A Mortal's Journey to Immortality

Although this bamboo forest is not large, it is extremely slow to traverse. The narrow path, barely wide enough for one person, is winding and twisting, causing great hardship for many of the children taking the assessment.

Zhou Ping, with an injured foot, was limping and being supported by another companion.

It turned out that the chubby boy knew he was in the wrong, so he spent another five taels of silver to find Zhou Ping a helper.

The assessment has continued until now, and everyone is exhausted.

Everyone was skeptical about whether they could pass the Green Bamboo Sect's test, and some had already started making their own plans.

The lure of money was too great, especially for these children from poor families.

Five taels of silver was an enormous sum, equivalent to half a year's hard-earned income for his parents.

Passing the test to join the Green Bamboo Sect is naturally the most important thing. If you can't pass the test, earning some money is also a good thing.

People are pragmatic, especially when faced with tangible benefits.

"Brother Zhou, I've been holding it in for so long that I couldn't help but push you. It wasn't on purpose."

The chubby boy followed behind, panting, wiping the large beads of sweat from his forehead as he explained to Zhou Ping.

The chubby boy's name was Chen Dafu. His family was in the business of trade and had properties in several nearby towns, making them a veritable tycoon.

Although Chen Dafu was wealthy and arrogant, he had a good heart and was different from the rich kids I had in mind.

Zhou Ping thought to himself.

His anger had long since dissipated. Children of this age are simple-minded and don't understand anything about good and evil or gratitude and resentment.

Seeing that his foot was not seriously injured, he stopped worrying about it.

Besides, if he took the other party's money and something unexpected happened on the way, the other party could simply ignore it.

It's only right to take someone's money and do their bidding.

Zhou Ping looked up at the dappled sunlight overhead and mentally estimated the time.

"We need to speed things up, or we won't make it to Cangsong Cliff before noon."

"But your feet..."

"My foot is fine, let's go faster."

Zhou Ping interrupted Chen Dafu's question, patted the boy who was supporting him, and quickened his pace.

"Now that we have someone to protect us, let's stop worrying and do our best to get going!"

Because they had sped up, no one spoke along the way; only heavy breathing could be heard.

After persisting for a while, they gradually caught up with the leading group and could faintly hear the sounds coming from ahead—the sound of footsteps treading on bamboo joints.

Zhou Ping no longer needed any assistance; the slope of the bamboo forest was becoming increasingly steep, and it was clear that he was climbing upwards.

If he were to be helped any further, the boy would soon be exhausted, and he didn't want to cause the other person to lose their qualification because of him.

"Take a break...take a break."

Chen Dafu's face turned a deep purplish-red, and he plopped down on the ground.

Zhou Ping and the others stopped upon hearing the sound, leaning against the bamboo to rest. They could faintly hear panting coming from ahead, indicating that others were also resting up ahead.

After rushing all the way, everyone was exhausted. Their legs were numb and swollen, as if they were filled with lead.

Zhou Ping casually found a place to sit down, checked his injured right foot, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that there was no more blood flowing out.

He rubbed his swollen calves with one hand, while placing the other hand in his breast pocket.

It felt so heavy that Zhou Ping felt like he had an iron ball hanging from his neck. In addition to the swelling and pain in his legs and feet, his neck also ached from the weight.

Zhou Ping stretched his stiff neck and reached into his pocket.

Besides the Qingzhu token and the three taels of silver he got from Chen Dafu, there was also a black "iron nail" inside, which was the very nail that had injured Zhou Ping's right foot.

When he was injured, Zhou Ping was so panicked and in pain that he focused all his attention on treating the wound and did not notice anything unusual about the nail that was pulled out of the sole of his shoe.

But after the wound was bandaged, he suddenly realized something was wrong; the weight of the nail when it was pulled out was completely off.

These "iron nails" are too heavy!

As the son of a blacksmith, he has been dealing with ironware for many years. Although he is not old, he has handled a lot of ironware and tools, at least eight hundred if not a thousand.

Zhou Ping could estimate the weight of a piece of ironware with a simple lift.

But this "iron nail" was beyond his comprehension. The thin iron nail, which was only a little over three inches long, actually weighed nearly a pound!

What does that mean?

An ordinary iron nail weighs at most an ounce.

His father had mentioned before that the heaviest metal in the world is gold, and that a piece of gold of the same size weighs more than twice as much as an iron object.

This "iron nail" was much heavier than a gold piece of the same size.

This object was definitely not made of iron; Zhou Ping couldn't even imagine what material it was made of.

After discreetly putting it into his pocket, Zhou Ping was extremely excited. He felt as if he had found something incredible!

Although the journey ahead was difficult, Zhou Ping focused half of his attention on this "iron nail".

Feeling the rough texture of the object in his arms, Zhou Ping pursed his lips and casually withdrew his hand.

He decided to wait until after the assessment was over, and then find a secluded place to study it slowly on his own.

Zhou Ping looked back at the path he had come from and found it completely hidden in the thick fog, which was growing even denser in the forest.

He secretly estimated that the slope of the bamboo forest would become increasingly steep in the latter half of the assessment, and after reaching the Cangsong Cliff, he would probably not be far from the top of the mountain.

Zhou Ping glanced at Chen Dafu and the others, whose breathing had calmed down slightly, then got up and started climbing again, pulling on the bamboo by the roadside.

Having worked as his father's assistant since childhood, he was physically stronger than his peers, and he stubbornly believed that he should not lose to these people.

Seeing the others get up, Chen Dafu reluctantly lifted his buttocks, muttering something under his breath.

Now that the assessment has reached this point, everyone understands that the dangers mentioned by Pavilion Master Yang were mostly tests of their character.

If you don't even have the courage to take the test, you're not qualified to become a disciple of the Green Bamboo Sect.

Just like those dozen or so children who were scared away before the assessment, they will be sent directly down the mountain gate.

Now that the danger has been greatly reduced, the next test will undoubtedly be a contest of everyone's physical strength and willpower.

Whoever can persevere to the end and arrive at Cangsong Cliff on time will become a formal disciple of the Qingzhu Sect.

Little Fatty Chen Dafu had already grasped the key point, and he no longer needed "guards" to protect him on the road ahead.

So when he saw everyone leaving without saying goodbye, he didn't stop them, but just muttered a complaint under his breath.

Zhou Ping was trying his best to catch up with the gap he had fallen behind, and his physical strength was almost at its limit.

Fortunately, the fog in the forest had visibly thinned, and a steep stone staircase was faintly visible ahead.

The stone steps are like a stairway to heaven, leading straight to a huge platform at the top covered with green pines.

Zhou Ping had completely crawled down, using both hands and feet to slowly inch his way up the stone steps. This last stretch of the journey could be described as inching his way up little by little.

The sun overhead was almost directly overhead, and it was very close to noon.

He had already seen quite a few people climb onto the platform, and there were still more than a dozen people struggling to crawl ahead of him.

It seemed they would arrive at Cangsong Cliff before him. He was anxious, but gritted his teeth and persevered.

Zhou Ping grew increasingly agitated. He had underestimated the Green Bamboo Sect's assessment, arrogantly believing that his physical abilities would allow him to pass with ease.

The hidden dangers brought about by the three taels of silver continued to expand, and were already subtly exceeding Zhou Ping's control.

His arrogant and greedy behavior ultimately led to his downfall.

Suppressing the surging frustration in his heart, Zhou Ping raised his aching arms and continued climbing upwards.