All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 88: The Path of Companionship

Zhanyue used the power of the Moon-Reflecting Divine Armor to pass the first trial, while Baizhi used alchemy techniques to solve the second trial. Both were full of fighting spirit. After climbing the jade wall, the scene before them made their expressions tighten.

They were no longer in a great hall, but in a void. Before them was only a long staircase stretching upwards. At the end was a huge golden door emitting golden light, illuminating this dark space.

Was this third trial just these stairs? Zhanyue naturally thought.

“Let’s go,” Zhanyue held Baizhi’s hand as they stepped onto the stairs. However, as soon as he set foot on the stairs, he felt a terrifying force pressing down on him. “As expected, it’s another trial testing endurance.”

The higher Zhanyue climbed, the more painful it became, but Baizhi behind him seemed completely at ease.

“What’s wrong?” Baizhi seemed to notice Zhanyue’s discomfort.

“Hm? Don’t you feel that immense pressure?” Zhanyue turned back to look at Baizhi curiously.

Baizhi shook her head, “No, I don’t.”

“How strange. Is this staircase targeting only me?” Zhanyue was puzzled.

Baizhi let go of Zhanyue’s hand and used her Charm Shadow technique to rush towards the top of the stairs. However, after passing Zhanyue by just a few steps, she was pressed flat on the stairs.

“Are you alright?!” Zhanyue hurried over to help her up.

“Hm?” He keenly felt that these few steps he took didn’t seem to be affected by that mysterious pressure.

“It’s no use. The faster I go, the more terrifying the pressure becomes. It almost instantly reaches a level I can’t bear. It’s impossible to rush up in one go,” Baizhi explained to Zhanyue.

“I see,” Zhanyue nodded. After some more experimentation, they finally summarized the rules:

First, the person in front would bear enormous pressure while the person behind wouldn’t.

Second, if both were on the same step, they would both feel the pressure, and it wouldn’t decrease.

Third, the faster they climbed, the greater the mysterious pressure would become. It was impossible to pass quickly.

Based on these three rules, Zhanyue understood what this trial was testing.

“I think this trial requires us to take turns leading. The person in front will bear great pressure. Once they can’t bear it anymore, they switch to the back to rest. We repeat this until we reach that door,” Zhanyue said.

The male ethereal figure watching their trial explained, “My lady, this third trial is called the Path of Companionship. No matter what abilities they have, they must honestly climb up step by step.”

“The Path of Companionship? I hope they can pass,” the woman beside him sighed, seemingly recalling the difficult life she had shared with her husband, supporting each other until they finally reached the peak, revered by millions.

“Baizhi, let me take over,” Zhanyue saw Baizhi’s forehead covered in sweat, her legs shaking. He actively moved past her to the front. When he walked in front, the pressure on Baizhi instantly vanished, and she gasped for breath.

They went from needing to switch every ten steps at the beginning to now needing to switch every three steps. Zhanyue’s regression ability wasn’t very effective; it couldn’t regress the mental and spiritual fatigue brought by the pressure. The physical discomfort was secondary. Fortunately, Baizhi’s soul power was inherently strong, and Zhanyue had the help of the Ghost Fruit. Their performance was already quite remarkable.

Struggling to take another step up, Zhanyue felt as if his limbs and meridians were being torn apart, in excruciating pain. The effects of the spirit fruits and pills he had taken earlier were completely refined, and he advanced from the third stage of Soul Control to the fourth. Taking advantage of this breakthrough, he climbed up a few more steps.

“The pressure from these stairs actually made me break through. How mysterious,” Zhanyue panted heavily.

“You rest for a bit. Let me take over,” Baizhi, having rested, moved past Zhanyue to the front, bearing the immense pressure as she climbed upwards. The pressure on Zhanyue instantly disappeared, and he took this opportunity to take some pills, quickly recovering. He knew Baizhi couldn’t hold on for too long.

However, Baizhi’s willpower exceeded his expectations. She managed to climb five steps in one go.

“Brother Zhan… five steps, I climbed five steps,” Baizhi turned back, showing a five with her hand and smiling slightly. This Path of Companionship was impossible to pass with just Zhanyue alone; she had to exert all her effort too.

“Don’t, don’t push yourself too hard. Let’s take it slowly,” Zhanyue hurriedly moved past her, taking on that terrifying pressure to let her rest for a moment.

Finally, as they climbed higher and higher, the pressure became greater and greater. In the end, they had to switch after every single step. Yet they were still some distance from the door at the top of the stairs.

“No choice!” Zhanyue put the Sun Divine Stone into the Moon-Reflecting Armor and continued upwards wearing the divine armor. However, the Moon-Reflecting Armor, which had never disappointed him before, wasn’t much help this time. The divine armor could resist that terrifying pressure, but only a little bit. Relying on the Moon-Reflecting Armor, Zhanyue climbed five more steps but then ran out of strength. Now he felt the armor was unbearably heavy, seeming to have become a burden, so he put it away.

Baizhi looked at that figure, gritted her teeth, and caught up, taking on the pressure for Zhanyue. However, this time she couldn’t even stand, directly being pressed down to one knee.

Zhanyue painfully helped her up and took another step forward, letting the pressure fall on himself. The immense pressure nearly made him stumble and kneel. Both of them were now covered in sweat, faces pale, almost at their limits.

“We can’t fail at the last hurdle!” Zhanyue took out the sixth-grade Profound Breaking Pill that Baizhi had refined earlier and put it into his Earth Mother Golden Cauldron. The cauldron visibly shrank.

A terrifying power exploded inside the cauldron. Using the propulsive force from this explosion, Zhanyue’s body leaped over seven or eight steps. The terrifying power directly pressed him down on the stairs, unable to even stand up!

“Brother Zhan!” Baizhi followed up, moving past Zhanyue to bear the pressure for him, but was instantly pressed down on the stairs as well.

Zhanyue felt his limbs had lost all feeling. Even State Reversal had no effect, because there wasn’t actually a single wound on his body.

“Let me!” Zhanyue painfully crawled past Baizhi’s position, taking the pressure back on himself.

The two finally went from climbing standing up to crawling upwards, alternating back and forth.

However, with the door now in sight, the two found themselves on the same step, simultaneously bearing the pressure, both pressed to the ground, unable to move an inch.

Zhanyue looked at the door before him unwillingly, trying to struggle forward. Just a few more steps, just a few more steps. But willpower still couldn’t support his body; he could barely move a finger. Baizhi beside him was in an even worse state. Having been pampered since childhood, how could she have ever experienced such hardship? Her entire body was like mud.

“Brother Zhan… we…” Baizhi couldn’t finish her sentence.

The two ethereal figures watching this scene were deeply moved. They were so close, but unfortunately, they had both reached their limits.

“How can we give up like this!” Zhanyue once again summoned the Moon-Reflecting Armor, embedding a top-grade spirit stone. He fully activated the armor, instantly shattering the intact spirit stone, all its power injected into the armor, allowing Zhanyue to crawl up three more steps.

Zhanyue didn’t feel sorry for the spirit stone at this moment, only regret. He knew he had truly reached his limit this time. Even consuming another spirit stone wouldn’t support him to continue climbing. That terrifying pressure was like the Five Elements Mountain pressing down on him.

Baizhi followed up but could no longer pass Zhanyue. When on the same step as him, the pressure seemed about to crush her bones.

“Silly girl, why did you climb up? You wouldn’t feel pressure behind me. When we’re on the same step, you feel the same pressure as me,” Zhanyue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He had exerted all his effort just to let Baizhi stay behind, to make it easier for her, but Baizhi had crawled up again.

“I know, I just didn’t want you to bear it alone at the front,” Baizhi said somewhat aggrievedly.

“Ah, what should we do now?” Zhanyue was out of ideas. He had exhausted all his methods.

“Every time, I’m hiding behind you,” Baizhi looked at Zhanyue’s dejected expression, feeling equally unwilling. Throughout this climb, Zhanyue had climbed far more steps than her. She was the one holding him back.

For the first time in her life, Baizhi desperately craved power. She hoped that at least this once, just this once, she wouldn’t be the one holding them back.

The young woman gritted her teeth, using all her strength. An unprecedented determination appeared on her face.

“One step, two steps…” After crawling up two steps, Baizhi was finally pressed immobile by the stronger pressure.

Zhanyue’s face was filled with shock. He couldn’t imagine how Baizhi had managed this; he had consumed a top-grade spirit stone just to climb a few more steps. At this moment, his heart was filled with a mixture of bitterness and emotion.

“It’s not enough… This time, just leave it to me,” Baizhi knew two steps couldn’t solve anything. She had to reach the end in one go.

“Ah…” The female ethereal figure watching sighed softly, “This girl’s temperament is similar to mine. Brother Stone, should we lower the difficulty of the trial a bit more?” She felt pity.

The man shook his head, “How can our successors be ordinary people? Without surpassing their limits, it’s impossible to pass this trial. Even if they performed well before, failure is failure. I’ve already lowered the standard considerably; otherwise, with their strength, they couldn’t have come this far. It can’t be lowered anymore.”

The woman didn’t say more. On such a major decision, she chose to trust the man’s judgment. After all, this wasn’t an ordinary trial, but their most important inheritance. How could it be easily taken away?

Baizhi felt pain all over her body, every organ seeming not to belong to her, even her spirit somewhat dazed. However, her resolve to climb upwards didn’t weaken at all.

“Ah…” In the depths of Baizhi’s soul, a helpless sigh sounded. Then, a phantom image of a vermilion bird appeared behind Baizhi. The hidden power of the Vermilion Bird bloodline emerged again.

Baizhi felt as if she had been reborn, her body filled with endless power. Under Zhanyue’s shocked gaze, she stood up, passed the last few steps, and stood before the door.

Zhanyue felt as if he was dreaming, but he sensed that Baizhi’s gaze now seemed somewhat unfamiliar and cold.