1 The entrance test

In the cultivation country of Zhu, there exist many sects. One of them, the Four Seasons Sect, was accepting disciples. They recruit based on talent - if your latent talent is enough, you can directly become an outer disciple. But if it isn't, you can only take part in the examination, which tests your physical strength and resolve. Less than 10% of youths who take it pass and get accepted into the sect. The examination was simple: first, there was a tournament to determine your fighting ability and physical strength, and then, you had to climb 100 steps on a staircase to test your resolve. But there's a catch: there is an array on the staircase that emits pressure which can only be resisted using qi. The better a person's talent was, the less that person would be affected by the pressure. But it all came down to how much pressure someone would be able to resist with willpower.

Among the youths, one in particular stood out. He was at the forefront of everyone, just 10 steps short of the 100 step threshold. He was called Ji Feng. His mother died when he was young, and he was raised by his father, a hunter, to be strong, resilient and not give up. He was able to come first in the tournament because of that. But right now, he was struggling with keeping himself conscious under the pressure of the array.

'Damn it. I was able to get to this point just by enduring the pressure, but I can't even enter the last 10 steps or I'll loose consciousness! How can this be so hard?!' He was in a dilemma. Should he risk it all by rushing to the finish line or slowly adapt and endure the pressure on higher steps?

While he was hesitating, several youths passed him.

One of them sent him a malicious glare to him, and said quietly

"Once I become an immortal I'll kill you."

He was called Su Yimu, and he was born in a noble family. He can't endure humiliation or losing, so when he lost to Ji Feng in the fighting competition, he started hating him to the point of killing him. But he knew he couldn't kill Ji Feng without immortal powers, so he restrained his bloodlust before. Now that he knew he would be stronger in the end, he chose to ridicule Ji Feng.

Ji Feng's eyes turned cold as he heard the blatant death threat,but he didn't do anything. He knew that if he tried to beat up Su Yimu, he'd loose consciousness, so he ignored him, and went back to his dilemma.

After several minutes, he finally decided: if he tried to slowly adapt, it wasn't certain he'd make it, and even if he did, he'd be one of the last people on the finish line, so he decided to risk it and rush to the finish.

'Let's gamble'

First, he stood up and readied himself. He got into a low stance, found a foothold and then he jumped.

He rushed on the stairs, instantly passing 5. After that, the pressure grew exponentially and it became much harder to move. Even though, he stepped on the next stair and jumped. He crossed 3 this time, and the pressure slammed into him like a sledgehammer, nearly throwing him on the ground, but he resisted, and jumped last time. This time, he did not land on his legs, but on his stomach. The pressure grew so intense thathe had trouble lifting his head up. He tried to reach the last step with his hand, as even that would qualify him to enter the outer sect.

'Just a little bit more...!'

Ji Feng clenched his teeth with bloodshot eyes.

10cm...

5cm...

3..

2...

1...

Bam!

His hand slammed against the 99th step as he lost his consciousness.