Planned His Next Steps

Step by step, Shi Jian began to ascend towards the summit of the mountain, aware that he was now far behind his peers, who had already forged ahead.

Undeterred, he pressed on, soon overtaking young men and women struggling to continue their climb.

Four hours passed, and he covered half the mountain, closing in on the group of young men who had previously pushed him, causing him to faint.

"A familiar scenario," Shi Jian thought, his pace slowing as he trailed silently behind the group, who remained oblivious to his presence.

"I failed to reach the summit back then, but being part of the group nearest the submit earned us a chance to become the sect's handymen. That's where I met Su Linye again."

Remembering the past, Shi Jian decided to follow the same steps as before. He knew that with his current speed, he couldn't reach the mountain summit in time, but if he remained ahead of others who failed the assessment, he would enter the Sky Heaven Sect, just like before.

The Sky Heaven Sect held its disciple recruitment assessment every five years, a relatively long interval compared to other sects.

To bridge this gap, the sect also selected certain individuals as handymen, providing them with an opportunity to join the sect within the five-year period.

If they succeeded, they would be admitted as outer sect disciples; if they failed, they would be expelled from the sect as failures.

"This method may seem crude to others, but it allows the sect to secure talented individuals who failed the assessment on their first attempt," Shi Jian thought, aware of the reasoning behind Sky Heaven Sect's approach.

"Such methods are common in the Upper Realm, where sects vie to recruit the best talents for themselves."

With determination burning in his eyes, Shi Jian sprinted forward once more, this time keeping a distance from the group of men who had previously pushed him.

For now, he chose to ignore them, focusing on his primary goal of reaching the summit.

"I know they'll also become part of the Handymen group," he thought, a hint of resolve in his voice.

"In my previous life, they bullied me and others, even currying favour with Fatty Dumpling, which drove many female Handymen to despair and suicide due to their harassment. But I won't let that happen this time."

The four of them were shocked to see someone still sprinting with energy after climbing for over six hours. "Who is that?" one of them asked.

The one closest to the right spoke in astonishment, "Isn't that the idiot we met earlier? How did he make it this far after fainting on the stairs?"

"What? This isn't possible!" He stared towards Shi Jian, his eyes widening as he confirmed the unbelievable sight.

The last man remained silent, but his eyes betrayed his shock at the scene unfolding before him. He maintained a calm demeanour, even going so far as to mock Shi Jian.

"The sun is about to set, which means the assessment will be over soon. So, even if he runs like a rabbit, he still won't be able to reach the summit in time."

The man on the left spoke up, his eyes still fixed on Shi Jian, who was rapidly ascending. "Doesn't that mean he'll end up as a Handymen, just like Brother Shou Tou said earlier?"

Shou Tou, the man in front, smiled slyly. "Well, isn't it better that way? If he becomes a Handymen, I'll make him regret crossing our path once again."

The other three men burst into laughter. "HAAHAAHA!"

One of them chimed in, "Big Brother is right! With your connections inside the Sky Heaven Sect, who'll dare stop you from doing whatever you want? You can even pluck the cherries of the female disciples!"

He winked, "But Big Brother, don't forget to share them with us later."

The three men continued to flatter Shou Tou, who smiled, already plotting how he would torture Shi Jian and exploit the female Handymen disciples.

Shi Jian, after overtaking a few more disciples, finally reached close to the summit. However, he could feel his legs giving up on him.

Despite the surge of energy, he'd experienced since returning to his past, which had fuelled his hours-long sprint, he was still mortal, and his physical limits were catching up with him.

"As soon as I enter the sect, my first goal will be to reach the Body Strengthening stage, where I'll forge my muscles and bones," Shi Jian thought, taking a moment to rest as he sat atop a stone.

"Luckily, I have my memories intact, which will make my journey much easier." Siting cross legs on the stone, he closed his eyes.

"I still possess my powerful soul power, but with my current weak body, I'm unable to harness it," Shi Jian thought.

"I'll need to reach the Qi Awakening stage before I can tap into my soul power."

Although he wasn't a cultivator, Shi Jian's exceptionally strong soul power, equivalent to that of a Quasi God Realm expert, granted him the ability to assess his body's condition.

"My body isn't in bad shape, and right now, I have an edge over the other Handymen. That's because I possess a superior Qi cultivating method, one that's better than the techniques provided to the sect's Handymen."

"Now comes the most important decision. I don't want to alter my memories related to Su Linye, so I won't start cultivating the Dao of Love until it happens naturally, just like before."

"That leaves me with the Dao of Lust and the Dao of Life. In the past, I would have discarded the Dao of Lust due to its unorthodox methods, but now I don't care about what's considered orthodox or unorthodox. There's no such thing as right or wrong."

"Typically, only those with incredibly powerful soul power can achieve mastery in multiple Daos. But my case is different. With my soul power, I'll pursue both the Dao of Lust and the Dao of Life simultaneously."

Having made up his mind and planned his next steps, Shi Jian opened his eyes to see that the sun was about to set, signalling the conclusion of the Sky Heaven Sect's recruitment assessment.