“My gosh, that was too tiring. I’m totally exhausted.”
“It’s really exhausting. This Thousand Mountain Formation is just too hard to go through.”
“Wanting to listen to a Sage’s Daoist teaching really is no easy task.”
In front of the Sage’s palace, almost half of the five thousand people who made it lied on the ground. They were extremely tired after what they went through.
Even Young Emperor sky-prides like Gu Changge and Ao Chang were slightly panting. They had obviously consumed a large amount of their physical energy and spiritual power.
“You doing alright, Lan Yu?” Chu Kuangren looked at Lan Yu beside him. She had used up a lot of her energy too and there was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead.
“I’m alright.”
“You’re awesome, big brother.”
At that time, the little Daoist boy came up to Chu Kuangren and said, “Although your cultivation level is more or less the same as the other people here, you do not look exhausted at all.”
He pointed at the sky-prides like Lin Batian and Ao Chang not far away and said.
The faces of those people instantly darkened.
‘This meddlesome kid, just keep it to yourself if you know. Why do you have to say it out loud?’
“Maybe they’re weaker I guess.”
Chu Kuangren chuckled. Although they were in the same cultivation level, the difference in their cultivation foundations was huge. Ao Chang and the others could not even hope to compare themselves to Chu Kuangren.
Upon hearing this, their expression became even grimmer. Everyone cursed silently. ‘You’re the one who’s weak, your whole godd*mn family is weak!’
Once everyone had rested, they then looked at the palace before them. The palace was magnificent and below it was a flight of white jade stairs. Everyone gradually became excited.
“So this is the place for the Sage’s Daoist teachings?”
“I guess the Sage must be inside. Let’s go and find a good place to sit.”
“That’s right, let’s go then.”
Some of the cultivators could not hold back their excitement anymore as they quickly went up the stairs. However, all they did was go up a few steps before they stopped and a look appeared on their faces. No one could tell if they were panicking and ecstatic.
“What’s going on with them?”
Some of the cultivators who were eager to go up the stairs quickly took a step back and looked cautiously at the few who were behaving weirdly on the stairs.
The little Daoist boy then said, “If you want to hear the Sage’s Daoist teachings, you’ll not only have to go through the Thousand Mountain Formation but also this… the Mental Staircase!”
“This Mental Staircase has a total of seventy-two steps. Each of them can create all kinds of illusions to confuse and mesmerize you. If your Daoist core is not strong, you’ll probably be trapped inside the illusion and escaping won’t be so easy.”
“There can only be two results in that situation. The first is that one can be awakened with help from an external force. If not, the second result will happen — your spiritual power will deplete until you die.”
Although the little Daoist boy had explained with a friendly smile, everyone in the crowd could feel a chill in their hearts. ‘My life will be in danger if I go on the Mental Staircase?’
“The Sage won’t watch us die, will he?” one of the cultivators asked as he gulped in fear.
“Here, take a look over there.” The little Daoist boy pointed to an area beside the palace.
When everyone looked in that direction, all they saw was a pile of bones.
Their suspicions were soon confirmed.
“Those are the ones who didn’t pass the Mental Staircase’s trial and died because they were trapped in the illusions and couldn’t escape,” the little Daoist boy said.
‘D*mn it, people have really died from this!’
Everyone looked at the flight of stairs with fear growing in their hearts.
Although the Sage’s Daoist teaching was a good opportunity, it was still not worth it if that meant losing one’s life.
In a moment, many had already decided to give up and return.
Chu Kuangren shook his head and chuckled. “Mental Staircase, Mental Staircase, stairs that test a Daoist’s core huh? What a coincidence.”
“Master, let me give it a try first.”
Lan Yu said before her figure disappeared in a flash and appeared before the flight of stairs. She then started to ascend it.
She took thirty-six steps in one go and only seemed to slow down at the forty-first step before the illusions started to affect her.
“That sister’s Daoist core is very strong. Even an Honorable cannot walk as fast as her.” Lan Yu had shocked the little Daoist boy.
“This female among my peers has such a strong Daoist heart, yet a big hulking guy like me is hesitant and fearful to start. This is embarrassing!”
One of the cultivators gritted their teeth and rushed up the stairs.
“That’s right, cultivation is a matter of changing one’s fate after all. If one is constantly overcautious, they might as well go home to plant their crops instead.”
“It’s just a Mental Staircase. I don’t believe that I can’t go up these stairs.”
“My Daoist core will not allow me to give up that easily!”
Some of the cultivators pumped themselves up with motivation before they took the first step on the Mental Staircase and began the trial.
Ao Chang, Gu Changge, Lin Batian, and the others had also gone up.
Some of the Honorables looked like it was a breeze for them. This could either be due to their incredibly strong Daoist core; or that they had been here before to listen to the Sage’s Daoist teachings, hence they had already undergone the Mental Staircase’s trial and were already familiar with it.
A large group of cultivators experienced various illusions on the Mental Staircase as could be seen in their different expressions. Some faced the thing they feared most in their hearts and hence looked very terrified, while some others were living a fantasy of enjoying pleasures of the world so they looked ecstatic…
All vicissitudes of life could be experienced on that Mental Staircase.
Chu Kuangren even saw a male cultivator pouting, trying to give a kiss to another male cultivator whom he was holding on to next to him. He almost stripped him naked. One look and Chu Kuangren knew the illusion that person was trapped in.
“Big brother, aren’t you going to have a try?”
The little Daoist boy asked.
“I’ll wait for a little while more.”
“Don’t you worry, big brother. I’ll look out for you from here. If you can’t escape from an illusion, I will wake you up.”
The little Daoist boy once again provided Chu Kuangren a backup solution.
“It’s alright, I don’t need it. I just want to wait until that sister is done before I give it a go,” Chu Kuangren said as he looked and kept watch over Lan Yu’s back.
He needed to look out and make sure that nothing bad would happen to Lan Yu.
“Oh, by the way, Seventh Forefather, why don’t you go in and listen too? The Sage’s Daoist teaching is quite a rare occurrence after all,” Chu Kuangren said towards the void.
He had seen many of the sky-prides’ protectors giving the Mental Staircase a go just now.
The Seventh Forefather and the two other protectors appeared. They then looked at the palace hesitatingly and nodded. “Alright, we will go in and listen as well then.”
Three of them were not worried about Chu Kuangren. After all, they were on the Sage’s Daoist grounds, so no one would dare to cause trouble here.
After more than an hour had passed, the Honorables had gone up the Mental Staircase, leaving a few behind who were still battling their illusions.
Among them, the sky-prides were the ones who had garnered the most attention since they were the future of their respective great orthodoxies. If they lacked a strong Daoist core, how could they be the pillars who would support their orthodoxies in the future then?
“Phew… I’ve finally made it up.” Lan Yu took the final step and arrived at the entrance to the Sage’s palace.
She turned around and nodded to Chu Kuangren below.
“Oh, she has already gone up the stairs. My turn to go now.” Chu Kuangren chuckled and soon, he took the first step on the Mental Staircase.
As soon as he went up the stairs, he immediately attracted the attention of all the cultivators who had completed the Mental Staircase.
Everyone wished to know how strong that sky-pride’s Daoist core was. After all, that person was an extremely talented sky-pride whose combat power surpassed everyone in the same generation.
After taking the first step, Chu Kuangren felt the view before him change and a large field of scorching flames engulfed him.
“That’s it?”
Chu Kuangren shook his head, steadied his Daoist core, and walked into the scorching flames. He paid no heed to the burning pain he felt on his body.
After that, Chu Kuangren witnessed a large assortment of illusions as he went up the stairs. The various illusions ranged from tsunami ridden storms, trembling mountains, horrifying monsters, to all the pleasures and desires of the world that were interwoven together into various forms before him.
Within a mere seventy-two steps, Chu Kuangren felt as if he had experienced seventy-two different lifetimes. He had seen delicious and extravagant food, met women of wonderful beauty, was deemed the superior and dignified Emperor, and he was also a beggar who lived the lowly insignificant life like an ant…
However, no matter what kind of illusions appeared before him, he did not linger. His unshakable Daoist core was as solid as rock!
His pace was brisk, and soon, he had passed the crowd of people that were stuck on the Mental Staircase. As if he was going up a normal flight of stairs, he soon arrived by Lan Yu’s side.
Everyone was stunned upon witnessing what Chu Kuangren just did.
