Tong fainted in despair when he saw the words on the stone tablet.

Now that he had regained consciousness, he was still feeling a deep sense of despair.

“Impossible! No one can pass this kind of trial!

“You’re toying with me, aren’t you?”

Li Tong looked toward the sky and yelled in despair.

There was no reply. The only thing that faced him was the deathly silent space and the endless flight of steps.

Li Tong trembled with exhaustion, and he hesitated for a long time.

In the end, he gazed at the endless flight of steps and raised his foot with great difficulty.

I’ll continue to climb…

I definitely won’t give up!

This was clearly an impossible task, yet for some reason, he really didn’t want to give up.

He didn’t want to fail here. His perseverance was unparalleled, and he was going to climb until he died!

His body trembled as he continued to climb, and he found that his body was starting to ignore his commands.

An eternity seemed to pass, yet he had only made it up another ten thousand steps.

Li Tong smiled wryly.

I’ll probably die long before I see the second stone tablet…

He, a prodigy of the Heavenly Battle Sect, had traveled thousands of kilometers to the Four Nine Immortal Sect to realize his dream of becoming stronger. However, this dream was about to evaporate into nothingness…

Li Tong didn’t want it to end like this… How could he leave like a defeated dog?

He gritted his teeth and continued to climb.

The thought of giving up had crossed his mind countless times already. His body, which was aching with unbearable pain, pleaded for him to give up; his pride as a prodigy begged for him to give up; his reasoning ability yelled for him to give up…

However, he really didn’t want to give up like this!

Li Tong’s mental state underwent some transformation, and the trivial thoughts in his mind all disappeared. There was only one thing left in his mind—to continue climbing upward.

If the worse comes to the worst, I’ll just die on the way to the finish line.

Sometimes, it only took an instant to grow from immaturity to maturity.

Li Tong forgot how long he had climbed for. He fainted several times, yet he continued to climb after he regained consciousness.

He was still nowhere near the second stone tablet…

He kept crawling until he fainted once again and woke up to suddenly find himself in a spacious hall. Surrounding him was the thousands of cultivators who were also here to undergo the trials like him.

“Have I failed?” Li Tong’s eyes were bloodshot as he murmured to himself.

Then, he discovered that the other cultivators were all staring at him. The look in their eyes was a bit strange.

What was going on?

Why did it seem like there was a hint of envy in their eyes as they gazed at him, a failure? There was even a hint of… admiration?

At this moment, an extremely beautiful female appeared before him. She was dressed in white, and she wore a smile on her face.

This white-clothed female was Bai Ling, the person who had designed this trial.

“Congratulations, Li Tong! You’ve placed first in this trial,” Bai Ling congratulated.

“F-first?”

Li Tong was baffled, and even his speech became stuttery.

“But… But I didn’t make it to the finish line?”

He remembered that he hadn’t even made it to the second stone tablet yet. After fainting countless times, he finally appeared in this place after fainting for the last time.

“Finish line?” Bai Ling blinked a few times. “That trial doesn’t have a finish line.”

Li Tong was baffled once again. After taking a moment to compose himself, he asked, “Didn’t you say that one had to reach the finish line to pass this trial? Moreover, that stone tablet also marked the distance to the finish line…”

“Oh, I lied. In reality, those steps stretch on forever. You’ll never be able to reach the end.” Bai Ling calmly revealed her lie.

Li Tong: “…”

Li Tong’s feeling at this moment was indescribable. He wanted to vomit blood.

The thousands of other cultivators all looked at him in sympathy. When they learned of this news, they also felt like absolute sh*t. In fact, some cultivators even fainted from anger and frustration…

Bai Ling clasped her hands behind her back and gazed toward the void. It was as though she could see through the river of time. “That set of steps is infinite; is the journey of seeking dao not the same?

“In the countless days long gone, how many have fallen on their journey of seeking dao? No one can see the end destination. The only thing you can do is to continue walking forward. It’s an endless struggle to see who can walk further.

“The difficulty of seeking dao will cause some to feel despair; it will cause some to collapse. It will also cause some to give up quickly. However, there will also be those who would never stop walking; they’re unwilling to stop where they are. Their only thought is to keep walking, to walk further. They walk on the path that appears to have an end destination, an end destination that they will never be able to reach. In the end, they die of exhaustion in their struggle to walk further.”

The cultivators fell deep into thought as they listened to Bai Ling’s words. Some were even hanging their heads in shame. That’s right, this was a test of perseverance. They all understood this.

However, understanding and doing were two very different things.

There was an approving look on Bai Ling’s face as she turned toward Li Tong. “Out of all the people here, you’re the only one who didn’t give up. You walked for the longest time, and you climbed the most steps. You deserve to get first place!”

Li Tong was once again moved by his own perseverance upon hearing Bai Ling’s words.

Clap, clap clap…

Someone started clapping, and the applause soon became thunderous.

Most of the cultivators were in awe of Li Tong’s perseverance.

Tears brimmed in Li Tong’s eyes. “As expected, I’m a supreme prodigy,” he sobbed. “As expected, I’m the most impressive individual…”

When the other cultivators heard his victory speech, their applause started to die down.

Bai Ling: “…

“Next, the top one thousand cultivators are going to undergo the second trial. The rest of you remain where you are and await orders. You guys can join as normal disciples, but you’ll also need to pass a trial for that. Whether you leave or stay is your choice.”

“More trials?” Li Tong’s eyes widened in shock.

Bai Ling chuckled coldly. “Do you think that becoming a core disciple of our Four Nine Immortal Sect is that easy?”

Li Tong didn’t reply.

With a single trial, nine thousand of the ten thousand trial-takers were eliminated. The next trial would only be more terrifying, right? A sense of panic welled up in Li Tong as he cast his mind back to his brushes with death.

Even An Lin, Xuanyuan Cheng, and the others were stunned.

Even just thinking about that trial, they could feel just how nightmarish it was. In fact, it was hard to say whether they could do better than Li Tong.

Climb steps until death; are you afraid?

As expected, Bai Ling was a professional trial designer. These trials were absolutely terrifying!

The cultivators who were eliminated were those who gave up the earliest.

Although they were disappointed, there was nothing they could do. Right now, the only choice facing them was whether or not to stay and fight for a spot to become one of the Four Nine Immortal Sect’s normal disciples.

Normal disciples dealt with the peripheral matters of the sect, and the cultivation methods and resources that they received would definitely be inferior to those received by core disciples.

However, Sect Leader An Lin announced that normal disciples who performed well would be given opportunities to be promoted to core disciples…

Li Tong and the other thousand or so trial-takers followed Bai Ling toward the second trial.