The size of the Nascent Soul Ruins completely exceeded Luo Jianqing’s expectations.

In the book “Seeking Immortality”, it was mentioned that the North Star True Immortal’s ruins were arranged according to the North Star Seven Stars Formation, and the first level was the “Shaking Light Star”, while the river that the group just crossed was the “Opening Yang Star”. They should have reached the third star, the “Jade Balance Star” of the North Star, but after walking for half an hour, they still hadn’t left this path.

As the only golden core cultivator in the entire team, Luo  Jianqing took the lead without hesitation.

The further they went, the lower the temperature, but fortunately, everyone present was at least a Qi refining stage cultivator, and they could resist the cold, so it was not a big problem. However, when they completely walked out of the small path just now and saw the white snow in front of them, countless disciples were amazed and exclaimed.

“Is this the third level?”

Through a layer of white light curtain, what appeared in front of everyone was a snowy landscape. The snow was blowing fiercely, the wind was roaring, and even if they didn’t step into it, they could feel the piercing coldness surging from their feet to their brains.

This time, the stone tablet was directly erected in front of the snow.

“Noble snow, is there an end?” The 19th junior brother looked at it for a long time and then turned to Luo Jianqing and said, “Senior Brother, this should be the third level of the North Star Seven Stars Formation, the Jade Balance Star.”

Luo Jianqing nodded lightly and asked, “Do you dare to go in?”

The 19th junior brother laughed and stepped forward, “Senior Brother, then I’ll explore the way for everyone!”

As soon as he finished speaking, when the 19th junior brother’s figure completely entered the light curtain, to everyone’s surprise, he completely disappeared from everyone’s sight! In the vast snow, there was no trace of the 19th junior brother, and the snow was still blowing, and the fierce wind seemed to have swallowed him.

There was uproar in the crowd, and many people stepped back in fear, but Luo Jianqing turned his head and said, “The 19th junior brother has entered a different space. From here on, this trial should be carried out separately by everyone, and no one can help you anymore. If you really can’t bear it, remember to turn back in time, don’t be reckless, and crush the broken jade you got at the Black Iron Gate to transfer out of this ruin and end the trial.”

Everyone bowed, “Yes, Senior Brother!”

The disciples of the Yitian Sect also nodded in agreement. Perhaps to dispel everyone’s suspicions, Luo Jianqing calmly glanced at everyone, and then suddenly stepped into the light curtain, disappearing into this space.

When Luo Jianqing opened his eyes again, he had already entered the third level, surrounded by no one, only endless snow. He tried to use his spiritual power, but found that his cultivation was suppressed to the foundation building stage, and he could no longer fly in the air.

After calmly surveying the surroundings, Luo Jianqing narrowed his eyes and said, “The first challenge is limited by age and cultivation level, the second challenge tests talent, and the third challenge is about suppressing cultivation and testing perseverance, right?”

After a moment, Luo Jianqing lifted his foot and walked forward. The snow wasn’t too deep, only reaching his ankles, but for an ordinary person, they would not only risk freezing to death but also risk getting snow blindness from the pristine white snow.

Luo Jianqing knew that all the Qi-refining disciples who entered with him had been suppressed and turned into true ordinary people. According to the book, the better the disciple’s aptitude, the more difficult the challenges they would face. For example, the first place winner of the Taihua Mountain competition was originally at the fourth level of Qi-refining, but now, as a forced mortal with first-grade aptitude, he was considered the most difficult disciple in the book’s account of passing the challenges.

But now, the title of the most challenging disciple probably belonged to Luo Jianqing.

He used his spiritual energy to protect his meridians and focused the rest of his attention on his feet, constantly moving forward. He didn’t know how long he had been walking, maybe an hour or maybe a day, as the surrounding scenery had not changed at all. It felt like he was just walking in place, but the dense footprints behind him were telling him that he had already walked too far.

The snowstorm became even more violent, and the strong winds blew snowflakes like knives across Luo Jianqing’s cheeks.

Luo Jianqing kept his gaze low and seemed to pay no attention to the furious storm. He just kept moving forward. He silently counted in his mind, and after walking for what seemed like 100 miles, he continued on for another thousand miles.

When he reached the ninth thousand miles, the snow had finally submerged his chest. But Luo Jianqing didn’t react to this and calmly used his spiritual energy to disperse the snowflakes. His actions seemed to have angered the heavens and the earth, and the blizzard poured down like it was about to overturn the entire world.

This snow was different from before, and Luo Jianqing could no longer push it away with his spiritual energy.

When Luo Jianqing walked a full ten thousand miles, the snow was about to completely submerge his body. Although he could now undergo a period of fasting and didn’t need to breathe for a short time, this didn’t mean he could be buried in the snow!

At the moment he walked ten thousand miles, a long sigh could be heard from the heavens and the earth, “Heaven’s path is of the highest quality, and to go against it is to be extraordinary. This is the limit of first-grade, but for those with extraordinary aptitudes, it’s just the beginning. Now, you can still turn back.”

The protagonist, Luo Jianqing, stomped his right foot on the ground, and the snow around him was violently shattered by his sword qi. He looked up at the sky and said, “A mere infant stage relic, what can it do to me?” As he spoke, a green light appeared between his eyebrows, and the green sword patterns seemed to break through his mind and roar into the sky. The small vermilion mark on his forehead was also as bright as fire, making the wind and snow freeze for a moment.

As the words fell, Luo Jianqing accelerated his pace and continued forward. After walking for a full million miles, even Luo Jianqing was gasping for breath, and his spiritual energy was showing signs of depletion. Fortunately, after he took the final step, the snow cave and the icy sky seemed to disappear like an illusion, symbolizing that he had finally passed this level.

His cultivation suddenly skyrocketed back to the mid-Golden Core formation stage, and he caught a talisman that flew from the horizon. He checked his rewards for passing this level, rested for a while, and then stepped into the fourth level.

“Blades of wind, it’s not too late!”

As soon as he entered the fourth level, a wild wind roared towards him like a beast. Luo Jianqing was caught off guard and even took a step back. There wasn’t much road to walk in this level; only ten miles needed to be walked to pass it. However, the wind he faced was extremely violent, and each gust reached the level of an early Golden Core formation cultivator’s attack.

This time, Luo Jianqing could no longer treat it lightly. He directly took out his defensive magic treasure and walked forward cautiously. Unexpectedly, after only walking for one mile, the dark-level magic treasure exploded with a loud bang. Luo Jianqing’s eyes narrowed and he took out a pill from the bottle his junior sister gave him and ate it.

The fourth level of the Northern Star Seven Stars Formation was named “Heaven’s Scale.” Who knows where the Northern Lord Beidou Immortal got so many treasures, even putting a seventh-grade demon beast’s inner core at the end of the fourth level. The inner core emitted countless demonic winds, and the closer one got, the stronger the attack became.

“This demon beast must be a wind-type demon beast, and it’s already in the Nascent Soul stage. If you get too close, the demonic wind may reach the level of a Nascent Soul cultivator’s attack.” Luo Jianqing frowned and stopped at a distance of three miles, not daring to move forward. “A seventh-grade wind-type demon beast… in the Nascent Soul stage…”

With a flash of spiritual light in his eyes, Luo Jianqing took out an oil-paper umbrella.

The oil-paper umbrella looked ordinary, with only a faint gold color on the surface and no other patterns or decorations. The umbrella bones were made of seemingly ordinary green bamboo, simple and plain, as if it were just an ordinary umbrella for mortals.

However, the moment the umbrella appeared, the violent winds between heaven and earth suddenly stagnated for a moment. Luo Jianqing looked at the umbrella with mixed feelings and slowly opened it and held it above his head. After the umbrella opened, the violent winds that had been raging earlier all avoided him and no longer dared to attack.

The golden light flowed gently on the surface of the umbrella, as Luo Jianqing walked step by step to the end and took the seventh-grade demonic beast inner core. In the instant he took down the inner core, the strong wind disappeared without a trace. Luo Jianqing let out a sigh and gently put away the umbrella, but he didn’t notice that the vermilion mole between his eyebrows flashed slightly, and then fell silent again.

The green bamboo umbrella was a gift given to him by his master when he reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

It was widely known that Xuan Lingzi, besides being a top-notch expert, was also skilled in alchemy, beast taming, and artifact refining. There seemed to be nothing he couldn’t do, and even the gift he gave to his disciple upon reaching Foundation Establishment was an extremely high-grade magic treasure that could withstand a full-force attack from a Combined-stage cultivator.

However, Luo Jianqing remembered that his master had said at the time, “This umbrella is a consumable magic treasure. It can only withstand one attack from a Combined-stage cultivator before disappearing. Don’t take it out unless it is absolutely necessary.”

After receiving the umbrella, Luo Jianqing had never used it, but occasionally he would stroke the surface of the umbrella, lost in thought.

In his previous life, when he was expelled from Taihua Mountain, he had entrusted the umbrella to his junior sister and asked her to return it to their master. Even if he had encountered the most dangerous situation, he would never have used the umbrella, but now he had a different perspective.

“A magic treasure that is not used is just an ornament.”

Just now, when Luo Jianqing put away the umbrella, he noticed that one of the umbrella bones had already been broken. Presumably, after a few more uses, the umbrella would truly be gone and become a pile of waste. Luo Jianqing didn’t feel too sentimental about this. After resting for a while in place, he walked to the stone tablet of the fifth level of the Northern Star.

“In the boundless wilderness, there are endless fierce beasts!”

As if hearing these words, the Shuang Fu Sword in his sea of consciousness excitedly moved twice. Luo Jianqing smiled lightly and a green sword light suddenly burst out from between his eyebrows, transforming into a mysterious iron sword that fell into his palm.

“We have to hurry up, Shuang Fu .”

The  Shuang Fu Sword trembled slightly, seeming to answer “Okay.”

The handsome and clear-eyed cultivator gazed through the white light screen before him, surveying the vast wilderness beyond. His right hand held a sword, his green robe fluttered without wind, and the crimson mole between his eyebrows blazed like fire, as if it would consume the entire world.

He had to hurry, because this ruin was divided into levels based on one’s aptitude, and out of the seventy-one people present, only Li Xiuchen had no aptitude, and would face the easiest challenges. Li Xiuchen was destined to reach the end quickly, so he had to get there ahead of him and cut off all his chances!

In the next second, Luo Jianqing transformed into a green light and rushed into the wilderness, ready to fight!