Upon arriving at Heart-Questioning Mountain, the group didn’t feel much different, except for Banbone, who clearly felt his strength diminishing as his body’s various standards converged with those of the others.
The boiling blood of the ancient ban tribe within him calmed, no longer providing him with a continuous supply of power.
The group exchanged glances before all eyes turned to the strongest among them, Banbone.
“I’ll go first,” Banbone said, not shying away from the challenge as the group looked to him, deciding to take the lead.
One level, two levels, three levels… up to ten levels.
Banbone walked up the first ten levels with ease, but from the eleventh level onward, the pressure started to build, as if he were carrying a stone tablet on his back that became heavier the higher he climbed.
Still within a bearable range, he continued onward.
Catching his breath, Banbone steadied his breathing and approached the twentieth level.
Reaching the twentieth step became increasingly difficult, the pace at which he climbed the steps slowed substantially.
By the twenty-ninth step, sweat had begun to seep from Banbone’s back, soaking his clothes, and he was forced to stop and sit on a step to rest.
“Even sitting is pressure,” Banbone gritted his teeth, speaking internally, too weary for talking. Now, he was merely switching from standing with a stele on his back to sitting with one, and his recovery was slow.
Seeing Banbone’s struggle, the others realized the mountain would not be an easy climb, their hearts sinking.
Someone spoke with a heavy voice, “I have heard the elders mention similar places. Heart-Questioning Mountain tests the seeker’s heart. The more simple and steadfast one’s heart, the purer their seeking heart will be. Banbone comes from the ancient barbarian tribe, known for his stubbornness, and even he struggles this much, we will likely find it even harder!”
“Could a calm heart mantra help to settle our minds?” Another person suggested a solution.
The third challenge required reaching the fiftieth step. There was no demand to rank among the first to pass the challenge; thus, they weren’t competing with each other.
Everyone nodded, thinking it was a good idea; similar mantras had been taught by their elders for cultivating temperament.
Lu Yang opened his mouth, but unlike the others, he didn’t know any calming heart mantras.
“Would you like me to teach you a simple calming heart mantra?” Meng Jingzhou offered.
Lu Yang shook his head, “No need for now, I’ll think of another way.”
Seeing this, Meng Jingzhou did not insist on teaching Lu Yang the mantra.
…
Meng Jingzhou woke from his mediation to a calmness in his heart he had never felt before.
The calming heart mantra worked!
Meng Jingzhou meditated longer than others, and by the time he woke, the others had already reached between the twentieth and thirtieth steps, dripping in sweat and desperate for every step, requiring tremendous willpower.
Someone attempted another way, thinking that only the steps exerted pressure, and tried to reach the fiftieth step via the mountain terrain, only to discover that the entire Heart-Questioning Mountain bore more pressure the higher one went.
Another person tried to use a magical artifact, only to find that the artifact lost its power, unable to be activated and thus became as useful as scrap metal.
That’s why Dai Bufan wasn’t worried about them using magical artifacts.
Lu Yang, falling behind everyone else, was conspicuously squatting on the tenth step, deep in thought, as if observing something.
“What are you doing? Others have already climbed much higher,” Meng Jingzhou asked curiously.
Lu Yang remained silent, holding a shoe in his hand.
He threw the shoe onto the eleventh step, “Pick it up and try.”
Following suit, even without understanding Lu Yang’s intention, Meng Jingzhou discovered the shoe was heavier than usual, as if something was pulling it from below.
They concluded that when an object did not touch the ground, it didn’t feel the pressure but connected with the ground, adding extra weight.
“Yes,” Lu Yang said, pleased that someone else shared his thoughts.
Meng Jingzhou quickly grasped the concept. In his calm state, he thought quickly, “The steps are inclined, there are so many trees, we can make a ‘7’ shaped ladder, with one end buried in the ground and the other end leading straight to the fiftieth step.”
“Exactly,” Lu Yang affirmed, “This third test must be testing our wisdom; this is the standard answer!”
Meng Jingzhou understood Lu Yang’s idea and brought up another issue, “How shall we chop down the trees?”
Without axes or saws, how could they chop down trees to make a ladder?
“Do you have any sharp magical artifacts?” Lu Yang had foreseen this issue.
Meng Jingzhou took out a dagger, “This was given to me by my elders for self-defense, it can be activated by thought and is as fast as a Golden Core stage, but it can’t fly on Heart-Questioning Mountain.”
“That’s fine, as long as it’s sharp,” Lu Yang smiled, knowing that even if the dagger from Meng’s great family couldn’t be activated, its sharpness was far superior to mundane axes and saws.
Perfect for chopping trees.
Under the effects of the two, even the thick trees were sliced like paper. After some trials and errors, they finally constructed the ladder.
With its peculiar shape—narrower at the top, wider at the bottom, and bent at the end—it looked more like a giant “7” than a ladder.
Some disciples from the Questioning Dao Sect cast a glance at Dai Bufan, remembering how he often boasted about his lush Heart-Questioning Mountain.
Dai Bufan’s eyes twitched and his fists clenched involuntarily.
