Facing the upward stairs, Feng Qi moved step by step.
The pressure coming down from the top of the pyramid kept growing.
Luckily, all the years of training had long since forged a body tough enough to endure it.
The gradually increasing weight only made his movements slower—like walking through water—full of resistance, but it didn't actually cause any damage.
This weight wasn't even close to the pressure he had felt during the second unlocking of the Demon Blade.
But starting from the 88th step, the pressure ramped up significantly. Feng Qi's pace slowed as he continued climbing.
It felt like he was carrying a mountain on his back.
Each step became a slow, grinding effort under that crushing weight.
When he stepped onto the 100th step, the pressure surged. His back bent under an invisible force.
That pressure stirred up a fierce intent deep inside him.
He could have activated Blood God right then and easily crushed this test—but he didn't.
Back when he first chose the Demon Blade path, he had made a decision: never rely on innate talents during cultivation.
This was his personal challenge—and a promise to the Demon Blade.
If he turned to Blood God whenever things got hard, then the whole idea of growth through trials would become meaningless.
Abilities like Blood God would only drain his life potential, drastically shortening his lifespan.
That was why he had never used his innate abilities during all these years of training.
In the Demon Blade's words: if you always rely on your trump card when things get tough, then you'll never truly grow, because you know there's always a way out.
The whole point of the Ascension Trial was to face the impossible—to sharpen one's edge.
That mindset required a do-or-die resolve. Either the blade breaks, or the enemy becomes your whetstone.
Only those two outcomes.
To someone undergoing this kind of trial, innate abilities were like inner demons.
The moment you accept that you have an escape route, you lose the will to go all in—and you'll never sharpen your edge into something unstoppable.
That was one of the reasons why, no matter how strong the enemy, he never used Blood God.
And it was also why the Demon Blade never stepped in to help.
In the path of forging oneself, only you can be the protagonist.
Under the crushing force, rage surged up from Feng Qi's chest. Sweat streamed down his face. His right leg trembled as he raised it—and then stomped it down onto the 101st step.
Boom!
His whole body bent forward violently.
But his eyes were blazing with unyielding fighting spirit.
His body crackled and popped as bones and joints shifted.
He forced himself upright, then raised his left foot and stepped onto the 102nd step.
"Boss!"
Down below, Xiao You had been watching him closely and now cried out in panic, ready to fly up to help.
But before she could rise, Po Jia yanked her back.
"Don't interfere. Boss is challenging himself."
"But Boss looks like he's in pain…" Xiao You's voice was full of worry.
"Relax. He's not gonna die. If he really can't make it, he'll stop. He fights wild and fierce, but he's not stupid."
Hearing Po Jia's calm explanation, Xiao You blinked in confusion and nodded.
She turned back to look up at Feng Qi, whose body was still trembling on the stairs, her expression full of concern.
At this moment, Lei Ting stood there butt-naked in front of Xiao You and Po Jia, calm-faced. He watched Feng Qi and muttered disdainfully, "This guy's so-called training just looks like self-inflicted torture. But that black blade of his... now that's something. I can't even figure out what material it's made from. It's definitely not a miracle-grade weapon, but it's still a real artifact."
As he said that, a greedy glint flashed in Lei Ting's eyes.
"If the brat dies up there, I'll just take that Demon Blade. From then on, I'll be your new boss."
Neither Xiao You nor Po Jia reacted. They were used to this kind of talk from Lei Ting. At this point, they didn't even bother to respond.
Over the years, Lei Ting had said enough big talk to fill a book as thick as a brick.
Po Jia reached out and flicked the back of Lei Ting's head with a sharp snap.
"Shut up," he said coldly.
Lei Ting stumbled forward a few steps from the flick, then spun around angrily.
"Po Jia, you little punk, are you challenging my authority? If this were five years ago, I'd lock you up and make your life worse than death!"
"Oh. What a pity," Po Jia replied calmly. He looked away from Lei Ting and back toward Feng Qi, who was still climbing.
"Boss said your current state is like a fallen emperor turned commoner, only capable of finding a sense of existence by talking big. That's why you're always so jumpy—to cover up the sadness and resentment in your heart."
Xiao You chimed in softly with that brutal line.
Lei Ting's furious expression froze instantly.
At this point, Feng Qi had already reached the 103rd step.
The pressure had already reached the limit of what Feng Qi's body could handle. He clenched his teeth, thin streaks of blood trailing down from the corners of his lips.
Under this immense force, something began to shift within his body.
His body treated the pressure like a sharpening whetstone. At that moment, the long-dormant Ascension Trial finally activated.
Under this absolute pressure, his physical attributes started to improve steadily.
The first changes began in his bones. Their density began to transform. Then came the internal organs.
Shrouded in a layer of black mist, his organs were being tempered under the strain, growing stronger with every passing second.
Right now, Feng Qi was walking the edge of death.
The pressure could crush him at any moment—but he didn't retreat.
After finally triggering the Ascension Trial, how could he give up such a rare opportunity to grow stronger?
He pushed all his strength forward and let out a roar, driving his right foot down hard.
His body sank from the strain.
Barely holding on, he slowly straightened his upper body.
Black mist began seeping from his pores, swirling around him.
This was the essence of the Ascension Trial—extreme growth under extreme pressure, sharpening himself at the boundary of death.
That was why every wielder of the Demon Blade pursued this path.
The point wasn't just to fight stronger opponents—it was to endure overwhelming pressure.
As his bones ground audibly under the strain, the blood in his veins surged like stormy waves, rushing faster through his body.
His body felt like it was being reforged.
A strange power began to stir deep inside him, emerging slowly through his meridians and organs, nourishing his entire form.
Even the Demon Blade, floating quietly below, began to tremble.
Feng Qi's body and the Demon Blade were fused—they were part of each other. As one grew stronger, so did the other.
The mutual feedback caused the Demon Blade's power to rise alongside his.
After several minutes of ragged breathing, Feng Qi clearly felt his body adapting to the pressure. The crushing force from the top of the pyramid no longer seemed unbearable.
It had nothing to do with the pressure weakening.
His body had simply grown stronger. It had adapted.
Even Feng Qi was surprised at how quickly his strength was improving.
No wonder every wielder of the Demon Blade pursued the Ascension Trial.
Every successful attempt brought gains that ordinary cultivation could never compare to.
He took a fresh step upward, landing on the 105th step.
The pressure spiked again, and the fading black mist around him suddenly thickened.
Under the crushing force, his body seemed to tap into hidden reserves, releasing mysterious energy to counter the weight and reinforce his physique.
A few more minutes passed in this state, and Feng Qi felt the pressure begin to drop again.
At the same time, the black mist around his body started thinning once more.
To maintain the Ascension Trial's effect, he had to stay in the absolute pressure zone. If the pressure eased, the triggered potential would also fade.
So Feng Qi stepped onto the 106th step.
As his foot landed, a smile appeared on his face.
There were still two more steps ahead, but he already sensed victory. He felt that he had passed this challenge.
With that certainty, he pressed forward with unwavering confidence.
As he stepped up, his body instantly sank again, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
His whole body shook violently, and the black mist around him surged once more. His muscles felt like they were being baked in a furnace, stretched to the breaking point.
His vision was completely consumed by the swirling mist, and he could smell death in the air.
But he had long since rid himself of the fear of death.
He had restarted countless times. With every sacrifice line reset, he had faced death head-on.
He had gone from fearing death to completely numb to it.
Now, he tensed his entire body, gritted his teeth, and forced his leg to lift again. He wanted to capitalize on this surge and take the final step, squeezing out every last drop of benefit from the Ascension Trial.
But the moment he raised his right leg, the pressure forced it back down.
Failure didn't stop him.
Feng Qi endured the weight and tried again.
The black mist surrounding him was now tinged faintly with red—the color of his blood, seeping out from his pores under the pressure.
Death was closing in. Feng Qi's body was now locked in the final battle of this trial.
With a roar through gritted teeth, he suddenly stomped forward, taking the last step.
He reached the final stair.
But the expected surge of pressure didn't arrive.
Instead, the crushing force that had weighed on his body vanished in an instant.
Thud!
Feng Qi collapsed, stumbling forward from the momentum.
The black mist around him dispersed all at once.
As he tried to get back on his feet, he suddenly noticed that something inside his body had changed.
He could hear the deep, powerful thud of his own heartbeat pounding in his ears.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
His heartbeat quickened. Feng Qi realized his body was undergoing a form of nirvana.
Inside, he felt like a string of lit firecrackers, crackling constantly.
He closed his eyes to sense the transformation taking place within.
This process lasted for half an hour. When he opened his eyes again, his vision had become remarkably clear, and his hearing had significantly improved. Even the voices of Xiao You and the others chatting at the base of the pyramid were now distinctly audible.
As he clenched his fist, he could feel a mass of pitch-black flames surging within him.
This was his first time attempting the Ascension Trial, and the improvements it brought stunned him.
With his physical attributes having improved dramatically, he now had full confidence to attempt the Demon Blade's third-stage unsealing.
But before that, there was something else he needed to do.
His gaze shifted forward. The hazy light that had shrouded the top of the pyramid began to disperse like mist the moment their eyes met, revealing a stark-white skeleton seated cross-legged.
The years had eroded the corpse's clothing. Now, a breeze swept by, and without any protection, the rotted fabric disintegrated and scattered with the wind.
What caught Feng Qi's attention was the black cube, the size of a palm, hovering above the skull.
Curious to know what kind of inheritance the deceased had left behind, Feng Qi stepped forward and reached out to grab the black cube.
As soon as his right hand touched it, the black cube began dissolving rapidly. Black liquid unfurled like a scroll to both sides.
Twisted characters began appearing on the scroll.
But even with his knowledge of Domain Studies, Feng Qi couldn't decipher any of it.
At that moment, the Demon Blade, which had been hovering beneath the structure, suddenly flew up to his side.
Compared to Feng Qi, who had fought tooth and nail to climb here, the Demon Blade had passed through the oppressive force effortlessly.
"Blade Bro, can you read what it says?" Feng Qi asked.
"I can," the blade responded.
"What does it say?"
Hearing his question, the Demon Blade immediately began translating the text on the scroll.
According to its interpretation, the text was the autobiography of the inheritor.
The inheritor's name was Zai Lin. His race had once ruled over one of the eighth-layer micro worlds of the Flame Domain, a dominant power.
But their glory didn't last. During an expansion war, they encountered a powerful enemy.
That invasion turned into a counter-invasion. Zai Lin's people were defeated. Most of them died, and only a few managed to escape and live in exile.
Zai Lin was one of those exiles.
Their escape was filled with tragedy. Along the way, they were repeatedly pillaged, with severe casualties among their kin.
By the time they reached a relatively safe area, nearly all the clan members had perished—only Zai Lin and his two younger brothers remained.
But Zai Lin's suffering was far from over.
As they traveled in search of food, his two brothers died one after another.
To survive, Zai Lin endured countless ordeals.
Once, he was captured by a race that used him as a test subject for experimental drugs. His skin rotted all over. If he hadn't escaped by sheer luck, he would have died.
Later, he was tortured by a fellow vagabond lunatic, surviving again purely by chance.
There were many more horrors.
After surviving disaster after disaster, Zai Lin was overwhelmed by pain. He was constantly consumed by negative emotions, teetering on the edge of a breakdown, and often thought of ending his life.
But in the end, Zai Lin chose not to give up.
To confront the problems in his mind, he spent 300 years exploring and understanding. He gained deep insight into negative emotions and developed a unique cultivation technique.
He named this technique Fu Lin—Subjugation of Negativity.
At the bottom of the scroll was the complete method for mastering Fu Lin.
The first line read:
"To the one who never gave up in the face of despair."
The second line:
"The demon repressed deep in your heart... can also become your strongest weapon."
…
Seeing this, Feng Qi's heart pounded wildly.
He had searched for a method to control negative emotions through countless timelines, always coming up empty.
Now, a complete cultivation method for controlling negative emotions was right in front of him.
He was overwhelmed—his eyes nearly filled with tears.
He was well aware of just how bad his luck was. Compared to the Mist Lord's fortune, he felt like a side character in a novel—never once lucky.
But now… finally, he had gotten the chance he'd longed for.
According to the scroll's description, this cultivation method not only allowed him to master negative emotions but also turn them into weapons.
It was like this technique had been made just for him.
Heart full of hope, Feng Qi said excitedly:
"Blade Bro, please keep translating the rest."
Just thinking that the problem of his negative emotions might finally be solved made Feng Qi feel like this entire trial had been more than worth it.