Goku was an Evil God talent who completely shook all demonic sects. Alm and Bruno had no ideas, but even the Three Extremes Sect had some crossed and subtle information about it.
Even with the recognition from the Tablet of the Malevolent God after the test, most didn’t take it seriously. He was a genius above all geniuses, so what? How many geniuses die every day? Being above doesn’t mean he’s immortal.
But the grand Goku made a point to shake all their beliefs. In the first test, where everyone, and even the patriarch on his first attempt, almost died, he mercilessly massacred... then, the entire city witnessed an elder with a whole realm above him being brutally thrown into the air with just one of his blows, nothing made sense.
Of course, no one knew that the elder had suffered no harm, and it was just flashy and funny. Most only saw the elder in the air, and then when he fell, his face was completely contorted, changing colors between red and purple. Everyone could swear he was feeling indescribable pain... while it was just anger.
All of this made all the weaker elders focus on the demonic whale.
A few hours before the test, Goku was walking in the Celestial Abyss City, ’oblivious’ to everything.
"This old man must think we have many hidden secrets, so he spared no effort to kill us this time," commented Bruno.
The distance between the two cities took two hours running at high speed. They told Almin and Langrum about the test. Langrum immediately became unusually excited. And when they arrived in the city, she ran straight to her room.
Ruri was astonished to see Langrum leave so hastily. Bruno was awkward and simply explained that she was preparing for the test. Ruri still insisted on knowing what she could do in just four hours in such a hurry, leaving him speechless.
Langrum is a Dual Cultivator... and there was only one thing she could do to gather a lot of Yang before the test... Well, not that they would tell Ruri that.
Almin grumbled about not being able to cultivate properly, saying that all his women were with Dyen. And Langrum, unlike him, could take advantage and absorb an extreme amount of Yang Qi for the test. Ruri seemed to understand and didn’t comment anymore.
Those four hours were crucial for Alm and Bruno. They seriously thought about how to deal with those elders. They had a chance to prepare. But it was hard to think with Almin panicking and grumbling; it was normal for anyone to be in that state since Almin knew he would probably be facing dozens of elders. However, Alm showed no mercy to his rumblings, and Almin went quiet after a little bit of ’brotherly love.’
They went to the central building, having more than five thousand abyss crystals to use and were frustrated that they couldn’t cultivate with them. It would take days to consume everything, and they had to prepare properly in a short time. That said, they intended to buy anything that could help them in the test. In the end, though, they couldn’t find anything worth spending their crystals and left.
Of course, there were some items that truly could save them in times of peril, but such items that could help against the sect elders were even more expensive than their 5000 crystals.
As soon as they returned to the room, they completely filled all of Ruri’s meridians with Qi and earth laws. This way, she could stay alive inside the prison, even without being able to use her mental techniques.
Then, they used all the remaining time to make a few changes to Almin’s armor. They forcefully opened up more space within the runic seal, which was close to being destroyed, so they could place Almin’s fire laws inside.
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Testing it, they found that the array could transfer their earth laws directly into the armor, too. It was a good thing. If the need arises, they could connect directly to Almin’s armor and use its abilities. That was especially useful since Almin himself was blocked in the array. They couldn’t transfer anything to him or from him like they do with Ruri.
The only problem was that activating the runic seal of the armor consumed its internal energy. And it lasted only a few minutes, no matter how much Alm could transfer through the array; eventually, the seal would extinguish. But this would be Almin’s lifesaving weapon.
So, Alm and Bruno planned for the worst possible scenario: if they were caught by more than one elder and couldn’t run. Alm could fight comfortably, and Almin would protect Ruri for a while. As soon as they entered, the array would show their location, and they could regroup. As for Langrum, she could handle herself; She had nothing to do with the story, and the elder wouldn’t chase her for anything.
***
Time passed, and at the appointed hour, they quietly approached the city center, trying to blend in among the more than a hundred people. Some of those around were the same ones who took the previous test, all extremely nervous regarding this test. Of course, they were the ones from different races that were sent to other parts of the prison.
Well, they soon gave up as their immaculate giant appearance became too obvious... They seemed to draw excessive attention with that giant and heavy body. As soon as they arrived, everyone, including the same elder from the previous test, turned to Goku coldly.
Langrum was there among them, and Ruri could sense the dense Yang Qi leaking from her body out of her control.
’She worked hard with the little time she had. I hope she didn’t get too roasted.’ Alm sarcastically commented, then was cut off by the responsible elder.
"Everyone has arrived, let’s go." He spoke, and like the entrance test, everyone was led to a large cave beneath the city. There was the entrance to the Abyss Prison.
Then, the elder continued. "For the newcomers who were tested at the first level. Although your cultivations aren’t much different from before, you now possess the symbol of the evil god. Level one is not a real test, so now you will experience level two."
"This level can bring even a little pressure to a younger elder. There are infernal beasts of various levels in there, but most are stronger than all of you. So the test is simple: just survive inside." He spoke with noticeable haste.
"The older disciples must be wondering why this change in the test happened. The patriarch and the elders decided to change things because of the new batch of disciples. Anyway, you will have to survive for twenty-four hours inside the prison." Everyone lost their breath... most only went in for an hour during the entrance test.
"The same test will repeat every three months, and there will be no more tests. This is a luxurious treatment, something we and all the elders never dreamed of having; you must have felt their envy in the last few days. But the danger that comes with it is a thousand times greater; if half of you come back alive, it will be a miracle. After a year, probably only a dozen will be alive, and those will be the most promising disciples in history."
The elder concluded, extremely irritated; he himself had crystals enough to spend one day every six months, but he was old and didn’t evolve much. As for the disciples who survived, they would quickly crush the older disciples and soon the elders. In that place, being weak was a sin, and they would have to bow down to survive.
"Well, acting in a group is also essential. So, it has been allowed for you to enter in separate groups in a random area on the second level."
This made no difference to Alm and Bruno; they could find Almin with the array. As for Langrum, they even preferred her to stay away, but it didn’t matter.
"Everything has been said, come in groups. Everyone must enter separately." The elder spoke calmly and indifferently. But at that moment, Alm and Bruno felt a slight malice coming from him.
That elder had already shown that he had ulterior motives at the end of the first test. Alm and Bruno didn’t care about that, but now... a huge pressure was felt by them.
’Damn it, even with everything we prepared... it seems it wasn’t just Dyen’s crew who was directly targeting us.’ Bruno commented, watching people being taken in small groups.
Langrum already went to their side without any hesitation. Then they walked to the center, and the elder still looked coldly, without any apparent emotion to them, triggering the entrance to the prison.
Thus, the gray mist enveloped them, and space distorted. But outside their eyes, the elder smiled, and numerous runes used by the elder went along with the group.
Soon, that world covered by dense and suffocating infernal laws hit them. This time, everyone just felt an impact on their bodies, but quickly stabilized. Ruri was breathing heavily, but she would soon get used to the environment, too.
Then, in the next second, they felt something change.
The entire scarlet world around them trembled, and a large electric shock seemed to spring from the void directly around them. They were the runes used by that elder at the entrance without them knowing. In the next second, a large amount of laws were swept away with a roar.
The whole group took several steps back, incredulous. Then, they saw an electric pillar rise into the sky.
"Shit, he marked our location. Run!" The whale shouted to everyone, still not fully understanding the situation.