System Journey to Godhood

"Let's start the second round!"

With Elder Lan's words as a cue, many examinees dashed forward to climb the stone stairs in front of them.

The stone stairs were built on the slope of Sword Peak, cutting straight to the summit like a slash of a sword.

The physical appearance of the stairs looked like an ordinary stone stairs which could be seen in every temple. However, with every step forward, the examinees would be facing an increasing amount of pressure.

From the tell-tale, at the 27th stairs examinees would be hit by a pressure equal to peak Qi Gathering spiritual pressure. The examinees who could climb to this point could be considered as above-average prodigies.

At the 45th stairs, the pressure that the examinees need to bear was equal to the peak Qi Transformation spiritual pressure. The people who could reach the 4th gate would be considered as a common genius and if they could reach the 5th gate they will be acknowledged as legendary geniuses in their respective generation. Such as Feng Xue, Lin Ming, Elder Lan, and Elder Ming.

At the end of the 6th set of stairs, The pressure increase to the peak lower-level of Golden Core spiritual pressure. The people who could reach this point could be considered as supreme geniuses. In the contemporary, the prominent people who had step in the 6th gate were Elder Yang and Elder Qian. There were also former disciples at Heaven Sword Sect such as "Crazy Sword" Qin Guang, "Devil Sword" Mo Wushuang, and "Azure Sword Emperor" Ao Guan who had reached this point.

For the next three sets of stairs, the pressure would increase tremendously which at the end of the 81st stairs the pressure would be equal to the peak peak-level of Golden Core spiritual pressure.

In the history of Heaven Sword Sect's recruitment examination, no one had successfully climbed to the 9th gate.

The highest gate that had been climbed to was the 7th gate and only two people had been recorded to achieve such high: The current Sect Master of Heaven Sword Sect and The Legacy Disciple, Zi Ling. No one could deny that they were unparalleled geniuses.

Many people had been harboring a lofty ambition to stand at the same height as these unparalleled geniuses or even surpass them. 

Unfortunately, doing so was even harder than ascending to heaven!

Snowy didn't immediately try to step on the first stair. Her eyes followed the staircase from below to the top, which was only visible until the fifth gate due to the obstruction of the fog above the fifth gate.

She immediately activated the <Thousand Eyes> skill to see through the fog and another four gates appeared in her sight.

She scrutinized the detail of the stone gate and found that the surface of the stone gate was cover by a sword mark and the higher the gate was the more apparent the sword mark was on its surface.

'These gates are not simple. No wonder not many people can even pass the fourth gate.' 

Just when Snowy was about to step on the first stair, she felt intense gazes directed at her from her behind. 

Snowy turned around and found that three people who had not yet to climb, excluding her, were now looked at her with curiosity.

These three people were Meng Qi, Qi Ning'er, and Qi Ying'er. 

"Hmm, why are you staring at me?" asked Snowy with a hint of confusion in her voice.

"I don't know what have you done at The Sword Gate but I'm sure that your talent is definitely not weaker than me. I want to compete with you," said Meng Qi straightforwardly.

"Yes, so do we! It seems fun!" said Xi Ying'er

"Please, compete with us," said Xi Ning'er while slightly bowing.

Snowy tilted her head with a puzzled look. Is there a need to compete with her? Why didn't they, just like everyone else, minding their own business and quickly pass the test?

But Snowy also had her interest piqued by them. Unlike Xian Bu Yu who came with ill-intention, she didn't feel any malice coming from them. 

"Why do you want to compete with me? If you want a better match you better challenging Xian Bu Yu."

"He… he won't do. My intuition tells me that you are stronger than him, far stronger than all of us combine…" Meng Qi shook her head.

"Yeah, you are so strong! Come play with us!" Qi Ying'er quickly added while eyeing Snowy with her sparkling eyes.

"Sorry for my sister's rudeness, she has always been too straightforward. But like my sister, If you don't mind, I also want to compare with you," Qi Ning'er once again bowed, and looked at Snowy with sincerity.

Snowy didn't show any response. She just stood there and looked at them while rubbing her chin, seemingly pondering about something.

Meng Qi, afraid that Snowy would reject, quickly said, "I want to be stronger, I want to be the strongest in the continent so I can protect the people I care about. Only by fighting with stronger people than me can I continue to grow. We can't spar here but at least there are ways to compete with you."

"Yeah! Fighting strong people is fun! In the mountain there are no strong people anymore, it's so boring," Qi Ying'er nodded like a chicken pecking for food.

Qi Ning'er didn't say anything but her gaze filled with expectation.

"Fine." Snowy finally agreed, "How do you want to do it?"

"The first person who passed the fifth gate win," Meng Qi quickly suggested.

"Okay."

"Okey~"

The Twins for Mt. Luo unhesitatingly agree. From the very beginning, their target was always to pass the fifth gate.

"Un," Snowy also showed her agreement with a nod.

The four of them walked toward the first stairs together.

"After this exam finished, if you have a time, I'll let you taste the delicacy of Mt. Luo," invited Qi Ning'er

"Yeah! My sister's cooking is good!" Qi Ying'er gave her sister a thumbs up while smacking her lips.

Meng Qi felt a bit shy because this was the first time someone invite her, "I… can I bring someone with me?" 

"Of course, the more the merrier," Qi Ning'er and Qi Ying'er answered at the same time.

'Xue is a little foodie. She will be happy to taste new kinds of foods,' thinking about Feng Xue's happy face whenever she eat, Snowy muttered, "Mm. I'll go with Feng Xue, then."

"Feng Xue… You mean THE Feng Xue?" The Qi Twins exclaimed in unison.

"Un,"

"Wow, she is my Idol! I want to fight with her!" said Qi Ying'er excitedly.

"You... how can you fight with your Idol?" said Qi Ning'er exasperatedly.

"Aren't you the same sis?" sneered Qi Ying'er which made Qi Ning'er delicate face blushing, "Umm, yeah. I want to exchange pointer with her too,"

"Are you close with Feng Xue?" asked Meng Qi with interest.

"I think we close," answered Snowy ambiguously.

"Is she stronger than you?"

"... Un. She is stronger than me,"

"It looks like that I really need to win against you before I challenge her," Meng Qi looked at Snowy with intense fighting spirit.

"Well, up to you," replied Snowy indifferently.

"Anyway, thanks for defending Yun'er before," said Meng Qi.

"Yun'er?"

"Chen Xiaoyun."

"You know Xiaoyun?"

"Mm. We are friends," A tender smile rose from Meng Qi's lip.

Seeing Meng Qi and Snowy still chatting, Qi Ying'er stomped her feet and yell impatiently, "C'mon, C'mon, don't waste time anymore! Let's start!"