Chunibyo in Cultivation World

“Strange?”

As soon as Li Tianwei swallowed the pill, the Remnant Soul in the Ring within Li Tianchen’s ring immediately sensed something unusual about him.

“What’s wrong with Teacher?”

Hearing the voice from the ring, Li Tianchen frowned slightly.

“Your brother has a problem. When I just probed him earlier, he still had a False Spiritual Root. But now, my divine sense tells me that he has become a Heavenly Spiritual Root—and not just any, but a Pure Yang Root.”

The Remnant Soul spoke solemnly.

Li Tianchen was startled. “What?”

“It must be that pill,” the Remnant Soul said, seemingly having realized something. “I didn’t expect your brother to have such means—to even get an elder of the Sacred Land of Lingxu to cover for him.”

“Li Tianwei?”

Hearing that, Li Tianchen’s gaze shifted toward Li Tianwei.

“I didn’t expect you to have such tricks up your sleeve… I truly underestimated you.”

At that moment, the look in Li Tianchen’s eyes completely changed—his expression grew heavy and serious, losing all traces of mockery.

He had originally thought he would be laughing at Li Tianwei’s failure in the Sacred Land of Lingxu, yet unexpectedly, he was seeing a completely different side of him.

“Still, I didn’t expect that I, too, have things you don’t know.”

Li Tianchen rubbed the ring on his finger.

As for Li Tianwei, he had no idea that his “good younger brother” had, by sheer coincidence, changed his opinion of him.

“No effect?”

After swallowing the pill, Li Tianwei carefully examined his body.

Seeing no reaction whatsoever, he thought perhaps the medicine was defective.

“I see, it must be because of my physique. With my Heavenly Spiritual Root, my body has already transformed—pure and flawless. That’s why a mere Marrow Cleansing Pill has no effect on me.”

Li Tianwei quickly came to his own “logical” conclusion.

No matter what thoughts passed through his mind, outwardly he remained calm and composed, showing no signs of abnormality or peculiarity.

The only one who knew of Li Tianwei’s bafflingly unique thought process was the System in his consciousness—and it was on the verge of collapse because of it.

It deeply regretted binding itself to Li Tianwei in the first place. Yet since it had chosen him, it could only endure the suffering.

Now was its final chance—if anything went wrong again, it would fail to complete its activation.

Just as it was lost in thought, Li Tianwei arrived before the Heart-Questioning Steps.

At this moment, thousands of people filled the stairway, each patiently queuing up, climbing step by step.

No one knew why, but those who set foot on the Heart-Questioning Steps all grew visibly fatigued, as though burdened by an invisible pressure—even a few steps left them breathless.

Soon, it was Li Tianwei’s turn.

Without hesitation, he stepped forward.

As his foot landed, a terrifying pressure surged forth, pressing down as though a mountain had fallen upon him.

If one observed closely, they would notice that after Li Tianwei took that first step, he could no longer lift his foot—he stood frozen, unable to move.

The burden of his False Spiritual Root was already beginning to manifest.

Although the Heart-Questioning Steps were built to test one’s heart and will, the pressure applied corresponded to the quality of one’s spiritual root—the better the root, the lighter the pressure, and the slower the escalation.

If one’s root was poor, the pressure became immense from the very start—symbolizing how great the hardships one must bear to become stronger. Only those with firm hearts and unwavering will could continue upward.

In essence, the Heart-Questioning Steps were meant to test ordinary cultivators.

Forged by the first-generation Patriarch of the Sacred Land of Lingxu—who had ascended to the Immortal Realm nearly ten thousand years ago—it was undoubtedly a treasure.

Even if Li Tianwei used a pill to fake his Heavenly Spiritual Root, the Heart-Questioning Steps could never be fooled.

The System, witnessing this scene within Li Tianwei’s consciousness, was overjoyed.

Finally, its host was going to suffer humiliation—this would prove once and for all that he was a False Spiritual Root.

【Host, host! I told you you’re a False Spiritual Root, but you wouldn’t believe me! Look—the Heart-Questioning Steps have exposed you! You’ll never reach the top, not even a hundred steps!】

In an attempt to convince him, the System even poured all the information about the Heart-Questioning Steps directly into Li Tianwei’s mind.

“Shut up…”

Feeling the crushing pressure around him and the System’s incessant chatter in his mind, Li Tianwei grew furious.

He didn’t care how the Heart-Questioning Steps worked. To him, this was clearly not his fault—it was the Steps that failed to recognize his greatness.

In his eyes, it was blind, ignorant, unable to perceive the brilliance of his Five-Colored Heavenly Root, and had mistaken him for a False Spiritual Root.

What could he do? He was simply too gifted, and the world was too ignorant.

As for the System’s data—he refused to believe a single word.

“I am the Heavenly Root, the divine root destined to dominate this era…”

“This Heart-Questioning Steps better recognize its place.”

Muttering inwardly, Li Tianwei’s conviction in his Heavenly Spiritual Root grew ever stronger, ever more unshakable.

Perhaps because of this unwavering belief, his body suddenly felt light.

Li Tianwei took another step forward.

“When Heaven does not give birth to me, Li Tianwei, the Great Dao remains shrouded in endless night!”

“Even if this Heart-Questioning Steps is flawed, I, as the Heavenly Root, shall bear this burden and ascend to the summit!”

“First came me, Li Tianwei, and only then came Heaven…”

“When I open my eyes, it is day; when I close them, it is night. If I am not the Heavenly Root—then who is?”

“Those who climbed before me—were they merely early birds, or kings avoiding one another?”

…

Li Tianwei continued to chant his “truths” in his heart as he climbed, one step after another, without pause.

It wasn’t hypnosis—no, this was Li Tianwei simply accepting his delusion as absolute fact, rendering the struggle meaningless.

In that instant, the earlier crushing pressure vanished as if it had never existed—Li Tianwei ascended hundreds of steps in the blink of an eye.

【What’s happening…】

The System, watching from within, was utterly dumbfounded.

No matter how it analyzed Li Tianwei’s stream of delusional proclamations, it could not comprehend how such a thing was even possible.

And yet, Li Tianwei advanced unhindered—not that there was no pressure, but somehow it no longer affected him, as though he had simply ignored it out of existence.

As he moved forward, he left everyone else far behind, his pace as light and effortless as that of one truly blessed with a Heavenly Spiritual Root.

“I knew it! I am the Heavenly Root—it’s this Heart-Questioning Steps that’s flawed! When I reach the top and become the Master of the Sacred Land, I’ll have you torn down for slandering me!”

Li Tianwei glanced down at the Steps beneath his feet and snorted coldly, exuding pure arrogance.

【Something’s wrong—terribly wrong. This host… there’s a problem.】

At that moment, the System ran a full diagnostic scan of Li Tianwei’s consciousness.

That was a mistake.

The instant it completed the scan, the entire System nearly crashed.

【There truly exists such a shameless person.】