Chapter 43: Carrying the Burden Forward

  After making up his mind, Zhang Shan began to speed up. Under such gravity, the longer he stayed, the greater the burden on his body would be.

  Sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety. Zhang Shan finally stopped at the ninetieth step and took a slight breath.

  The pressure on him has now reached 18,000 kilograms and is almost at the limit that his body can withstand.

  "According to Zhaobi's estimate, level 100 should be the top, and there are still ten levels left, no matter what, we must go up."

  Zhang Shan took a deep breath, and the true yuan stored in his twelve orifices burst out together, surging through his meridians to provide him with powerful strength.

  "Hey!"

  He let out a low shout and Zhang Shan stepped onto the 91st step.

  He felt a slight ache in his muscles all over his body, he knew that this was the stress had exceeded the physical tolerance, but for now, this little pain was nothing to him.

  After climbing five more levels, the weight reached 19,000 catties. Zhang Shan was drenched in sweat and his bones made a faint cracking sound, as if they would break at any moment.

  "There's still the final fifth level, I won't give up."

  Zhang Shan was furious in his heart, step by step forward, and once again stepped onto the ninety-sixth level of stairs.

  He gained another 200 pounds, his waist was bent down, and he could smell the bloody smell in his nose.

  "Did you get a nosebleed?"

  Zhang Shan grunted, but didn't wipe it off. Every bit of strength was precious now, and even raising his hand to wipe away the blood would be a waste.

  He gritted his teeth and straightened his waist with a strong effort, taking another step forward.

  In the grand hall on the mountain top, Ma Chengxing's gaze was fixed intently on Zhang Shan's body. "This kid really can hold out, 97 levels of stairs, 19,400 catties of pressure..."

  "It's still three levels away, this kid might actually make it up there... No way, should I increase the difficulty by another double? But that would make a bigger commotion, and Xu Shenwei might notice."

  Ma Cheng Xing once again took out the control jade card from his hand, just about to take a risk.

  Xu Shenwei turned his head and looked him up and down, saying: "General Ma seems to be quite concerned about that disciple?"

  Ma Cheng's heart skipped a beat, and he put the jade token back into his Su Mei ring. He smiled as if nothing was wrong: "Nothing, I just saw that disciple seemed to be under too much pressure, afraid he would force himself out of trouble, so I paid a little attention."

  "Oh, so that's how it is. But the path of cultivation was always fraught with danger, and even if something happens, it's still his own choice." Xǔ Shèn said calmly.

  "Who says it isn't? However, although we martial artists should be unyielding, we should also know our limits." Ma Chengxing chimed in.

  Xu Shenwei gazed into the distance again and said, "However, with his Lingwu realm third-order cultivation, how could he not withstand even a pressure of 10,000 catties?"

  Ma Cheng's eyes flashed with a hint of panic, and he forced a smile: "Perhaps it was because he relied too heavily on elixirs during his cultivation, so his foundation wasn't stable, that's why this happened."

  Xu Shen slightly nodded his head. It's no wonder that many young masters of aristocratic families are too obsessed with taking elixirs to improve their cultivation, resulting in a false impression of being strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

  Ma Chengxing saw that he didn't suspect anything and secretly let out a breath of relief. If something went wrong and Xu Shenwei discovered it, his position as the head of the examination hall would be in jeopardy.

  "Hmph, even if he barely passes the first test, there are still four more tests left, and the difficulty will also double. I don't believe this kid can make it through."

  Ma Chengxing secretly thought about it and also gave up the idea of adding more ingredients for Zhang Shan again.

  Zhang Shan's seven orifices were all bleeding, and his skin's pores oozed out tiny bloodstains, resembling a fierce ghost. His eyes were wide open, filled with red threads, but his gaze was firm and unwavering.

  "Ninety-ninth step... I hope the stele spirit's judgment is correct, this is the final step."

  Zhang Shan gazed at the first hundred steps in front of him, invigorated his spirit, and squeezed out all the true yuan from his body. His skin surface cracked like a spider web, and fresh blood burst out wildly.

  He lifted his right foot with difficulty and stepped onto the hundredth step, with a pressure of 20,000 catties.

  The bones in his body crackled with a burst of noise, and his ears buzzed loudly. Zhang Shan gritted his teeth to steady himself, he was just one step away from collapse, and he absolutely could not fall down.

  "Ah! On me!"

  A loud roar burst out of his throat, Zhang Shan exerted himself to lift his left foot and stepped onto the first step of the hundred-step staircase.

  "Bang!"

  His foot landed on the last step, and a dull rumble sounded as Zhang Shan finally stood completely on the hundred-step staircase.

  A moment later, the pressure on his body receded like a tide, and he could no longer support himself, stumbling before falling heavily onto the stone steps.

  "The Monument Spirit is right, this trial ends at the 100th floor." Zhang Shan was lying on his back with his limbs splayed out in all directions, panting heavily, and didn't even want to move a single finger.

  After lying down for a while, Zhang Shan felt something was off. The heavenly and earthly yuanqi beside him had become exceptionally dense. He gritted his teeth against the ache all over his body and sat up, observing that the yuanqi was surging out from the stone steps.

  "This should be a reward for those who have passed, and also to prepare the tester to enter the next level in their prime state. The host should hurry up and cultivate, this supplement may have time limit."

  Zhang Shan hastily sat cross-legged, concentrated his mind and calmed his breath, and began to meditate.

  The thick and substantial heavenly energy formed a white aura around his body, completely enveloping him.

  As the Sen Luo Wan Xiang Jue rotated, the primordial energy of heaven and earth was frantically absorbed into his body, beginning to repair his heavily damaged physical form.

  What surprised him was that after being tempered by this hundred-level gravity staircase, he felt that his physical strength had increased by a level, becoming even more powerful and tenacious, and even his meridians had expanded significantly.

  "It turns out that this is not only a test, but also a great opportunity. As long as you can withstand the pressure and get through it, your physical fitness will be greatly improved."

  Zhang Shan thought with joy that this round of testing, due to being passive and having his hands and feet tied up, the pressure he bore was twice that of others, so the benefits he gained should also be twice that of others.

  Soon, those cracked skin on his body healed rapidly, no scars could be seen, and the skin even emitted a bright luster.

  After his body was repaired, Zhang Shan began to guide the heavenly and earthly primordial energy into the dantian, where it rotated and condensed in the qihai before transforming into strands of true primordial energy that surged into the twelve yuan orifices within his body.

  One by one, the withered meridians were filled with refined true yuan, and Zhang Shan felt his strength recovering step by step.

  When the twelve orifices were fully filled with true yuan, and his body could no longer absorb a single thread of heavenly and earthly yuan energy, Zhang Shan opened his eyes, withdrew his technique, and stood up, ending his cultivation.

  As he finished his work, the thick heavenly and earthly primal energy seeped into the stone steps, and in an instant, everything around him returned to normal.

  Zhang Shan looked up at the remaining 400 steps: "I wonder what kind of test is next?"

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