Born as an ant, I was summoned to ascend to immortality.

Chapter 27 Immortal Bridge

The Flying Cloud Shuttle transformed into a streak of green light, swiftly traversing the sea of ​​clouds.

Zhou Li stood with his hands behind his back, his face ashen; it would be a lie to say he wasn't worried.

But Zhou Li knew in his heart that this first test examined aptitude and innate talent, and questioned the difference between immortals and mortals. And his current human body possessed the five elements of spiritual roots, a spiritual body that even the Ji and Yuwen families would fight tooth and nail to obtain.

In terms of aptitude, he probably couldn't find anyone comparable to him across the entire Eastern Continent. He wanted to see just how far this spiritual body could go.

He had considered leaving his ant body in the Demon-Suppressing Realm to comprehend the Dao, while using his human form to cross the bridge. He had already tried it before, and found that once the human form exceeded the range of spiritual thought, the original body could no longer control it.

The Soul Jade is ultimately not a true external avatar. Compared to avatars that can act independently even when separated by thousands of miles, it is naturally incomparable.

As he was pondering this, the sea of ​​clouds in front of him suddenly parted, revealing a mountain peak.

The peak was not high, but it was extremely steep, with sheer cliffs on all sides. The Flying Cloud Shuttle slowly landed on the high plateau at the summit.

Zhou Li, with his feet firmly on the ground, looked around and was slightly taken aback.

The scene before him was completely different from what Zhou Li had imagined; it was a paradise where birds sang, flowers bloomed, and fireflies danced.

At the very edge of the platform was a high cliff, upon which stood a stone platform, facing another high cliff across the way.

The two high cliffs are more than a hundred feet apart, with a bottomless, steep precipice in between, but there is no bridge between the tops of the cliffs, it is completely empty.

Looking around, one could see a dozen or so people standing scattered on the platform, mostly immortals from various peaks and sect leaders, chatting in twos and threes.

"This place...is quite nice," Zhou Li sincerely praised. "I wonder where the Bridge to Ask Immortals is?"

Wang Jian put away the Flying Cloud Shuttle and pointed at the fireflies flying all over the sky.

The fireflies were no bigger than a thumb, emitting a soft glow in five colors: red, gold, green, and blue. Even in the daytime, their luminescence was hard to conceal.

"Young Master Zhou, please take a look."

Wang Jian bent down and picked up a bamboo leaf from the ground, placing it in his palm. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and his aura suddenly became calm.

A moment later, something miraculous happened.

The fireflies flitting among the bamboo groves suddenly seemed to be attracted by something and flocked towards Wang Jian.

Several beams of light converged at one point, swirling and dancing around the bamboo leaf in Wang Jian's palm, their light growing brighter and brighter.

Wang Jian opened his eyes and gently tossed the bamboo leaf in his hand.

The bamboo leaf did not fall to the ground, but floated in the air, supported by countless fireflies, and slowly drifted towards the edge of the platform.

As more and more fireflies gathered, they formed a thin band of light beneath the bamboo leaves, stretching towards the opposite cliff.

Zhou Li watched intently, a vague guess forming in his mind.

Wang Jian withdrew his spiritual power, and the fireflies scattered, flying back into the mountains.

He turned around and smiled at Zhou Li, "Young Master Zhou, have you understood?"

"These fireflies covering the mountains and fields... is this the Bridge to Ask Immortals?" Zhou Li's tone was tinged with surprise.

"Exactly." Wang Jian nodded. "Our Changtian Sect's first test never uses spirit-testing slips like other sects. While spirit-testing slips are intuitive, can the path of cultivation be determined by a single slip?"

Wang Jian looked at Zhou Li: "Our Changtian Sect has stood for ten thousand years, and has always advocated that talent, temperament, and perseverance can all lead to the Dao. Therefore, we set up this Immortal Inquiry Bridge so that even disciples with poor talent can glimpse the path to immortality."

"The fireflies here are called Spirit-Seeking Fireflies. They are naturally drawn to spiritual energy and will fly wherever spiritual energy gathers. Disciples must stand on this cliff top to sense the spiritual energy and attract it from all directions to gather here."

He paused, then continued, "It's not about relying on one's own spiritual power, but entirely on the guidance of one's spiritual root. These fireflies will swarm to you. You must use the fireflies as a bridge to cross these thousand steps in mid-air and reach the opposite cliff top. Throughout this process, you must constantly maintain your spiritual awareness; your energy flow cannot be disturbed in the slightest, otherwise..."

"What else?" Zhou Li pressed.

"Otherwise, once the fireflies disperse, they will fall off the cliff. Of course, the sect has set up a magic array below, so they won't die from the fall, at most they'll be a bit disheveled, but this trip will be in vain, and they'll have to start all over again."

Zhou Li raised an eyebrow: "Starting over? Does that mean we can try repeatedly?"

"Of course." Wang Jian nodded. "Does the young master know how long it took the fastest person to cross the Immortal-Asking Bridge since its construction?"

"Please enlighten me, Daoist Master."

"Half an hour." Wang Jian looked on with reverence. "That was the eldest disciple of the founding patriarch of our sect. He possessed a ninth-grade spiritual root and it is said that he passed through it in one go. He did it with incredible ease."

Zhou Li then asked, "And what about the slowest one?"

Wang Jian laughed: "The slowest one took a full three months."

"Three months?" Zhou Li was genuinely surprised this time.

"That person's spiritual root wasn't good, and his temperament was just average, but he had a stubborn streak." Wang Jian's tone was tinged with admiration. "He would fall down and start over, fall down and start over. He fell more than eight hundred times, but he persevered and got through it step by step through sheer willpower."

Zhou Li nodded thoughtfully.

He understood that the beauty of the Immortal Bridge lay not in making things difficult for people, but in giving everyone a chance.

Those with good spiritual roots progress quickly and receive high praise; those with average spiritual roots can also make progress slowly as long as they have a stable mind; even if neither spiritual root nor mind is outstanding, as long as one has enough perseverance and tries repeatedly, there is still a possibility of entering the field.

Zhou Li secretly made his plans.

Jiang Xing, possessing an eighth-grade golden spiritual root, crossed the bridge in just one hour, earning the only second-grade rating in this first test.

His current Five Elements Spiritual Body is no less talented than anyone else's, but the problem is that he has only had this physical body for half a month, and his understanding of spiritual energy is far from being proficient.

"Master Wang, if I may be so bold as to ask, since Jiang Xing received a Grade B rating, that must be an excellent result. I wonder if anyone has ever received a Grade A rating?"

Wang Jian glanced at him, his gaze carrying a meaningful meaning: "Yes, but not many. Over thousands of years, there have only been a few dozen top-ranking cultivators, and without exception, they all later became great cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage or above."

Over thousands of years, only a few dozen people have achieved this.

Zhou Li took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.

Several stewards on the platform had already noticed the arrival of the two and turned their gazes toward them.

An elderly man approached slowly and nodded slightly to Wang Jian: "Steward Wang, you've returned. What brings you here?"

"Reporting to Elder," Wang Jian bowed respectfully, "this is Young Master Zhou Li. He was unable to cross the Immortal Inquiry Bridge due to some reason, but Elder Tan has specially permitted him to cross the bridge here."

"Oh?" The old man looked Zhou Li up and down. "In that case, let's begin. It's getting late, so let's not delay."

Zhou Li bowed respectfully and steadily walked towards the platform.

"Young Master Zhou," Wang Jian suddenly pulled Zhou Li aside and lowered his voice, "Actually, given your situation, you didn't need to make up for the first test. Elder Tan dared to make an exception and let you go straight to the third test, so he must have seen that you are extraordinary. You should adjust your mindset and cross the bridge in peace. The closer you get to the last few steps, the more you need to stay calm. There are plenty of people ahead of you who fell off the cliff in the last ten steps and lost all their previous efforts."

"As long as you can cross the Immortal-Asking Bridge, even if you miss the third test, you can stay on the mountain as a menial disciple. You will eventually have the opportunity to learn the true techniques."

Zhou Li smiled slightly: "Thank you for your guidance, Daoist Master."