Ten Thousand Years in Seclusion
Chapter 26:The next test—the Heaven-Ascending Stairway

Chapter 26: Chapter 26:The next test—the Heaven-Ascending Stairway

"Broken?"

The elders looked at one another, and for a moment, no one knew what to say.

Qi Tian, however, was perfectly clear about the situation. He had always possessed a Five-Element Spiritual Root. Later, by a twist of fate, he obtained the Essence-Returning True Origin Scripture and cultivated it day and night. The Five-Element spiritual energy within his body had indeed undergone some indescribable changes, but he had no idea what exactly those changes were.

That was because cultivators at the Foundation Establishment realm could not examine spiritual roots—not their own, and even less those of others. If they could, why would the Falling Cloud Sect go to all this trouble to haul out this Spirit-Assessment Stele? They could simply send a Foundation Establishment elder over, sweep the entire crowd with divine sense, and see the spiritual-root aptitudes of more than a thousand people at a glance. Job done. Much easier.

But no matter how his spiritual root had changed, it couldn’t possibly have simply disappeared, could it?

So the explanation that the stele just happened to be broken was actually the most reasonable one.

The elders had evidently reached the same conclusion. Elder Wei furrowed his thick brows and turned to the disciple responsible for recording the results.

"Pei Yi, you try!"

"Yes!"

Pei Yi hurried forward and pressed his palm against the cold surface of the stele. The spirit orb trembled slightly. Blue, red, and yellow radiance lit up in succession, interweaving and swirling clearly and distinctly.

Pei Yi withdrew his hand and scratched his head.

"Elder Wei...the stele isn’t broken."

Elder Wei exchanged a glance with the elders beside him, then turned his gaze back to Qi Tian, now carrying a hint of scrutiny and suspicion.

"Try again."

Qi Tian had no choice but to raise his hand once more and press his palm against the black surface of the stele.

A faint glimmer flashed within the spirit orb. Five-colored radiance suddenly surged forth, and then—

Just as before—

It went out completely.

Black.

Dead silence.

"..."

Qi Tian stared at the dark, lifeless spirit orb. It seemed the stele wasn’t broken after all. The problem was with his spiritual root.

Uh... no.

A thought suddenly occurred to him.

Could it be that this Spirit-Assessment Stele could only test cultivators at the Qi Condensation realm, but not those at the Foundation Establishment realm?

Yes. That had to be it.

It wasn’t a problem with Qi Tian.

It was the quality of this Spirit-Assessment Stele—

It was simply too poor.

Qi Tian was still pondering when the elders gathered together, speaking in hurried whispers.

"What exactly is going on?" Elder Wei stared at the pitch-black spirit orb, his brows drawn into a deep knot. "I have presided over thirteen disciple-recruitment ceremonies, and I have never seen anything like this."

"The only explanation," Elder Liu said in a lowered voice, his eyes flickering, "is that someone placed a restriction inside his body to conceal his true spiritual root."

"A restriction capable of fooling the Spirit-Assessment Stele..." The short, stout elder drew in a sharp breath. "Could it be the work of a Nascent Soul old monster?"

"Not necessarily Nascent Soul." The yellow-faced elder slowly shook his head. "Some high-grade magical treasures can also conceal the aura of a spiritual root, or even distort the test results."

"But why hide it?" Elder Liu narrowed his eyes. "Unless..."

A thought flashed through the minds of all the elders at once.

More than a dozen pairs of eyes turned toward Qi Tian in unison, shock, excitement, and disbelief mingling in their gazes.

"A Variant Spiritual Root!"

Only the legendary Variant Spiritual Roots, transcending the Five Elements, would be worth going to such lengths to conceal. After all, such a spiritual root was one in ten thousand—a truly peerless aptitude. Whenever one appeared, every major force would fight tooth and nail to claim them. Forget ordinary sects—even the Seven Great Sects of the Sacred Domain would compete to take him as a personal disciple.

With more than a dozen Foundation Establishment elders watching him like hungry wolves, Qi Tian merely raised a hand and scratched the back of his head. His expression remained perfectly normal, even carrying a hint of innocence.

"So..."

He paused, his tone as calm as ever.

"Did I pass the test?"

"..."

The elders exchanged glances, then once again lowered their voices and began whispering among themselves.

"If he really is a Variant Spiritual Root," the dignified, lean-faced elder murmured, stroking his beard, his voice barely above a whisper, "our little pond here may not be deep enough to hold a true dragon. Once word gets out, the Seven Great Sects of the Sacred Domain will come knocking and demand him. Do we give him up or not?"

"Of course we give him up. If we don’t..." The short, stout elder gave a bitter laugh, his fleshy cheeks trembling slightly. "They could crush our Falling Cloud Sect with a single elder."

"Not necessarily a Variant Spiritual Root." Elder Liu narrowed his eyes. "I’ve thought it over again. It may actually be the opposite—perhaps he really does have a useless spiritual root, and the elders of his clan considered it too shameful, so they used a secret technique to conceal it and save their clan’s face."

Elder Wei’s thick brows drew together. His broad, fan-like hand clenched with a series of creaks.

"If they possess a method like that, then his clan..."

He left the sentence unfinished, but the other elders understood what he meant.

For a while, everyone argued their own position, their faces flushed with the heat of the debate. Some argued that, to be safe, they should simply invite him to leave. Others felt they could not let such an opportunity slip away. If he really was a Variant Spiritual Root, the Falling Cloud Sect could soar to new heights.

After they had argued for quite some time, the lean-faced elder suddenly raised a hand.

"Enough."

The elders fell silent.

"Whether he is a Variant Spiritual Root or a useless spiritual root," the elder said slowly, his gaze deep and measured, "this person... is someone we cannot afford to provoke for now, nor can we afford to let him go."

He paused, then looked toward Elder Wei.

"Let him pass for now. Treat him well and keep him here. Once the Sect Master returns, we will decide what to do."

Elder Wei was silent for a moment. His tiger-like eyes swept across the others before he answered in his deep voice.

"That settles it!"

Qi Tian was beginning to grow a little impatient when he finally heard Elder Wei say in a deep voice,

"Pass. Next."

Qi Tian nodded, gripped the wooden token bearing the number 936, and turned to return to the edge of the square.

The examinees around him immediately began pointing at him and whispering among themselves.

Pei Yi held the register in his hands. After a long hesitation, he finally mustered the courage to speak.

"E-Elder Wei... then... what should I write down?"

Elder Wei glared at him, his voice booming like a great bell.

"Record it truthfully! Do I have to teach you that too?!"

"Yes! Yes!"

Pei Yi hurriedly lowered his head, dipped his vermilion brush, and wrote the words "Five-Element Spiritual Root" beside number 936 in the register.

He thought about it for a moment, realized that something was wrong, and viciously crossed them out.

Then he wrote again:

Unknown. Unable to determine.

After finishing the entry, Pei Yi glanced down the register, cleared his throat, and called out loudly,

"Number 941!"

The testing continued.

The spirit orb lit up and went dark, again and again. Among the remaining few hundred people, more than sixty were found to possess Five-Element Spiritual Roots and were screened out. Not a single promising Two-Element or Three-Element Spiritual Root appeared among them.

"Elder Wei," Pei Yi said respectfully as he closed the register, "the testing is complete. There are two hundred and thirty-eight people remaining in total."

Elder Wei swept his tiger-like gaze across the square, taking in the remaining crowd before speaking in a deep voice.

"The next test—the Heaven-Ascending Stairway. Follow me."

With that, he turned and walked away, the deep indigo hem of his robe fluttering behind him as he stepped onto a mountain path leading toward the rear of the sect.

The elders surrounded the country boy and followed close behind, like stars clustered around the moon.

The remaining two hundred and thirty-eight people exchanged glances. Excitement gradually lit up their eyes. They tightened their grip on their wooden tokens and hurried after them, the sound of their footsteps overlapping across the mountain path.

Qi Tian stayed at the very back of the crowd, moving along with the flow of people.

The Heaven-Ascending Stairway?

He silently repeated the name in his mind, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

What an ambitious name. He was curious to see what kind of trick the Falling Cloud Sect had come up with.

They passed through a grove of ancient pines and lush cypresses, and the view suddenly opened before them.

The sun was blazing in the late hour of Wei Shi, its white brilliance pouring down and illuminating the entire rear mountain.

And there, beneath that dazzling sunlight, a long flight of white-jade steps rose straight from the mountainside, thrusting toward the heavens. It looked like a gigantic sword carved from a single piece of white jade, piercing through heaven and earth.

The entire staircase gleamed with a lustrous white sheen. Each step was more than a zhang wide, its jade smooth and warm to the touch, faint spiritual light flowing across its surface.

A mountain breeze swept down from above, crisp with spiritual energy, setting everyone’s robes snapping in the wind.

They raised their heads.

The white-jade staircase appeared and disappeared amid sunlight and drifting clouds, like a road reaching all the way to heaven.

Elder Wei stopped before the first step and turned to face the crowd. His voice rang out like a great bell.

"This is the Heaven-Ascending Stairway."

He paused.

"Nine hundred and ninety-nine steps in all."