Chapter 24: Perseverance

Jiang Wushuang was shocked at the result. 'What? Rank 9 Spiritual Imprint and S grade aptitude? That one even have two Spiritual Imprints! This is simply unheard of! There are three Emperor level talents, I never imagined my inheritance would attract such monsters.'

Jiang Wushuang maintained his majesty and didn't let anything show on his face. He looked at everyone and said. "Now, we can start the ladder test. This will be the test of your perseverance. It will measure how hard working you are!"

"You all have to walk on this stairs, with hundred stairs! However, remember that, the higher the cultivation, the more pressure you would face on this ladder. Remember that, if you fell down while moving to next stage, or you couldn't handle the pressure and knelt down, then you will be eliminated. Also, you can't stay on a stair for more than 10 minutes."

The stair was so huge that it can fit hundreds of people at the same time. So, everyone started at the same time!

Li Yuxong put his legs on the first step, and he immediately felt a huge suppression on his body, as if a huge boulder was over his shoulders.

Li Yuxong murmured. "This much weight just on the first step? What would it feel to be on 100th step?"

He continued moving. Step 1, 2, ... soon he reached on 20th step. His breathing was heavy, and he rested on it for few moments to let his body adapt to the changes. At the same time he looked around.

He was surprised to find there were many ahead of him. 

Ren Ying has reached 38th step, Wang Xueyao was on 35th step, Huang Ling was just behind him on 19th step, Long Yifan was on 26th step, Huang Weimin was on 27th step, Tang Liuyue was on 23rd step. There was another member that surprised him. Li Ming was on 30th step!

'Isn't Li Ming just a lustful idiot? Or he has been pretending to be so?'

What Li Yuxong didn't know is that, Li Ming has always lived under his shadow. Everyone always praised Li Yuxong, and compared Li Ming to him. Li Ming didn't like that, and always practiced alone, to surpass Li Yuxong and prove he is also worthy! But, it's a pity, he could never overcome the talent gap.

There is a saying that slow and steady wins the race. The similar thing happen in this test. 

Those who went faster, slowed down later.

After an hour, the standing changed entirely!

Ren Ying and Wang Xueyao were still on top, with 63 and 61 steps respectively. Li Yuxong covered the gap and reached 54th step, and Huang Ling also reached 50th step. Li Ming was on 55th step!

Long Yifan was still on 44th step. He gritted his teeth as he looked at those ahead of him. 'How come these lowborn are able to surpass me, no, I have to do better. I must win.'

Huang Weimin surpassed Long Yifan initially, but now, he was behind him at 40th step. Tang Liuyue was also alongside Huang Weimin at 40th step.

But what surprised them was a dark horse! Deng Wei, one of the lone cultivator of Jade Harbor City, reached 60th step!

At this time, one of the Warrior became seriously injured, due to sudden fall. Jiang Wushuang nodded at him for his resolve and took out a grade 6 Vitality pill and threw it at him. He said. "Take this, it will heal all your injuries."

The competition continued and it turned more and more intense.

Soon, 2 more hours passed.

Wang Xueyao has surpassed Ren Ying now, but she is reaching her limit. She reached 94th step. 'Damn, if it were my 'true' self, I would have definitely reached there without breaking a sweat. But this mortal body reached limit so easily!'

Ren Ying was on 92nd step. He was heavily breathing, and questioning his decisions.

'Why am I doing this? Why do I have to struggle so much? What is the point of all this? Throughout my life, I had struggled and worked hard for every moment! But, I don't know. Why must we strive to become stronger?'

As these questions started clouding his mind, Ren Ying's eyes suddenly turned sharp and he murmured. "Damn, Why am I getting such thoughts? There is no point in thinking these, it will only hinder me. As for the purpose of my life, I have my entire life to search for my purpose, what I truly want!"

He clenched his teeth and continued moving. He kept repeating. "Keep going!"

His breathing was heavy, but he didn't stop and continued moving.

Long Yifan and Huang Weimin have already reached their limit at Step 68 and Step 70 respectively.

Deng Wei is at 78th step, and is breathing very heavily. He looked at Wang Xueyao and Ren Ying and smiled bitterly. 'These two perverts!'

Li Yuxong has also reached his limit at 84th step, and Huang Ling was at 70th step, along with Huang Weimin.

Tang Liuyue has long been eliminated at 50th step only!

Li Ming, meanwhile persevered till 72nd step, and then fell down when climbing next stair and eliminated.

At this moment, While moving towards 95th stair, Wang Xueyao's ankle twisted due to sudden pressure and also her carelessness. She fell down from stair 95, back to stair 94 and got eliminated.

Ren Ying looked at her and smiled. "Now I have a temporary goal!"

He clenched his teeth and forced his body to move on the 93rd step, and he successfully put his one leg, and then second. As soon he entered the 93rd step, the pressure doubled. 

"Success"

Even though he succeeded, the pressure was not something anyone could bear. He started waiting, he was adapting to this pressure. He waited for 9 minutes, to let his body adapt, and then, he tried again. He slowly moved his one leg and as soon as he put his leg on the next step, he felt a huge pressure! It doubled again. But, he gritted his teeth and used all his energy to move his another leg over it.

In this way, he finally reached 94th step.

'One more and I will win this'

Ren Ying's eyes started getting hazy, what he didn't know was that, his body started bleeding internally. It was the limit of his body, but he still murmured stubbornly. "One more."

He again used his one leg and put it over 95th step, the pressure he felt almost stumbled him. But, he kept his mind firm and stubbornly resisted by putting one of his hand on the 97th step, to use it as a support. But, as soon as he put his hand on 97th step, the pressure increased by 4 times. He gritted his teeth and kept using his hand to push his body, and suddenly he removed his hand. This change caused his entire body to face a sudden forward push, making him reach 95th step.

"Finally, I finished."

These were the last words he murmured before fainting.

Jiang Wushuang looked at Ren Ying and nodded. "This boy is truly hard working. I have never seen someone with this much perseverance! It's a pity, he doesn't possess talent in cultivation. But, the tactic he used at the last moment was incredible. It is similar to a person struggling to stand with 200 kg weight on his shoulders. But, you suddenly add 600 kg, and let him stand again, but as he was about to fall, you remove that 600 kg weight! The only difference is, when he used his hand to support, the pressure did not make him fall. This is quite unbelievable. May be because he let his both hands to bear most of the force."

He came over, took out a Vitality pill and put it within his mouth.

Deng Wei has also reached his limit at 83rd step.

Finally, the top list of Perseverance was updated.

1. Ren Ying

2. Wang Xueyao

3. Li Yuxong

4. Deng Wei

5. Li Ming

6. Huang Ling

7. Huang Weimin

...

After announcing the list, Jiang Wushuang said. "One week from now, then next test will be held."

Everyone started dispersing while talking about the Ladder test and the Pillar test.

"Who would have expected that Deng Wei would be able to reach so high!"

"Senior brother Ming, You really did great there!"

"Wang Xueyao is also great, not only does she have great potential, but also such a high level of perseverance!"

"Li Yuxong is not half bad as compared. He was strongest in talent, and now, even his resolve is firm. He is tenacious!"

Looking at those murmurs, Long Yifan's face turned red with anger. He has always been hailed as greatest genius, and just few hours earlier, he mocked them. But, the result? He wasn't even in top 5!

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In this Small World, after that 4 faction war, only around hundred people are left, of which 70-80 are from Azure faction. Currently, Azure faction is the strongest of them all!

Various tents can be seen around the Inheritance place. Most of them are from Azure faction, and few from the other four.

There is no moon in this small world, so when it is night, it gets completely dark, people often use fire torch.

Outside one of the tent, Huang Ling was seating alone. Li Yuxong have something to discuss with Li Cheng, perhaps he is explaining about his Spiritual Imprint.

"What are you doing here Sister in law?" a man's voice sounded behind her. She looked at the guest and said. "Ren Ying. What do you want now?"