Chapter 232: No Skills, First Threshold

Once again, the intense Qi Energy pressure from the first step of the staircase almost pushed me out of the way. Fortunately, I was prepared for it and I steeled myself just in time. I gritted my teeth as I felt every cell on my body on the verge of breaking. The other ‘climbers’ stared at me in disbelief. The longer I stayed on the first step, the more they grew worried. They were probably thinking about how a mere Heavenly Realm Cultivator could stay on the first step when it took them months to climb it. 

Also, as I mentioned before, I decided not to use any of my skills while climbing up this Qi Energy Ladder. I know that I’ve been to dependent on my skills these days. If I don’t change this habit of mine, I wouldn’t be as resilient like before, back when I only relied on my own cultivation to best everyone. 

“You sure about this, Yongrui?” Hui-ying concernedly asked me. “Do you want me to take over if you get tired? I can assist you.” 

“No, just rest easy for now. I can do this.” I reassured him. 

My Five Qi Cores activated all at once, giving me another surge of pure Qi Energy, almost drowning me. My consciousness almost blacked out but I caught myself and took control of my Qi Cores, cultivating them as I stayed on the first step. Without further ado, I sat in a cultivation position and let the Qi Energy flow through me. 

“That’s impossible!”

“How could this be?” 

“Are you kidding me right now?” 

“Was he hiding his true strength all along?” 

“No, I refuse to believe this. This is a dream, right? Right?!” 

The other members of the Gulong Household watched me as if I were some sort of display in a museum. I didn’t mind them, however, since I have a lot of things on my plate at the moment. 

When it comes to Qi Energy Ladders such as this one, it’s become a common misunderstanding that one needs to brute force his or her way through the staircase, fighting against the current of Qi Energy that smoothly flowed through the staircase. That’s the reason why most of them couldn’t make any progress. Why fight a waterfall when you can let it flow through you while you concentrate at the bottom of it? Why climb a steep and rocky cliff when you can go around it? 

Honestly, I make it sound so easy but going through this trial in the correct pattern is actually just as hard. Not only do I need intricate control over my Qi Energy Flow, but I also need to be mindful of my Qi Cores since I have five of them. One wrong move or a split-second distraction could cause one of them to actually explode. 

Well, it just sounds like any other day for me so there’s nothing to think much about. I decided to ignore the underlying sense of uncertainty as I continued on with my cultivation.

Although I felt like my cultivation was steadily rising, I couldn’t feel any breakthrough coming up. I could tell I reached the bottleneck but why can’t I find my way out of it? I sighed. I know that it wouldn’t be as easy as the previous realms in cultivation. This is the Astral Realm we’re talking about, the real which are on par with the Mythic Beasts that are said to be the most powerful entities in the physical world. And not only that, I’m actually on the highest plane in existence. In other words, this is the last level, and if I were to successfully complete it, I could finally revert the world back to how it was back when the Virus never existed and back when my Sect is one of the most powerful in existence. It’s only been five years… but why does it feel like it’s been so long? 

“How could someone cultivate like that?” 

“Is he relaxing?” 

“Are you kidding me?” 

I could hear the murmurs coming from the other members of the Gulong Household as they watched me with great interest. I can’t bear to imagine what their reaction would be once I stepped foot on the first threshold on the first day. Hopefully, I could achieve it. 

A few hours passed and I felt like I’ve gotten a bit too comfortable on the first step. I was surprised at how my body managed to adapt in such a short span of time. Was it because of my talent as a cultivator? Was it because I was a rabid human? Or maybe it was because Hui-ying and the System are secretly helping me?

Now that we’re on the subject of Hui-ying and the System… I should keep in mind that I need to give them both some sort of puppet or an artificial body. That way they could finally enjoy life. But first, I have to defeat the entirety of the Black Spirit Sect and the Yan Clan. And then, we can talk about getting a body for both of them. 

All the more reason why I shouldn’t take too long climbing these steps. Remember Yongrui, tomorrow is the Black Spirit Tournament! You should cultivate as much as you can so you can keep up with the Astral Realm Cultivators here!

I took my second step. 

Unlike before

The second step wasn’t as intense as the first one and my Qi Cores weren’t the least bit agitated by it. Of course, I could tell that the amount of Qi Energy on the second step was higher but I probably got too used to the first step, and the difference between the first and second isn’t that great. 

And so, I took my third step, then my fourth, then my fifth. By then, I felt kind of weird since most of the new members of the Gulong Household were stuck below the first threshold, which is on the tenth step. In all honesty I kind of felt bad since they were at it for months now while it only took me a few hours to adapt to it.

Just like that, I reached the first threshold of the Qi Energy ladder without difficulty. And I should again mention that I challenged myself to not use any skills while I’m at it. I just didn’t expect it to be this easy

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