Chu Tian climbed slowly, each step steady and firm.
Three sticks of incense passed, steadily ticking away.
Many who had been steady before him faltered, losing their footing due to impatience and tumbling down.
The young lad who came with Chu Tian, with only one stick of incense remaining, finally reached the summit.
The mountaintop was above the clouds, a vast platform.
"Huff, huff!"
He collapsed at the cliff's edge, gasping for air.
He had used up all his strength by the time he reached two-thirds of the way up.
He had underestimated the height of the cliff.
He had intended to surge straight to the top in one go.
Who would have thought that the cliff face was a staggering thirty kilometers high?
Even Chu Tian, upon reaching the halfway point, had only seen the summit through his divine sense.
He couldn't help but marvel at the true height of Tianyuan Mountain.
The platform itself stood at an altitude of thirty thousand meters.
This was not the end, merely the beginning.
From the edge of this platform, there were climbing steps.
They led to various peaks of differing heights.
The lowest of these peaks stood at ten thousand meters, while the tallest, the central main peak, rose another seventy thousand meters from the platform.
On Blue Star, it would probably have extended beyond the planet's atmosphere.
But in the Virtual God Realm, such a height was not particularly remarkable.
After reaching the summit, the young lad lay by the cliff edge, panting for a moment.
White mist rose from his sweat, slowly dissipating.
In the distance, at the base of the mountain gate, a table was set up, behind which sat several young academy members.
They naturally saw everyone who reached the summit and came to register for the trials.
Of course, they also saw the state of this foolish lad.
Many who reached the summit were exhausted, needing a long period of rest before they could get up.
This lad's appearance upon arrival was more pathetic than others.
His entire body was flushed red, his sweat evaporated, sending wisps of white steam into the air, yet his rest time was the shortest, perhaps only three to five minutes.
He sprang up from the ground like a coiled spring.
His face was not flushed, and he was not out of breath.
He walked up to them.
"I'm here to register! What other tests are there? Hurry up and get it done!"
Just as those few people were privately discussing which mentor this lad, with his decent talent, might be taken in by, he spoke these words.
Instantly, the complexions of those young academy members turned grim.
That phrase, "I'm here," was incredibly arrogant.
Others would first greet them and ask, "How are you, senior?"
But he, on the other hand, was urging them to hurry.
"Hmph, your name!"
The one holding the brush, seated in the center, snorted.
"I am called Luo Erpao!"
He bellowed his name, his voice booming.
"Uh... Luo Erpao?"
Chu Tian, still climbing but with his divine sense covering the area, suddenly trembled and nearly burst out laughing.
No wonder the lad had been reluctant to reveal his name when asked earlier.
If he had such a name, he probably wouldn't tell anyone either.
If you don't want to tell others, why are you speaking so loudly?
If you lowered your voice, the record keeper wouldn't have heard.
Now, all the newcomers who were sitting on the ground behind, having passed the assessment, erupted into laughter.
"Laugh at your sister! You... I'm talking to you... you shortie! I'll challenge you to a one-on-one!"
Luo Erpao pointed at someone behind him, the one who was laughing the hardest.
Naturally, he had targeted him.
However, as soon as Luo Erpao spoke, everyone fell silent.
Because the guy he pointed at had also passed the strength test.
He was a cultivator in the same department as Luo Erpao.
His test had caused quite a stir.
The number recorded on the strength testing stone next to the mountain gate was the one he had just achieved.
A single punch carried a force of sixty-eight hundred jin.
This far exceeded the entry requirement of twelve hundred jin.
Of course, this was the primary test for strength cultivators.
There were also some spiritual power tests and such.
For body cultivators, it was merely a formality.
Similarly, for spiritual cultivators, the strength test was just a formality.
Sixty-eight hundred jin, what a terrifying concept that was?
The guy wasn't tall, in fact, he could be considered short, because he was indeed... less than 1.5 meters in height.
Although he was seventeen or eighteen years old, he probably wouldn't grow much taller.
However, that patch of dark, muscular physique...
The bulges were somewhat frightening, as if about to explode at any moment.
This was not the main point. The main point was:
The Yuan Shi Academy's entrance examination had a rule:
That is... you could choose to challenge a member of the same department who had passed the assessment.
Once you initiate a challenge, you must pass three stages.
The first stage: you challenge a member. The second stage: the academy will provide a senior disciple. The third stage: the academy will provide a mentor.
Of course, such a situation usually occurred for those who had not met the standard during their tests.
They would do this in hopes of a gamble.
However, only fools would do this.
After all, at the same age, if your talent is not as high as others, the chances of losing a challenge are naturally greater.
Not to mention the latter two stages.
Although you didn't need to defeat them.
You only needed to last for a period of time under their hands.
That would still be more difficult than the first stage.
Especially the third stage.
Because you were challenging a pre-selected student of Yuan Shi Academy.
Therefore, you were essentially provoking Yuan Shi Academy.
In the third stage, you needed to survive one move from a mentor without dying.
As long as you didn't die, the academy would rescue you and enroll you.
The mentor's move was considered a punishment for your provocation of Yuan Shi Academy.
Therefore, issuing a challenge at this time was no joke.
Of course, the challenged pre-selected disciple had the right to refuse.
However, this Luo Erpao, by opening his mouth, exposed someone's flaw and immediately called him a "dead shortie!"
This instantly enraged the guy.
He, who had been laughing heartily, suddenly changed his expression.
Veins bulged on his face.
"You're courting death! Come... I accept your challenge, you two-bit idiot, let's see how I crush you!"
He leaped out with a "whoosh."
The academy members receiving the newcomers also stood up.
"Fellow disciple Luo Erpao, do you know what initiating a challenge signifies?"
The speaker was a young woman, appearing to be in her early twenties.
She exuded a gentle aura.
"Junior disciple Wen Yun, regardless of whether fellow disciple Luo Erpao knows what it signifies, fellow disciple Tieta has already accepted the wager. Whatever the consequences, he will have to bear them himself.
We only need to judge fairly and impartially."
The one speaking was the disciple recording the names. He stopped the young woman named Wen Yun.
"Senior disciple Long Kui, I know, but!!"
Wen Yun tried to speak again, but Long Kui waved his hand and said.
"Alright, go inform Senior Uncle Wangchuan. There are two body cultivators, pre-selected disciples, who are about to engage in a duel, and he might have to step in at the end!"
Senior disciple Long Kui interrupted Wen Yun and instructed a junior disciple behind them.
Someone behind responded and ran towards a bare mountain peak on the side.
Wen Yun's expression was a little displeased, but she could do nothing.
Indeed, Luo Erpao had issued a challenge.
And fellow disciple Tieta had directly accepted it.
This matter could no longer be stopped.
Duels before enrollment had not occurred for many years.
The conclusion of such events was often death or serious injury.
Such a lively event instantly spread throughout the academy.
Heads appeared on the mountain paths leading to this area from various peaks, all heading this way.
Even older individuals, dressed in clothes different from the disciples, also arrived.
A woman appeared beside Wen Yun.
"Teacher!..."
Wen Yun was stunned and bowed to the woman beside her.
From her demeanor, it was clear she was surprised by her teacher's arrival.
"Wen Yun, is it your turn on duty today? If I had known, I wouldn't have needed to come!"
The woman chuckled.
Wen Yun's face flushed, and she said somewhat sheepishly.
"Teacher, please don't tease me. I've only cultivated my Spiritual Healing Art to the fifth level. How can I compare to you!"
The woman, upon hearing this, smiled slightly.
"Your teacher is only at the seventh level. At your age, I was still lingering around the third level!"
The two women exchanged pleasantries.
The woman looked at Wen Yun with extreme doting in her eyes.
Just as they were talking, an incongruous voice suddenly came from behind them.
"Excuse me, could someone help me register?"
Wen Yun and the woman turned their heads simultaneously.
A smiling face was staring at them.
"You're here to register? Just arrived?"
Wen Yun blinked in surprise.
"Yes, I just got here! Why is it so lively here!?"
The person who arrived was none other than Chu Tian himself.
Wen Yun heard his words and looked towards the incense burner burning on the table.
She happened to see the last stick of incense burn out and extinguish slowly.
She couldn't help but glance at Chu Tian a few more times.
She thought to herself: This fellow really knows how to time his arrival.
He arrived at the very last moment before registration closed.
His strength was likely not that great.
Looking at his sweat-soaked hair and his clothes torn by the stone walls, he probably took a long time to climb up.
"You go ahead, I'll fill in your name for you! Then, after their duel is over, you can go for your test. Are you a spiritual cultivator?"
Wen Yun bid farewell to her teacher and led Chu Tian towards the table.
"I don't know. Can I undergo testing for everything?"
Chu Tian followed behind her, his gaze drifting back towards Luo Erpao and the others who were about to fight.
Initially, the two were locked in a tense standoff, but they were now separated.
It seemed as if they were waiting for the right time.
"You don't know? Oh dear..."
Wen Yun suddenly stopped when she heard Chu Tian say he didn't know what he cultivated.
Chu Tian, however, bumped directly into her.
Wen Yun stumbled a step.
Chu Tian looked at her strangely.
He thought to himself: This little bottom of hers has good elasticity!
Wen Yun naturally saw Chu Tian's expression.
"You... what are you looking at?"
Chu Tian's gaze was fixed on her elevated posterior.
This made Wen Yun feel both embarrassed and angry.
"Uh... Senior Sister Wen Yun, please don't be angry. I didn't mean to. You're just too beautiful, and I couldn't help but look for an extra moment!"
Chu Tian's skin was thicker than a city wall; such minor incidents naturally couldn't fluster him.
Wen Yun had never heard such a flirtatious remark.
Her face instantly turned red.
For a moment, she didn't know how to respond to Chu Tian.
Instead, Chu Tian casually walked to the table.
"Senior Sister Wen Yun, is the name written here?"
Wen Yun, called by him, snapped back to awareness from her daze.