Heaven Refining physique
Chapter 179: Living In a Cage

Chapter 179: Living In a Cage

He took the next step, and as expected, it wasn’t so much that he couldn’t run. So, he immediately increased his speed again. But this time, he wasn’t able to run very far, only about a thousand meters before the same conditions occurred.

This time, he didn’t try to force himself. Instead, a thought came to his mind—wouldn’t anyone be able to climb these stairs?

Yes, the pressure from the start was higher, and being forced to stop constantly would definitely make them spend most of their week just on the stairs. And the pain... it was quite a headache. But they could definitely reach the middle of it.

And wasn’t there a reward even for reaching the middle of the mountain?

Forget it. There might be something else, but he had definitely crossed without feeling anything. He didn’t know if it was intentional or not, nor did he care now.

Time passed, and it took him an entire day to reach the top, even though he had crossed half of it in just a few minutes.

He looked around. The top was flat, with only pillars, similar to inheritance pillars, standing in the middle.

There were no numbers on them to indicate whether they had been claimed or not. That was problematic... or perhaps they really didn’t have any treasure left to give.

If he thought logically, then most people who had left their inheritances here were once top mighty figures of the world. Even a little guidance from them was far more valuable than treasures for everyone else.

Not to mention they would get their core inheritances, and if one followed them perfectly, they would definitely reach that level one day.

It was quite valuable if he thought of it that way—but for him, it wasn’t valuable. He shook his head and looked at the pillars again.

Although there weren’t any numbers indicating how many had claimed the inheritances, there were elemental names written on them, making it easier to choose one’s preferred inheritance.

He took out his sword and started practicing his sword path.

Four days later, Ming Yue and Yi Lin made it to the top. Yi Lin slumped down while Ming Yue looked at the inheritance pillars and sighed in disappointment.

Jiang Hao stopped and walked over to them.

"Junior Brother, looks like these seniors were stingy."

"Senior Sister, what if it was the treasures from these seniors that were given to those who climbed the mountain?"

That was what he had thought.

"You are right. All the unique treasures that were given to those who climbed the mountain completely came from the treasures of these mighty figures."

They turned towards the voice and as expected, the Main Consciousness had appeared once again.

Yi Lin was exhausted. Feeling pressure and pain constantly wasn’t something anyone wanted to experience. She had nearly given up, if not for Ming Yue encouraging her to keep going, she wouldn’t have made it.

Seeing that the Main Consciousness had appeared, she tried to stand, but it stopped her.

"You can rest. There is still time. There is no test in these inheritance pillars—one day is enough to receive any inheritance you desire."

Yi Lin nodded and slumped back again.

...

An hour later, she finally stood up calmly. Ming Yue, who had been sparring with Jiang Hao using swords, stopped and looked at her.

"Ready?"

Yi Lin nodded and moved toward the pillars. She had an Ice-Water Earth-grade spiritual root. It was considered the best among her sect mates who had mixed water-element roots.

She was already practicing her sect’s ice-elemental techniques, so she was going to choose an inheritance marked with the ice element.

After arriving before the pillar, she placed her hand on it and entered. There was no test—she had already passed that.

The moment she entered, the Main Consciousness appeared again.

"She has chosen a good inheritance."

After saying that, it turned toward Jiang Hao and Ming Yue.

"Finally, we are alone. I have been waiting to talk to you both for some time now."

Jiang Hao and Ming Yue weren’t surprised. They had expected this for a long time—those favors were too great to be given for free.

"You already know that I am but a consciousness created by the merging of multiple wills—wills that belonged to mighty figures who once wished to protect this world."

Ming Yue became a little tense, but Jiang Hao didn’t feel any kind of threat. After all, if something were to happen, there was no need to give them those treasures or wait this long to act.

Nonetheless, Jiang Hao moved closer to Ming Yue. If anything happened, the ring’s protection would be enough to save them—and he was sure Senior Yin Ni would have a way to escape this dimension using the spirit stones he had.

"Sigh... you don’t need to be so guarded. As I said, I am merely a consciousness born from the collective wills of those who were righteous at heart, not just for reputation."

"Most of these people aren’t even known in this world, nor do people know what they sacrificed. They knew what was right and what was wrong—and because of that, I too can discern right from wrong."

"Do you know why the inheritance sites in all regions were opened first?"

Ming Yue and Jiang Hao nodded. They had heard of it.

It was a safe place where humans could retreat indefinitely at the brink of their extinction.

"So, your growth and the destruction of both sects didn’t really affect much for us. And by ’us,’ I mean the other consciousnesses of the inheritance sites in this world."

"We’ve found a way to communicate with each other. We’ve been watching everything—what is happening, what has happened, who is truly righteous, and who are the true devils."

"We never interfered with anything because, in the end, it was humans destroying themselves—not beasts attacking them. And we were born to protect humanity against beasts, not against themselves."

"This went on for a long time... until we could no longer view things the same way. There are parts of righteousness in us, yes, but we couldn’t act. It’s not like we can leave these dimensions."

"So we just watched... helplessly... until we saw you two."

"If anyone has the ability to disrupt the current order of this world, it is you two."

"We don’t care if you destroy the top ruling powers. In fact, we want you to do it."

"The favor given to you both, it is but payment for doing that."

"As for the matter of beasts attacking humans... that too is a necessity. Humans have become so peaceful that they’ve forgotten that once, half of the world belonged to them."

"Isn’t living like this the same as living in a cage? What’s the point of a life like that?"

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