Su Chen had already started climbing. Even though an immense pressure bore down on him with every step, he didn't stop.
Boom!
A heavy force pressed against his body, making him bend slightly—but he gritted his teeth, straightened his back again, and pushed forward. His breathing grew heavier, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
Huff... Huff...
But he didn't stop.
Not until he saw the staircase where Long Qianxue stood. That's when his steps turned faster, almost hurried.
Huff... Huff... Fuck.
"A single mistake... and I might've just made her a life-and-death enemy," he muttered under his breath.
Sure, maybe he could directly run away today, even without talking her. But what about later? Once she realized he wasn't the real Su Chen, that someone else had taken his place...
She'd definitely come after him. Hunt him down without rest.
"And I even had the guts to warn her not to interfere with fate..."
He let out a dry laugh, a grin creeping onto his face despite the pressure crushing his bones.
What fate? I just don't want her to messing with mine.
As for everyone else's fate?
Who the hell cares.
That so-called warning? Total bullshit. Pure nonsense.
He let out a small laugh.
"Ha… seems like I've got no other choice."
Without hesitation, Su Chen opened the system storage. His gaze swept across the spirit fruits inside until it landed on one glowing with a vibrant green hue. It radiated dense Wood Qi—its name: True Essence Apple. He only had two.
Without wasting a moment, he took one and tossed it into his mouth. Crisp and bitter-sweet. The moment he bit down, a warm stream of pure vitality surged through his body. He didn't stop. The second one followed immediately.
Then—he activated the Wood Sovereign Script at full force.
Ancient characters lit up across his body, glowing in a deep emerald hue. A lotus symbol emerged between his eyebrows, shining like a divine mark. In that instant, all twelve of his body's meditation points awakened, greedily pulling in Qi from the surrounding world like starving beasts.
With his body reinvigorated, Su Chen stepped onto the next column of the Heaven Stairs.
Boom—
His Qi surged, filling his meridians. The pressure came crashing down again, stronger than ever, but he didn't stop. His face twitched in pain, his breathing turned ragged—but he climbed. Step by step. Slowly, steadily.
After ascending several more columns, he felt a sharp pain in his nose. He wiped it with the back of his hand.
Blood.
But not ordinary blood—seven-colored.
His eyes narrowed, but he didn't stop. Gritting his teeth, he pressed forward.
Then—BOOM—he reached one of the highest columns yet.
The pressure here was monstrous. A force like a collapsing mountain bore down on him, shoving him to his knees instantly.
"Hh… huff…"
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
"If I fail here… I'll fall all the way back to the first step."
"I won't let that happen," he growled in his mind.
He forced his trembling hands to the ground and tried to push himself up. His muscles screamed, his bones groaned—but halfway through rising… CRACK—he was slammed down flat against the stone.
His vision blurred.
And then—darkness.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself floating in his sea of consciousness. Strange colors swirled all around—seven distinct hues, mixing and surging like a divine storm. In the center, a glowing green lotus slowly spun, giving off an ethereal radiance.
Before he could even think, the sea of colors twisted—and dragged him under.
He was pulled into the vortex—into the depths of his own soul.
He kept getting pulled deeper… deeper… until he reached the very bottom of his sea of consciousness.
The surroundings were silent. Empty. An eerie, endless darkness stretched around him.
Su Chen looked around, but there was nothing.
Still—he kept swimming forward, pushing through the still waters of his mind.
Time felt strange here. He didn't know how long he drifted. Minutes? Hours?
Then suddenly—
He heard it.
A sound. No, a call.
Ancient. Ethereal. Like a whisper from the beginning of time itself.
Without hesitation, Su Chen turned and moved toward it. The sound grew louder, resonating through his bones and soul. It wasn't just calling—it was summoning him.
And then he saw it.
Floating in the center of the void—a celestial fetus, glowing with seven colours light, curled peacefully in meditation. It hovered mid-air like a divine embryo, untouched by time, born from the very origin of the Dao.
And behind it… the world began to take shape.
Not an illusion—creation.
Planets, stars, immortal mountains, rivers of law… they all emerged from the darkness, orbiting around the fetus like loyal subjects paying reverence. The air was thick with the presence of ancient Daos—Life, Death, Space, Time, Karma, and dozens more—each thread spiraling like stardust around the divine being.
Then—above all else—an enormous Dao Monument descended from the heavens.
Towering. Ancient.
Its surface etched with countless runes, each one radiating the essence of a different Dao.
As Su Chen watched, a voice echoed in his mind. Calm, yet absolute.
"The heavens may birth geniuses… but the Dao bows only to the Sacred Fetus."
His soul trembled.
This wasn't a hallucination.
This wasn't a test.
This… was authority.
Another line followed—deeper, heavier, like a decree from the cosmos itself:
"You are born sacred. You walk where others kneel. No being under the heavens can make the Dao Fetus submit."
The vision trembled.
Then—BOOM—everything surged toward Su Chen in a burst of divine brilliance. The light, the sounds, the Daos, the voice—all of it fused into him.
His eyes snapped open.
He wasn't on the ground anymore.
He was hovering mid-air above the Heaven Stairs—completely unaffected by the crushing pressure that had pinned him moments ago.
The air felt different. His body… was different.
He checked his cultivation. Though still sealed at the early Core Formation Realm, he could feel it—he had already broken through to the peak of Core Formation. Only one step away from Nascent Soul Realm.
"Hehe… how cool," Su Chen muttered inwardly, a smug grin tugging at his lips.
But he quickly caught himself.
"No, no… keep a low profile. Low profile…"
That vision—no, that awakening—was the full manifestation of his Innate Sacred Dao Fetus Physique. And now… he could feel it clearly. He could fully utilize its potential.
Not wanting to waste time, Su Chen looked up.
"Since I'm free from the pressure for a few seconds… I might as well take advantage of it."
With a swish, he shot upward like a meteor.
Whoosh— In just three seconds, he crossed the remaining ten steps in a blur and stood tall—at the top of the Heaven Stairs.
The trial… was over.
[Author's Note]
[I was thinking about doing a mass release…
But—sigh—you guys are too stingy with those power stones!]
[So, instead of dropping everything at once, I'll have to slow things down a bit. That way, my loyal readers (yes, you!) still have time to toss some stones my way and help boost the ranking.]
[Fair deal, right?]