Within the Sea of Consciousness…

The form of Chen Ping’s soul had solidified by nearly thirty percent.

When he swept out with his Divine Sense, the world was clearer, sharper. His control over his own internal state had reached a microscopic level of precision.

This was a realm exclusive to the Foundation Establishment stage. He had never expected to achieve it while still in Qi Condensation.

Chen Ping felt a surge of delight.

With this, the difficulty of his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment would plummet.

Perhaps the textbook curse—that a Five-Element Waste Spirit Root required five or six Foundation Establishment Pills to succeed—would be broken by him.

Enhancing the soul was notoriously the hardest part of the Immortal Path. To make such progress here was a fortune worth more than gold.

Naturally, he wouldn’t waste it.

For others, climbing this ladder was torture. It brought pain, exhaustion, and potentially irreversible soul damage.

But for Chen Ping, this was the ultimate training ground.

The escalating external pressure tempered his soul and purified his Qi. And unlike the others, he didn’t have to endure until collapse; he could retreat to the Black Earth space to recover instantly.

Cycle after cycle, he forged himself.

On his thirty-third emergence from the space, Chen Ping’s figure materialized on the ladder.

He had already surpassed twenty-six climbers.

Ahead of him, only one figure remained.

A tattered moon-white robe—covered by Chen Ping’s own coarse blue outer garment—flickered faintly in the thick mist.

It was Bai Yue, the True Disciple of the Qingyun Sect.

She had clearly reached her limit.

Her body trembled violently. Each step upward seemed to require the effort of a lifetime.

On her exposed neck and hands, fine capillaries had burst under the immense pressure, creating a web of red spots beneath her pale skin. Filthy blood oozed slowly from the pores.

Chen Ping walked silently past her. His pace was slow, but steady.

At the moment they passed, their gazes inevitably collided.

Bai Yue jerked her head up. Beneath the silver mask, her eyes widened in extreme shock.

She recognized him. The Outer Disciple who had given her his robe. And she recognized his aura—faint, weak, equivalent only to the sixth layer of Qi Condensation.

Yet, this disciple, whom she had dismissed as “shallow in foundation,” had surpassed her, a True Disciple, on the Heaven Ascending Ladder.

He had overturned her perception and shattered her worldview.

In that moment, a sense of awe rose in her heart.

Her arrogance, her pride as a genius, crumbled into dust.

From this moment on, she knew she would never judge a person by appearance or cultivation level again. She would hold reverence for everyone.

“You…”

Bai Yue’s voice was hoarse, dry, breathless.

“What is your name? Why… has the Sect never… seen you before?”

Chen Ping didn’t stop. He turned his head slightly, meeting those complex eyes.

His face held no arrogance, nor sympathy. Only a calm indifference.

The corner of his mouth lifted, an almost imperceptible smile.

“If fate wills it, you will know. Don’t dwell on it.”

Name? Unimportant.

Meeting here was merely a chance encounter on a long road.

Her confusion, her pride, her struggle—none of it concerned him.

Chen Ping’s path lay ahead.

He withdrew his gaze and continued upward, his figure slowly vanishing into the thick clouds.

Bai Yue watched his back disappear. Beneath the mask, she pressed her lips together tightly, falling silent.

Yes. What was there to ask?

On the path of the Dao, each relies on their own ability.

She took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in her heart, and poured her remaining will into resisting the dual pressures threatening to crush her.

…

Within the Jade Pendant space, time flowed silently.

Chen Ping sat cross-legged on the Black Earth. Spiritual Qi swirled around him like a vortex, pouring into his body.

In his Dantian, the core of spiritual power—compressed to the size of a fingernail—grew robust again under the nourishment of the pure Qi.

Months of arduous cultivation passed in the timeless space.

When that core finally swelled to the peak of Qi Condensation again, a completely different aura radiated from Chen Ping.

The total volume of his Qi was the same as when he started, but its purity had reached a terrifying level.

It flowed like liquid mercury—firm, powerful, dense. Its quality was ten times greater than before.

Surging power coursed through his meridians. A mere gesture felt like it could stir wind and thunder.

His soul form was stable and clear. His Divine Sense range had doubled, easily exceeding eight hundred zhang—approaching the thousand-zhang requirement for Foundation Establishment.

However, when he returned to the ladder and faced the final hundred steps, the pressure still felt suffocating.

It was unimaginable.

Every step was a challenge to his absolute limit.

Under such spiritual and soul pressure… could any normal Qi Condensation cultivator truly climb this?

It felt impossible.

…

Another grueling ascent.

Finally, only ten steps remained.

Ten steps to the stone door at the summit. Ten steps to the unknown.

Chen Ping gritted his teeth.

Recover. Climb.

Nine steps. Enter the space.

Eight steps. Enter the space.

…

The closer he got to the door, the pressure increased exponentially.

He could climb fewer steps each time, and his recovery took longer.

For the final ten steps, he had to retreat to the space after every single step.

Time blurred.

Only one obsession remained: Reach the summit.

No matter what awaited him, no matter if he could leave this damned realm, he had to finish this.

The hardships, the time, the talismans…

Everything demanded a result.

The final step.

When Chen Ping’s trembling, bloodied hand finally touched the cold, massive stone door covered in profound patterns, he was a man made of blood.

Fine cracks covered his skin, blood seeping out to dye his tattered clothes dark red.

Intense pain and soul exhaustion threatened to consume him.

Using the last shred of his strength, he threw his body forward.

Rumble…

The door opened.