There were 4 easy ways for Alex to earn a ticket to go to the next world. Easy was of course an understatement. It was easy in relation to all the other requirements that were given to him.

The first one was to reach the Immortal Ascendant 5th realm, which Alex was getting closer to. He was a step away from reaching the 3rd realm, so he would get there within the next 15 years.

The second requirement was to become a Supreme Immortal Alchemist. That was also somewhat within reach. He just needed to make a Heavensent Invincibility pill, and Elder Liang would approve him for the test. Everything else was easy after that.

The third requirement was to become the 15000th ranking disciple within the sect. This required a lot of contributions, but it was doable given time. However, Alex had no plan on going this route for a ticket as at the end of the day, he only required 3 tickets in total to reach the Sky God’s Palace.

The fourth requirement was for him to reach 16000 steps in the First Mountain’s stairway, of which he had already reached 14000 thousand.

It had been 10 years since then, and Alex had come here today again to test out just how much he had improved in that time.

“Kept attention on your own Spiritual energy. Wear that medallion when you start thinking that you can take 1 more step.” Elder Shang was at the bottom of the mountain, telling Alex what he had to do. Alex nodded and took the talisman, preparing to climb the stairs that had knocked him unconscious 10 years ago.

Alex started climbing, immediately sprinting through the first few thousand stairs before slowing his ascent. He was strong enough that he barely felt anything for the first few thousand stairways anyway.

The pressure was noticeable when he reached the 8000th step and it continued to increase as he went further up along. However, even at that point, Alex could already tell the difference between last time and this time.

His body cultivation and Qi cultivation had improved in the past 10 years, and thus the pressure was affecting him quite less. Alex trekked up the mountain for another thousand steps before the pressure got burdensome.

He then reached 10000 steps an hour later, at which point his body alone would’ve crumpled under the pressure without his Qi. With his Qi, Alex continued climbing the mountain, one step at a time.

Slowly, the burden increased more and more, slowly becoming unbearable. At 12000 steps, Alex could feel the burden become so high that he wanted to use the medallion immediately.

However, now was not the time. This was the time for him to be serious about the climb.

Alex took a deep breath and let out his Intent to stop the pressure from bearing down upon him so hard. Immediately, the burden disappeared and all that remained was a bit of heaviness, which Alex could perfectly handle.

Alex looked up forward and began climbing up the mountain a lot more easily. He reached 13000 steps, and then after 3 hours, he reached 14000 steps. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

This was the last time Alex had failed and had been knocked unconscious. This was where he had run out of his Spiritual energy, causing the entire pressure to come crashing down on him.

Right now, he had a careful watch on his own pressure and knew exactly how far his limits were. They were close, but not close enough.

Alex took a step forward and climbed. One step at a time, he continued climbing higher and higher. Each step increased the pressure and he confronted that pressure to continue moving.

It was only when he was just a hundred steps away from reaching 15000 steps that he realized how severely low his Spiritual energy was. He had been keeping an eye from time to time, and after climbing this high, the rate of depletion had increased way beyond his understanding.

Without hesitation, he put on the medallion and immediately all the pressure disappeared. He felt powerful with the lack of weight on him and quickly flew up to the top of the mountain where the elder Shang waited for him.

Elder Shang couldn’t seem to hide her surprise at all. “You did great,” she said. “That was way better than you did last time.”

Alex nodded. “Yes, elder. I got to conserve my spiritual energy until the very end, and it gave me a significant boost there. I have also broken through since then, so it was easier.”

“It shouldn’t have been,” she said. “But then, your spiritual energy must have also become stronger. The Spiritual Conjunction technique has been helping you a lot.”

Alex nodded. “It has been a lot of help, Elder,” he said.

The woman nodded. “It will be more difficult now. The remaining steps won’t be so easy that you can simply climb them. Those 1000 steps should be close to 3 times more difficult than what you faced just now.

Alex could only grimace after hearing that. His body, Qi, and spiritual strength would have to be a lot stronger for him to get past the last bit of the stairway.

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“Go and rest for now. You can try again in a few more years.”

“Yes, Elder,” Alex said and left for his cave. Resting was not the only thing he planned on doing, though. Since he had reached the highest extent of Immortal Ascendant 2nd realm, it was time for him to go and break through to the next realm.

Alex sat in his cave as he prepared for his breakthrough, taking his time with it. Slowly, he cultivated back all the Qi he had lost on the stairs and was finally ready to make the final push.

The push came easily, as the Qi within his body surged all of a sudden, evolving just a bit so that it became stronger, pushing him past the bottleneck into the next realm. Finally, he had reached the Immortal Ascendant 3rd realm.