The moment people tried to go towards the path, there was an increased amount of Qi in the atmosphere, landing on them.
BOOM!
A heavy wave of Qi slammed into the crowd like a falling mountain.
People stumbled. Some dropped to their knees. Others grunted, Qi flaring instinctively to defend themselves.
It was suffocating.
An invisible pressure, thick and oppressive, crashed down on them like an endless tide.
It was like a sudden increase in oxygen in the air—like 100 times—which wasn't good for their bodies.
"The hell…!?"
A rogue cultivator clutched his chest, gasping for breath. His legs buckled beneath him as if he were being crushed by an unseen weight.
"This is the trial?!"
Someone yelled, teeth gritted.
It became immediately clear: the test had already begun.
This wasn't just a race to see who could run the fastest. It was a challenge of endurance—to withstand the crushing Qi pressure flooding this space.
And the closer one tried to get to the path—
