After entering this place, Yun Jin found herself standing at the very bottom of the heavenly stairway.
Looking up, she could see only a single flight of steps extending from beneath her feet all the way toward the sky. The uppermost portion was already obscured, with nothing visible but layers of mist.
It's impossible to tell just how long this stairway truly was.
Tianpo's voice sounded in Yun Jin's mind.
"Little Master, this is the Heart Trial of the Heavenly Stairway. This stairway is actually an extraordinary treasure. It has no combat power and exists solely to select disciples. When Wushuang Sect accepts disciples, the first thing we value is temperament. If one is impetuous, vain, or even malicious, then no matter how high their comprehension, they cannot enter Wushuang Sect. But if one is steadfast, self-restrained, and holds firm convictions in their heart, then even if their comprehension is somewhat lacking, they may still be considered for admission."
Yun Jin nodded.
The Heart Trial of the Heavenly Stairway.
The name was indeed very straightforward.
She couldn't help but feel curious.
How, exactly, does it question the heart?
Yun Jin didn't consider herself a saint, but she had her own code of conduct. Whether this heavenly stairway would acknowledge that code was uncertain.
But that didn't matter.
Regardless of whether the Heavenly Stairway approved of her principles, Yun Jin had no intention of changing them.
She had passed through countless worlds, endured endless hardships, and faced innumerable trials. The principles in her heart and the Dao she followed had long since become unshakable.
"Heart Trial of the Heavenly Stairway…" Jin Yu murmured, having also noticed the stone stele before the stairway.
What is this?
Questioning the heart?
Soon after, everyone entered one by one, all stopping before the stele with puzzled expressions.
Once everyone had arrived, Yun Jin explained in one go, "This stairway was used by Wushuang Sect in the past to select disciples. It should test one's temperament. As for the specifics, once you step onto the stairway, you'll naturally find out."
"Testing temperament?" Jin Yu looked intrigued. "Then I'll go up first and give it a try."
Jin Yu was the first to step onto the Heavenly Stairway.
The moment he stepped on it, clouds and mist surged upward, instantly enveloping his figure completely.
"Duan Yiwei, you should go too," Cheng Su suddenly said, turning toward him.
Knowing they were worried he might attack Yun Jin, Duan Yiwei snorted coldly.
He wasn't an idiot!
This is the Wushuang Sect secret realm. Making a move against Wushuang Sect's future master here, is he tired of living?
Not to mention that Yun Jin had Tianpo guarding her. Even without Tianpo, if he still wanted to leave, did he dare risk being bitten to death by that giant turtle?
Since he had to walk this path sooner or later, Duan Yiwei didn't hesitate and stepped onto the stairway.
After that, the disciples of Kunlun Sword Sect and Qingxiao Pavilion entered one after another.
Before long, everyone's figures disappeared into the clouds.
"Junior Sister Yun, you go first," Cheng Su and Ye Liuqin said, looking at Yun Jin.
They would follow behind and could provide support if needed.
"Alright." Yun Jin accepted their goodwill.
She turned to Yue Zhao and the others and instructed them, "This trial was used by Wushuang Sect in the past for entry examinations. There won't be any danger. Just keep walking upward."
Yue Zhao and the others all nodded.
Only then did Yun Jin step onto the heavenly stairway.
The instant she did, her expression shifted slightly.
She felt as though she had entered an independent space. Clearly, her eldest senior brother should've been right behind her, and there should've been others ahead.
But.
Within her field of vision, only she herself remained.
Yun Jin didn't rush forward. She stood in place for a moment. After confirming she couldn't see anyone else, she finally began to slowly walk upward.
At first, nothing unusual happened. After Yun Jin had taken around a dozen steps, the scenery of the heavenly stairway suddenly changed.
As she walked, she abruptly felt as though she had entered some kind of illusion.
"Husband, this is our child. Look how adorable she is," a gentle female voice sounded.
"Our daughter is naturally adorable," a man replied with a smile.
At this moment, Yun Jin had become an infant. Calm and observant, she carefully took in everything around her.
Her divine soul was extraordinarily powerful, so even with such a sudden change, Yun Jin was certain she was still on the Heavenly Stairway, undergoing the heart trial.
If one's divine soul were slightly weaker, being suddenly plunged into such a vivid illusion would likely leave them confused, unable to distinguish reality from illusion.
Just now, Yun Jin had nearly thought she had triggered quick transmigration yet again.
Fortunately, her divine soul was strong enough to keep her fully lucid.
Yun Jin sensed the situation.
Her connection to Tianpo, as well as to Gun Gun and Huan Huan, had been forcibly severed.
However, she could still sense the existence of the system.
This could only mean that the system's energy level was far above that of the Heart Trial of the Heavenly Stairway.
As Yun Jin was still pondering how this illusion intended to question the heart, a sudden upheaval struck.
A group of black-clad figures burst in without warning. In the illusion, her parents tried to flee with her, but the group quickly found them.
Her parents fought desperately, doing everything they could to create noise and draw rescuers.
Throughout the struggle, they protected Yun Jin at all costs, not allowing her to suffer even the slightest harm.
Even knowing this was merely an illusion, the scene still made Yun Jin uncomfortable.
These black-clad figures possessed no cultivation whatsoever, they were nothing more than ordinary mortals.
If her cultivation were intact, she could annihilate them all with a single finger.
But now, trapped in the body of an infant, she could do nothing.
Yun Jin could only watch helplessly as her parents died before her eyes. Fortunately, they managed to buy enough time. Her parents' sworn brother arrived in time and rescued her.
Yun Jin slowly grew up within the illusion and discovered that this world resembled one of the martial-arts worlds she had once passed through.
There were no cultivators here. Even the strongest experts were still far from Qi Refining Stage.
This was a mortal world.
There was no longevity, no magical treasures, no cultivation, no spiritual qi.
Only martial artists and the Jianghu they inhabited.
And Yun Jin's parents had died because of vendettas within that Jianghu.
As the illusion progressed to its next scene, Yun Jin had already grown up and possessed peerless martial prowess.
Moreover, she happened to uncover clues about the enemies who had killed her parents.
Yun Jin frowned slightly.
Was this the test of the Heavenly Stairway?
Was it testing whether she would seek revenge?
Was that even a question?
Even though it was an illusion, such a brutal scene still stirred up some very unpleasant memories for Yun Jin.
There was no reason not to avenge this hatred.
Following the clues, Yun Jin found those people and killed them one by one.
Some of them had already washed their hands of bloodshed. When Yun Jin tracked one of them down, he begged bitterly, claiming he was willing to spend the rest of his life doing good deeds to atone.
But Yun Jin didn't show mercy. She killed him all the same.
Doing good deeds in the future doesn't mean it could erase past crimes. A crime deserving death still deserved execution.
Some of them already had flourishing families. Their children knelt before Yun Jin, pleading for mercy.
Yun Jin ignored them and personally executed her enemies.
A child of five or six glared at Yun Jin with hatred, declaring that when he grew up, he would definitely seek revenge against her.
Yun Jin replied with a single sentence: she would await his arrival.
Children who had committed no wrongdoing wouldn't be killed.
If they actually came seeking revenge in the future, she would accept it.
Thus, Yun Jin followed her own list, killing all those black-clad figures while leaving their families untouched.
She didn't know whether this was right or wrong, but it was her own principle.
And she would carry it out.
If she let her enemies go, her heart would feel ill at ease.
If she slaughtered the innocent, her heat couldn't bear it.
So she would act according to her true heart, kill those who should be killed, spare those who should be spared.
Once Yun Jin finished settling this vendetta, in the next instant, she returned to the heavenly stairway once more.
She raised an eyebrow.
She didn't know what kind of evaluation her choices would receive from the Heart Trial of the Heavenly Stairway.
But whatever the judgment is, she didn't care.
She had her own convictions, and she wouldn't change them.
Yun Jin continued upward.
When she reached the middle of the stairway, the second heart trial arrived.
The scene shifted once more.
Yun Jin found herself seated upon a throne.
Below her, countless people knelt in submission, "Long live Her Majesty the Empress! Long live, long live for ten thousand years!"