Chapter 44: Thousand Swords Flying, Heaven's Mirror Gazing

  With curiosity, Zhang Shan stepped onto the 101st step.

  Two white sword auras suddenly appeared in mid-air, one above the other, shooting straight at him with a sharp whistling sound.

  Zhang Shan was startled and took a step back, dodging past him.

  The sword qi swept past his side, turned around in a circle, and stabbed at him again.

  Zhang Shan dodged several times before his heart stirred and he suddenly struck out with two fist shadows that hit the sword energy, causing it to disperse with a loud crash.

  "So it must be defeated after all?"

  Zhang Shan thought as he walked forward and stepped onto the 102nd step.

  This time, four sword auras suddenly appeared in the air, twice as many as before.

  Zhang Shan charged forward, striking four consecutive blows that shattered the sword energy, and climbed one hundred and three steps.

  "It seems that every time I go up a level, the sword energy is twice as strong as before, but fortunately, the damage is not very powerful and has no effect on my Five Elements Indestructible Body."

  Without hesitation, he rushed straight up the stairs. By the time he reached the 110th step, his sword energy had transformed into 1,024 paths.

  "My god, although the damage isn't big, if the number keeps increasing at this rate, after level 20 or so, it'll become tens of billions of sword auras. If this trial is also a hundred levels... how can we possibly pass?"

  After shattering over a thousand sword energies, Zhang Shan took a break with a question in mind and once again stepped onto the 111th level of stairs.

  Unexpectedly, this time it turned into two sword auras that shot straight at him.

  He struck the sword energy again, and Zhang Shan looked at the two white dots that appeared on his fist. "The number has returned to two sword energies, but the damage has increased. So, every ten levels of the stairs, the damage power is increasing."

  At the thought of the 200-step staircase, there were 1,024 sword energies with ten times the initial damage power that came rushing over, and Zhang Shan felt a chill run down his spine.

  "There's only one way to go until it gets dark..."

  He cast aside the distractions in his mind, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the next level of stairs.

  When Zhangshan was trekking on the Tianlu Road, he asked about the Qingmu Peak, one of the five peaks of the Tiantong Temple. In a small pavilion on the cliff, a middle-aged man with a clear face was brewing tea.

  And beside him, Fang Yiru was telling him something.

  The man picked up the teacup in front of him, took a light sip: "Yiru, as you said, that Zhangshan has potential, but to take him on as an apprentice, it's probably still not enough."

  He continued slowly: "I am Qingmu Feng's first seat, I am the disciple under Anzuo, both talent and personality must be one in ten thousand, otherwise it is difficult to convince others, don't you understand?"

  "It's just a rumor, but I think Zhangshan is really good, so I recommended him to Master."

  Fang Yiru lowered her head, sneaking a glance at her master: "Master, since you won't personally accept him as a disciple, can't he just become an inner sect disciple of Qingmu Peak?"

  Xie Ziyan furrowed his brow and took a glance at his beloved disciple, "Tell me the truth, what's your relationship with this Zhang Shan?"

  "It's actually about what happened last time at Tianqing Mountain Range. I was ambushed by Xuanming Palace, and then Zhangshan saved me."

  Fang Yiru thought of Zhang Shan helping her apply medicine when she was unconscious at that time, and her face became a bit unnatural.

  "Oh, so the one who helped you that time was Zhang Shan? I said you usually don't bother with such trivial matters, how come you'd go out of your way for a new junior apprentice, it turns out to be like this"

  Xiang Ziyuan nodded and pondered for a moment before saying, "Since he saved you, it wouldn't be a problem to make him an inner disciple. However, Bai Gengfeng and Chi Yangfeng have been at odds recently due to the Qingyang City incident, and Zhang Shan has become a thorn in Chi Yangfeng's side. Taking him in as a member of our sect would not be suitable."

  He put down the teacup in his hand and continued, "For twenty years, our Qingmu Peak has been at the bottom of the various peaks, with no one to inherit. It's not suitable for us to make an enemy of Chi Yang Peak. Let's give him some other compensation instead. Moreover, entering Bai Geng Peak is his best choice."

  Fang Yiru opened her mouth, saw the unyielding expression on her master's face, and finally held back the thought of persuading him again.

  She helplessly lowered her head and said: "Then I'll take my leave first."

  Leaving the small pavilion, Fang Yiru returned to her own courtyard with a gloomy mood. Halfway through, she was stopped by someone.

  He turned his head and saw that it was his uncle's wife, Nan Ruoli.

  "Xiao Ru, why do you look so unhappy? Has he made you angry? Tell Shifu, I'll go and scold him." Nan Ruo Li smiled and came over to her side, holding her hand.

  Nan Ruo's beauty was exceptional, elegant and refined. She was a master of the Xuanwu Realm's 9th level boundary, and one of the top three experts of Qingmu Peak. Although she had already passed her thirtieth year, she looked as if she were still in her twenties due to her mastery of age-halting techniques.

  Fang Yiru had always been on good terms with her master's uncle, and although they were a generation apart, their relationship was like that of close sisters.

  She hugged Nan Ruoxi's arm and whispered an account of what had happened.

  Nan Ruo Li let out a soft sigh after listening: "Don't blame your master, as the head of our sect, everything is prioritized for the sake of Qingmu Peak's overall situation. Alas, it's all because we're too weak, and some things can't be taken lightly."

  "But I think Zhang Shan really has a high talent, if Qingmu Peak can recruit him, he might bring us surprises. These years, our talented disciples have been unable to surpass those of other peaks, and if this continues, we will only become weaker." Fang Yiru said with a slight frown.

  "Do you really think he can be cultivated for reasons other than repaying kindness?" Nan Ruoli asked seriously.

  "Master Shu, don't you understand me yet? Am I the kind of person who forgets righteousness for personal gain?" Fang Yiru said with a pout.

  Nan Ruo Li knew that his junior fellow apprentice had always been proud and clever, so if he had such a high evaluation of Zhang Shan, there must be a reason for it.

  With a flick of her wrist, a jade mirror with a diameter of half a foot appeared in her hand. She pointed at the mirror with her jade finger, and the jade mirror flew out of her hand, growing to be as tall as a person, suspended in mid-air.

  She smiled slightly and said: "Then let me use the Void Mirror to take a look at that Zhang Shan you mentioned, what's so extraordinary about him."

  Fang Yiru couldn't help but become interested as well. After all, on the Road to Heaven, one could not see from the outside what specific situation a disciple was being tested with inside.

  Even in the grand hall at the top of Tianluo Mountain, one can only observe which level of stairs a disciple has reached, but how they respond to danger inside is invisible.

  However, Nan Youduo's Void Sky Mirror is different, it can reflect everything that the test taker faces.

  The mirror began to ripple like water waves, and then the scene on the road to heaven appeared inside.

  "That's Zhang Shan." Fang Yiru scanned her eyes and pointed out Zhang Shan.

  Nan Ruoli adjusted her perspective and fixed it on Zhang Shan, then she made a few empty gestures in mid-air, and the scene in front of Zhang Shan began to appear in the mirror.

  Zhang Shan had already climbed up to the 191st step, his upper body covered in sword wounds, looking disheveled and miserable, but with eyes that still shone brightly.

  "This is the last step of the second pass, but it seems that he was seriously injured. This kind of strength is not enough to impress you, how can he enter your eyes?"

  In the mirror, two powerful sword auras were stabbing towards Zhang Shan in mid-air.

  Nan Ruo furrowed his brow in puzzlement and said, "......No, how can the power of the sword energy be so great? This is... an intermediate level!"

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