Chapter Sixty-Two: A Test? I'd Rather Be Struck by Lightning

Leizhou Capital City, Headquarters of the Crane Clan in Leizhou.

The grand entrance was shaped like two celestial cranes spreading their wings, joined together in an imposing display.

Xu Chen entered, and two members of the Crane Clan, transformed into human form, came forward to receive him. In the past, such courteous service would have been unthinkable.

“Sir, are you sending a letter or a parcel?” one of them asked.

“A parcel, express delivery, and add insurance for me.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Chen was ushered into the VIP lounge.

He laid out all the treasures and jade talismans to be sent.

“The total value is two million five hundred thousand spirit coins. The shipping fee is fifty thousand spirit coins.”

“Since it’s headed for the front lines, we’ll give you a ten percent discount. You only need to pay forty-five thousand spirit coins.”

“Wait, I’ll write a letter to send along with it.”

Xu Chen pulled out paper and pen from his storage pouch and began writing, recounting the events of recent days.

“I wonder what expression my parents will have when they receive the things I’ve sent them.”

Having finished, Xu Chen returned to the teleportation plaza of the Trial Realm, boarded the spiritual boat that made round trips for the Great Xi Sect, and soon arrived back at the sect.

A skylark landed at his doorstep.

“Brother Xu!” Little Fox Moon saw Xu Chen and ran over, her face radiant with joy.

“You’ve been gone for a while; Senior Brother Niu also went to the Trial Realm, so it was just me.”

“Well, I’m back now,” Xu Chen said, smiling as he patted her head.

“I’ll treat you to dinner.”

That evening, at Xu Chen’s small courtyard.

Thirty-six dishes were laid out on the table, and the man and fox feasted merrily.

Feather Clan territory, Human Vanguard Army camp.

Xu Qiangjia gazed mournfully at the damaged Dragon-patterned Saber in his hands.

Once a treasure weapon gleaming with flowing light, now its blade was riddled with cracks, as if a gentle touch would shatter it into fragments.

“Don’t be so upset. Aren’t there standard weapons in the camp?” Wei Miaoqiu comforted him while drawing talisman scripts.

“Standard weapons are merely basic lower-grade treasures. In battle, they only boost your combat strength by fifteen percent,” Xu Qiangjia sighed, accepting his fate as he put away the broken saber.

“They’re usable, though. Just need to get used to it,” he said, preparing to leave the tent.

No sooner had he stepped outside than a white figure appeared before him.

“Lord Xu, you have a package,” said the courier crane, handing over a spatial wooden box.

“A reply from my son? Wait, you’re a Crane of the Profound Dao Realm?”

At first, he hadn’t noticed, but now Xu Qiangjia realized something was off—the courier was a Crane of the Profound Dao Realm. Deliveries by such a crane would cost tens of thousands of spirit coins in shipping fees alone.

“What’s going on? This shouldn’t be from my son.”

He inspected the markings on the package—it was sent from the Leizhou Capital headquarters.

“If not from my son, then who? The Wei family?”

Puzzled, he took the package, and the courier crane vanished into the void.

Xu Qiangjia returned to the tent with the spatial box in hand.

He opened it; on top was a letter from Xu Chen.

“Our son sent us something?” Wei Miaoqiu sidled over to read the letter in his hand.

The couple read together, and as they went on, their expressions subtly changed.

“Our son found great fortune in the Trial Realm—a pool of earth vein spirit liquid, five million three hundred thousand spirit coins?”

They were astonished, and soon began to sift through the other items in the spatial box.

A top-tier treasure—the Blood Soul Saber, top-tier armor, a talisman brush, and two spatial transfer talismans.

The couple stared at these items, unable to recover for a long time.

“How did our son get to the Trial Realm? It’s such a dangerous place,” Wei Miaoqiu said, worry coloring her features.

“He’s sixteen this year. Some things he can judge for himself.”

“What pains me is that he spent half his earnings buying things for us, instead of saving up for spirit pills that could change his aptitude.”

Xu Qiangjia took up the Blood Soul Saber, his expression complex.

“As his father, I haven’t paved the way for him, and now my son is honoring me instead,” his tone was complicated.

“Look how well your son treats you—he bought you a full set of top-tier treasures, and I only get a talisman brush,” Wei Miaoqiu took the brush, her eyes alight with indescribable fondness.

“Well, now you don’t have to fret over your Dragon-patterned Saber,” she teased, seeing how Xu Qiangjia admired the Blood Soul Saber.

“Carrying this saber will only make me miss my son more.”

“He’s more capable than you. Just be steady when leading missions from now on—no need to pave the way for your son,” Wei Miaoqiu sighed as she looked at her husband.

“How can I not? For spirit pills that can change aptitude, earning military merit is the simplest method for us.”

As he spoke, Xu Qiangjia began binding the Blood Soul Saber and full set of treasure armor to himself, nurturing them within his body.

“Our son has his own ideas; you don’t need to push yourself so hard,” Wei Miaoqiu hugged Xu Qiangjia from behind.

“How can I not? No matter what, I’m still his father.”

“Even if he becomes a sage or a saint, I’ll always be his father!”

“Well, I’m off to show off,” he said, heading outside.

Now clad in a brand-new suit of armor, the Blood Soul Saber strapped to his back, Xu Qiangjia stepped out of the tent. Soon enough, his hearty laughter rang out from outside.

“Check out my top-tier treasure armor—my son bought it for me!”

“Look at this Blood Soul Saber—boosts my combat strength by thirty percent on the battlefield. Envious, aren’t you? My son bought it!”

...

Great Xi Sect.

Xu Chen looked at the jade slip in his hand, pondered for a moment, then pressed it to his brow.

In an instant, his consciousness was drawn into a peculiar space.

A blazing sun hung in the sky, the whole space sweltering.

A staircase, forged from the power of the Sacred Sun, stretched skyward toward the great sun above.

Each step radiated an aura that seemed to twist space itself.

Xu Chen’s consciousness manifested within this space.

“What is this place? Why is it so scorching?” He felt discomfort.

The “Contemplation of the Sacred Sun’s Manifest Body”—to obtain its true transmission, one must ascend ten thousand steps of the Sacred Sun Staircase.

As information appeared in his mind, Xu Chen couldn’t help but complain.

“Wasn’t this supposed to be a gift of fortune? Why is there a test?”

He looked helplessly at the Sacred Sun Staircase leading up to the blazing orb.

The searing aura around him made his manifested consciousness just a bit uncomfortable.

“Well, stairs it is.”

He stepped onto the first level.

A sizzling sound, like flesh being scorched, echoed.

Xu Chen gritted his teeth, then recovered.

“It actually hurts a little.”

With that, he began to climb, step by step.

With each step, the burning pain intensified.

Yet, compared to enduring the strikes of the Great Thunder, Xu Chen found this pain less exhilarating.

Each step scorched a layer off his conscious form.

As he continued, he felt his consciousness grow lighter and lighter.