Alex wondered why he painted a mountain. He didn’t exactly know why he got that feeling either. All he knew was that the feeling he got was one of a large boulder or a mountain.

Something heavy.

He took a deep breath as he moved the brush away. The painting had been quick, but he had used a bit of his spiritual energy when making it.

He had made the painting with Intent after all. That was the best way to attune one’s Intent into something so abstract.

Alex looked at his own painting, feeling somewhat surreal. He understood why he drew a mountain, but he felt there was more to it than just its significance.

It was not just the weight alone, was it?

Something irked him at the back of his mind that he couldn’t put his finger on. ‘What is going on?’ he wondered.

He had planned to make a single painting, as he would need to recoup the Spiritual energy he lost while making it. He couldn’t take too long to regather it after all since there wasn’t much time.

‘But there is something there,’ he thought. He wanted to learn more.

Alex swapped the canvas for a blank one and took a moment to read into the aura of the pressure that was on him. He let his mind figure out what sort of emotion was evoked because of that aura.

‘Mountain… land…’

He drew once again. Instead of a single mountain this time around, he drew many. He drew a mountain range.

He felt he was closer but somehow still far away. What was this aura? He drew again, this time drawing more. He didn’t just make a mountain range, but also the large valleys within it, a landscape as though seen from the top of a mountain.

He drew more. This time creating islands, and then large pieces of land. Some were places he had been to like the desert in the northern section of the Southern Continent or the frozen mountains of the Northern continent.

The more he drew, the closer he got to understanding the aura more and more. He began realizing what was common in the paintings. It wasn’t the fact that they were mountains or even lands in general. It was the fact that they all had to do something with Earth dao.

It was then Alex began sensing hints of Earth dao within the aura he felt. It wasn’t exactly the Dao of Earth as he had long since learned that dao. This was more of a sibling of that dao. Something in the same family but still different enough that he had trouble recognizing it instantly.

About 10 paintings in, he finally stopped. He felt that he had done all he needed to physically do to try and understand this aura. Now, it was all left up to him.

Once the canvases and the paintbrush vanished into his Soul Space, Alex closed his eyes and began reaching into the aura that surrounded him. He understood it more than ever now, feeling so much closer.

If he stood up and climbed up the mountain, he had no doubt he would smash through the 17000 steps, and maybe even reach the 18000 steps. But, that felt irrelevant to him at the moment. At least, when compared to what he felt he was learning.

Time passed, but Alex failed to notice it as he was entirely focused on the aura and the mysteries it held. The mysteries were now slowly showing themselves to him.

* * * * * * *

Elder Shang was a little worried about Alex. He sat around at the 14000 steps, doing absolutely nothing at all. At least he was painting earlier, which she had come to realize might have been his way of focusing his Intent. But this was different.

He was doing nothing at all.

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It wasn’t as though the pressure lessened when one stopped moving. It was no different than carrying weights. Even if you could carry something, carrying it around for a long time was tiring.

Alex was going to tire himself out for no reason at all by staying there.

Elder Shang decided to pay close attention to him and maybe even shut down the entire stairway should he be in some sort of danger. After all, he was the most talented disciple their sect had ever seen. And what good was a talent if you couldn’t nurture it until it flourished?

The sun went down and the two moons rose high into the sky, independent of each other.

Many other people gave up at that time and gathered at the peak, crossed-legged and cultivating already. Meanwhile, Alex still remained close-eyed, seemingly cultivating as well. But Elder Shang didn’t notice the movement of Qi so she didn’t believe he was cultivating.

In that case, had he somehow fallen into a trance?

Alex showed absolutely no movement the entire night at all. Even as the horizon started gaining its purple hue, he was still on the same step, with his eyes closed.

Elder Shang needed to make a decision soon as to whether or not to shut down the stairway’s formation as the test was coming to an end. It also cost a bit to keep the stairway running, so she couldn’t keep it running forever anyway.

‘Just half a day more,’ she thought. ‘I’ll give him half a day. If he doesn’t continue or give up by then, then I will—”

Her thoughts wavered a little when she felt a subtle change in the air. It wasn’t just her, everyone around her noticed it, including the many Immortals. They all felt the stir in the atmosphere and looked toward the sky as they felt energy gather around there.

Then, the energy descended, carrying with them Worldly laws.

Elder Shang’s eyes widened in blatant shock. ‘Is that what he was doing this entire time?’ she thought to herself, completely stunned as she watched the Worldly energy fall onto Alex.

‘He was learning a Dao?’