novelraw Chapter 270 - 269 - Finals
Chapter 270 - 269 - Finals
The list of 50 names had few surprises save some that garnered the points no one knew about until the semi-finals began. Athan Lear, for instance, was a favorite until that round and his actions eliminated himself.
Rathi got first in the same way, he was holding 1 Respect point and 3 Honor points that put him above Lind despite being defeated. The strange rounds made many reconsider how they approached their cultivation which Lind thought was the large part of the point. The realm was for a chance at an Inheritance, but it also wanted to encourage growth.
The desperation of it worried him more than anything but a large wave of soothing feelings washed over him. He tapped his chest where Ethry's head lay hidden and felt a rumble of happiness. It was very weird being like he was but it was not uncomfortable.
If anything, he pitied the next foolish person to attack him.
"Finals shall now be held. The challenge awaits." Lind felt the light envelope him once more and found himself not in the arena as expected but a massive construct. The arena and realm were profound but felt similar to if not slightly above Delenn's place.
The 3rd tier of Immortals was powerful but the realm was at the 4th or even possibly the peak of Immortal Realm. How the artifact worked to open the doorway was not his concern but what was in front of him was absolutely far above the realm in aura.
Lind realized that the power to create a realm may not be as out of reach as he once thought. If enough cultivators worked together and had tools to compensate for any weakness, perhaps making realms was possible even in the fabled Heaven Realm.
He wondered where such thoughts came from and realized it was a piece of what he experienced when the realm spirit possessed him. The benefit of that experience would likely help him in the long run more than he had realized.
The other competitors looked around ready to fight but the massive stairwell in front of them ascended into clouds. The architecture on either side was of some kind of massive bird in flight and what Lind would call a more European dragon.
He felt indignation from Ethry but smiled at her in his mind. It was fine, she was very powerful and far prettier than that dragon. A happy purr sounded in his mind and they felt the pressure lift slightly ahead of them.
"This stairwell is the finals. You have faced opponents, tempered your comprehensions, and grasped new truths about yourselves. Now, you must see if you have come through and truly absorbed all that came before." The clouds parted and a golden platform was revealed.
It was a massive space, easily far larger than the entire arena and the observation area combined from what Lind could make out. That assumed, of course, the distance was not an illusion.
It could be larger than all 3 continents combined and they were very far away.
"At the top of the stairs, you will grasp your opportunity to find an Inheritance. First place gets a wide open field, second may lose a chance, and so forth. Be warned, an Inheritance may choose you despite any wish to avoid it. Fight at your own peril if you are certain what you wish to find for yourself." Lind was curious how that worked but embraced the moment to come.
"We fight to get to the top?" Athena asked the question on most of their minds but a small laugh responded to them.
"You will be incapable of fighting just to ascend. That is the Stairwell of Fate. You must face it to reach an Inheritance. Please keep in mind this is only an opportunity to get an Inheritance, not a certainty. You must pass this last challenge or you will not have it at all." The massive stairs seemed to loom over them now. "Begin.
Lind felt the pressure on him release but he did not follow the group that sprinted forward. He had just been through an experience and wanted to cultivate to clear his head. He assumed the lotus position and was not alone in it.
Rathi, Athena, Bastion, and a few others also cultivated to reach their peak. Over half of the finalists reached the stairs and began ascending easily but quickly slowed down. Neither the audience watching nor those yet to go knew why they slowed down.
Lind felt Ethry settle on him and he cleared away many of the questions and goals in his mind for the future. He had to focus on the now, what was in front of him and his dantian hummed with full power as the emerald iron nearly filled it.
The spirit was right, he had come through the battles and the challenges with a far deeper appreciation of his fonts and foundation. He was actually getting near the peak of Iron Tier but he was not there yet.
He opened his eyes and stood up slowly before bowing once towards the sky. Regardless of the result, the second chance he carried came from the spirit.
"Here we go." He then walked smoothly forward until he reached the first step. His Eyes and Touch had been tempered nicely in the realm as well but they were not advancing as yet. He suspected Sky Realm was as far as he could push it as there was more to comprehend before being able to advance anything to the Heaven Realm.
The elixirs he made were still exhausting nearly all his Qi despite progressing to the World Realm. Heaven Realm was a qualitative step far beyond anything Lind truly understood.
As such, they could not help him analyze the construct in front of him. He took his first step and something brushed over him. He felt goosebumps rise on his skin but that was all. He took the next step without issue and focused on the feeling of being examined.
It felt very invasive but it did not stop him at all.
It was only at the 20th step, where many had slowed before, that a pressure finally made itself known. It was faint and hardly worth mentioning in other times, but now Lind was sure of it. He was being given resistance of some kind.
Each step he felt an increase in the pervasive sensation and it felt important to examine it. Still, he did not slow down as he could keep going easily. He noted Athena and Rathi were not far behind him but Bastion was struggling once he reached that step.
It was around step 40 that Lind finally had to slow down. The pervasive feeling was making his limbs feel heavy. His breathing and mind seemed unaffected, but his body was weighed down.
Lind focused on the feeling now and did not advance. Rathi moved past him but Athena seemed to take inspiration from Lind and joined him in meditation.
"Stairwell of Fate it was called, but why?" It could simply be a metaphor as it was the final trial before looking at an Inheritance but Lind did not think so. He spoke out loud simply for the sake of hearing the question but a voice nearly made him jump.
"Cultivators defy Fate when they cultivate, but it also means we grasp a new Fate. One we forge on our own or take on as our journey progresses." Athena spoke out loud and seemed to have grasped something as she suddenly smiled and stood up.
She waved at him and seemed to easily advance once more.
Lind contemplated her words and found them to be quite good but slightly off. Cultivators defied the fate of mortals when they cultivated. They left behind illness, frailty, and death in the mortal way.
They accepted the harsh challenge of cultivation. Sometimes they could find they were blessed to sail through the lower realms and other times they would struggle at every single advance.
"It is not that we grasp a new Fate or forge a new one, but find a path to advance that was always there if we are willing to pay the price." Lind felt the pressure on his body vanish but he also felt his dantian hum with power.
He felt enlightened as he understood.
"Stairwell of Fate, indeed." He smirked as he stood up and began to run up at last as understood what was needed. He had confirmed he was walking his own path but it was also the path available to a mortal if they were willing to pay the blood, sweat, and tears to advance.
Lind contemplated his journey, the good and the bad as he found the weight lifting so wonderfully as he advanced. He was not the only one. There were maybe 5 others moving as easily as him but a little slower.
Only Rathi and Athena moved as fast as Lind.
The other competitors were shocked at how easily those 3 seemed to float up the endless stairs. Lind then noticed it. Endless. They were ascending, but they did not seem to be getting any closer.
"Wait." Rathi and Athena stopped. Despite competing, they respected Lind a great deal.
Lind contemplated the challenge.
"It only said at the top of the stairs we would grasp our chance, it never said anything about advancing in the normal way." The entire realm was about pushing cultivators outside of their comfort zone. Many settled into a closed minded way of doing things once at the Gold Tier, thus the limitation.
Lind assumed a lotus position once more. Nothing was straightforward in the rounds until then. The first round designated a leader but was meant to test manipulating the best conditions for the 100 cultivators assigned to their hold.
It also tested the possibility of a leader having the strength or charisma to unite proudly disparate powers. The limit on slots had to be a rule of the realm to cause that as well. The most allies one could have was 9.
The next round was more about working with deficits of Qi but working with the external Qi control all World Realms should master with their internal comprehension. Weapons and advanced Arts focused more on the cultivator rather than balance the 2.
The maze was about facing your own dantian. Seeing it in an external way or facing the focus of your dao externally was not the usual way of thinking. If you can master it outside your body as well as within, a true World Realm mastery was born.
The first real conflict that most cultivators thought of in a tournament finally arrived but it was a benchmark. All the previous lessons were brought to the fore. If one had truly mastered the World Realm, they would be nigh undefeatable in the tournament round.
Lind then realized the importance of the semi-finals. Mastery of cultivation revealed nothing about the character of a person. Only actions did. A complete monster could be a genius cultivator. A saint could be an unstoppable force in battle.
The only difference between the 2 were their points of view. Cultivation was not for the meek or shy. It was not for the faint of heart. It was painful, challenging, but most of all it was bloody.
How much death and pain had Lind witnessed in his nearly 30 years? He was a child compared to many. He had barely skimmed the surface of the cultivation world but he had seen true darkness.
The Stairwell of Fate was the final test in several ways. The most direct was grasping the basic and complex truths a cultivator was striving for. It was the way all would easily grasp, but an Inheritance was more than a lucky chance, it was shattering the ceiling of a realm.
Heaven Inheritances were merely the lowest kind. Immortal Inheritances were the dream. Finding a legacy to enhance or completely change a cultivator's life. That was the dream many hoped for, but was that really how it was to work?
"I decide. I choose what my life will be. I want to find more knowledge. I want to find the secrets of cultivation and the higher realms but I want to forge my path to do it." The words came out of Lind and emerald light engulfed him.
The pressure vanished entirely as he felt the displacement of teleportation.
"Of course. The Stairwell of Fate. Follow the path provided, or forge your own. Both can get you where you are going but what you will be when you get there can change drastically." Lind barely finished the words when 2 more flashes appeared on either side of him.
"You should learn to speak in your head more than with your mouth, but thank you for your wisdom, Master Frey." Athena smirked as she spoke but Rathi bowed to him as well. Lind saw the top of the stairs and looked down.
It was endless. He could not even see the other competitors.
He then turned to look at their current spot and was floored. A giggle escaped him as words floated to the top of his mind.
"My God, it is full of stars." The majestic view was beyond anything he believed he could ever have seen and it was not just stars. There was more, far more.