The Flying Sword Peach Blossom circled around Fan Wubing, flying slowly.
"I say, do you even know the way? We've circled around several times already!"
Fan Wubing looked at Peach Blossom speechlessly.
Peach Blossom was a very plain-looking flying sword, yet its details were quite unique. In the center of its blade, there vibrated a pulsating bloodline, looking much like a blood vessel. Furthermore, when it flew, a faint purple lightning would occasionally flicker around its body.
Peach Blossom was a flying sword with emotions.
After being questioned by Fan Wubing, it twisted a bit awkwardly, then explained that the internal structure of this fragment of a small world had been massively altered, making many paths impassable.
The person and sword had already been wandering through this intertwining underground passage for a long time.
Fan Wubing said helplessly,
"Why not just go back to the door where you released your Sword Intent on me?"
Peach Blossom spun around, indicating that it forgot how to get back there.
"You!"
Fan Wubing was exasperated.
"Forget it, let me handle it myself."
Peach Blossom weakly retreated behind him, drooping its blade.
Then, Fan Wubing exerted all his strength to operate the Unwarranted Qi Creation Skill, making every inch of his skin fully feel the airflow, wind direction, and the changes between light and darkness. He didn't overlook any subtle vibrations either.
Analyzing such a large amount of environmental information would be overwhelming for most, even for cultivators specially trained in Divine Sense, it wouldn't be easy.
In this regard, the advantages of the Unwarranted Qi Creation Skill became apparent.
Everything related to "Qi" appeared to Fan Wubing as if it were lines, these lines forming the entire environment, constantly undergoing subtle changes. Finding the source of these changes allowed insight into the entire environment.
However, this process was somewhat time-consuming.
But hard work pays off. Fan Wubing finally found a passable path.
He retracted Peach Blossom into the Purple Mansion and proceeded along the sensed path.
In the oppressive, dark and damp underground, he moved slowly upward.
Feeling the surroundings getting more spacious, brighter, and warmer, he knew he hadn't taken the wrong path this time.
Following a path like a major meridian, twisting upward, about an hour later, a dazzling light appeared before him.
He took a deep breath and moved toward the light.
From the light came sounds, somewhat noisy, sounding like human voices.
At the end, a door appeared before him.
Without further thought, he stepped forward and crossed through that door.
And then, a huge and steep staircase came into view. On the stairs, there were about twenty disciples wearing the Eternal Immortal Sect Tokens on their waists, spread across various steps, climbing arduously upward.
At the seven hundredth step from the bottom, Luo Qingyao was on the verge of collapse.
On the platform below, a group of senior students from the second or third term speculated,
"It looks like she's reached her limit."
"Seven hundred steps, not bad. But for her, it's quite unsatisfactory."
"So, it seems it's all appearance. Guests from the Changsheng Continent may not be divine talents after all."
"It seems having Fan Wubing as her guiding senior brother profoundly influenced her. With any other normal senior brothers or sisters, she'd at least reach eight hundred steps."
Standing on the eight hundredth step, Sun Xiuming paused slightly and looked back. Seeing Luo Qingyao's unsteady state, he felt a bit worried, while oddly, a strange feeling rose within him. Was it... a sense of relief? Schadenfreude? A flush of triumph? Yes, I've surpassed her now, so how can she look down on me?
Upon thinking of this, Sun Xiuming gained a strange motivation. His eyebrows danced as he was eager to climb higher. He wanted... to become number one, to stand at the highest point! Then, when standing before her again, would she still look at him coldly?
Clenching his teeth, clinging to this thought, he kept moving upward, step by step.
Soon, he passed someone, then even passed the delicate girl who ranked second in the entrance test.
He reached first place.
Am I... first?
I'm first!
A blush rose to Sun Xiuming's face; he took a deep breath, wanting to declare to everyone his mountain-like determination.
He looked up, and suddenly, a silhouette appeared in his vision.
Strangely enough... that silhouette, so tall, so grand, it's like... a Divine Being, radiating light.
Who is that?
He rubbed his eyes, trying to see it clearly.
At last, he saw,
It was,
Fan Wubing!
Before he had time to be shocked, he suddenly heard Fan Wubing shout,
"Junior Sister, hold steady, open your eyes, look this way, look at me!"
The voice was exceptionally loud, brimming with an unstoppable momentum.
Everyone, whether inside the Peach Branch Small Profound Realm or outside, turned their eyes to him.
Who is that, is Fan Wubing?
It is him, he is Fan Wubing!
The exhausted Luo Qingyao shook violently, as though injected with the strongest and most powerful emotion. Her fatigue and suppression swept away, her blurry vision never clearer. She clearly saw that this senior brother, who nearly broke her heart in this Small Profound Realm, was actually standing there, at the highest point.
She lowered her head, mocking herself quietly.
Another illusion, right?
Seeing that she was unmoved, Fan Wubing shouted again,
"Junior Sister, quick, hurry up! I'm fine, I'm perfectly fine!"
Luo Qingyao's eyes brightened a bit. Her slender neck stiffened as she spoke with a slight nasal tone,
"If I come up, will you reward me?"
It sounded as though she was holding an excellent piece of homework for review by a private tutor, asking an adult for candy.
Fan Wubing said loudly,
"Of course! If you make it up here, we'll spend an entire day in the city having fun!"
An entire day of fun? It was a date!
Luo Qingyao's eyes widened immediately, with no time to overthink it, her mind filled with nothing but "date."
She took another step forward,
One step, two steps, three steps...
Her pace grew lighter, faster.
Like riding the wind, like soaring through the clouds, she ascended swiftly.
She stood on the eight hundredth step. This time, she didn't question herself inwardly, just continued moving forward.
She passed one person after another, reaching the eight hundred and fiftieth step.
Standing on the eight hundred and ninetieth step, Sun Xiuming saw her approach inexorably, and somehow panicked inside... No, I must be higher than her... Only by being higher can I stand before her openly... Faster, I need to go faster... Damn, what's wrong with these legs, why can't they move... Damn it, move, move, move!
He forgot why he was climbing the steps initially, with only the impending surpassing by Luo Qingyao in his eyes.
No! You can't surpass me!
Sun Xiuming's face flushed red, striving to climb up to the nine hundredth step.
Almost there, almost, just one more step till the nine hundredth step!
Then, an ink-green figure suddenly brushed past him.
Luo Qingyao, moving so effortlessly, as if she felt no obstacle, reached the nine hundredth step ahead of him.
But not just that, nine hundred and one, nine hundred and two...
She seemed to walk on flat land, with an aura of confidence.
Sun Xiuming's steps faltered, he fell down. He could only watch as Luo Qingyao moved further and further away, getting closer to the highest thousandth step.
He looked once more to the highest point.
Ah, as it turns out, Fan Wubing had long been at the top, waiting for her.
Somehow, he suddenly felt dazed, inexplicably thinking,
If, if I had firmly chosen him before, would I now be the one standing at that highest point, by his side?
...
(Keep reading, friends, your continued reading is my motivation to create more!)