In a pavilion at the foot of Heaven-Treading Mountain.

Jian Wushuang and the black-clothed man opened their eyes almost at the same time.

“Senior, thank you.”

Jian Wushuang looked at the black-clothed man in front of him and bowed slightly.

Before this, Jian Wushuang had only addressed the black-clothed man as ‘Your Excellency’. But after the battle in the consciousness space, Jian Wushuang understood that the other party’s realm was much higher than his, the reason why he was able to defeat the black-robed man in the space of consciousness was mainly because he was the gatekeeper. Against a Principles Master like him, he could only display a certain level of strength.

As for the black-robed man’s true strength, it was undoubtedly much stronger than Jian Wushuang’s.

The profound mysteries contained in the spear he used in the space of consciousness alone were enough to prove his monstrous strength.

“I didn’t expect you, a mere Principles Master, to have grasped a trace of the aura of the universe principles. It’s really rare.”

The black-clothed man looked at Jian Wushuang with admiration, then he shook his head and said, “Although you have some strength and passed the test of my guarding, what you will face next is the test on the mountainside. Although the guard on the mountainside is not much stronger than me, his combat strength on the mountainside is far above mine.”

“If your strength is only at the level of the consciousness space, I advise you to give up, because there is no chance for you to pass the test on the mountainside.”

“Senior, you just lost too quickly. How would you know that that is my strongest strength?” Jian Wushuang said with a faint smile.

“Oh? It seems that you still have some strength left?” The black-clothed man smiled slightly. “Well, I won’t persuade you anymore. Go. I hope you can pass the test on the mountainside.”

Jian Wushuang bowed to the black-clothed man again, then left the pavilion and continued to walk up the stairs.

Seeing Jian Wushuang leave, the black-clothed man slowly sat down and poured himself another bowl of tea.

“It seems that the little guy didn’t use his full strength in the consciousness space just now. It’s possible that he hid a lot of his strength. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so confident,” the black-clothed man said in a low voice.

In his opinion, he had already shown his strong skills in the space of consciousness, which meant that the test on the mountainside was much more difficult than his.

However, Jian Wushuang still looked so confident. This showed that Jian Wushuang’s strength was far more powerful than what was shown in the space of consciousness.

And it was true.

In the space of consciousness, what Jian Wushuang showed was only his swordsmanship. As for the power, the power he used was only at the level of an elementary Ruler, the same as the black-clothed man. As for secret skills, methods, and Supreme Treasures…he did not use them.

It could be said that most of his battle strength was hidden. What was shown in the space of consciousness just now was just the tip of the iceberg.

Because of this, when the black-clothed man talked about how difficult the test on the mountainside was, Jian Wushuang did not worry at all. On the contrary, he was absolutely confident.

“Haha, if that’s the case, then it’ll be interesting.” The black-clothed man suddenly let out a strange laugh. With a thought, he sent a voice transmission, “Old Man, a little guy will come to you soon. You have to be careful. That little guy is not weak. Don’t fail miserably.”

After saying this, the black-clothed man ignored his response and closed his eyes.

…

After defeating the black-clothed man in the space of consciousness and passing the test at the foot of the mountain, Jian Wushuang continued to move forward.

After going through thousands of steps, Jian Wushuang finally arrived at the mountainside of the Heaven-Treading Mountain.

Beside the steps on the mountainside, there was a simple cottage.

Jian Wushuang stepped into the cottage with the door open. He immediately saw a crude table and a white-bearded, white-robed elder sitting cross-legged on a futon.

The white-bearded, white-robed elder had a weathered face and a thin body. Like the black-robed man at the foot of the mountain, he did not exude any aura.

He sat there like an old monk meditating, making the entire hut seem quiet.

“Heavenly Sword Marquis, greetings, senior.”

Jian Wushuang bowed slightly and bowed to the white-bearded, white-robed elder.

The white-bearded, white-robed elder opened his eyes, revealing a pair of strange eyes that faintly glowed with white light. The pair of eyes seemed to contain no emotion at all and were extremely cold.

“Principles Master?”

The white-bearded, white-robed elder raised his head to look at Jian Wushuang and nodded slightly. “To be able to reach the level of Principles Master, you’re the fourth one to reach my level in the past few chaos cycles. Little guy, you’re very good.”

The white-bearded, white-robed elder’s words clearly contained a trace of admiration.

Upon hearing the white-bearded, white-robed elder’s words, Jian Wushuang’s heart was moved.

The white-bearded white-robed elder had mentioned the recent chaos cycles. Jian Wushuang estimated that the Red Cloud World had been born in this Star Field for a few chaos cycles.

During these few chaos cycles, he was the fourth Principles Master to walk in front of him. In other words, there had been three other Principles Masters in this Star Field who had reached this step before him.

Jian Wushuang was not surprised by this.

After all, it had been a few chaos cycles. Over such a long period of time, countless Principles Masters had been born in this Star Field, and some of them were top-notch geniuses.

It was normal for a few top-notch geniuses to have battle strength comparable to a Ruler at the level of a Principles Master, or even very strong at the level of a Primary Ruler.

Although the test at the foot of the mountain was not easy to pass, Jian Wushuang estimated that a Principles Master with the battle strength at the peak of a Primary Ruler might be able to pass it.

It was normal for three Principles Masters to pass the test at the foot of the mountain after a few chaos cycles.

“Senior, you are the gatekeeper at the mountainside. Do I have to defeat you to reach the peak?” Jian Wushuang asked.

“Yes, you have to pass me if you want to keep going up. However, I’m different from the one at the foot of the mountain. As a Principles Master, you can easily pass as long as you have an advanced level master of the first level. Even a master at the top of the first level, the beginner level, has a high chance of passing his level. However, ordinary advanced level masters can’t pass me,” the white-bearded white-robed elder said with a smile.

“I will try my best,” Jian Wushuang said.

“OK, eat this bowl of tea first.” The white-bearded elder waved his hand and two bowls of tea appeared on the rough table in front of him.

The white-bearded elder handed one of the bowls to Jian Wushuang.