Night descended.

The Lingyun Mountain, which was tall and erect, was similar to a huge stone pillar that pierced through the clouds, appearing grandiose and majestic.

At the foot of the mountain, Nie Tian looked upwards at the Lingyun Mountain while breathing deeply and feeling excited.

“Lingzhu, you can go up the mountain first.” Li Fan said dimly.

Jiang Lingzhu turned her head and took a look at Nie Tian, her expression looking somewhat complicated, before asking, “What about him?”

Li Fan responded, “Master has instructed me to bring him directly to the back of the mountain.”

Jiang Lingzhu was astonished and asked, “Is that really true?”

Li Fan laughed bitterly, “I also want to think that it is fake. Sigh, just thinking about the fact that there will oddly be one more Martial Uncle in the future makes it hard to accept.”

“You... this fellow really has some bulls.h.i.t luck!” Jiang Lingzhu glared at Nie Tian and said hatefully, “I don’t care. In any case, I won’t call you Martial Uncle. You’re not even bigger than me!”

While she spoke, she went along the long and narrow stone steps, while somewhat panting with rage, and already rushing towards the Lingyun Mountain.

Nie Tian stroke his head with a confused face, “Uncle Li, what is the situation?”

“You can still call me Uncle Li today, but from tomorrow onwards, I will be your Martial Nephew.” Li Fan had a face of helplessness, but he didn’t explain in detail about anything, as he just said, “Let’s go to the back of the mountain.”

Nie Tian followed along, but he was full of doubts.

After an hour, the sky had turned completely dark and a round moon had gradually appeared in the night sky.

At the back of Lingyun Mountain, Nie Tian’s and Li Fan’s figure appeared below a mountain, which was slightly shorter compared with the Lingyun Mountain.

A stone path, which led towards the mountaintop, was pointed out by Li Fan, as he said to Nie Tian, “I’ll only accompany you this far. You just have to follow this stone path and walk to the end of it. When you reach the mountaintop, there’ll be a person to take care of you. That person will be your master in the Lingyun Sect.”

“Ah, why is it at the back of this mountain and not on the Lingyun Mountain?” Nie Tian was astonished, “From what I know, don’t new disciples have to attend a ceremony?”

“You’re different.” Li Fan shook his head and explained, “You’ll understand in the future that the rules of the Lingyun Sect aren’t applicable towards you.”

These words left Nie Tian completely confused.

“Go, follow the stone path, and go up the mountain. After a period of time, you, this youngster, will understand just how lucky you actually are.” Leaving this sentence, Li Fan didn’t pay attention to him anymore, as he turned around and left.

Under the moonlight, Nie Tian looked at the long stone path and gazed at the mountain peak, which was shorter than the Lingyun Mountain by a chunk, with a heart full of doubts.

After thinking for a while, he, who wasn’t able to think of any other ideas, was only able to do as Li Fan had said and walked up the mountain in the night, along the stone path.

Following along the stone path towards the mountaintop, an entire night pa.s.sed before he reached the end of the path. By the time the sun rose, he had no strength left in his body.

At the end of the stone path, there were a few thatched huts on a glossy stone ground.

Nie Tian, whose body was weary and without strength, was breathing deeply to calm his mental state down. Before he was able to carefully size up his surroundings, he heard a voice which came from within one of the thatched huts, “You have come already?”

“Who is that?” Nie Tian was startled.

“Come over.” The tone of the person within the house was tranquil, as if he had just woken up. 

“Be careful of where you step.”

Nie Tian looked below his feet subconsciously.

On the glossy stone ground, dots of strange light floated out and interweaved rapidly into a grid.

Bursts of heart shaking fluctuations were released from within the grid, causing Nie Tian’s complexion to change.

In the next moment, he noticed that the clouds within the vicinity of the mountain peak were being sucked in and flew rapidly towards the stone ground below his feet.

Very quickly, the cloud lumps became like an ash-gray colored carpet, which spread out on the stone ground below his feet.

The stone ground below his feet was already fully covered, with the only visible thing being the lump of clouds.

At that moment, it was as if he had fallen into the clouds and was now stepping on a bunch of cloud lumps, standing tall within the sky of the Ninth Heaven.

“Walk slowly step by step.” Within the dense cloud lumps, the voice, which came from the thatched hut, seemed as if it had turned ethereal.

Nie Tian surveyed his surroundings, but only saw thick cloud lumps within his vicinity. He was not able to see the mountain or the ground anymore. Within his gaze, only the thatched hut, which appeared like it was floating deep within the clouds, was left.

He had never experienced this kind of situation before and thus he became incomparably cautious at once.

He, who wasn’t able to see the stone ground and was only able to see cloud lumps, was worried that when he stepped forward, he would fall into the abyss and die.

He stared closely at the thatched hut and squinted his eyes, as he carefully thought for a while. After confirming that previously, it was all stone ground in between him and the thatched hut, he then took his first step forward while trembling.

The moment one of his feet landed.

- Boom! -

A surging energy fluctuation emerged from the bottom of his feet. The moment the power entered his sole, it instantly turned into ten million gossamers.

He suddenly felt that his whole body was sore and numb. He tried to use his mental perception to examine it, but the moment he released his mental strength, he discovered that the ten million gossamers seemed to act like water that had found a leak and rushed forth into his mind.

Soon after, he felt his mind also become muddleheaded. With his mind feeling heavy and his legs feeling light, his body also started to sway.
In his body, every piece of flesh and every piece strip of muscle was invaded by the strange gossamers and gradually, he started to feel his body becoming increasingly hot.

“Second step.” Within the thatched hut, that voice was heard once again.

Nie Tian, who was muddleheaded and dizzy, followed the voice that had just rung out and slowly took his second step.

- Boom! -

Another surge of energy rushed into his soles and penetrated his bones and limbs, seemingly filling his flesh.

His body was like that time in the Green Illusion Realm, when he had tried to refine all the blood he had sucked in and his body became like a balloon, as it had suddenly expanded out.

Heart-tearing and lung-splitting pain was transmitted out from within each and every one of his pores, causing him to not be able to bear it any longer, as he loudly shouted out.

“Ahhh!”

While he was roaring out wildly, sweat started spilling out from his body, and the sweat… was mixed with filth that was being discharged from within his body.

“Continue!” That voice rang out again.

Nie Tian resisted the acute pain and clenched his teeth, taking a step forward once again.

With every step he took, astonishing energy would burst out from within the bunch of clouds below his feet.

All that energy easily rushed into his body and wandered about within his entire body, as it was actually stimulating him!
When he took the seventh step, the pain, which came from within his body, was already tormenting him to the point where he was on the verge of losing consciousness. He felt as if his body was as heavy as a mountain and it seemed to be too difficult to take another step forward.

Thus, he stopped at that spot.

At this time, the voice, which had kept on urging him, had also stopped, as if it was waiting for something.

- Huff, huff, huff! -

Nie Tian took in deep breaths. Even with that kind of ordinary breathing, he felt that it was consuming too much of his strength.

At that moment, he felt that this body of his… was as if it wasn’t his anymore. His muddleheaded mind seemed to even be unable to feel the existence of his body.

- Dong, dong! Dong, dong, dong! -

At that moment, he heard an abnormal heartbeat sound come from within his chest. The heartbeat sound was getting stronger and stronger, faster and faster!

“s.h.i.t!”

Nie Tian, who was still standing on the lump of clouds, shouted out that this wasn’t good, as he felt that his secret was about to be revealed.

Every time, the abnormal heartbeat of his was able to help him reverse any bad situation, allowing him to continue to battle, but with a kind of newfound strength.

This time was no exception!

Along with the increased speed of his heartbeat, he was exhausted to death and was about lose consciousness, but he once again was able to feel the existence of his body.

At that moment, his body, which had been unable to move about, was just as if it had been reactivated with a new kind of strength.

“Continue!!”

Within the thatched hut, that voice, which had stopped for a while, suddenly rang out once again.
This time, from within that voice, Nie Tian was able to hear agitation and excitement.

……

Translator: Ronnie
Editors: Zachie and Sietse
From xianXiaWorld