Minutes slipped by as the test continued.
The staircase had already turned into a scene of struggle and despair. Several disciples had managed to reach the twenty-fifth stair, but the instant the gravity doubled, their confidence shattered. Their bodies bent under the invisible weight, knees slamming against stone as groans escaped their throats. Some tried to push forward, veins bulging and faces red, only to collapse moments later.
Blood splattered the stairs.
A few vomited violently, spiritual energy running wild inside their bodies. Senior disciples coldly waved their hands, and those who failed were dragged away like discarded trash, their dreams of entering the Celestial Dignity Sect ending right there.
Meanwhile, Zhuo Huan remained standing on the very first stair.
He hadn't moved at all.
From below, mocking voices rose once again.
"He's still there?"
"Tch, scared shitless already?"
"What a waste of space."
Even the senior disciples observing from a distance glanced at him briefly before losing interest altogether. In their eyes, he was nothing more than another weakling who had overestimated himself.
Then, without warning, Zhuo Huan lifted his foot.
Step.
The sound was light, almost insignificant.
The second stair.
His entire body trembled as the pressure surged, muscles quivering violently. Yet this time, his knees did not bend. He gritted his teeth, veins popping along his arms and neck.
Step.
Third stair.
The pressure dug deeper, grinding against his bones. Pain spread through his body like fire, but he endured it.
Step.
Fourth.
His pace was slow, painfully slow, as if each step required him to gamble his life. Still, he continued forward, refusing to retreat. With every step, the gravity crushed his muscles, only for them to harden in response. His bones felt as though they were being squeezed and reforged, layer by layer.
The weakness that once plagued him began to fade.
By the time Zhuo Huan reached the tenth stair, his breathing had steadied. Though sweat soaked his clothes, his eyes were no longer dull.
By the twentieth stair, a sharp light flickered within them.
When he stepped onto the twenty-fifth stair, the gravity formation activated once more.
Boom.
The pressure doubled instantly, slamming into him like a falling mountain. His shoulders dropped, his spine creaked, and his feet slid half an inch backward before he stabilized himself.
"Huh?"
A few disciples below finally noticed something was wrong.
"He didn't fall?"
"He actually reached twenty-five?"
Zhuo Huan remained still, allowing the doubled gravity to wash over him. His skin flushed red as blood circulation surged. Veins stood out clearly across his arms, pulsing violently beneath his skin. His muscles tightened, adapting to the new level of pressure as minutes passed.
Then he moved again.
Step after step, his speed gradually increased.
Thirty.
Thirty-five.
Forty.
Around him, the staircase turned into a graveyard of broken wills. Disciples slowed to a crawl, faces twisted in agony. One by one, they collapsed, unable to endure the pressure any longer. Screams echoed as their bodies were flung off the stairs, disqualified without mercy.
Zhuo Huan passed them all.
When his foot landed on the fiftieth stair, the gravity doubled once more.
Boom.
The platform trembled faintly under the sudden surge of force.
Even the senior disciples who had been watching indifferently straightened unconsciously.
"He actually made it to fifty."
"But this should be his limit."
Zhuo Huan's body shook violently. The pressure this time felt as if it were trying to tear him apart from the inside. His muscles screamed, his bones groaned, and his vision blurred for a brief moment.
He stopped.
Once again, he did not advance.
The crowd below fell into uneasy silence, eyes fixed on his unmoving figure.
Minutes passed.
Then, slowly, Zhuo Huan straightened his back.
Crack crack crack.
A series of crisp sounds echoed from within his body, as though something had shattered and reformed at the same time. His physique adapted forcibly, pushing past its former limits. The weak aura around him vanished, replaced by something sharp, solid, and dangerous.
"What the hell…"
"He's breaking through just by standing there?"
Zhuo Huan took another step forward.
Then another.
His pace suddenly quickened.
Sixty.
Sixty-five.
Seventy.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"He already passed the test!"
"Why the hell is he still climbing?"
At the seventy-fifth stair, the gravity doubled yet again.
Boom.
Zhuo Huan staggered for the first time in a long while. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth, dripping onto the stone steps below. His vision wavered, but his eyes burned with uncontrollable excitement.
"Good… very good."
He stood still once more, letting the terrifying pressure temper his body to the extreme. His muscles tightened like steel cables, his bones ringing as if hammered by an unseen forge.
The senior disciples could no longer hide their shock.
"This bastard…"
"He's using the formation to temper his body!"
Moments later, Zhuo Huan moved again.
Eighty.
Eighty-five.
Ninety.
The entire staircase fell deathly silent.
No one spoke.
All eyes were locked onto the lone figure ascending step by step, as though gravity itself had lost its authority over him.
When Zhuo Huan finally stepped onto the hundredth stair, the pressure reached its absolute peak.
Boom.
And then, it vanished.
The crushing weight disappeared in an instant. Zhuo Huan stepped onto the upper platform, his body drenched in sweat, clothes clinging tightly to his skin. Yet his posture was straight, his presence calm and unshaken.
He was the first to arrive.
The test ground exploded into chaos.
"He reached the top!"
"All hundred steps!"
"He's insane!"
Zhuo Huan stood quietly on the platform, looking down at the staircase below. A cold, satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"This sect," he muttered softly, "is worth joining. I haven't started cultivation yet but my physical strength is currently in Fifth Level Of Qi Refining Stage"
After some time, the hour allotted for the first test finally came to an end.
A subtle ripple passed through the air.
The disciple with the mole and the scarred disciple suddenly appeared beside Zhuo Huan, as if they had always been there. Their presence was abrupt and overwhelming, their spiritual pressure spreading out naturally.
Zhuo Huan sensed them the instant they arrived. He turned his head slightly, glanced at them from the corner of his eye, then smiled faintly and shifted his gaze back toward the staircase below.
Disciples were still climbing.
Some were crawling forward with shaking limbs, while others clung desperately to the stairs, refusing to give up even when their bodies had reached their limits. Roughly thirty percent of the participants had already crossed the fiftieth stair, standing or resting there with exhausted expressions. The rest were scattered below, still struggling upward with pale faces.
At that moment, the disciple with the mole stepped forward. His smile vanished, replaced by a cold and authoritative expression. Spiritual energy surged from his body as his voice echoed across the entire test ground.
"Your time is over. Disciples who have climbed fifty stairs have passed the first test. Those who failed to reach fifty stairs are disqualified."
The instant his words fell, the gravity pressure on the staircase vanished completely.
Suddenly freed from the crushing force, the disciples below the fiftieth stair lost all balance.
Their bodies lifted into the air.
"What—?!"
"No, wait!"
"I was almost there!"
Screams erupted as they began floating helplessly. Panic spread instantly. Some thrashed wildly, others cried out in despair. Faces twisted with rage, fear, and hopelessness.
"I fucking failed!"
"Damn it! Let me try again!"
"I curse you all!"
Some broke down crying, while others shouted madly, claiming they would kill themselves if the sect didn't accept them. Their voices overlapped chaotically, filling the air with curses and sobs.
But no one listened.
In the blink of an eye, the floating figures were flung away by an invisible force. Space twisted briefly, and within a single breath, all of them disappeared from the test ground.
They reappeared outside the sect's main gate, beyond the protective formation.
Realizing what had happened, the disqualified disciples rushed forward in desperation, slamming their fists against the shimmering barrier.
"Let us in!"
"Please, give us one more chance!"
"Fuck this sect!"
Their hands struck the formation again and again, only to be repelled violently. Some were thrown backward by the backlash, blood spraying from their mouths as they collapsed onto the ground.