The Cockroach-like Girl Is My Beast

Two hours after the start of the third trial.

The sky began to darken.

"...Ugh..."

A young girl powerlessly collapsed to her knees on the ground.

She couldn't support herself any longer.

Her exposed arms and beautiful face were already covered with fine blood marks, her long hair matted with congealed blood into stiff clumps.

For a trial taker like her, who was relatively behind, elixirs were scarce, so her physical injuries had no time to heal.

Additionally, she had consumed a lot of spiritual power, and her spirit beast was already battered and bruised from the first six stages of the second trial, unable to endure much more damage.

Indeed, if the spirit beast were to die, the enslavement contract could disengage at the minimal cost.

But ultimately, it would still be a significant blow.

If she were to forcefully take on, not to mention progressing further, at the moment the spirit beast perished, she might be repelled outright by a counterforce, plummeting into the abyss-like scene of space collapsing below, that ceaselessly pursued upward.

"How much farther..."

Originally bright eyes dimmed by intense pain and the burning of the sea of spirit, she gazed up at the mountaintop with an expression full of despair.

Even after climbing for three hours, the distance between her and the summit of Celestial Ladder Mountain seemed even greater.

The leading contenders were already more than double the distance ahead of those left behind.

Strangely though, the distance to the summit didn't appear to have shortened that much. It seemed only a few kilometers away before, and now it was not much different, possibly only shortened by about a fifth.

The summit's height seemed to be pushed upward continuously by the front runners, extending the climb.

Otherwise, considering the efficiency of spirit masters far surpassing normal people, the peak should have been reached long ago.

But unlike the still distant summit, the ever-present repulsive force and punishment, with their climb, were getting increasingly stronger.

If at first, it was just a minor scratch, a slight spiritual burning sensation.

Now, it had deepened twice over.

"..."

Unwilling, the girl halted her steps, half-kneeling on the spot.

Any further climbing would only mean a quicker death.

And if you zoom out to the aerial view over the entire Celestial Ladder Mountain, you'd find...

There were already seven trial takers like her who had halted their climb.

Moreover, some, unable to hold on, had been repelled, swallowed silently by the darkness, becoming the fifth death in this trial.

How much farther to the true summit?

Or rather, under the manipulations of some hidden mastermind, is the summit of Celestial Ladder Mountain truly reachable?

The seed of doubt quickly took root and sprouted in everyone's hearts.

......

[Tsk, why is it still so far?!]

It seemed that the blow from the ninth stage had sobered her up a bit, as Vishdair's Ether hadn't recovered much, but her spirit was revitalized.

She and the other two girls shared Lin Guang's perspective.

Lin Guang's gaze remained fixed upward, his vision swaying slightly—a natural jostle of mountain climbing.

At this moment, he was in third place.

The two people in front, one shimmered with mirror-like shimmering waves, the other a shadow.

Undoubtedly, they were Jiang Nalan and Zuo Qingtian.

Their distance wasn't far apart, with only a height difference of a dozen meters, but thanks to their talent's spiritual light, even when bloodstains appeared on them, they weren't too obvious.

But just a few minutes later.

The three girls suddenly found the two in the front, almost neck and neck, suddenly paused at a certain height, and their speed immediately slowed down, even temporarily summoning two gigantic spirit beast phantoms to float behind them, seemingly to withstand some unseen, unexpected blow.

Yet none of the four saw any anomaly.

What happened?

"..."

BOOM—!

As if responding to their inner thoughts.

Just as Lin Guang reached that height, a streak of lightning cut through the air before their eyes.

The sky abruptly dimmed.

Thick clouds gathered suddenly at the mountaintop, pressing down the ridge. Out of nowhere, a fierce storm accompanied by a torrential downpour assaulted them.

Purple lightning boomed, splitting the inky sky, and the entire mountain seemed to tremble slightly.

Whoosh whoosh—

Rumble rumble—

Their view began to sway violently, water splashing everywhere.

That was due to Lin Guang's stance being unstable.

[Hey! What's happening!]

[Lin Guang!]

[Master!]

A few seconds later, Lin Guang's spiritual power echoed in their minds.

[This is no ordinary wind and rain... A conscious impact is mixed within.]

Vishdair urgently exclaimed, [Then for god's sake, let me take over!]

Her shout echoed in the sea of spirit, but was torn to pieces by the wind and rain outside.

But soon, with the sound of swallowing elixirs, Lin Guang's movements became lively again.

[It's just a bit unexpected, adapting is all it takes.]

[You should also see this is an illusion only arising at this altitude, not affecting the climb.]

He looked at the two not far away, [Look, they retrieved their spirit beasts and went back to relying on themselves.]

[...] *3

Chelina softly said, [Please… take care.]

......

In the fourth hour, almost all trial takers with any strength left to move forward had entered this wind and rain-covered stage.

As they moved forward, the wind and rain grew stronger and stronger.

"Tsk!"

Du Qing, whose black trench coat was completely soaked, stumbled and took a deep breath. Behind him, the phantom of the Six-winged Holy Light Beast appeared once more.

His hair clung to his face, wet with droplets, and he muttered, "Damn it..."

—Even with saving, only sixty percent of his Spiritual Power remained.

Moreover, there weren't many elixirs left to replenish Spiritual Power or heal injuries.

Even knowing that this storm was an illusion, the chilling sensation of the rain hitting his body and the impact on his spirit could not be ignored.

A single drop of rain was almost unnoticeable.

But after so long being continuously drenched by the rain, an icy feeling constantly washed over his Sea of Spirit, making his whole body feel as if it were about to succumb to hypothermia and freeze—especially when each step brought injury.

That he could persist to this point, maintain such status, and still have the strength to continue upwards was already quite remarkable.

Half of the people had already stopped moving, almost completely motionless.

And of those who remained, advancing, most could no longer resist summoning their Spirit Beasts to brace against the storm as they proceeded.

No one knew when or if this downpour would cease.

Amidst this storm and dark clouds, it was even harder to discern just how far it was to the summit.

Du Qing could only see the figure of a young man not far ahead, wearing a thin white shirt.

The blood-red shirt was washed by the storm but could never return to its pristine, spotless form, instead appearing a pale pink hue, as if it had been long-abused blood and flesh.

Lin Guang.

[He never summons his Spirit Beast... taking it all by himself?]

While climbing with both hands and feet, Du Qing found it hard to understand.

[Wouldn't it be better to let his Spirit Beast take over for a while? Even Jiang Nalan has summoned his Spirit Beast three times briefly to bear the burden for him and adjust his status.]

......

Behind Gao Haoran of the Earth Evil Sect was a massive iron-gray bull, three meters high at the shoulder.

Rain pummeled him as he kept moving forward.

Bloodstains opened up on the bull's hide, yet stubbornly healed over and over.

The Skill [Sacrificial Bull] had been activated.

The more severe the injury, the faster the recovery, though it consumed the corresponding Ether.

Fortunately, he had been pulled into the third trial after passing only the seventh checkpoint, thus not depleting too much status.

[Why isn't Lin Guang calling out his Spirit Beast yet? By rights, even if he ranked first in the first round, his elixirs to recover Spiritual Power should be nearly exhausted from taking it head-on so hard.]

[Or is it that the so-called privilege is just that powerful?]

[But something's off; the repulsion and attacks are intensifying. Zuo Qingtian, Zhao Yue, Jiang Nalan, Du Qing, Heaven-slaying Demon, all five have summoned their Spirit Beasts several times by now.]

[Why is he not summoning his Spirit Beast at all?]

[Could it be that his Spirit Beast was injured in the eighth or ninth checkpoint and can't bear any more?]

[But that shouldn't be the case. Based on his performance in the first and second trials, his strength is above mine, so how could his status be worse than mine...]

Gao Haoran couldn't make sense of it.

But soon, he suddenly saw a glimmer of dawn ahead, and his spirit lifted.

Marked by some stone tablet as the boundary line.

At a certain height ahead, the dark clouds and rain abruptly vanished as if severed.

Jiang Nalan and Zuo Qingtian's figures had already disappeared into it, seemingly breaking free from the wind and rain.

And Lin Guang was also about to enter that domain.

Gao Haoran could no longer afford to ponder the situation but pressed forward.

......

The fifth hour and forty minutes.

Jiang Nalan, at the forefront, emerged from the storm, stepping past the stone tablet that seemed to serve as a boundary line, into bright weather.

The summit was somewhat closer.

Though the pace was abnormally rapid, at least the distance had been reduced by nearly two-thirds.

Only one-third of the journey remained.

Yet with just two steps forward, he suddenly faltered, even stumbled back a step, his expression showing clear signs of bewilderment.

A shimmering water-blue brilliance, brought on by activating his Talent through Spiritual Power, wavered around him.

He even lowered his gaze slightly towards his abdomen.

A puddle of blood slowly seeped from beneath his deep-blue robe, staining the fabric again, first cleansed by the storm, now red.

"..."

Just then, an invisible blade had stabbed several centimeters into his abdomen.

But if that were all, he wouldn't have been so uncomposed.

The key was...

This blow's impact on his spirit not only marked a qualitative change but carried more [Attributes].

Or, emotions.

Along with the spiritual burning, a wave brimming with negativity, seemingly loaded with fear, surged from his heart.

——Give up.

Jiang Nalan's eyes did not show fear, but his face was tense. Flip of wrist, he took and swallowed an elixir from his ring, the medicinal power immediately becoming a warm current that soothed the wound.

The injury began to heal quickly.

For some reason, Jiang Nalan's gaze suddenly flicked to the compass at his waist.

At this moment, the Spirit Pattern on it was flickering.

It was something only those who passed the first stage with the supreme difficulty and thus possessed privileges could obtain.

Amidst the recent injury... Jiang Nalan seemed to realize what the function of this Spirit Pattern was.

"..."

But he did not look at the compass again, as if he still had no desire to use the function of the Spirit Pattern, summoning his Spirit Beast without the slightest hesitation to continue forward.

This time it was not the Fish Dragon, but a hazy pale blue whirlpool phantom, accompanied by the sound of gushing water, unfurling behind him.

Vaguely, at its very center, a sky-blue core the size of a soccer ball could be seen floating.

With each step he took, it seemed as if part of the pale blue whirlpool was evaporating.