Chapter 5

Everyone arrived at the Heart-Questioning Mountain, but they didn't feel anything unusual. Only Man Gu felt a clear decline in his strength, as if his body was gradually aligning with the others.

The boiling blood of the ancient barbarian in his body had calmed down, no longer providing him with a continuous flow of power.

Everyone looked at each other, and finally, their gazes all fell on the strongest Man Gu.

"I'll go first." Seeing everyone looking at him, Man Gu didn't hesitate and decided to be the first one.

First step, second step, third step... tenth step.

Man Gu walked the first ten steps easily. Starting from the eleventh step, the pressure gradually increased, making him feel as if he was carrying a stone slab, which became heavier the higher he climbed.

But it was still within his tolerance.

He continued climbing.

Man Gu took a few deep breaths, steadied his breathing, and walked to the twentieth step.

By the time Man Gu reached the twentieth step, his pace became increasingly difficult, and the speed of stepping up slowed down.

At the twenty-ninth step, sweat began to seep through his back, soaking his clothes. He had to stop, panting heavily, and sit on the step to rest.

"Even sitting down is pressurized." Man Gu gritted his teeth, speaking to himself, too tired to talk. He was now just changing from standing with a stone slab on his back to sitting with it, and the speed of recovering his strength was very slow.

Seeing Man Gu's struggle, everyone realized that this mountain was not easy to climb, and their hearts sank.

Someone said in a deep voice, "I've heard the elders of our clan talk about similar places. The Heart-Questioning Mountain can test one's heart and resolve. The purer the heart, the more determined the will, and the more sincere the desire for the Dao. Man Gu, who is known for his straightforwardness as a descendant of the ancient barbarians, is having such a hard time. We might find it even harder!"

"Can the Heart-Calm Mantra help us calm down?" someone else suggested.

The third test required reaching the fiftieth step, but there was no requirement for the first few to pass, so they were not in competition with each other.

Everyone nodded, thinking it was a good idea. Their elders had all taught them similar mantras for self-cultivation.

Lu Yang opened his mouth, but he didn't know any Heart-Calm Mantra.

"Would you like me to teach you a Heart-Calm Mantra?" Meng Jingzhou asked.

Lu Yang shook his head: "Not yet, I'll think of another way."

Seeing this, Meng Jingzhou didn't force it.

...

Meng Jingzhou woke up from his meditation, feeling an unprecedented calmness in his heart.

The Heart-Calm Mantra works!

Meng Jingzhou meditated longer than the others. When he woke up, the others were already at the twenty to thirty steps, sweating profusely and needing great willpower to take another step.

Large drops of sweat covered their faces, and they didn't even have the strength to wipe them away.

Some tried to find another way, thinking that the pressure only existed on the steps. They tried to go around the mountain to the fiftieth step, but they found that the entire Heart-Questioning Mountain had increasing pressure the higher they went.

Others tried to use magical treasures, but they found that the treasures had lost their power. No matter how extraordinary the treasure, they couldn't even activate it, making them nothing more than scrap metal.

No wonder Dai Bufan wasn't worried about them using magical treasures.

Lu Yang was the most noticeable, lagging behind everyone else.

He was barefoot, squatting on the tenth step, deep in thought, observing something.

"What are you doing? Everyone else has climbed far ahead." Meng Jingzhou asked curiously.

Lu Yang didn't speak, holding a shoe in his hand.

Lu Yang threw the shoe, which landed on the eleventh step: "Try picking it up."

Meng Jingzhou didn't understand Lu Yang's intention but followed his instructions. He found that the shoe was heavier than usual, as if something was pulling it down.

Meng Jingzhou seemed to understand something. He threw the shoe to the twelfth step and found that it fell at the same speed as on the eleventh step, but it was heavier when he picked it up.

"Did you notice any pattern?"

Meng Jingzhou frowned: "The pressure doesn't transfer to an object unless it touches the ground. Only when the object lands and makes contact with the ground does the extra pressure apply?"

"Exactly." Lu Yang punched his palm, happy to find someone who shared his thoughts.

Meng Jingzhou, in his calm state, thought quickly: "The steps are sloped, and there are many trees here. We can build a '7'-shaped ladder, with one end buried in the ground and the other reaching the fiftieth step."

Lu Yang said confidently: "Right, this third test is meant to test our intelligence. This is the correct answer!"

Meng Jingzhou understood Lu Yang's idea and quickly raised another question: "How do we cut the trees?"

They had no axes or saws. How could they cut trees to make a ladder?

"Do you have any sharp magical treasures?" Lu Yang had already thought about this.

He had considered working with others, but no one understood his idea.

Meng Jingzhou took out a dagger: "This was given to me by an elder for self-defense. It can be activated by willpower, with a speed comparable to the Golden Core stage, but it can't fly on the Heart-Questioning Mountain."

"That's fine, as long as it's sharp." Lu Yang smiled. The Meng family, being a large clan, had crafted magical treasures that, even if they couldn't be activated, were far sharper than ordinary axes and saws.

Perfect for cutting trees.

"Come and look. While you were meditating, I already designed the blueprint."

Lu Yang led Meng Jingzhou to a soft sandy area where he had drawn the blueprint for the '7'-shaped ladder.

After a brief discussion, they began to act.

The Meng family dagger was indeed sharp. The thick trees were like paper in front of the dagger, and the trees were quickly cut into oddly shaped planks.

The cultivators on the Heart-Questioning Mountain were like ordinary people, and the trees that could grow here were the most common kind.

Soon, Meng Jingzhou found another problem.

"How do we connect these two planks? We don't have nails, and even if we did, we couldn't connect such thick planks."

"Have you heard of mortise and tenon joints?"

"No."

Lu Yang sighed, took the dagger, and began to shape the planks into mortise and tenon joints, explaining the wisdom of the mortal world to Meng Jingzhou.

"This protruding part is called a tenon, and this recessed part is called a mortise. Together, they form a mortise and tenon joint. The greatest feature of the mortise and tenon joint is that it is extremely sturdy without using nails."

Meng Jingzhou listened attentively. The Meng family used spiritual energy in their craft, so they didn't need mortise and tenon joints.

On the steps, everyone was sweating profusely, panting heavily, and struggling to reach the fiftieth step, hoping to be the first to pass.

Perhaps the first to pass would gain the favor of the Dao-Seeking Sect and receive special cultivation.

Everyone understood why there was no time limit. Climbing the mountain was so physically demanding that if they stayed too long, they would be too hungry to even stand, let alone climb.

At the bottom of the steps, the two were also sweating profusely, panting heavily, and working hard to cut down trees. After several trials and errors, they finally completed the ladder.

The ladder was oddly shaped, thin at the top and thick at the bottom, with a curved end. It looked more like a giant '7' than a ladder.

The surrounding area was barren, as if a giant pig demon had taken a bite out of it.

A disciple of the Dao-Seeking Sect secretly glanced at Dai Bufan, remembering that Dai Bufan often boasted about the lush Heart-Questioning Mountain.

Dai Bufan's eyes twitched, and he unconsciously clenched his fists.