Chapter 30
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Chapter 30: Title
The selection trial commenced with uninitiated participants climbing the heavenly stairs – thousand steps linking to the Sanqing Realm’s outermost peak. Ascending three hundred guaranteed entry.
Suiyin stood conspicuous among the trial participants, crimson robes cinched at the waist with translucent gauze rippling around her form.
A hand waved before Xia Shi’s face snapped her from her trance.
A soft chuckle sounded nearby as the sect leader approached.
"Mesmerized?"
Xia Shi remained silent.
A crane’s cry pierced the sky as trial participants began climbing the heavenly stairs.
"How many steps will she reach?" Ye Xiao gestured toward the red-clad figure steadily ascending.
"Not sure." Xia Shi turned to leave but found her path blocked by Ye Xiao’s arm.
"Wait. Keep watching."
The heavenly stairs tested one’s nature through amplified fears and desires rather than cultivation strength. While others hesitated or stopped, the scarlet figure raced upward, already halfway up.
Ye Xiao made a surprised noise and conjured a Water Mirror showing Suiyin’s progress. The red-dressed girl had already climbed hundreds of steps and neared the summit.
"Did the stairs malfunction?"
Xia Shi ignored him. If the stairs were broken, why did others keep freezing mid-climb?
Only Suiyin reached the top that day. Fewer than fifty made it past the first third – Meng Jingqi from Xinzhou halted at step 635, Chu Xun from Fengzhou at 710, while most couldn’t pass 600.
News of the stair conqueror spread like wildfire. Disciples flocked to see this prodigy, but the second trial’s immediate start kept Suiyin hidden until the grand competition.
When the next trial began, Xia Shi returned to her peak.
Nothing worth watching here.
At Rizhào Peak, participants hunted assigned materials – Spiritual Plants or spirit beasts. Suiyin’s task matched her superior cultivation: retrieve a Golden Core golden crane’s inner core.
Her spiritual sense blanketed half the mountain instantly. Within half an incense stick’s time, she held the glowing core.
With time to spare, Suiyin sought practice grounds. Recent days had brought visions of white-clad swordsmen demonstrating exquisite techniques in her consciousness sea.
But Rizhào Peak teemed with people. Transforming into a light streak, she flew northward and spotted a snow-crowned summit.
Though familiar with Sanqing Realm’s lush landscapes, this frost-veiled mountain surprised her. Perfect for cultivation.
Delighted, she raced forward. Wentiang Peak’s protective array silently parted for her approach, sealing seamlessly behind.
Intense spiritual energy thickened the air alongside biting cold that made her tremble with exhilaration. Peering down through whirling snowflakes, she saw crystalline trees glittering like silver lace.
A pillared pavilion crowned the summit. Here, amidst endless snowfall, sword practice would feel like dancing among winter spirits.
Suiyin landed nearby, intending to approach, but discovered her chosen spot was already taken.
She crept closer through the snowfall, barely discerning the sword-wielding figure’s silhouette – slender-waisted, long-legged, executing the Thirteen Styles of Sanqing with lethal precision. The sword wind whipped up ground snow with each fluid motion.
The swordplay stirred the air, carrying faint traces of alcohol to Suiyin’s nose – weaker than the mountain frost’s bite.
Practicing drunk?
Suiyin curled her lip and leaned against a tree, waiting her turn on the cramped platform.
The sword suddenly veered toward her.
"Who’s there?"
A white blur materialized before her. The blade kissed her throat as Suiyin traced its length to Elder Wuwei’s frostier-than-usual gaze – devoid of recognition, brimming with suspicion.
"How did you enter?" Xia Shi pressed the blade closer, drawing blood from the pale neck. "The trials at Rizhao Peak aren’t concluded."
Each accusation weighted the sword heavier.
Xia Shi’s mind raced. The protective formation around Wentiang Peak remained intact. Yet here stood Suiyin, skulking like shadows. The Pei Jiu incident remained unresolved, and this trespass compounded her doubts. Even the sect leader or Huaiwen couldn’t bypass her detection.
Suiyin kept still under the steel. "My tasks were done. I sought practice space."
"Entry. How?" Xia Shi demanded. Only her jade bells permitted passage. One lost Four Hundred Years Ago, the other at her hip.
"I… sword-flew here."
"Where’s your blade?" Xia Shi eyed her empty hands. "Swordless flight?"
The sword bit deeper. Suiyin flicked the blade aside, leaping back. "I’ve told truth! What more?" Blood smeared her palm from the neck wound.
Meeting those icy eyes, unexpected tears pricked Suiyin’s vision. She tilted her head back, swallowing the stubborn tears.
Xia Shi’s sternness faltered at the glistening eyes. "No sword? No formation breach? Explain."
Suiyin scrubbed tears with her sleeve. "Who needs swords to fly? I saw no formation – thought this peak abandoned."
The master of Wild Peak remained silent.
Seeing the pitiful tears glistening in Suiyin’s eyes and meeting her sincere gaze that showed no deceit, the master wondered—had the protective formation also malfunctioned?
Xia Shi anxiously sent out a thread of spiritual power to inspect it, only to confirm the protective formation remained undamaged.
“Elder Wuwei,” Suiyin asked, “why do you despise me so?” Her eyes suddenly reminded Xia Shi of that night long ago—the flicker of sword energy carrying suppressed fury and hatred when Xia Shi had stormed away.
“Suiyin,” Xia Shi demanded, “has anything you’ve ever said been true?”
If these were truths, why did none of them make sense?
Suiyin froze momentarily before bursting into bitter laughter, as if provoked by the accusation.
“Very well. Let me demonstrate how I entered.”
Xia Shi’s sword dipped slightly.
A metallic clang echoed as her blade hit the ground. In an instant, her hands were bound tightly by dragon sinew, leaving her completely restrained.
Xia Shi stared up in shock, then flushed with humiliation.
“What to do!?”
She struggled but found the dragon sinew unyielding—escape required the transformation stage, yet her cultivation had regressed to the Nascent Soul realm.
“I feared the elder might resist.” Suiyin held the other end of the dragon sinew while condensing a blade from spiritual energy. With a tug, she soared forward, proving one could fly swordless.
Xia Shi glanced at the near-invisible spiritual sword beneath her feet, her composure shaken. To ride formless blades at the barrier between life and death—such talent eclipsed even her own prime.
The streak of light halted at the protective formation’s edge. Suiyin plunged through effortlessly.
No reaction.
She looped back.
Still no reaction.
After repeated crossings, Xia Shi’s face darkened. She’d personally reinforced this formation with layers of sword energy. Now it hung inert, mocking her like phantom slaps to the cheek.
Hovering midair, Suiyin turned. “Well? Did I lie?”
“Release me.” Xia Shi’s tone had lost its edge.
Suiyin retracted the dragon sinew the moment hostility faded from the elder’s eyes.
Xia Shi lifted her hand, summoning her Long Sword. Fresh snowflakes swirled around them as the blade returned, their icy crispness sharpening the air.
Suiyin eyed the majestic Long Sword, then her own humble spiritual sword.
Hmph. Not nearly as striking.
Before she could study the sword’s design, Xia Shi was already soaring toward the protective formation on her blade.
Suiyin quickly followed.
Outside the formation, Xia Shi activated it. The protective formation revealed itself as thousands of interlocking smaller formations, each capable of defense or attack while operating independently yet in unison.
She patted the formations. They rotated and blew a puff of cold mountain air at her.
Though harmless, the gesture felt utterly disrespectful.
Xia Shi stared silently.
"It wasn’t broken after all."
A rustle of wind announced Suiyin’s arrival behind her.
Xia Shi motioned the girl forward.
"Touch it."
Suiyin pressed a fingertip against the formation.
A snow-flower sprouted from its surface.
Xia Shi’s eyebrow twitched as she smacked the flower into drifting powder.
"Broken now."
They returned to the covered walkway where Suiyin finally noticed the stone monument engraved with three sword-carved characters: Star Viewing Platform.
"Does Elder believe me now?"
White fabric fluttered. Suddenly Suiyin’s back struck a pavilion pillar, pinned by a breathtaking face mere inches from her own.
The mountain’s frostbit wind carried traces of wine aroma and underlying woodland fragrance. Her pulse quickened as the beauty whispered against her cheek:
"Pei Jiu."
