Ah—
ah—
screams rang out continuously as many independent cultivators, halfway up the cliff, were swept down by the fierce mountain wind.
Yun Li and Sun Hedao busied themselves, flying back and forth to catch the falling cultivators.
Yang Mei watched Zhou Shu nervously, her fists clenched tightly, not daring to breathe. Her expression shifted with Zhou Shu's movements,
alternately happy and worried.
Many independent cultivators chose not to climb again after falling from the cliff. Although they had overcome obstacles that didn't require spiritual power, the mountain wind was still too much for them, who had no experience in physical training.
Some were persistent, persisting even after falling several times.
Li Aojian was one of them, which surprised Yun Li, who nodded repeatedly.
Two were already nearing the top: Zhu Dashan and Zhou Shu.
The massive Zhu Dashan climbed with such stability, almost like a rock clinging to the cliff face, his thick hands firmly gripping the cracks in the rock, rooted to the ground, unmoving.
The slightly smaller Zhou Shu was surprisingly agile, swaying back and forth in the mountain breeze like a pendulum, but he refused to fall. Instead, he took advantage of the gusts of wind and zigzag upwards.
It looked like he wouldn't fall.
Sun Hedao, below, had a sullen expression, clearly disappointed.
Yun Li, on the other hand, was quite satisfied. Each of them had their own strengths, and each had capitalized on their own strengths. With this thought, he glanced at Sun Hedao and thought to himself, "Didn't you say he had the physique of a toddler? Junior Brother Sun, it seems you have quite a prejudice against him."
Soon, only a few people remained on the cliff face, while the others watched from below.
Yun Li offered a rare teasing smile. "Junior Brother Sun, who do you think will reach the top first?"
Sun Hedao snorted. "They've both trained their bodies, so even if they do, it won't be a big deal."
Many cultivators echoed this, especially the first few to withdraw, who were the most boisterous.
"That's cheating, it's not even a skill!"
"If I'd known I could also cultivate my body, I'd definitely have passed this level!"
They hadn't achieved any results, and they hoped no one else would either.
Yun Li shook his head. "Junior Brother Sun, your thinking is wrong. They've also worked hard to cultivate their bodies, so why aren't others doing it? Cultivation is like that: hard work during the day pays off when needed."
He turned to the noisy cultivators and said sternly, "But you guys, not only don't dare to climb, but you can only mock us from below. What kind of skills are you? Even if I asked you to cultivate your bodies, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to do it. You don't even have the courage to climb, so how can you endure the pain of training?"
Several cultivators were speechless.
Many cultivators have thought about cultivating their bodies, but only a few actually do it.
Yun Li glanced at them with disdain, his gaze returning to the cliff face. "It seems Zhou Shu should be the one to get the reward this time."
A wandering cultivator expressed doubt, "But Zhou Shu seems to be lagging far behind. Zhu Dashan is almost there."
Yun Li smiled. "Zhu Dashan did reach the top first, but he probably came down later."
The wandering cultivators expressed doubt.
Meanwhile, Yang Mei, standing nearby, seemed completely focused on Zhou Shu, oblivious to the surrounding clamor.
Zhu Dashan had already reached the clifftop.
He shouted excitedly a few times, then sat down, panting heavily.
He had weathered the fierce mountain wind, his body reaching its limit.
After about a dozen breaths, Zhou Shu also reached the edge. He stretched out his arms gently, hooked his right hand, and floated up with the wind, landing lightly on the clifftop.
There was not a breath of wind here.
Looking around, red flowers and green trees were everywhere, and in the center, a clear spring, overflowing with spiritual energy, was clearly far superior to the spiritual spring in Yujiazhuang.
Beside the misty spiritual spring grew a strange fruit tree, laden with orange-yellow spiritual fruits.
Two middle-aged cultivators, dressed in scholarly caps and long robes, their cultivation levels unknown, were meditating beneath the tree.
One was extremely tall, with a jade-like handsome face, while the other had black hair and white eyebrows, a rather unusual appearance.
A chessboard sat between them, but both had their eyes closed, their expressions serene, as still as stone statues.
Zhou Shu glanced at them, then retracted his gaze, turning to Zhu Dashan, who was not far away.
"Ha, you're up too!"
Zhu Dashan greeted Zhou Shu warmly upon seeing him, continuing to breathe.
Zhou Shu smiled and nodded, taking a few steps closer, a hint of confusion in his eyes. "You've been here so long, why don't you go down?"
Zhu Dashan shook his head and shouted, "I don't have the strength to climb down. It'll take a long time to recover. Go down quickly, there's a special reward for being the first."
Zhou Shu smiled. "It doesn't take much strength to get down. Just jump."
"Huh? Wouldn't you die if you jumped?"
Zhu Dashan stared at Zhou Shu, his eyes blank.
"It's not like you haven't fallen before," Zhou Shu glanced at the cliff bottom. "Just jump. There's definitely someone to catch you. This level is designed that way. If we had to climb up and down this cliff, none of us could handle it."
Zhu Dashan rubbed his head, thought for a moment, and suddenly shouted, "Really? Why didn't I think of that?"
He glanced at Zhou Shu. "You're so smart."
Zhou Shu shook his head.
"It's not me who's smart, it's you who's not using your brain," he said unspoken.
Climbing, then jumping off a cliff—though Yun Li didn't say it directly, it was probably Zhu Dashan who hadn't thought of it. Zhou Shu could get first place, but he didn't want to take this kind of first place.
If it were someone else, it would be a different story, but Zhu Dashan had just reminded all the wandering cultivators that there was a mountain wind here. He was quite honest and upright, so there was no reason for him not to remind him. He couldn't take advantage of an honest man.
Zhu Dashan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, you came up with this idea, so you should be the one jumping!"
Zhou Shu frowned. "Don't be so long-winded. You were here first, so you deserve first place. I don't want to take advantage of you."
Zhu Dashan thought for a moment, then stood up, clasped his fists, and said sincerely, "Thank you, brother!"
"I'm jumping!"
Zhu Dashan shouted, taking a few steps and leaping directly to the bottom of the cliff.
"Ah!"
he cried out as he plummeted, as if afraid others wouldn't notice.
As he neared the ground, his voice grew louder.
Yun Li quickly released Du Yun to catch him. Seeing it was Zhu Dashan, he was surprised.
"I thought it was Zhou Shu. I didn't expect this big guy to be so stupid. I underestimated him."
Several wandering cultivators gathered around to congratulate Zhu Dashan. Zhu Dashan chuckled, not knowing what to say.
Sun Hedao, who was standing by, was unexpectedly delighted, thinking to himself, "Fortunately, Zhou Shu is not the first..."
Zhou Shu waited for a while before jumping down.
The wind whistled in his ears, and his body was constantly swaying, but at this time he was far away from the cliff and could use his spiritual power to resist, so it was not a problem.
Shortly after Zhou Shu jumped down, the two cultivators beside the spiritual spring opened their eyes almost at the same time.
"It's interesting, little guys like them are rare nowadays."
"Others are fighting, but they are giving in. It's really interesting."
"It's a pity that one of them has low spiritual power, probably due to a hindrance to his Qi sea, and the other one has no obvious spiritual power all over his body. It seems that he has only opened less than a hundred Qi channels and turned to body training. Neither of them is a good seedling and will definitely not be able to enter the inner gate. He doesn't have much future."
"That's not necessarily the case. If there is an opportunity, there is still hope. Why don't you and I make a bet, each of us choose one, and see who can enter the inner gate?"
"Interesting, which one do you choose?"