Ao Longtian stepped through the golden doorway.
The darkness swallowed him.
For several breaths, there was nothing.
Then his feet touched stone.
Cold air brushed across his face.
A faint metallic smell filled his nose.
Longtian opened his eyes.
He stood inside a vast underground cavern.
Jagged pillars rose from the floor and disappeared into darkness above. Rivers of crimson liquid flowed through channels carved into the stone, giving the cavern an eerie red glow.
At the center of the cavern stood a massive stone staircase.
It climbed upward.
At the top was a single door.
Longtian stared at it.
"That seems suspiciously simple."
The voice answered.
"Third stage."
Longtian looked upward.
"What now?"
"Climb."
He waited.
"That's it?"
"Climb."
Longtian smiled.
"I suppose asking for directions would be pointless."
"You will receive no assistance."
"Naturally."
He walked toward the stairs.
The moment his foot touched the first step—
pressure descended.
Longtian's knees bent.
His eyes narrowed.
"So that's the trick."
The pressure wasn't spiritual energy.
It was physical.
Every step would become heavier.
He climbed.
One.
Two.
Three.
The pressure increased.
By the tenth step, his breathing had become heavier.
By the twentieth, his legs were beginning to ache.
By the thirtieth, sweat appeared across his forehead.
Longtian looked upward.
The staircase seemed endless.
"How high?"
"You will know when you arrive."
Longtian sighed.
"Your favorite answer."
He continued.
Outside the trial, the Ao Clan had begun to panic.
Ao Longtian had been standing motionless for nearly ten minutes.
The golden artifact floated above him.
Two of its ten seals were glowing.
Ao Lian stood nearby, watching every movement.
Gu Ren approached.
"Miss."
"What?"
"Should we move him?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because the treasure is testing him."
Gu Ren looked upward.
"And if he fails?"
Ao Lian's crimson eyes narrowed.
"He won't."
The old butler looked at her.
"You sound certain."
"I know my brother."
She looked toward Longtian.
"He has always been stubborn."
Gu Ren smiled.
"That is true."
"Very stubborn."
"Also true."
"Unreasonably stubborn."
"Without question."
Ao Lian smiled.
"Then he will survive."
A sudden pulse erupted from the treasure.
The second seal disappeared.
A third seal ignited.
Ao Lian's expression changed.
"He's passed another stage."
Gu Ren looked surprised.
"Already?"
She nodded.
But neither of them knew what Longtian had encountered.
The staircase became steeper.
Longtian had reached the hundredth step.
Every movement now required effort.
His muscles screamed.
His lungs burned.
His body was exhausted.
But something else had begun happening.
The pain was teaching him.
Without cultivation, he had been forced to experience his body honestly.
Every weakness.
Every imbalance.
Every wasted movement.
Every mistake.
Longtian adjusted.
He changed his breathing.
Shorter breaths.
Slower movements.
He stopped trying to overpower the pressure.
Instead, he worked with it.
His body gradually adapted.
The next step became easier.
Then the next.
Longtian smiled.
"So that's the lesson."
The voice remained silent.
He climbed.
Two hundred steps.
Three hundred.
Five hundred.
The pressure became monstrous.
Longtian fell to one knee.
His palms touched the stone.
For several seconds, he remained there.
His body begged him to stop.
He looked upward.
The door was still impossibly far away.
A thought entered his mind.
You don't have to finish.
Longtian frowned.
The thought didn't feel like his own.
He stood.
"Who said that?"
No answer.
Turn around.
Longtian looked behind him.
The staircase descended into darkness.
You can leave.
Longtian smiled.
"I know."
Then leave.
"No."
Why?
Longtian continued upward.
"Because you asked."
The voice went silent.
At the six-hundredth step, blood began dripping from Longtian's nose.
At seven hundred, his knees shook.
At eight hundred, his vision blurred.
At nine hundred, he collapsed.
He lay on the stone.
His chest rose and fell.
The pressure was crushing him.
The voice returned.
"You may stop."
Longtian laughed weakly.
"You're asking?"
"The trial does not require your death."
"Good."
Longtian rolled onto his back.
He stared at the darkness.
"Because I don't intend to die."
He planted one hand on the ground.
Pushed.
Nothing.
His arm trembled.
He pushed again.
His elbow straightened.
Longtian rose to one knee.
Then two.
He stood.
The pressure intensified.
His bones felt as though they might break.
Longtian took another step.
Then another.
The staircase shook.
He continued.
At the final step, he collapsed against the door.
His hand rested on the handle.
He was exhausted.
He could barely stand.
But he smiled.
"Open."
The door opened.
The pressure disappeared.
Longtian fell forward.
He landed on a smooth stone floor.
For several moments, he didn't move.
Then he laughed.
A deep, exhausted laugh.
The voice appeared.
"Third stage complete."
Longtian rolled onto his back.
"That one was unpleasant."
"You adapted."
"Was I supposed to?"
"Yes."
Longtian's smile disappeared.
"Then you're not testing whether I can survive."
Silence.
"You're studying me."
The voice did not answer.
Longtian's eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
The room beyond the door was enormous.
At its center sat a stone throne.
Something was sitting on it.
A man.
At least, it looked like one.
He wore ancient armor.
His face was hidden behind a cracked mask.
A sword rested across his knees.
Longtian slowly stood.
"Are you the fourth stage?"
The masked man opened his eyes.
They were completely white.
"No."
His voice was ancient.
"I am what remains of someone who failed."
Longtian's expression changed.
"Failed what?"
The man stood.
"The same thing you are attempting."
"What?"
"To become something the heavens cannot understand."
Longtian stared at him.
The masked man drew his sword.
"I failed."
The sword pointed toward Longtian.
"You will too."
Longtian smiled.
"That's what everyone says."
The man disappeared.
Longtian barely raised his arm.
The sword struck.
Boom!
He was thrown across the chamber.
He hit the wall.
Pain exploded through his body.
The masked man appeared again.
Another strike.
Longtian rolled away.
The sword cut through the stone floor.
Longtian jumped backward.
"You're fast."
The man said nothing.
He attacked again.
Longtian dodged.
Again.
Again.
The sword never stopped.
Unlike the creature from the first stage, this opponent was intelligent.
Unlike his reflection in the second stage, it wasn't predictable.
Unlike the staircase, it wasn't simply testing endurance.
It was testing combat.
Longtian couldn't cultivate.
He couldn't use his bloodline.
He couldn't summon demonic Qi.
He had only his body.
And the enemy was far stronger.
Longtian ducked beneath another strike.
He noticed something.
The man's sword never changed hands.
Always right-handed.
Longtian smiled.
The next strike came.
He moved left.
The sword followed.
He moved right.
The sword followed.
Then Longtian suddenly stepped inside the man's range.
The masked man hesitated.
Longtian punched him.
The mask cracked.
The man stepped backward.
Longtian stared.
"You're not invincible."
The masked man touched his broken mask.
For the first time, emotion appeared in his eyes.
Anger.
"You are learning."
"That's the point."
The man raised his sword.
"Then learn this."
The sword transformed.
Its blade became black.
The room trembled.
Longtian's smile vanished.
The masked man attacked.
This time, Longtian couldn't dodge.
The blade cut across his shoulder.
Blood sprayed.
Longtian stumbled.
The masked man attacked again.
Longtian blocked with his forearm.
The blade pierced flesh.
He gritted his teeth.
The man kicked him backward.
Longtian crashed onto the floor.
He stared at the blood running down his arm.
Then he noticed something.
His blood wasn't behaving normally.
It was moving.
Tiny threads of crimson energy were crawling back toward the wound.
His bloodline was awakening.
Not fully.
Just enough.
Longtian's eyes widened.
"You said my bloodline was sealed."
The voice answered.
"It is."
"Then what's happening?"
"You are discovering the difference between suppression and absence."
Longtian smiled.
"So you didn't remove it."
"No."
"You suppressed it."
"Correct."
Longtian stood.
The masked warrior attacked.
This time, Longtian caught the blade.
His palm split open.
Blood flowed.
But beneath the blood was crimson energy.
His bloodline.
Not enough to overwhelm the warrior.
Enough to strengthen him.
Longtian grabbed the sword.
The masked warrior tried to pull it free.
Longtian held on.
His eyes burned crimson.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
He headbutted the warrior.
The mask shattered.
The man stumbled.
Longtian struck again.
And again.
The warrior blocked.
But each attack pushed him farther backward.
Longtian's strength continued increasing.
His bloodline wasn't fully awake.
But the trial had forced a tiny opening.
And Longtian was using it.
The warrior finally fell to one knee.
Longtian stood over him.
"Who sent you?"
The warrior laughed.
"No one."
"Then why are you here?"
"To see whether you deserve the next door."
"What happens if I don't?"
The warrior smiled.
"You stay here."
Longtian looked toward the dark room.
"Forever?"
"Until you break."
Longtian's smile returned.
"Then I suppose you should prepare for disappointment."
He struck.
The warrior disappeared.
The room became silent.
A golden symbol appeared in the air.
Third stage complete.
Longtian looked upward.
"Wait."
The symbol faded.
"That's it?"
No answer.
Longtian sighed.
"I hate mysterious people."
Back in the mortal world, the third seal vanished.
A fourth seal began glowing.
Ao Lian looked at the treasure.
Then at Longtian.
"He's moving quickly."
Gu Ren nodded.
"Perhaps the trials aren't as difficult as expected."
Ao Lian shook her head.
"No."
"What?"
"They're becoming harder."
She pointed.
The fourth seal was glowing.
But beneath it—
the fifth seal had begun flickering.
Gu Ren's expression changed.
"Can that happen?"
"I don't know."
Ao Lian's eyes narrowed.
"Something is wrong."
Above the clouds, the heavenly guards saw it too.
The first guard stood immediately.
"The fifth seal!"
The second guard turned.
"It shouldn't activate yet."
"It isn't activating."
The first guard stared.
"It's reacting."
"To what?"
The answer came from the treasure itself.
Candidate bloodline detected.
The guards froze.
Then another message appeared.
Hidden inheritance recognized.
The oldest guard's face went pale.
"Stop the trial."
The others stared.
"Why?"
"Because we don't know what happens if he reaches the fifth stage."
"Then destroy the treasure."
The old guard shook his head.
"We can't."
"Why not?"
"Because the treasure isn't ours anymore."
Silence.
"What do you mean?"
The old guard looked down.
"The candidate has been accepted."
Inside the trial, Longtian stood before another door.
His blood was still dripping from his shoulder.
His breathing remained heavy.
But his eyes were bright.
He placed his hand against the door.
It opened.
Beyond it was a vast city.
Thousands of people filled its streets.
Children laughed.
Merchants shouted.
Cultivators flew between towers.
Flags waved above enormous palaces.
It looked alive.
Beautiful.
Peaceful.
Longtian stepped forward.
Then the voice spoke.
"Fourth stage."
"What is the test?"
The voice answered:
"Choose who lives."
The doors closed behind him.
Longtian's expression changed.
The peaceful city suddenly erupted in screams.
Buildings began collapsing.
Fire spread through the streets.
Thousands of people ran in every direction.
Some begged for help.
Others fought.
A child cried in the middle of the street.
An old man knelt beside his dying wife.
Cultivators attacked one another.
Longtian stood in the center.
Frozen.
The voice returned.
"You may save one."
Longtian stared at the city.
"One?"
"One."
"And the rest?"
"They die."
Longtian's fists tightened.
"Why?"
"Because power always requires a choice."
Longtian looked around.
The screams grew louder.
The city burned.
Then he smiled.
The voice became silent.
Longtian looked upward.
"Who said I accept your choices?"
The entire illusion froze.
Every person stopped moving.
The fire stopped.
The smoke stopped.
Longtian's eyes became cold.
"You've made one mistake."
The voice waited.
Longtian raised his head.
"You think I'm here to play by your rules."
The city trembled.
Longtian smiled.
"I'm here to break them."
And somewhere beyond the trial—
something ancient opened its eyes.