But just as everyone assumed the young man would stop, something astonishing happened next.
"What's he doing? Why isn't he stopping?" a Sect Elder muttered, eyes wide.
Igaris wasn't stopping. He still felt he had not reached his limit.
His body was stained with blood, his robes tattered, yet his will remained unshaken like an immovable mountain.
Step by step, he advanced.
7,500.
8,100.
9,000.
The world itself seemed to slow as he climbed. Day turned to night, then night back into day, but he did not falter. The observers, usually prideful and composed, stood in frozen silence, eyes wide, unable to look away.
This was no longer a trial.
It was a miracle.
It was a dragon ascending, defying every rule written by men and gods alike.
"Rumble… Rumble!"
Suddenly, the sky darkened. Clouds churned with ancient pressure. A spiral of chaotic lightning began to gather above Igaris, crackling and snarling with divine fury.
"Heavenly Tribulation?" someone gasped.
