Reborn as a Mountain: I Defy the Heavens with a Smile

Swoosh!

As soon as Ye Chen stepped on the five hundred and first step, his body suddenly became heavy; however, there were no major problems because his physical body was way too strong.

But if it were anyone else, they might have difficulty breathing and their internal organs, especially the heart, would have a hard time pumping blood.

The sixth trial was, after all, ascending the stairs into increased gravity. Although with each stage their physical bodies get stronger, unless they really focus on training their physique or take some body-strengthening pills, they will be bound to face difficulties in this trial.

Nevertheless, they could still ascend; it's just they have to put in some extra effort.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

After knowing what the trial was, Ye Chen didn't hesitate and ascended rapidly. His speed was so fast that Li Mei and others had only climbed up to the middle of the fourth trial, yet he was about to reach the end of the sixth trial.

Of course, with such speed, the pressure he was facing increased; nevertheless, he just treated this as an intense exercise and continued further.

If the old man knew what Ye Chen did, he would definitely spit out blood, but it's a pity he wasn't here and only left a recording to take care of everything.

Swoosh!

It didn't take too long and Ye Chen was about to start the seventh trial.

With no ice and/or fire blocking his figure, everyone's attention was focused on him, wondering what kind of challenge they would face ahead.

However, when Ye Chen stepped on the six hundred and first step, everyone became stunned.

"Where is he?"

"I don't know; he disappeared as soon as he climbed the next step!"

The disciple became noisy while trying to figure out what happened.

As for Li Mei and others, they started to worry with heavy hearts and increased their speed of ascent.

Meanwhile, Ye Chen, who had disappeared, saw everything around him becoming pitch black. He was wide awake and conscious; however, he couldn't see or hear anything.

If not for the fact he could feel and control his body, he would've thought he had died.

Shing!

Just as he was trying to figure out what happened, a metallic sound echoed from an unknown direction.

'A sword? No, it's not that.' He shook his head silently and became alert.

Swoosh!

It was at this moment a sound of an arrow tearing through the air came from behind; however, Ye Chen didn't even look back and punched forward.

Boom!

In the pitch darkness his punch hit something solid, and then slowly yet surely the darkness around him started to fade, revealing a wooden puppet, which also punched at him.

Swoosh!

As soon as the darkness receded, the puppet did too and Ye Chen once again was able to see everything.

"Look, he appeared!"

"Did anyone see what happened?"

"Yeah, I saw him in a punching stance; maybe we have to defeat something."

Just as everyone was speculating, Ye Chen climbed the next step and once again disappeared. Then after some time he appeared back and then the cycle repeated.

Seeing that his disappearance was just part of the test, Li Mei and others became relieved.

Everyone else was also the same, as they hoped someone was there to let them know what the next trial is.

WHOOSH!

It was at this moment the fire on the fourth trial suddenly erupted.

"What's happening? Why is the heat intensity suddenly increasing?!"

"I think someone is behind this."

"Yeah, but who is?"

Many disciples started to doubt everyone beside them. Of course, many also pointed at Zhu Dong, but he was innocent, as his tricks somehow didn't work in this fire trial.

So, who was behind it?

The answer was at the end of the fire trial.

"Sister Lan Ming, are you fine?" Li Mei inquired worriedly as she saw Lan Ming covered in a terrifying aura similar to the ice flame.

"I am okay, but I don't know why this is happening." Lan Ming replied with a baffled look.

Just a while ago they were worried about Ye Chen's disappearance, so they all ascended rapidly.

Li Mei and Su Ying had special physiques, so they didn't have any problems.

However, Lan Ming and Wang Yiyi had to face the intense heat, and it was at this moment Lan Ming remembered the strange characters given by Ye Chen.

Although it was a little late, she decided to try using it to resist the heat, which clearly worked but somehow made the red fire revolve around her happily.

"Huff, huff, why are you all running so fast? Don't you know how intense the heat is?"

It was at this moment Wang Yiyi, who had fallen behind, caught up with them. After her, a few figures followed, who were Liu Jiarong, Lin Xian'er and Ji Feng; however, they were not as tired as her, as they didn't rush up in a hurry.

Well, they don't have Qi-recovery pills, unlike Li Mei and Lan Ming so there was no way they could spend spiritual Qi like the little girl Wang Yiyi.

Not to mention they can still get here with their ability just a few seconds late so why hurry, especially since they could see Ye Chen was all right?

Swoosh!

When Lan Ming heard the footsteps, she didn't hesitate and climbed the next step, starting the ice trial.

Although she didn't understand what the strange characters were, she understood not everyone should know it, especially people who were not close to Ye Chen; hence, to hide the anomaly around her, she stopped utilizing them and moved to the next step.

The crown prince and others could catch a glimpse of fierce fire around her, but they didn't think there was anything special, as everyone knew she had a mutated fire elemental spiritual root so she must be utilizing that to defend against the heat.

"Sister MeiMei, I told you not to worry about the little girl. See, she arrived here without any problem. Just give her some hard time and she will learn it," Lan Ming pretended to be oblivious and spoke.

Li Mei instantly understood what she was doing and hopped in with her act, making the little girl Wang Yiyi stomp her foot in anger.

"Ahem! Let's climb further; Ye Chen is about to start the eighth trial." At this moment, Su Ying hurriedly reminded him.

Only after hearing this, Li Mei and Lan Ming snapped out of the acting and looked forward while ascending to the next step.

…

Swoosh!

Ye Chen finally arrived at the seven hundredth step, where the trial of darkness came to an end. There was not too much in it except a few wooden puppets attacking from different directions.

This was really not hard, as the attacks could only cause some minor injuries; however, for anyone who didn't have any combat experience and heavily relied on their eyes to see the attacks, it might be a nightmare, especially with the pitch-black darkness.

Nevertheless, Ye Chen had no intention of revealing this to others, even Li Mei and them.

So, he didn't waste any time and moved to the next trial, which was even harder than the previous one.

What was it? The path of wind!

Ye Chen had to face strong gusts of wind, sharp blades, and even some small raging storms. This was a lot different than other trials, as anyone could get sent flying if they lost their footing. Unless anyone has wings or they landed on the stairs behind, the result would be pretty disastrous.

Nonetheless, this posed Ye Chen no problem and he swiftly managed to pass through this, finally reaching the eight hundred and first step, where he was greeted with green fog from the ninth trial.

"Qi-scattering poison, although not lethal, can cause spiritual Qi inside the dantian to become restless. If not dealt with immediately, the spiritual Qi will disperse in moments, leaving a person in a vulnerable state," Ye Chen instantly recognized the poison, which covered the next hundred steps.

Nevertheless, he didn't worry and started to ascend, not caring about the poison. The reason? This poison was easy to deal with, as the person who is affected by it just has to circulate their spiritual Qi and expel the poison.

This was similar to refining the spiritual Qi and expelling the impurities. The only people who could fail are those who don't have enough control over their spiritual Qi and have a lot of impurities in it.

So, this posed no trouble to Ye Chen and after completing the ninth trial, he jumped to the next one without hesitation.

Swoosh!

Once again, the stairs became covered with fog but this time it was pure white and not a poisonous one. Furthermore, it was something that would make everyone behind him cheer in happiness.

What was it? Pure spiritual Qi that will help them recover!

However, only if they have refined their spiritual Qi to 'Essence Refined' or further. Anyone below won't be able to keep this spiritual Qi in their bodies unless they start to cultivate here, which was impossible, as a force would push them back after a few breaths of time.

"This will eliminate a lot of disciples," Ye Chen muttered to himself and started to ascend rapidly.

As for recovery? A certain amount of spiritual Qi will enter his body on its own and will get refined further automatically. So, all he had to do was face the pressure of rapid ascent and nothing else.

Just like this, Ye Chen finally arrived at the end of the tenth trial.

Rumble!

He didn't even take a step further when the whole staircase started to tremble and then a massive stone tablet with some words and names appeared in the air above. Everyone was able to see this stone tablet and read the written words on it, even the disciples on the ground.

"The first ten trials were just the basics, designed only to identify the most promising disciples. The real challenge begins now!"