Ten Thousand Years in Seclusion
Chapter 29:Inferno and Frostbite

Chapter 29: Chapter 29:Inferno and Frostbite

Qi Tian stepped onto the first step of the Heaven-Ascending Stairway, and the invisible pressure came as expected, pressing down over his entire body. His expression did not change, and his steps remained unhurried. To him, this amount of pressure was no more than a feather landing on his body.

He continued upward at an even pace, one step at a time, while wondering to himself: Which step should he stop at?

As he pondered this, he suddenly noticed something strange around him.

The other examinees beside him had barely climbed a few dozen steps, yet some were already breathing heavily. Some had their hands braced on their knees; others had flushed faces, sweat beading at their temples, their pace noticeably slowing. A few had simply stopped where they stood to catch their breath.

Qi Tian’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

The people in this final group... are they really this weak?

He had watched the previous four groups from below. When they had climbed a few dozen steps, they had moved with ease, chatting and laughing as they went. None of them had looked nearly as miserable as these people.

He was not the only one wondering about it.

The elders looked up at the staircase as well, murmuring among themselves.

"Strange. Why is this group so weak?"

"Exactly. The previous groups were still moving with ease even after a hundred steps. This group already has people collapsing after only a few dozen."

Only Elder Li stood with his hands behind his back, his expression unchanged and saying nothing.He knew exactly what was happening. The spiritual pressure of the Heaven-Ascending Ten Tribulations Formation was twice that of the Myriad-Jun Formation. Yet the aptitude of this group was simply too poor. Even after the pressure was doubled, what they were enduring was only equivalent to a little over a hundred steps on the Myriad-Jun Formation, and some of them were already struggling to hold on.

On the jade steps, Qi Tian continued upward.

Sixty steps. Seventy steps.

Fewer and fewer people remained beside him. Some dropped onto the steps, their faces pale as they shook their heads and sighed. Others gritted their teeth and forced themselves up a few more steps before finally collapsing, unable to stand again.

By the eightieth step, only a handful of figures were still moving.

At the ninetieth step, on the vast staircase, the only ones still climbing—

were him and a fat young man.

The fat man was a few steps ahead of him. His brocade robe was already half-soaked with sweat, yet his steps remained light and his breathing steady, as though he were taking a leisurely stroll.

He turned around. He looked no older than seventeen or eighteen, with a round face and a smile plastered across it.

"Brother, you haven’t stopped either? My name is Qian Duobao. I’m from the Qian family in Linyuan City. I’m at the fifth level of Qi Condensation. What about you?"

Qi Tian smiled.

"Qi Tian. Foun... Qi Condensation, third level."

"Brother Qi, want to go together?" Qian Duobao stopped.

"Sure."

Qi Tian quickened his pace, caught up with Qian Duobao, and fell into step beside him.

"Let’s go!"

Qian Duobao called out, and the two climbed side by side, stepping up several more stairs until they reached the ninety-eighth step.

The two stepped onto the ninety-ninth step together.

Qi Tian’s foot came to a halt.

Besides the increased spiritual pressure, a wave of scorching heat suddenly surged up from beneath his foot, shooting straight through his meridians toward his dantian. Wherever it passed, it felt like his body was being scorched by flames.

Qi Tian’s brows lifted almost imperceptibly.

Now that’s interesting. I didn’t expect the Heaven-Ascending Stairway to have a trial like this hidden inside.

Using fire to temper the body, burn away impurities, and forge a sturdier foundation was a common cultivation method among cultivators.

His master had tempered him with all kinds of spiritual flames countless times in the past. Earthfire, true fire, thunderfire—one after another. Which of them wasn’t ten times hotter than this?

Compared to those flames back then, this little stream of heat was as gentle as candlelight.

Then he thought of the previous four groups. When they had stepped onto the ninety-ninth step, none of them had shown the slightest reaction. Although they had all possessed Four-Element Spiritual Roots, every one of them had a solid foundation and was not to be underestimated.

He turned his head toward Qian Duobao beside him.

The fat man’s expression changed drastically. His features twisted into a grimace in an instant. He gritted his teeth, and a faint earth-yellow glow spread across his body.

Qi Tian asked, "Are you still all right?"

Qian Duobao took a deep breath. The spiritual energy in his dantian began circulating rapidly, and the earth-yellow glow around him grew slightly denser. His expression soon returned to normal, and he flashed a grin.

"Easy! I cultivate the Profound Armor Thick Earth Art, a low-grade Profound-tier technique."

With that, he raised his foot to step onto the hundredth step.

"Brother Qi, let’s go!"

Qi Tian stepped onto it with him.

With each step that followed, the spiritual pressure continued to rise, accompanied by increasingly fierce waves of scorching heat.

Below, Elder Li’s gaze remained fixed on the two of them, especially when they stepped onto the ninety-ninth step. His back tensed, and a thin layer of sweat gathered in his palms.

Whether it was the Myriad-Jun Formation or the Heaven-Ascending Ten Tribulations Formation, the Heaven-Ascending Stairway looked exactly the same from the outside. The only way to know the difference was to step onto it.

If either of them cried out when they reached the second tribulation "Inferno", shouting something like "It’s burning!", the other elders would immediately become suspicious.

Fortunately.

The two merely paused for a moment before continuing upward without making a sound.

Elder Li secretly breathed a sigh of relief and decided that once the test was over, he would recruit both of them into the Formation Hall.

Qi Tian and Qian Duobao continued upward side by side, one step at a time. At first, Qian Duobao could still chatter a little, but after they passed the hundred-and-sixtieth step, he gradually fell quiet. A smile still hung on his round face, but his breathing had clearly grown heavier.

The faint earth-yellow glow around him grew increasingly solid amid the invisible flames. Fire generates earth. Rather than scorching him, the scorching heat was tempering him like iron in a furnace, refining away the impurities in his spiritual energy bit by bit. His foundation was actually becoming somewhat more solid than before.

Qi Tian remained calm as he walked alongside him, occasionally replying with a few words and casually drawing some local gossip about Linyuan City out of the fat man.

Below, the elders looked up at them, their expressions calm.

Only Elder Li’s eyes grew brighter and brighter, his heart surging with excitement. More than a hundred and sixty steps—given that the Heaven-Ascending Ten Tribulations Formation doubled the pressure, this was already equivalent to the pressure of the three-hundred-and-thirty-third step of the Myriad-Jun Formation. And every step came with the tempering of those invisible flames, making it far more than a simple test of endurance.

The fact that these two had made it this far meant they were already qualified to enter the inner sect directly.

Before long, the two stepped onto the one-hundred-and-ninety-ninth step.

Qi Tian’s foot came to a halt.

The spiritual pressure continued to rise, but the scorching heat from before suddenly vanished. In its place came a bone-chilling cold that seeped straight from the soles of his feet into his marrow. His blood seemed to freeze, while the spiritual energy circulating through his meridians suddenly slowed, as though he had fallen into an icy cavern.

Qi Tian circulated his true essence. The moment the cold current entered his body, it was forcibly dissolved.

His expression remained unchanged. He merely glanced at Qian Duobao beside him.

Qian Duobao’s face turned pale, and the fat on his body trembled violently. Clearly, the cold had already seeped into his meridians. But with a muffled grunt, the earth spiritual energy in his dantian surged wildly, like thick earth suppressing a river, forcing the cold current down inch by inch.

A moment later, he exhaled a long stream of white vapor and squeezed a smile back onto his round face.

"Br... Brother Qi, this... this one’s a little cold..."

"Mm." Qi Tian replied calmly. "Can you keep going?"

"I can!"

Qian Duobao stamped his foot and stepped onto the two-hundredth step.

"Let’s go!"

Elder Li could barely contain his excitement.

These two had actually endured the second tribulation, "Frostbite," with ease.

He had originally only planned to recruit them into the Formation Hall so they could be made to keep quiet. But now, he had changed his mind.

With talents like these, taking them as personal disciples would be perfectly justified.