Chapter 5: I Think The Third Round Tests Our Wisdom
Despite arriving at Heart-Seeking Mountain, the candidates did not sense anything particularly different. Only Man Gu felt his strength noticeably waning until it aligned with everyone else’s. The fervent Ancient Barbarian blood in him settled into calmness, no longer supplying him with an endless flow of power.
Everyone exchanged glances with one another before finally turning to the strongest person in the group—Man Gu.
“I’ll go first.” Conscious of everyone’s eyes on him, he proceeded to take the lead with no qualms.
One step.
Two steps.
Three steps.
…Ten steps.
Man Gu didn’t break a single sweat for the first ten steps. However, from the eleventh step, the pressure gradually intensified. It was as if there was a rock on his back; the higher he climbed, the heavier it became.
But I can still handle it.
Let's keep going!
Man Gu gasped a few mouthfuls of air and steadied his breathing before heading toward the twentieth step.
Starting from the twentieth step, each step grew increasingly challenging, and his pace became evidently more sluggish.
By the time Man Gu reached the twenty-ninth step, his sweat was already seeping through the back of his shirt, and he was forced to stop. Heavily panting, he sat on the step for some respite.
“I can feel the pressure even when I sit down,” Man Gu muttered through clenched teeth, too exhausted to speak.
Now I’m sitting down but the rock’s still on my back. It’s gonna take a long time to recover like this.
Observing how strenuous it was for Man Gu to climb the mountain, the other candidates’ hearts sank.
Someone voiced their dismay, “I’ve heard of similar trials from my clan elders. This Heart-Seeking Mountain can test one’s will and heart in seeking the Dao. A simple heart and resolute willpower are the key to a pure Dao Heart. Man Gu is from the Ancient Barbarian Tribe, who are known to be straightforward and rigid, yet even he is struggling. It’ll only be harder for us!”
“A Heart-Calming Mantra can let the heart settle down. Would it be useful?” Someone else came up with a new suggestion.
The objective of the third round was for them to climb up to the fiftieth step, but there was no mention of whether they were required to clinch the top few positions in order to pass. In other words, they weren't competing against one another.
Everyone nodded, agreeing that it was a good idea. Their clan elders had imparted them similar mantras for the purpose of self-cultivation.
Lu Yang parted his lips. I don’t know any Heart-Calming mantra.
“Why don’t I teach you a Heart-Calming Mantra?” Meng Jingzhou asked.
Lu Yang shook his head. “Hold on to it for now. Let me think of another way.”
Meng Jingzhou was cooperative and did not force the mantra on Lu Yang.
After a while, Meng Jingzhou woke up from his meditative state and found that he had achieved an inner peace he’d never had before.
The Heart-Calming Mantra works!
As Meng Jingzhou’s meditative state lasted longer than the average person’s, the rest were already between the twentieth and thirtieth steps by the time he woke up. Their backs were drenched in sweat, and even inching forward required tremendous perseverance. Their faces were slick with sweat, but they did not even have the strength to wipe it off.
Some people wanted to be trailblazers. One thought that they would only feel the pressure when they were on the steps, so he attempted to go up the mountainside, only to discover that the plan would not work. As long as he was on the Heart-Seeking Mountain, the higher he climbed, the greater the pressure he felt.
A few even wanted to use their magical treasures, only to find them devoid of their powers. Regardless of how incredible the magical treasures originally were, it was impossible to even activate them, which meant that they were no different from scrap metal.
No wonder Dai Bufan wasn’t worried about us using magical treasures.
Falling behind everyone else, Lu Yang was the most conspicuous.
Bare-footed on one leg, he squatted at the tenth step, deep in thought as he scrutinized something.
“What are you doing? Everyone is already very far ahead,” Meng Jingzhou asked curiously.
Lu Yang did not answer. He suddenly tossed a shoe, and it landed on the eleventh step. “Try picking it up.”
Despite not understanding Lu Yang’s intention, Meng Jingzhou still followed suit. Soon, he realized that the shoe was heavier than usual, as if something was pulling it from below.
Meng Jingzhou felt that he was starting to get the hang of it. He threw the shoe to the twelfth step and found that the speed of descent was the same as before, but when he picked it up, it was heavier than it had been on the eleventh step.
“What pattern have you noticed?”
Meng Jingzhou furrowed his brow. “When an object doesn’t touch the ground, the pressure won’t be transferred to it. Only when the object contacts the ground will it bear additional pressure?”
“That’s right.” Lu Yang was over the moon as he pounded his palm with his other fist. It’s rare to find someone on the same wavelength.
The cogs in Meng Jingzhou’s head could turn faster when he was in a peaceful state. “The steps are inclined. With so many trees around, we can craft a ladder shaped like a ‘7.’ One end of the ladder will be buried into the ground while the other end will lead straight to the fiftieth step.”
Lu Yang affirmed confidently, “Precisely, that is the correct answer! The third round should be testing our wisdom.”
With both of them on the same page, Meng Jingzhou quickly brought up another question. “How are we going to chop down the trees? We don’t have axes or saws.”
“Don’t you have sharp magical artifacts with you?” Lu Yang had long anticipated this issue.
I wanted to collaborate with others, but unfortunately, the others don’t understand my ideas.
Meng Jingzhou took out a dagger. “The clan elders gave me this to defend myself. It can be activated with one’s consciousness, and its speed is comparable to that of a Golden Core cultivator. However, it can’t fly on the Heart-Seeking Mountain.”
“That’s not a problem; it just needs to be sharp.” Lu Yang beamed.
The Meng Family is an enormous clan. Even if their magical treasures can’t be activated, they are still much sharper than the axes and saws in the mortal realm.
Perfect for chopping wood.
“Come look. While you were meditating, I designed a blueprint.”
Lu Yang led Meng Jingzhou to an area of soft and loose sand where Lu Yang had sketched his diagram for the “7”-shaped ladder.
After a brief discussion, the two got to work.
The Meng Family’s dagger was indeed sharp. It sliced through the thick trees like paper. As cultivators were reduced to nothing but mortals on the Heart-Seeking Mountain, the trees on the mountain were naturally normal ones. Before long, they had finished preparing the peculiarly shaped wooden planks.
Meng Jingzhou soon came across another problem.
“How do we connect these wooden planks? We don’t have nails, and even if we did, how would they be able to join such thick wooden planks?”
“Have you heard of the tenon and mortise joint?”
“No.”
Shaking his head, Lu Yang could only grab the dagger and carve the wooden planks accordingly while expounding to Meng Jingzhou on the wisdom of the mortal realm.
“This protruding part is called the tenon and this hole is called the mortise, so together they’re a tenon and mortise joint. The best thing about it is that even without nails, it’s still very sturdy.”
Meng Jingzhou listened intently, but his thoughts trailed elsewhere. The Meng Family has artifact crafting techniques, and we use spirit energy for that, not nails. What can we even do with this tendon mortise joint?
~~~
Meanwhile, everyone on the steps was dripping with sweat and gasping for air, all for the goal of becoming the first to reach the fiftieth step and passing this round.
Perhaps the first to pass this round will receive recognition from the Dao-Seeking Sect, and they will pay more attention to nurturing that person.
Everyone also finally understood why there was no time limit. Climbing the mountain itself already expended too much energy. If they stayed on the mountain for too long, hunger would consume them to the point that they wouldn’t even be able to stand up.
The two people at the bottom of the steps were similarly dripping with sweat and gasping for air. They had spent half the day chopping down trees and going through multiple rounds of trial and error before finally putting together a ladder.
It was an oddly shaped ladder. The top was thin while the bottom was thick, and the ends were crooked. Rather than calling it a ladder, it was indeed more apt to say that it was a massive “7.”
The now-bare surrounding land seemed as if a colossal pig demon had just gnawed on it.
~~~
A few Dao-Seeking Sect disciples secretly peeked at Dai Bufan. If I remember correctly, Senior Brother Dai Bufan loved flaunting his verdant and lush Heart-Seeking Mountain.
The man in question was clenching his fists unconsciously, and his eyes were twitching.
Rakumon's ThoughtsOkay, all the "mind" and "mental" terms are starting to come in :") I'm not sure if you guys have heard, but sometimes there are many ways to talk about the mind and consciousness in Chinese, whereas for English, we don't see that many variations.
Anyway, I hope I don't go mental from all the mental expressions (bad pun oops ><)
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