Chapter 12: Ninety-nine Steps

Long Yu looked at the wordless scripture. Although there were some things he could know, there were also some things he didn't know. Long Yu tried other things again. Some things were there and some were not. Zong Ling told Long Yu that it was just a primary volume, and Long Yu could fill in the gaps for other unknown things.

Long Yu was pleasantly surprised overnight. Leng Tu gave him such a great gift. He was able to record many things he encountered. Long Yu did not sleep all night, studying the things in the book. Long Yu also found that the file could change its form, like a ring, a book, and even a variety of weapons. It was simply a good equipment for home and outings.

Long Yu saw that it was almost dawn, so he drew some water from the well. Long Yu had forgotten how many years it had been since he had taken a bath. Long Yu put some water in the wooden tub, rubbed his body happily, and soon fell asleep. He didn't feel any movement outside.

The sun shone directly on Long Yu's face through the window, and Long Yu breathed in the autumn air greedily. Long Yu recalled a set of blue linen clothes from his mind, washed up, and looked at himself in the bronze mirror. He looked like a gentle and refined fifteen or sixteen-year-old, and there was no sign that he had lived for hundreds of years.

Long Yu shook his head. Women pursue eternal youth for their whole lives, but Long Yu has it all. Long Yu looked at his silver hair. He had tried many times to turn his hair black, but it was still silver.

Long Yu packed up and just opened the door of the room. A petite body with a pale face, it was obvious that she was overworked. The petite girl took the initiative to lower her head forward, looking like a servant. "Young Pavilion Master, before the Pavilion Master left, he told you not to go down the mountain privately, and wait for him to come back and take you to a place."

Long Yu looked at the girl in bewilderment, and took the initiative to perform a teacher's salute to the girl. The girl looked at Long Yu's actions, and her knees slammed on the ground, looking like she was about to cry. Seeing this, Long Yu took the initiative to pull the girl up. Long Yu felt the girl trembling, and her whole body was shaking from the soul.

Long Yu smiled awkwardly at the girl and said, "Isn't Old Man Leng going to leave here? I'll probably be dead here waiting for him to come back." Long Yu turned around and avoided looking directly at the girl.

The girl whispered, "It was Pavilion Master Jianchen who told me to do that." Long Yu turned around and looked at the girl. The girl quickly knelt on the floor, and her right hand was about to slap herself. Long Yu quickly stopped the girl, and the girl's look made him feel sad.

Long Yu looked at the girl and said, "If you like this place, you can stay here. Jian Chen won't be back for a while anyway. I also have to participate in the trial field and won't be back for a while."

The girl shed two tears and looked at Long Yu as if she had something to say, but couldn't. Long Yu bowed to the girl and said, "I wonder if you can tell me how to get to the trial field." Long Yu smiled harmlessly, but he was not familiar with the terrain of the Divine Sword Pavilion at all.

Long Yu followed the girl Lu'er's instructions and walked all the way from the southwest. But Long Yu was a little worried. Less than 300 meters after walking out of the yard, Long Yu looked at the ground and saw that it was thousands of meters away from the ground. Long Yu couldn't find the way down at all.

In the end, it was Lu'er who used a sword to send Long Yu to the entrance of the test field. Long Yu looked at the few people entering the trial field. Then he looked at the stone steps in front of him and was shocked. They were almost up to Long Yu's chest.

A young man who looked like a rich family came over from behind, with several servants behind him. He glanced at Long Yu and looked directly at the sky, looking superior. Long Yu had no choice but to stand aside, looking at the young man, put his hands on the stone steps, and flew up with force. Several servants behind him followed him in the same manner, step by step.

Long Yu tried to put his hands on the stone steps, but he couldn't jump up no matter how hard he tried. He felt his body being pulled down by a force. Long Yu tried three or four times and finally climbed up a step. Looking at the rich young man who had already climbed more than fifty steps, Long Yu looked at his own position and felt really embarrassed.

Long Yu tried the second step again, but he couldn't jump up no matter how hard he tried. Long Yu slowly discovered a pattern, and the operation of the sealed aura crystal became much easier. He could directly climb the steps just by relying on his physical strength.

Long Yu relied on his physical condition to climb five steps in a row. No matter how hard he tried, he felt that he did not have enough strength, so he had to choose to meditate on the sixth step to recover his body.

Long Yu watched as people climbed up one by one, and before he knew it, it was noon. Long Yu tried to climb the sixth step again, but he still couldn't climb up after exhausting his last bit of strength.

A girl who looked like she was about five or six years old looked at Long Yu who was still panting, made a face and continued to climb up. Long Yu recovered his body again and tried to climb up again. When he took his last breath, he gritted his teeth and hung on the stone steps for about ten minutes. Long Yu felt someone pushing his butt from behind.

Long Yu finally climbed up a step, panting as he looked at the man who helped him, who looked like a woodcutter. A man sat down next to Long Yu and handed him a pancake. Long Yu bowed to the woodcutter and took the pancake.

The woodcutter took out a pot of wine, took a sip and handed it to Long Yu, "Cabinet Xiao An, what about you, kid?" Long Yu looked at Xiao An, with a righteous look, unlike the others, who looked down on others. Long Yu took a bite of the pancake and felt it was delicious. "Long Yu, as for where I am from, you don't know."

The woodcutter glanced at Long Yu and said, "Young Pavilion Master's cultivation journey is just like these ninety-nine steps. There are not many paths to take. The only way is to work harder than others and catch up with the so-called genius."

When Long Yu was about to say something, Xiao An waved his hand and jumped down. Long Yu saw many people bowing to Xiao An, but Xiao An ignored everyone and walked away from the stairs. Long Yu finally understood a truth: To make others look up to you, you must have enough strength.

Long Yu looked at where he was standing, put the pancake in his pocket, and continued to climb. When he reached the last breath of each step, Long Yu still did not let go. After climbing during the day and at night for half a year, Long Yu finally reached the 98th step.

Long Yu had walked all the way here, and had seen others take a break and then continue to climb, and had also seen others give up when they couldn't climb any further. Long Yu had a deep understanding that the road to cultivating immortals was full of difficulties, and he had to grit his teeth and climb up every step of the way.

Long Yu tried to climb the last step for the hundredth time, with his hands on the steps and his feet kicking the stone steps. The first two steps were easy, but the third step was very strenuous. By the fourth step, sweat was pouring down Long Yu's forehead. Long Yu's back was covered in sweat, and people on the steps shouted "Come on!"

Long Yu looked at the people around him. Some people reached out to him and some wanted to push him. Long Yu rejected them all. After taking the fifth step stubbornly, Long Yu felt his hand cracked and a pain spread to his brain.

Long Yu gritted his teeth and ignored the pain in his body, only wanting to climb up. Long Yu's consciousness began to blur, and he continued to take the sixth step. Finally, half of his body was up. With his last breath, Long Yu pressed hard on the stone steps, and the sound of bones breaking was crisp and scary.

Long Yu could not feel his feet, only the piercing pain. Long Yu still turned over firmly, looking at the sky, which was spinning, and could not hear the voices of the people around him.

When Long Yu woke up, he saw the little girl staring at him with wide eyes. He shouted to the people around him, "Young Pavilion Master is awake. He is really the second Pavilion Master Jian Chen."

Long Yu coughed twice and stood up reluctantly. The rich young man who had been there before was also there, and everyone saluted Long Yu as a teacher. Long Yu quickly returned the salute and saw that there were ten people, no more, no less.

"Qingfei, I'm honored to meet the Young Master. I am the Master's left hand."

"Cabinet Hongying, I meet the Young Master. I am the Master's right hand."

Long Yu looked at the young master, then at the little girl, and quickly returned the greeting. The ten people smiled and turned into ten swords and left the stone steps, leaving Long Yu confused. A crow flew in the sky with a line of words: What is going on?

Long Yu limped and looked at a stone with the words "Eight Trigrams Sword Formation Trial Field" written on it. Long Yu walked in and started to curse in his heart. Looking at the bottom of the mountain tens of thousands of meters high, there was a two-element eight trigrams sword formation surrounded by swords.

A large eagle flew over the sword formation and turned into a blood mist in an instant. Long Yu began to feel a little guilty, but he remembered Leng Tu said to jump in directly. Long Yu struggled in his heart, but still jumped into the deep pit with his eyes closed.

Long Yu shouted, "Life and death are determined by fate, wealth and honor are determined by heaven." He heard a humming sound in his ears, and his soul felt like it was forced out of his body by the airflow. Long Yu opened his eyes and looked, and a sword with fire pierced his body.

Before Long Yu could even shout, his body turned into blood mist. The Wordless Book of Heaven helped Long Yu block the attack from his spiritual consciousness, but his soul was trapped by Leng Tu's formation. Long Yu's soul looked around and saw sword energy everywhere.

Long Yu's soul and divine consciousness hid everywhere, searching for his own blood. The more he searched, the more anxious he became, but he couldn't see where his blood was. Long Yu cursed Leng Tu while dodging the sudden attacks of swords from all corners.

Long Yu tried to use his spiritual sense to find his blood, but found that his spiritual sense could not get out at all. Long Yu hid for almost an hour and finally saw a drop of blood under a sword.

Long Yu looked at the blood and ran over. As soon as he came into contact with the blood, the sword formation suddenly stopped attacking. Long Yu recovered under the sword. It took Long Yu half a month to repair his body. He felt a little weird, as if it was not his own blood.

Long Yu didn't care about that, and transformed into a body bit by bit according to his own will. Long Yu felt his body and looked at the swords outside that were not moving at all, placed in a mess, like swords that had been sleeping for years.