Zael saw it clearly now.
Blood Peak.
No longer a distant silhouette swallowed by haze—
It towered before him.
Massive.
Unnatural.
The mountain wasn't just tall—it felt wrong.
Like it didn't belong to the Abyss, yet had been forced into it.
Dark red veins ran across its surface, pulsing faintly like something alive beneath stone.
"…So this is it."
His voice came out low.
Measured.
The moment he stepped closer—
The air changed.
Not heavier.
Not oppressive.
Just… aware.
Like he had crossed an invisible boundary.
Behind him—
Nothing followed.
No beasts.
No movement.
No sound.
The hunt had ended.
Completely.
Zael didn't turn back.
There was no point.
Everything had led here.
Every fight.
Every step.
Every forced encounter.
"…A funnel."
Not random.
Never random.
Everything had been pushing him to this exact place.
He stepped forward again.
And the moment his foot crossed onto the base of the mountain—
The world shifted.
Not violently.
Not like the gates.
Just a subtle snap.
Like something locking into place.
A faint ripple spread outward from where he stood.
Then—
A voice.
Not loud.
Not soft.
But absolute.
"You have arrived."
Zael's eyes narrowed slightly.
He didn't speak.
Didn't react outwardly.
But internally—
He was alert.
Completely.
The voice continued.
"Candidate confirmed."
"…Candidate," Zael repeated quietly.
So he wasn't the only one.
That wasn't surprising.
What mattered—
Was what came next.
The ground in front of him changed.
Stone shifted.
Forming steps.
Not carved.
Not built.
Formed.
Leading upward.
Straight toward the peak.
"…Climb."
Simple.
Direct.
Zael stared at the steps for a moment.
Then—
He moved.
No hesitation.
The first step—
Normal.
Second—
Still normal.
By the tenth—
He felt it.
A faint pressure.
Not external.
Internal.
Like something was pressing against his body from the inside out.
Testing.
Measuring.
By the twentieth—
His breathing slowed.
Not because he was tired.
Because he was adjusting.
"…Control."
The word came naturally.
That was the trial.
Not strength.
Not speed.
Control.
He took another step.
The pressure increased.
Slightly.
Then more.
By the thirtieth step—
His muscles tensed.
Not from strain—
From resistance.
Like something inside him was being pulled apart and forced back together.
The Dao Pool stirred.
Reacting.
Unstable.
Zael stopped.
Just for a second.
"…So that's how it is."
This wasn't just physical.
It was targeting his foundation.
His growth.
His stored power.
If he lost control here—
It wouldn't just hurt.
It would collapse everything he'd built.
Zael exhaled slowly.
Then—
He did something different.
Instead of resisting—
He focused inward.
On the Dao Pool.
On the flow.
On the structure of what he had gained.
Not forcing it.
Not suppressing it.
Understanding it.
Balancing it.
The pressure didn't disappear.
But it changed.
Less violent.
More… responsive.
Zael took another step.
Then another.
And another.
Each one harder than the last.
But each one—
Clearer.
The path wasn't about enduring.
It was about adapting.
—
Far below—
The ground shifted again.
Not for Zael.
For others.
At the edge of the mountain—
Another figure appeared.
Then another.
Then more.
Different directions.
Different paths.
Same destination.
—
Aurelia stopped at the base.
Her gaze lifted toward the peak.
"…So it's already started."
Auralis stepped beside her, resting the hammer against her shoulder.
"…Took long enough."
The others behind them hesitated.
Because they could feel it.
That pressure.
Even from here.
"…We're really doing this?" the spear user asked.
Auralis glanced back.
"…You can stay."
He didn't move.
Aurelia stepped forward.
"…We don't have a choice."
And just like that—
They crossed the boundary.
The world shifted for them too.
—
Far above—
Zael reached the fiftieth step.
His breathing was steady.
But his body—
Wasn't.
Veins stood out faintly along his arms.
Not from exertion—
From control.
The Dao Pool surged again.
More violently this time.
Reacting to the pressure.
To the trial.
To the mountain itself.
Zael clenched his jaw slightly.
"…Stay still."
Not his body.
His power.
He forced it to stabilize.
Not suppressing it.
Not releasing it.
Holding it.
Balancing it.
Another step.
Then another.
And then—
He stopped.
Because something had changed.
The pressure—
Paused.
Not gone.
Just… waiting.
Zael lifted his head.
Higher up the steps—
Figures.
Blurry.
Distant.
But there.
"…So I'm not first."
That was fine.
Didn't matter.
This wasn't a race.
It was a trial.
And from the way the pressure reacted—
Everyone was being tested individually.
Zael exhaled once.
Then continued.
Step by step.
Toward the peak.
Toward whatever was waiting.
And above them all—
Unseen.
Unfelt.
Something watched.
Not like before.
Not curious.
Not observing.
Judging.
And this time—
It wasn't the Abyss.
Zael took another step.
Then stopped.
Not because the pressure increased—
But because something didn't.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"…That's strange."
The pressure from the mountain was still there.
Still testing him.
Still digging into his body, his control, his Dao Pool.
But something else—
Was missing.
Zael focused inward immediately.
On instinct.
On habit.
On everything that had carried him this far.
Adaptive Evolution.
His third talent.
The one that had always responded.
Always adjusted.
Always compensated.
Damage.
Pressure.
Environmental stress.
It adapted.
That was its nature.
But now—
Nothing.
No subtle shift in resistance.
No gradual mitigation.
No feedback loop strengthening his tolerance.
Just—
Raw pressure.
Unfiltered.
Zael's frown deepened slightly.
"…Why?"
That wasn't normal.
Even in the Abyss, even against strange energies—
Adaptive Evolution had never failed to respond.
Slowly, maybe.
But it always did.
Here?
It was silent.
Completely.
Zael took another step.
The pressure surged slightly—
And again—
No response.
His gaze sharpened.
"…Sealed?"
That thought came quickly.
And made sense.
The earlier trial—
The sect.
The forest.
The system had been sealed there.
Supreme Blessing hadn't responded either.
Now—
Even though his system was back—
This place felt… similar.
Not identical.
But close.
Like something here operated on a different set of rules.
"…Not just the system."
His voice dropped slightly.
"…Talents too."
That changed things.
A lot.
Because Adaptive Evolution wasn't just useful—
It was one of his biggest safety nets.
It meant mistakes weren't fatal.
It meant pressure could be endured.
It meant growth could continue even under stress.
Without it—
Everything became sharper.
More dangerous.
More real.
Zael exhaled slowly.
Not panicking.
Just recalibrating.
"…Good."
The word came out quietly.
Because if this trial suppressed external advantages—
Then it was forcing one thing.
True understanding.
True control.
No shortcuts.
No passive growth.
No automatic adaptation.
Only what he could consciously manage.
The Dao Pool stirred again.
More violently this time.
Without Adaptive Evolution smoothing the edges—
Every fluctuation felt raw.
Unstable.
Dangerous.
Zael clenched his fist slightly.
"…So this is the real test."
Not climbing.
Not endurance.
Control.
Pure control.
He took another step.
The pressure pushed harder—
And this time—
He felt everything.
Every imbalance.
Every fluctuation in the Dao Pool.
Every slight instability in his foundation.
Nothing was corrected for him.
Nothing was eased.
He had to do it himself.
Manually.
Deliberately.
Zael adjusted.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Not forcing it.
Not rushing it.
Understanding it.
Just like the first trial.
Comprehension.
Applied.
The pressure didn't lessen.
But it stopped overwhelming him.
That was enough.
Another step.
Then another.
Further up—
The blurry figures became slightly clearer.
Some ahead of him.
Some behind.
All moving.
All struggling in their own way.
"…So everyone's dealing with this."
Good.
That meant it wasn't targeted.
It was the rule.
Zael rolled his shoulder slightly.
Feeling the tension.
The strain.
Real strain.
"…It's been a while."
Since something pushed him like this.
No system crutch.
No passive boosts.
No hidden support.
Just him.
And what he actually understood.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"…I don't hate it."
Then—
He moved again.
Step by step.
Slower now.
But steadier.
Each movement deliberate.
Each breath controlled.
Each fluctuation managed.
And for the first time since entering the Abyss—
Zael wasn't just growing.
He was refining.
Manually.
Painfully.
But properly.
And far above—
Whatever was watching—
Noticed.