Chapter 5: I Think the Third Test is About Wisdom

Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii

Everyone approached the Heart-Seeking Mountain, feeling no different except for Barbarian Bone, who distinctly felt his strength diminishing, his physical standards aligning with the others.

His boiling ancient barbarian blood calmed, no longer providing him with endless power.

Everyone looked at each other and then at Barbarian Bone, the strongest among them.

“I’ll go first,” Barbarian Bone said, seeing everyone’s gaze on him, and stepped forward as the first to climb.

One step, two steps, three steps… ten steps.

The first ten steps were easy for Barbarian Bone, but from the eleventh step, the pressure started to build, feeling like he was carrying a stone slab on his back that grew heavier with each step.

However, it was still bearable.

He continued to climb.

After reaching the twentieth step, Barbarian Bone’s pace became increasingly difficult, his steps slowing down.

By the twenty-ninth step, sweat soaked through his clothes, forcing him to stop and rest, gasping for breath.

“Even sitting down feels heavy,” Barbarian Bone muttered to himself, too tired to speak further. Now, instead of standing with the slab, he was sitting with it, and his recovery was slow.

Seeing Barbarian Bone struggle so much, everyone realized the difficulty of the mountain and became apprehensive.

Someone solemnly said, “I heard from an elder about places like this. Heart-Seeking Mountain tests one’s desire for the Dao. The purer the heart and the firmer the will, the purer the desire for the Dao. Barbarian Bone, from the ancient barbarian lineage known for their straightforwardness, is struggling so much. It will likely be even harder for us!”

“Would a meditation mantra help calm the mind?” another person suggested.

The test just needed them to reach the fiftieth step. It didn’t require them to be among the first few to pass, they were not in competition.

Everyone agreed, finding it a good idea. Most had been taught similar mantras by their elders for cultivation and self-discipline.

Lu Yang opened his mouth, but he didn’t know any meditation mantras.

“Do you want me to teach you a mantra?” Meng  Jingzhou offered.

Lu Yang shook his head, “No need yet. I’ll think of another way.”

Meng  Jingzhou respected his decision and didn’t insist.

…

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

The meditation mantra worked!

He had meditated longer than others. When he awoke, others were already at the twenty to thirty steps, sweating profusely and struggling to move forward.

Sweat dripped down faces, leaving them without the strength to even wipe it away.

Someone tried a different approach, thinking the pressure only applied to the steps, and attempted to bypass the stairs through the adjacent terrain. However, they discovered the entire mountain was the same, the higher they went, the greater the pressure.

Others attempted to use magic treasures, only to find them powerless, unable to even activate, rendering them useless.

No wonder Dai Bufan wasn’t concerned about them using magic treasures.

Lu Yang, trailing behind everyone, was the most conspicuous.

Barefoot and squatting on the tenth step, he appeared deep in thought, as if observing something.

“What are you doing? Everyone else has climbed much higher,” Meng Jingzhou asked curiously.

Lu Yang remained silent, holding a shoe in his hand.

He threw the shoe onto the eleventh step, “Pick it up and try.”

Meng Jingzhou, not understanding Lu Yang’s intent, complied and noticed the shoe was heavier than usual, as if something was pulling it down.

Meng Jingzhou seemed to understand something and threw the shoe to the twelfth step, finding it heavier than on the eleventh.

“Did you discover a pattern?”

Meng Jingzhou frowned, “Objects don’t feel pressure until they touch the ground. It’s only when they make contact that they experience additional weight?”

“Exactly,” Lu Yang punched his palm, pleased to find someone who thought like him.

Meng Jingzhou quickly grasped Lu Yang’s idea, “The steps are slanted, and there are so many trees here. We can build a ‘7’-shaped ladder, one end buried in the ground and the other leading directly to the fiftieth step.”

Lu Yang confidently said, “Right, this third test is about testing our wisdom. That’s the correct answer!”

Meng Jingzhou understood Lu Yang’s plan and soon posed another question, “How do we cut the trees?”

They had no axes or saws to make a ladder.

“Do you have any sharp magic treasures?” Lu Yang had anticipated this problem.

He had considered collaborating with others, but no one else grasped his idea.

Meng Jingzhou produced a dagger, “This was given by an elder for self-defense. It can be activated by thought and is as fast as a Golden Core cultivator, but it can

‘t fly here on Heart-Seeking Mountain.”

“No problem, as long as it’s sharp,” Lu Yang said, knowing that even if Meng family’s treasures couldn’t be activated, their sharpness surpassed any mundane axe or saw.

Perfect for cutting trees.

“Come see, I’ve already designed the blueprint while you were meditating.”

Lu Yang led Meng Jingzhou to a patch of soft sand, where he had drawn the blueprint for the ‘7’-shaped ladder.

After a brief discussion, they started their task.

The Meng family dagger was indeed sharp, cutting through thick trees like paper. They quickly shaped the wood into unique boards.

The trees growing within Heart-Seeking Mountain, where cultivators and mortals were equal, were ordinary.

Soon, Meng Jingzhou noticed another issue.

“How do we join these two boards? We don’t have nails, and even if we did, they wouldn’t hold these thick boards together.”

“Have you heard of mortise and tenon joints?”

“No.”

Lu Yang sighed, took the dagger, and began shaping the joints while explaining this earthly wisdom to Meng Jingzhou.

“This protruding part is the mortise, and this recessed part is the tenon. Together, they form a mortise and tenon joint. Its main feature is strength without needing nails.”

Meng Jingzhou listened intently, as the Meng family used spiritual energy for forging, unfamiliar with such structures.

On the steps, people were exhausted, drenched in sweat, struggling to reach the fiftieth step, hoping to be the first to pass and possibly earn special attention and cultivation from the Dao Seeking Sect.

They now understood why there was no time limit: staying too long would leave them too weak to even stand, let alone climb.

Meanwhile, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, also drenched in sweat and panting, spent a great deal of effort felling numerous trees. After several trials and errors, they finally completed the ladder.

The ladder, with its bizarre shape – thinner at the top and thicker at the bottom, with a curved end – resembled a giant ‘7’ more than a ladder.

The surrounding bare ground, as if gnawed by a giant demon pig, drew secretive glances from Dao Seeking Sect disciples who remembered Dai Bufan’s pride in his lush Heart-Seeking Mountain.

Dai Bufan’s eye twitched involuntarily, his fist clenched.

A schematic of Lu Yang climbing the mountain is attached.

(End of the chapter)