Elder Wei chuckled. “The neutral lands is barren and poor, not a good place for living permanently. Although you’ll be somewhat restricted in the empire, it’s a long legacy that will be passed down to many future generations. At that time, Your Excellency Caroline will be the founding progenitor. How is that the same? Ignoring other things for now, how long do you think your ordinary descendants can live in the neutral lands?”
Caroline nodded secretly. Even she couldn’t ensure that all her descendants would be talented. The fluctuation of power in the neutral lands was quite significant. It was quite a harsh environment for ordinary people because those without origin power would live very short lives. Hence, both the strong and the weak attached great importance to multiplication and the continuation of one’s line.
Elder Wei said proudly, “So, how can lording over a part of the neutral lands be the same as receiving title and land in the empire?”
These words were reasonable. The neutral lands was large and sparsely populated—neither the land nor the people here were of great value.
“Fine, I’ll help you this time.” Caroline made up her mind.
Elder Wei nodded. He pointed upward and said, “If this old man isn’t wrong, this road is called the Heartseeker Path. The further upward one walks along this path, the greater the pressure. This pressure is related to one’s cultivation and origin power. The higher one’s cultivation, the greater the pressure and the more difficult it is to go forward. It’s named that way because a warrior’s heart is what decides how far one can go on this path.”
Everyone looked toward where he was pointing and saw a stone tablet jutting into the skies. It looked like there were words on it, yet it was difficult to make out what they were. Even Caroline didn’t know what was written there—but wouldn’t she see it easily after going forward? As such, she strode forward without the slightest hesitation and started climbing the mountain path.
The so-called warrior’s heart was undoubtedly referring to one’s willpower. As someone who had reached the divine champion realm, Caroline’s willpower was as firm as steel. There was no way she would shy away from such a test. On the contrary, it was Keimor and the others who needed to be careful.
The group climbed up and eventually passed the halfway point up the mountain. Caroline was far in the lead and would’ve charged forward if she didn’t need to wait for the two behind her. Elder Wei maintained a steady pace all along, but he actually wasn’t that slow. At this point, the high-ranking soldiers were looking rather strained. Step by step, they dragged their bodies forward, but they were gradually starting to fall behind.
Elder Wei sighed. “Being able to follow me until this place can be considered a type of fate. This old man will help you one time. Whether or not you can reach the top will depend on your own fortunes.”
With that, he fished out an ancient scroll and flipped to the final page. Several beams of light fell onto the soldiers’ bodies with a wave of his hand. They felt the strain on their bodies lighten as a part of the mountainous pressure on them was negated. After doing all that, the ancient scroll lost its luster, and only the cover retained a faint glow.
Filled with both gratitude and shock, the soldiers thanked the elder on their knees and followed him silently.
With a checkpoint like the Heartseeker Path, it was useless even if one had brought an army of ten thousand. Add to that the underground maze and the giant pegmatite crocodile, only a handful of the most powerful experts would reach the summit out of an entire army corps.
As they walked on, the summit remained hidden in the clouds and the mountain path felt like it would go on forever.
Caroline couldn’t resist asking, “Elder Wei, who is that person from back then?”
Someone capable of laying down this Heartseeker Path must have possessed shocking abilities.
“This forbidden name, this old man is neither willing nor bold enough to mention. All you need to know is that this person is an indomitable existence in the empire.”
Saying this much was enough. This person had to be one of the empire’s heavenly monarchs.
Caroline asked no more and merely contemplated in silence. “I’ll go to the empire with you once this matter has been concluded.”
Elder Wei was delighted. “Your Excellency coming to such a decision is the empire’s blessing!”
Caroline sighed. “Territory and riches aren’t that important. It’s just that I thought myself pretty close to the apex before. Only today did I realize that the peak of all life is beyond reach. Elder Wei, I hope I can gain an audience with a few of the heavenly monarchs when I reach the empire and maybe get some pointers.”
Elder Wei stroked his beard. “This matter is neither hard nor easy. This old man can’t promise that you’ll be able to meet all the heavenly monarchs. Getting pointers from one of them, however, won’t be a problem.”
Caroline nodded and kept on climbing. She broke into a frown after traveling a while further. “Strange, why haven’t we run into Qianye yet?”
Her words reminded everyone of this fact. Qianye didn’t have that big of a lead, to begin with, and they had been chasing after him at full steam. Yet they hadn’t seen him after circling the mountain several times. Didn’t this mean that Qianye wasn’t one bit slower than they were? That was why the two parties were always separated by the mountain. Another possibility was that Qianye’s speed far surpassed everyone else. It was only natural that they wouldn’t see him if he were shrouded in the clouds.
Of course, everyone else including Caroline ruled out the second possibility. All those who had walked this path realized that, despite the greater pressure, those with higher cultivation still performed better. The suppression here couldn’t wipe away the gap entirely, and whether or not one would reach the summit still depended on their cultivation.
The group of high-ranking warriors was progressing on par with Keimor thanks to Elder Wei’s buff, which meant that they were all a bit stronger than Qianye. If the latter could keep up with their speed, it meant that he was already performing above average.
Caroline looked up and found that the stone table Elder Wei had pointed to was still in the clouds, almost as though they had never moved closer to it. However, there seemed to be a humanoid figure in front of it! Astonished, she looked closer but found nothing but flowing clouds—even the tablet had vanished.
…
At this point, Qianye was standing before the ten meter stone tablet and gazing at the bold calligraphy upon it. “I hate the merciless heavens, and how humans are sometimes helpless, but what else can one do? Ji Wentian.”
These giant words seemed like they were forged out of iron and silver, sending a rush of austerity and desolation at one’s face. The world in front of Qianye disappeared and was replaced entirely by a boundless wilderness as far as the eye could see. There was a man clad in long, wide-sleeved robes roaring at the sky; his voice shook the entire wilderness.
The vision disappeared in an instant. This wasn’t an intentionally arranged illusion, but the remnant will in this person’s writing that had persisted throughout the years. It had moved Qianye significantly, thus producing this hallucination.
The words on the stone tablet had moved someone of Qianye’s willpower without intention. How terrifying was this? “Ji Wentian, Ji Wentian?”
This name sounded somewhat familiar but also quite vague. Qianye couldn’t remember where he had actually heard of this. But Ji was an imperial surname, could this person be someone from the imperial family?
At the thought of the imperial family, Qianye suddenly recalled the heavenly monarch who was widely accepted as the strongest in the empire. His name was Ji Wentian! It was just that the Pointer Monarch’s fame was too significant and his status was greatly revered. Hence, few people dared to address him by his true name. As time went on, people only remembered the Pointer Monarch and not Ji Wentian.
This stone tablet was left behind by the Pointer Monarch!
Qianye was shaken. He became even more curious about what was on this mountaintop. Just what had happened back in the year that made even an existence like the Pointer Monarch sigh in exasperation and lament his own powerlessness.
He gazed toward the peak and became eager to explore. Since the Pointer Monarch had left this stone tablet, it meant that the trials toward the peak would be even more arduous. But judging from the mood of this calligraphic work, there seemed to be no killing intent.
The peak was still hidden in the clouds and Qianye continued his climb toward it, just like before. The pressure beyond the stone tablet increased sharply, filling him with a feeling of exhaustion and strain—it was as though he was carrying a thousand-ton load. Ordinary champions could hardly walk under this pressure, but Qianye urged his blood core and sped up his bloodflow. His vitality would be ignited wherever the blood passed by, raising his spirits as he strode forward in brisk steps.
At this moment, Caroline and Elder Wei were still climbing at the same speed below him. Keimor, on the other hand, wasn’t as relaxed as before. A dark cloud would pass through his eyes from time to time as he looked up toward the clouds.
The boosted soldiers also looked fairly strained now, and they had also fallen far behind. Two of them had already split off from the main force, unable to withstand the pressure. Those who could still hang on weren’t in a great condition, either—some were pale, some were drenched in cold sweat, while others were burning their potential. Anyone could see that they were nearing their limits and that their dreams of reaching the top were merely dreams.
Elder Wei finally shot them a glance. “Those who can’t go on should rest here, if you’re lucky, the Heartseeker path will disappear after we succeed.”
He didn’t mention what would happen if they weren’t lucky. There wasn’t a need for a special reminder about it.
A bold soldier asked, “What will happen if we stop to rest?”
“Naturally, the Heartseeker Path needs to be completed in one go. The pressure here is omnipresent, it’ll corrode your origin power even if you stay still. So, you’ll only have one chance to rest, and whether or not you can stand back up after that is not something I can guarantee.”
Shocked out of their wits, the soldiers clenched their teeth and pushed forward with all their strength. No one mentioned resting anymore. Nonetheless, there was still a limit to one’s willpower—more and more people fell out of line as time went by.
The process was progressive; more and more soldiers dropped behind. By the time the last two soldiers fell limp, Keimor had no choice but to take over the crate they were carrying. It was just that he was also drenched in sweat and apparently looked quite strained.
Elder Wei sighed. “This Heartseeker path tests not only one’s resolve. The Earth Dragon’s so-called suppression is actually our own vitality acting upon ourselves. Whether we can maintain our own life force is half-dependent on ourselves. The other half is reliant on one’s usual accumulations. That Qianye is only rank-twelve in cultivation, yet he can get to this place. Don’t you feel ashamed?”