The villain, Xiao Nanliang, caused the female lead excruciating pain.

Su Qi glanced at the sign and, as expected, it was Ye Feng, who had come to chat him up again.

"roll!"

He uttered a single word coldly and quickened his pace.

Ye Feng was somewhat annoyed that his enthusiasm had been met with indifference.

But the old man kept emphasizing in his mind that you have to be thick-skinned to pursue a girl, which made him hold back.

Seeing that the person in front of him was walking faster and faster, he was aroused and also quickened his pace.

Su Qi noticed him following her, glanced at him disdainfully, and started running.

As mentioned before, the original owner's aptitude was actually quite poor.

Logically speaking, one shouldn't appear so relaxed in this long-term test of talent.

However, this thing has a testing limit; once that limit is exceeded, it will no longer be affected.

And this limit is the Golden Core Realm.

Su Qi, who had long surpassed the Golden Core stage, was clearly not among them.

In the blink of an eye, the two, one running and the other chasing, crossed the two hundredth step, but neither of them showed any intention of stopping and continued to rush upwards.

The others, who were already panting, saw these two run two hundred steps in one go without even breaking a sweat, and they all cursed them as monsters.

Su Qi kept a close eye on Ye Feng behind him. He knew he couldn't act too exaggeratedly, or he would arouse suspicion, so he maintained a distance that was neither too close nor too far.

Ye Feng still managed to navigate the first 500 steps with ease.

The moment Ye Feng crossed the 500th step, his speed noticeably slowed down.

Su Qi also took the opportunity to appear to be under immense pressure and slowed down.

At this moment, the two's speed contest on the long steps had already attracted the attention of many elders of the Qingyun Sect.

When Ruo Bingli saw that disheveled figure, she suddenly stood up from her seat and stared at him intently.

"Oh, has Junior Sister taken a liking to some promising talent?"

Beside her, a cute girl with a bun hairstyle instantly became excited. She loved it when Ruobingli tried to snatch things from her. She followed her gaze.

The girl, who hadn't paid much attention at first, changed her expression slightly the moment she saw Su Qi. Her eyes turned an eerie red for a moment, and her expression became somewhat surprised and uncertain.

"It's nothing, I was just a little surprised to see a beggar climb five hundred steps."

Knowing that her immature senior sister was extremely childish and loved to take things from her, Ruobingli quickly regained her composure and pretended not to care.

On the other side, the two runners had reached the 600th step.

The higher they went, the slower Su Qi's speed became, while Ye Feng behind him was closing the distance between them.

To outsiders, this means that Su Qi is nearing his limit, and it's only a matter of time before Ye Feng surpasses him.

But only Su Qi himself knew that he had deliberately let Ye Feng catch up with him.

If it weren't for attracting Ruobingli's attention, Su Qi would have given up on going to the next level after reaching the 200th step.

Now that the two of them were far ahead of the competition, almost everyone's attention was on them. Judging from the fact that Ruo Bingli had already noticed him, Su Qi decided not to continue climbing.

Let Ye Feng be the one to stick his neck out; Su Qi is aware of his undercover identity and should keep a low profile.

When they reached the 700th step, Ye Feng had already caught up.

Su Qi appeared to be under immense pressure, panting heavily, each step he took feeling as heavy as a mountain.

As Ye Feng passed by him, he stopped and extended a hand to him.

Su Qi suddenly raised his eyes, revealing his predatory gaze.

"Are you pitying me? Get lost, I don't need anyone's pity."

She slapped Ye Feng's hand away, gritted her teeth, and continued climbing. Her gloomy aura sent chills down people's spines.

This scene made many elders of the Qingyun Sect secretly shake their heads.

Having climbed seven hundred steps, this disheveled little beggar is certainly qualified to become an elder's personal disciple, but his displayed character...

In comparison, that young man is quite good. Not only is he more qualified, but he also lends a helping hand when others are in trouble. He is expected to become a role model of righteousness in the future.

Unlike the other elders, Ruobingli secretly bit her lower lip.

Seeing the little beggar who had changed so much, she felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart.

Only she knew that the little beggar had once been a kind and innocent person, and it was those filthy creatures who had turned her into this.

I recalled what I had learned in that small town.

Niujia Village... a village of demonic cultivators... was completely wiped out by righteous cultivators...

He had barely survived, and he had tried so hard to live, but because he helped her buy medicine, he was targeted by some thugs and dragged into a grove of trees... for a whole day and night...

Thinking back to the last time I saw the little beggar a month ago, his lifeless eyes...

Ruo Bingli could no longer suppress her anger, and a faint aura of pressure emanated from her body.

The cute girl with the bun hairstyle next to her noticed the change. She looked at Ruobingli with surprise, then at Su Qi in the projection, and seemed to be deep in thought.

On the long steps, Ye Feng, having been rejected, stopped trying to win him over and continued walking up on his own.

Su Qi was left alone to struggle onward.

When Su Qi finally reached the 800th step, he could no longer stand up, but he still crawled upwards on all fours, his eyes fixed on the top, his pupils radiating boundless hatred, as if his mortal enemies were on the steps.

She was muttering something to herself, which Ruobingli couldn't hear through the projection, but her heart clenched.

She had seen many cultivators with this kind of look, but without exception, they were either evil cultivators or demonic cultivators.

She didn't know what made the little beggar, who hated righteous cultivators, choose to come to the Eastern Region and join the Qingyun Sect.

But she had a gut feeling that if the little beggar continued down this path, he would inevitably go astray.

No, the little beggar became like this because of her; she couldn't let him fall into demonic ways.

Su Qi climbed another ninety steps or so. When he was close to nine hundred steps, his seven orifices began to bleed due to the excessive pressure.

But he still refused to give up and stubbornly continued climbing.

To outsiders, it seemed that if he continued to hold on, he would really die.

Many elders were amazed by his perseverance, but at the same time they gained a new understanding of the hatred in his eyes.

Although they didn't know what the little beggar hated, such a mindset easily leads to inner demons, and one won't go far on the path of cultivation.

Seeing the little beggar bleeding from all seven orifices in the projection, Ruobingli couldn't bear it any longer. She took out a communication jade talisman and asked the steward in charge of the long steps to bring Su Qi down.

"I'm still okay..."

Watching Ye Feng about to reach the top, Su Qi showed great resentment. He noticed someone pulling him and tried to resist, but the steward simply lifted him up, shoved a pill into his mouth, and tossed him to the next level.

No one cared about him anymore. In the Qingyun Sect square, several elders were overjoyed as they watched Ye Feng reach the top. They exclaimed that the future of the Qingyun Sect was promising and vied to take Ye Feng as their disciple.

Pretending to be extremely tired and lying on the ground, Su Qi knew without guessing that Ye Feng, who had successfully put on a show, was probably already having a blast.

But showing off is meaningless; the real skill is being able to win over the female lead.