"This is it." Shin Xuanji, dressed in crimson and donning an oni-mask, said indifferently. With a gaze unmoving on the Heavenly Steps, he recalled his journey since arriving here.
Born in the Shin Clan, he was nothing more than an ordinary member. He had no great backing, extraordinary talent, or status within the clan. He was a maidservant's son, bestowed the name of Shin due to his father who was nothing more than a low-ranking member of the sect.
His life couldn't be considered horrible, but it can't be considered grand either. Growing up, much of his time was staying with the other low-status children doing various activities. They dreamed and talked about reaching great heights, everyone's respect, immense wealth, and beautiful women. To him, those days of dreaming were his best childhood days.
They all knew it was nearly impossible, but they still dared to dream.
When he turned old enough to hunt, he was sent to handle a task far from the clan by his father. Then, it happened.
Their eradication.
It was sudden and when he learned of the incident, he nearly broke down. The only thing he could think about was revenge. With that, he came to a friend of his to seek refuge. However, he was betrayed as, in the middle of the night, a pair of assassins were sent to reap away his life.
Luckily, he avoided being poisoned by his friend and stayed up that night after a nightmare. He noticed their approach, almost instinctively, he ran. They chased him for several days until he couldn't run anymore. Without any qi left to fight, he was all but dead.
Then, they showed up.
Han Genji and Lin Feilin were traveling in the area. Lin Feilin was the one who took action, dispatching the assassins with exceptional ease. They saved him and accepted him. That's how he became Han Genji's disciple.
Later, his master suffered a tribulation he could not survive. Escaping to the Earthly Titan Sect, he was tortured viciously for information. Luckily, the sect didn't have anyone with a profound soul cultivation to soul search him. They had to use standard methods.
With his knowledge and what he knew of his master's operation, he drew out his tortured life for every second possible. A silver-blue figure appeared with a choice he couldn't refuse. At the time, he didn't understand why this figure wanted him to swear a soul oath to forget past grievances towards the Yan Clan.
Now, he knew.
Yan Zaizen, his Ninth Brother, had achieved an extraordinary cultivation base. He was almost sure that Yan Zaizen was dead and some old monster had taken his body. To avoid any guilt, he removed the threat that was Shi Xuanji. In exchange, he gave Han Genji face to help him overcome his current situation.
With that help, he traveled with a single-minded goal for revenge. Luckily, the Earthly Titan Sect was weakened considerably by Yan Zaizen, so getting his revenge was going to be easier.
After a decade of traveling as a wandering traveler, he met a force called the Blood Fiend Sect who were running away from enemies in their original country, arriving in Presba due to them bordering them. Somehow, he was accepted due to his age, cultivation, and perceived talent.
He comprehended the Mortal Law of Blood and developed the Blood of Black Iron conceptual law. With it, he utilizes qi to create a very heavy blood qi that can consume other blood to grow denser. This achievement enabled him to become a disciple of an elder who took kindly to him.
His rise was abrupt and even his loss of genitals was recovered by the former grand-tier force. He now had revenge in sight. Unfortunately, the enemies caught up and eradicated a majority of the sect. Besides a few others, his master and he escaped. However, his master suffered severe injuries while protecting him. The pills and elixirs he obtained from Yan Zaizen had already been depleted, so he couldn't help.
Fortunately, he survived but with a cultivation base and foundation decrease. Despite this, they had to hide from their enemies, living in the mountains with just him and her. It didn't take long before the master and disciple relationship collapsed between them and became something more.
Before he knew it, she had become pregnant. He was going to be a father! Decisively taking his former master as his wife, his mindset changed.
His goals changed from getting revenge to providing for his wife and child. If Yan Zaizen had heard the story up to this, as someone who reads too many novels of rising after a tragedy, he would assume his family was killed with misfortune falling behind always.
However, nothing like that happened. His wife gave birth to a beautiful daughter and they stayed in a first-tier force as a guest elder. Their life was smooth and without tragedy. It was he was discontent with this as his enemies continued to breathe and live.
Leaving one day, he used his cultivation at the half-step Origin Core Realm and a sky-rank weapon to kill the Earthly Titan Sectmaster. During his way back, he felt his conceptual law of blood within his soul resonate with a something. Traveling, he found a black colored drop of blood within a hidden cave.
He had stumbled onto a regalia of heavenly law! One that resonated with his own! With that, his laws grew by leaps and bounds, reaching the perfect-Force level in a short period of time. His cultivation reached the Initial-Origin Core Realm just before the Xiantu Dao Trials.
He decisively decided to participate.
If he could do well, the life of his wife and daughter would be greatly changed! He could also afford to help his wife restore her cultivation base and heal her damaged life source. He was doing this for them.
Outside the Xiantu Continent, a teenage girl and middle-aged woman were looking at the large screens depicting the events in the sub-dimensional realm. They were on one of the many public skyships that carried hopefuls for a price.
The girl had a very ordinary appearance in terms of countenance and body, but she had a very 'girl-next-door' feel. The woman seemed to have heavy bags on her eyes, wrinkles forming on her face. If anyone with a decent cultivation would know her life source was damaged.
"Mother...do you think Father will do well?" The girl's tender voice resounded with worry.
"As long as he comes back to us, that's all that matters." One could see the level of worry in her eyes were thousands of time greater than her daughter's. Her hand was already tightly clenched around her daughter's hand.
"..." The young girl may not be very smart, but she understood that her father was in danger. She bit her lips and replied by clenching her mother's hand. "He will. I believe in him." She thought some more.
"We believe in him."
-----
Shin Xuanji's eyes lit with a decisive fire. His life has been filled with ups and downs, but he can not let his current up be brought down no matter what. Even if he can't reach the 33rd step, he has to reach beyond the 13th!
"You may begin." A grand voice resounded. The vast amount of participants dashed towards the heavenly steps with vigor and confidence. Some lagged behind, feeling overwhelmed by the situation, but they followed along soon enough. Shin Xuanji wasn't a part of this group.
He had already touched the first step and immediately felt the pressure they exuded. It wasn't limited to just the body but also soul. "If...your soul is weak, it'll weigh you down also." He made a note, but the pressure here wasn't close to unbearable.
Turning around, he saw many people with equal cultivation bases struggle greatly. There were even some who had a weaker cultivation base that had their bones creak with each step they took.
"What?" He was shocked. Then, he realized after some observation. These people likely had ages nearing 400 yet a similar or weaker cultivation base than him.
"Pressure experienced is different based on age...I see." After deducing this, he noticed there were already several people on the 3rd step. They had Origin Core Cultivation bases and relatively young ages. In his opinion, these people likely belonged to heavenly-tier forces.
He heard quite a few comments resound about them, but he ignored them. Regardless of how famous they were, they didn't matter to him. All that mattered was his next step towards his future.
Kicking off the 1st step, he reached the 2nd.
This was only the start!