After climbing for a while, Lin Chen realized something felt… off.
Nothing happened.
No pressure. No resistance. Not even a change in breathing. The steps beneath his feet felt no different from ordinary stone stairs.
"…Hey, Bai Yuexin," he asked while climbing beside her. "Do you feel anything strange? This just feels like normal steps to me."
Bai Yuexin shook her head slightly, her pace steady. "Same. If I had to guess, this stairway isn't testing strength or willpower. It's probably checking cultivation itself."
"Oh." Lin Chen frowned faintly. "That's it?"
He had expected crushing pressure, bone-grinding gravity, or at least something dramatic. This felt almost… lazy.
Before he could think further, Aiva's voice sounded in his mind.
[That assessment is likely correct.]
[These steps are not testing power, but purity and stability of cultivation.]
Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. Purity?
[Your cultivation path has no major flaws, deviations, or forced breakthroughs.]
[As a result, the stairway registers you as "qualified" and applies no rejection force.]
A brief pause.
[If a cultivator walking this path practiced a distorted method—such as demonic, parasitic, or unstable techniques—the stairway would likely exert pressure or reject them outright.]
Lin Chen let out a quiet breath. "…So I'm passing without even noticing."
[Correct.]
He glanced upward at the endless steps disappearing into the clouds.
"Guess being boring and stable has its advantages after all," he muttered, continuing to climb.
Bai Yuexin shot him a sideways look. "Stop mumbling and keep moving. These stairs don't look like they end anytime soon."
Lin Chen smirked faintly and continued upward, each step carrying him higher into the clouds.
Then—
A shout echoed from below.
He glanced back just in time to see a section of the stairway explode. A cultivator was flung screaming into the void, while the shattered steps reformed in midair as if nothing had happened.
"So that's how it works," Lin Chen muttered. "Fail the test, get kicked out—literally."
After climbing for some time, the stairway finally ended.
At the very top stood a massive gate, ancient and solemn. Beyond it was nothing but a vast, empty arena—flat stone ground stretching far in every direction, with no cover, no obstacles, and no decorations. Just emptiness.
Lin Chen stepped forward alongside Bai Yuexin and scanned the place.
"Is this trial… combat?" he thought, eyes narrowing slightly.
Up until now, the trials had tested intelligence, mental resilience, and cultivation stability. This place, however, was different. An arena like this existed for only one reason.
Fighting.
And clearly, they weren't the first to arrive.
Two figures were already standing on the opposite side.
One was Li Zhen, the disciple from the Heavenly Dao Pavilion. He stood with his sword at his side, a gloomy, oppressive aura leaking from his body without restraint.
The other was Chen Hao, the chief disciple of their own sect.
"It seems this trial won't be easy," Lin Chen thought as he stopped at one side of the arena. Bai Yuexin stood beside him, silent.
Almost immediately, he felt it.
A sharp, jealous gaze.
Li Zhen's eyes were locked onto him, burning with hostility. His expression looked downright ugly, veins faintly visible on his forehead, a gloomy killing intent surrounding him.
"What the hell is this asshole's deal?" Lin Chen thought irritably. "Why has this guy been hostile from the start?"
He leaned slightly toward Bai Yuexin and spoke in a low voice.
"Hey, tell me—does that Li Zhen have some kind of problem? He looks like he hates me."
Bai Yuexin's fingers twitched.
She knew the reason perfectly well. But there was no way she was saying it out loud. If anything, this could count as a tiny bit of revenge—after all, Lin Chen had indeed taken advantage of her in that illusion.
"I don't know," she replied coldly.
On the opposite side, Li Zhen's teeth ground together.
Seeing how close Lin Chen and Bai Yuexin were standing, rage surged through him. His hand moved instinctively to his sword hilt, fingers tightening as if he wanted nothing more than to rush forward and hack Lin Chen apart.
But he restrained himself.
He didn't know the rules of this trial yet. If combat was restricted or required a trigger, acting first might disqualify him outright.
Still, the killing intent didn't fade.
Chen Hao, meanwhile, glanced at Lin Chen from where he stood. A faint sense of superiority surfaced in his eyes.
At least I arrived first.
***
After a while, another person arrived.
It was Tang Ruoxuan—the sissy-faced disciple from the Skyward Blade Sect.
As soon as he stepped into the arena, the surroundings changed.
The stairway behind them slowly disappeared, breaking apart piece by piece before vanishing completely. The gate they had come through sealed itself shut, leaving only the open arena behind.
Then words appeared in the air.
{This is the final trial.}
{The previous trials tested intelligence, mental fortitude, and cultivation foundation.}
{This trial tests only one thing—combat.}
A brief pause.
{All participants' cultivation will be suppressed to the realm of the lowest present.}
The words lingered, heavy and absolute.
{Background, talent, bloodline, and status are meaningless here.}
{There will be no mercy.}
{When the combat ends, only one will remain standing.}
{That person will be the final victor.}
All of their cultivation was crushed down at once.
9th stage of Essence Forging.
The same level as Lin Chen.
Because he was the weakest one present.
Li Zhen felt it immediately—and laughed.
"Hah. How unnecessary," he said, a smile spreading across his face as he stepped forward, eyes locking onto Lin Chen. To him, this was a gift from the heavens. Equal cultivation meant nothing when he possessed a Sword Heart. Against trash like this, victory was guaranteed.
Tang Ruoxuan's gaze also shifted toward Lin Chen, cold and calculating. There was no rule saying they couldn't gang up on one person.
As for Chen Hao?
He didn't even bother reacting. He stood aside, arms folded, as if this fight had nothing to do with him.
Lin Chen exhaled slowly.
"Well," he thought as his sword appeared in his hand, "this trial really picked the wrong day to mess with me."
Li Zhen and Tang Ruoxuan's killing intent was obvious now. They weren't even trying to hide it.
Before Li Zhen could move again, Bai Yuexin stepped forward, frost gathering along her blade.
"I'll take Li Zhen," she said, her tone calm but sharp. "You handle the other one."
Lin Chen shook his head without hesitation.
"Thanks, but no," he replied, eyes fixed on Li Zhen. "You take care of that sissy-face. I'll deal with this guy."
Li Zhen's smile vanished.
The next instant, he lunged.
His sword flashed, slashing straight toward Lin Chen's neck—fast, precise, filled with sword intent.
Clang!
Lin Chen blocked it head-on.
The impact sent a shockwave through the ground, dust and rocks exploding outward as Lin Chen's feet dug into the arena.
At the same time,
Bai Yuexin's sword crashed into Tang Ruoxuan's folding fan.
The fan snapped open mid-impact, formation lines spreading beneath Tang Ruoxuan's feet as runes lit up one by one.
"Why bother siding with trash?" Tang Ruoxuan sneered, retreating a step as the formation activated.
Bai Yuexin didn't answer.
She stepped back instead.
Frost surged.
A lotus of ice bloomed behind her, petals unfolding as her sword was coated in biting cold. With a flick of her wrist, a blade formation erupted—dozens of icy blades spinning into existence.
They closed in.
Tang Ruoxuan found himself surrounded, rotating blades hemming him in from every direction.
On Lin Chen's side,
"Trash!" Li Zhen roared, forcing his sword down with overwhelming pressure. "How dare you covet something that belongs to me? Your sin deserves death!"
Steel screamed as their blades locked.
Lin Chen grit his teeth, arms trembling as he blocked the strike head-on.
"Fuck you!" he shouted back, pushing with all his strength. Crimson aura flared along his sword. "Have you gone insane? When did I ever take something of yours?!"
"You don't need to know," Li Zhen replied coldly.
His sword intent erupted.
The air around him was sliced apart, invisible edges cutting through space itself. Even standing a few steps away felt like being skinned alive by blades.
Lin Chen's pupils shrank.
'Shit… this is different,' he realized grimly. 'This isn't like my Bloodstorm sword aura at all.'
This was purer. Sharper. Deadlier.
Bloodstorm Arts wouldn't be enough.
He exhaled slowly, then made his decision.
"Tyrant Body Arts."
The calm blue Essence Qi around him shattered—replaced instantly by a violent, chaotic crimson force. Tyrant Qi burst out of his body like a raging beast unleashed from its cage.
Boom.
The ground beneath his feet cracked.
His muscles swelled slightly, veins glowing faintly red as power surged through every bone, every drop of blood.
His cultivation surged upward, breaking through into the Pulse Convergence Realm in a single rush, and stabilizing firmly at the Second Stage of Pulse Convergence.
Li Zhen's expression finally changed.
"What—?"
Lin Chen raised his sword, eyes blazing with cold fury, unable to comprehend how this piece of trash had suddenly elevated his cultivation.
*****
🔥 Author Announcement 🔥
Want to read ahead?
My Patreon is live with 25 exclusive early chapters you won't find anywhere else.
Support the story. Read first.
✨ Bonus content includes:
Character illustrations
Object & artifact illustrations
👉 patreon.com/Multiverse_lover