As the two conversed, Lin Xiao pressed onward.
With a body tempered by heavenly thunder, infused with Martial Emperor essence blood, and trained in the Nine Nether Demon Physique, the pressure of Haoran Mountain’s seven thousand zhang was still easily bearable for him.
He also noticed that circulating his internal energy significantly reduced the pressure.
After two hours, Lin Xiao reached eight thousand zhang.
At this point, he felt a terrifying pressure bearing down on him, seemingly emanating from the dense Haoran Righteous Qi surrounding him.
The overwhelming Haoran Righteous Qi limited his vision to barely ten zhang and his divine sense to no more than twenty zhang.
“No wonder the sect leader couldn’t surpass eight thousand zhang back then. This pressure is truly formidable,” Lin Xiao sighed inwardly, taking a deep breath before continuing upward.
He stepped beyond eight thousand zhang.
With that step, he surpassed Dongfang Kaiyuan’s record.
A thousand zhang below, Yun Jing’s excited voice rang out, infused with energy, reaching everyone below. “He’s done it, he’s surpassed eight thousand zhang!”
The crowd erupted in excitement.
Though expected, Lin Xiao’s achievement still thrilled them.
This was the record set by the sect leader.
In the Spear Dragon Sect, the sect leader was their idol, but at over a hundred years old, his youthful feats were beyond scrutiny. Now, a prodigy matching, even exceeding, that height at eight thousand zhang filled them with joy.
After Lin Xiao crossed eight thousand zhang, no further sound came, as even Yun Jing’s divine sense couldn’t probe beyond that distance.
Four hours later, Lin Xiao reached just below nine thousand zhang.
By now, he felt an immensely powerful pressure. Enveloped in hazy Haoran Righteous Qi, his vision was reduced to a few zhang.
“Hiss!” After a deep breath, explosive physical strength surged through Lin Xiao’s muscles. From his dantian, beyond his phenomenon, his strongest power erupted.
Then, Lin Xiao stepped forward, planting his foot heavily on the ground. After a brief pause, he leaned forward, lifted his back foot, and stood firmly at nine thousand zhang on Haoran Mountain.
“Hiss!”
At that moment, somewhere, a pair of aged eyes snapped open, a powerful divine sense sweeping out.
“Someone has reached nine thousand zhang?” a shocked voice exclaimed. “It seems this generation has produced an extraordinary genius!”
Under those watching eyes, Lin Xiao continued climbing beyond nine thousand zhang.
Though each step was arduous, Lin Xiao’s pace didn’t falter.
Nine thousand one hundred zhang, three hundred zhang, five hundred zhang.
Frenzied martial intent, thunder attribute power, thunder martial intent, and demonic energy were alternately unleashed by Lin Xiao.
From nine thousand to nine thousand five hundred zhang, it took Lin Xiao a full day.
Six hundred zhang, seven hundred zhang, eight hundred zhang.
Lin Xiao’s speed slowed, his steps growing heavier. Beyond five hundred zhang, it took two more days to reach nine thousand nine hundred zhang.
By now, the watching eyes gleamed with excitement.
“Nine thousand nine hundred ten zhang.”
“Nine thousand nine hundred twenty zhang.”
“Nine thousand nine hundred thirty zhang.”
As Lin Xiao’s steps progressed, the owner of those eyes grew increasingly astonished, murmuring along with his movements.
“Forty zhang.”
“Fifty zhang.”
“Sixty zhang.”
With each ten zhang, the owner of the eyes muttered.
“Seventy zhang.”
“Eighty zhang.”
“Ninety zhang.”
When Lin Xiao reached nine thousand nine hundred ninety zhang, the aged face grew profoundly serious, as if his heart were in his throat.
“Ninety-one zhang.”
“Ninety-two zhang.”
“Ninety-three zhang.”
At over ninety zhang, the aged face began counting each zhang.
“Ninety-five zhang.”
“Ninety-six zhang.”
“Ninety-seven zhang.”
The aged figure trembled with excitement.
“Ninety-eight zhang.”
“Ninety-nine zhang.”
The aged face was now filled with awe.
The final zhang remained, just five steps to the summit.
After resting for half a day, the young figure took another step forward.
One step, one pause, each pause lasting a day.
On the fourth day, a dragon’s roar echoed as the youth took his fourth step, pausing briefly before his back foot followed.
At that moment, the youth’s figure vanished from the old man’s divine sense.
The old man’s position was at nine thousand zhang. Nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine zhang, the third step, was the highest he could probe.
Whether Lin Xiao could take the fifth step to reach the summit was beyond his perception.
This left him both shocked and anxious, yet helpless.
Below, countless others waited anxiously.
“Fourteen days, I wonder what height that kid has reached?” Yun Jing’s frustrated voice echoed downward.
“He wouldn’t have reached his limit and started secluded cultivation, would he?” Zhong Moyang speculated.
“If he’s gone into seclusion, won’t we have to wait months, or longer?” Yun Jing said, exasperated.
Zhong Moyang was equally speechless.
Logically, after so long, Lin Xiao should have reached his limit.
No one had ever taken this long to climb Haoran Mountain, and Lin Xiao hadn’t sent word down.
The only possibility was that Lin Xiao, upon reaching his limit, gained an insight and entered seclusion immediately.
It wasn’t just the two of them; other elders and disciples were also anxiously waiting.
Normally, fourteen days would pass in a blink, but when eagerly awaiting a result, time felt agonisingly slow.
On the fifteenth day, at nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine zhang, on the fourth step.
Terrifying pressure enveloped Lin Xiao, causing over a dozen bloody gashes to appear on his body, his form drenched in blood.
Lin Xiao felt as if his entire body, even his dantian, were about to be crushed.
The pressure was too terrifying. Without his formidable physique, he couldn’t have endured.
Moreover, it was as if he were trapped in a quagmire. The surrounding Haoran Righteous Qi was so dense it resembled chaos.
Such dense Haoran Righteous Qi should have been ideal for cultivation, but under the crushing pressure threatening to collapse his body, Lin Xiao couldn’t cultivate.
Additionally, the dense Haoran Righteous Qi carried a mysterious adhesive force, making him feel stuck in a swamp, barely able to move.
At this point, Lin Xiao was utterly immobile.
Fortunately, after enduring a day, he finally adapted to the pressure at this position.
“Whether I can take the final step depends on the Nine Nether Demon Physique!”
Taking a deep breath, Lin Xiao activated the Nine Nether Demon Physique.
Though he had only scratched the surface of this technique, far from reaching the “First Nether” stage of physical refinement, it was an extremely terrifying body-refining method.
To pass this trial, his physique had to withstand it.
Lin Xiao found it odd that climbing Haoran Mountain tested neither heart nor will.
Throughout his ascent, the trial focused solely on his physique and its compatibility with Haoran Righteous Qi.
The core question was whether his body could endure. He was also curious about what awaited at the summit of Haoran Mountain.
