Starting as a Grandmaster, all of my cultivation techniques are at max level.

"Could there be some trick to these steps? Well then, I'm going to try and see if they can really stump me!"

Xia Jin chuckled inwardly and stepped onto the first step.

The footsteps landed, everything was normal.

He took a second step.

third step.

Step 4.

As Xia Jin took the fifth step, her expression gradually became serious.

He stopped and frowned slightly.

"Something's not right about these steps!!"

He clearly felt it just now; with each step he took upwards, his body felt heavier.

It was as if something was pressing down on his shoulders, and with each step he took, that weight increased.

Xia Jin looked back.

The mountain gate was still behind them, but the middle-aged man carrying a broom had vanished without a trace.

"Although these steps are a bit strange, this slight increase in weight is not a problem for me!" Xia Jin remained silent for a few moments before turning around and continuing to climb.

Step 6.

Step 7.

Step 8.

When she reached the ninetieth step, Xia Jin could clearly feel that her breathing had become a bit heavier.

"The test at the Cloud Academy is indeed not that simple."

Xia Jin took a deep breath and continued walking, step by step, up the stairs.

Gradually, beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead, and he had lost count of how many steps he had taken.

One hundred steps?

Two hundred steps?

Or more?

At first, he could count the number of steps, but later, the increasingly heavy pressure left him with no energy left to count any numbers.

Xia Jin raised his head and looked at the stone steps in front of him. At first glance, it seemed that he could not see the end, but when he stared intently ahead, he finally discovered that a wide open space was vaguely revealed between the layers of trees.

That's the mountaintop, and it should be the end of these steps.

Xia Jin's eyes lit up slightly, and her legs, which had been feeling heavy, seemed to lighten up again.

"Almost there...almost there, just a little longer, we'll reach the finish line!"

With a surge of energy, he continued upwards.

Just a few more steps.

Just a few more steps!

A hint of joy began to appear on Xia Jin's face. He took a deep breath, exhaled the stale air from his chest, and then took the next step.

But this step took him by surprise.

"Um?!"

As soon as Xia Jin's foot touched the stone step, a pressure several times heavier than before crashed down on him like a mountain collapsing.

The pressure came too suddenly and too intensely, catching Xia Jin completely off guard.

His body swayed violently, and he almost fell to his knees.

"Damn it! I almost got scammed!!" Xia Jin couldn't help but curse angrily. "It seems the hardest part is these last few steps."

Xia Jin looked at the last three steps in front of her, and her expression turned somewhat strange.

Xia Jin gritted her teeth, lifted her foot, and stepped onto the next step.

With each step, the weight pressing down on him increased even more.

This time, however, Xia Jin was mentally prepared.

His legs were slightly bent, his knees bearing the pressure, and although his body swayed, he eventually regained his balance.

However, before he could even breathe a sigh of relief,

Suddenly, everything went blurry!

Xia Jin felt as if an invisible force was pushing the blood from the top of his head upwards, rushing straight to his brain. This caused his vision to blur briefly, and his entire face instantly turned bright red, as if it had been burned.

"hiss!"

Xia Jin gasped, closed her eyes, and shook her head vigorously.

After a few breaths, the dizziness gradually subsided.

He opened his eyes, his vision was still a little blurry, but at least it didn't prevent him from seeing the road ahead.

Two more steps.

The last two steps.

"Come on, I'd like to see what you can do with just these two steps left." A hint of coldness flashed in Xia Jin's eyes.

With that thought in mind, Xia Jin took a step forward.

This step was more difficult than any of the previous ones.

The weight pressing down on him was so great that Xia Jin felt as if he were carrying a small mountain, but he still gritted his teeth and persevered.

"Hmph! That's all? I thought there would be something more..."

Before he could finish speaking, a strange force suddenly appeared in his mind and headed straight for his soul.

Xia Jin's expression changed drastically in an instant.

This force was actually impacting his soul!

This was completely unexpected.

He had initially thought that the pressure on the steps was only physical. If his body could withstand it, he could climb up. If his body couldn't, he would be crushed.

But he never expected that, in this penultimate step, the pressure would be directed at his soul.

That force came on fiercely, like an invisible awl, piercing Xia Jin's soul.

Xia Jin's soul jolted violently, and a sharp pain came from the depths of his consciousness, causing him to groan involuntarily.

But the stinging sensation quickly disappeared.

It wasn't because that power had weakened, but because Xia Jin's soul had withstood it.

"fine......"

Xia Jin let out a long breath, a hint of lingering fear and a touch of relief flashing in her eyes.

Fortunately, one of the system rewards was a cultivation technique called Soul Weapon Shaping Technique.

It was precisely because of this cultivation technique that Xia Jin's soul was much more resilient than that of cultivators at the same level, and her soul defense was far superior.

"If it were someone else, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold on like that, would they?"

Xia Jin thought to himself as he raised his head and looked ahead.

There's only one last step left.

Once I take that final step, I should be able to become a disciple of the Cloud Academy!