The mountain lood over them all but Lind could no longer interfere. He had to push them to the limit before they tried or the effects of the mountain would have killed them. His final trial was one cultivators struggled with.
He struggled with it constantly but to create his vision took insane amounts of power.
He was probably the only being in existence that could counter any other in that place. It could not be sustained forever but for 5 people, it was enough.
The bloody bodies were not in as bad a shape as the surface would appear but the young woman from Sora's lineage could not sustain herself. She was wise to withdraw as she grasped the aspect of the trial.
Her body needed Qi to support it. It was her technique and matched her well. In the current situation, however, it would kill her to stay.
Only 4 remained.
They escaped the black sands that were now dancing with lightning that appeared in a ring. There was no going back and the ring would begin to contract, but that was only a motivator.
The real pressure was the path up itself. The instant they stood on them, their cultivation was stripped away. They lost all their Arts, techniques, and any support from pills or elixirs that lingered in their blood.
Abby also lost the support of her bloodline in large part. If it had still been dormant, it may have flared up at that mont and killed her as it tried to assert itself. It was why he pushed her in part but also because he was tired of seeing her conflicted.
A half hearted attempt at any of the trials would have brought failure but she endured. Only when she intentionally tried to fail did he deny her. He was not giving her the easy way out. She had to fail honestly or not at all.
If she walked away, her cultivation would suffer in ways he could not even imagine and her death would be horrifying to witness.
For all the strength cultivators gained from advancing, their weaknesses beca just as terrifying.
Heart demons were but one possibility but Qi deviation could be just as powerful.
Now, he took all the strength away and left only the weaknesses. The Mortal Mountain stripped away everything that made a cultivator strong. No Qi, no bloodline support, nothing was left behind.
The fact it took such an imnse amount of elental elents working in tandem with his harmony proved it was not simple but he saw them struggle as all the power they had accrued until the present was now gone.
Mortal strength and stamina were not easy to work with after feeling the power of the Sky Realm. It made you need less food, water, and all mortal needs were very remote.
Now, they struggled as they returned to their beginning. Even Abby, with her recent transformation, was actually falling behind. She had no mastery of her new body and even less familiarity with it.
Still, she continued to fight.
The twins were most interesting to him. They seed to be recovering full control by observing the other. It was an interesting dynamic but he knew the end result already.
The mountain was not so forgiving. Mortal Mountain brought it all.
The lightning closed in but beasts began to manifest as they were a fifth of the way up.
They were all conjurings but their purpose was not a physical threat. The 4 candidates scattered as best they could but the twins suffered due to falling out of sync. It was the problem of relying on a cultivation technique as a mortal.
With no Qi or Arts, their ability to sync up beca a liability.
The wolves, tigers, and other predators roared in joy as they sward the twins. No blood flowed but they scread as they grabbed their heads.
"The pain is still doubled for them it seems." Lind murmured as he looked on. The beasts attacked the mind, not the body. The twins fell down the mountain and the lightning claid them.
Their cultivation would return once they were back outside but the injuries would take so elixirs and pills to fix.
Only 2 remained but they were very stubborn.
Sebastian had extre pride. He had actively pursued awakening his bloodline as well as building a network among his siblings and cousins.
He had his eye on a rise to power long ago but Lind frowned as he saw a pill go down his throat. It must have been in a normal pouch as the mountain prevented storage treasures from working.
Clever, but he sneered as the pill failed to work. Frustration was clear on Sebastian's narrow face.
Three more pills ca out of a pouch on his belt but none would work.
"You miss the point, Sebastian." The Mortal Mountain revealed the truth many cultivators ran from.
No matter how far they go or how profound the Laws they perceive, a cultivator is always mortal at heart. They were the sa person that grew as ti passed but they could never discard it.
It was sothing Lind had planned from the beginning in various ways but only after the previous trials did he really learn how to test cultivators.
He could only use illusions so far. Even pushing that to the limit and mimicking a pseudo-mory imprint from himself for them to experience and react only told him how they did under a test.
A test operated under rules that could allow actions real life would not, but taking all the strength away left them vulnerable.
Their condition on the mountain was real.
"Ti to see who will carry the burden of the future." Lind beca grim as a figure began to coalesce at the seat at the top of the mountain. "Spirits help you."
????????
So damn heavy!
Abby felt like tal flowed in her veins as her body seed to move through mud. The instant she set foot on the mountain, the liberating feeling of awakening her bloodline was ripped away.
Her Qi vanished and it was like she had never cultivated in her life! Blood was caked on her but she saw the twins fall to the phantom beasts but the pain she felt as the conjured beasts hit her was only annoying.
She knew only Sebastian and her remained but she had no ti to worry about him. The steep climb was breaking her nails as she kept moving.
Why was she still going? She had proven she deserved the chance. She had lasted until the very last round and had an opportunity grasped by awakening the bloodline of her ancestor.
She could feel a dim connection to mories not her own! Race mory!
She had heard stories but had no ti to ponder on it. The ring of lighting terrified her. Her body scread at her to run from it! The mountain left her feeling small and weak but she refused to give in!
A pulse of erald above drew her eyes and hope died.
A man with pale skin and dirty blonde hair sat at the throne above the pair. Sebastian was ahead of her but he seed to smile as the man in pale crimson robes stood up with a staff in his hands.
She had never seen such a man before personally but her race mory told her who it was. The Founder!
"I am your heir! None are more worthy than !" Sebastian suddenly scread and turned towards her. His eyes were crazed but the figure blurred.
Abby was shocked as the staff did not glow with Qi or any Art. The man was simply strong!
It twirled with expert moves as Sebastian was sent flying.
"The path is yours alone. Do not interfere." The voice was similar to the Founder she had t but felt lighter to her ears. His face was also less grim. The dark green eyes were full of more life too.
"Are you real?" Abby let the question loose and could have sworn the figure smirked before turning back up the mountain.
"Reality is not fixed for a cultivator yet unchanging at the sa ti. Do you understand?" The words shook her but the ring of lighting jumped closer to motivate her to move. Sebastian leapt up and limped after her.
Her body beca a machine while her mind was stuck on the words. It was like sothing critical to her own mind.
She slowed as Sebastian scrambled up the dark stone and began to howl in victory.
"I knew it! I knew I was ant to rule the Clan!" Abby then slowly looked up and saw all 18 spheres creating the wall of lightning as the erald fla was at the center.
"This is not who I am. I don't want to be the heir. I want to be . I want to walk my own path." She barely whispered the words but it felt like a weight was lifted. She smirked as she turned back to the lightning and jumped into it of her own volition.
Sparks danced on her skin as she tumbled into sunlight and found the twins recovering with healers now in the clearing they had left while the slim form of Sebastian's sister was nearby cultivating.
Qi flowed into her like a storm and her body repaired at a rate to the naked eye!
Her hair had beco black and red as her scaly skin actually faded to a human tint. She had discovered her ring had shattered without her knowledge but one of the healers quickly summoned a set of white robes for her to cover herself.
She strangely felt no embarrassnt about being nude but could not explain why.
"So Young Sebastian will be the new heir, it seems." The older healer spoke but Abby frowned. Was it so straight forward?
Win the race of the last trial and you get to be the heir of the Frey Clan? It seed a very arbitrary thing all of a sudden to her but she could only wait. They all turned to where a thin line was in midair.
The trial was clearly not over yet.
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