The whale narrowed his eyes. ’Damn, how can she be so impulsive,’ Bruno dryly commented.
’She’s just proud and refuses to take disrespect in our direction. She’s not a disciple yet, so she must assert herself,’ Alm said proudly. ’We’ll have to draw more attention, not bad, just avoid problems.’
Ruri forgot to breathe with the shock she received. Then she looked at her master and saw him squinting with a subtle disappointment coming from Bruno. She trembled in desperation and quickly clenched her fists, glaring at the worker furiously.
"You..." She spoke dryly, then all the Qi in her body flowed uncontrollably.
To participate in the recruitment, anyone could try, but a certain amount of spiritual crystals was required, creating a threshold. Soon, only people with at least one clan and with some talent could really be worth enough to run a great risk of complete failure.
Everyone there was considered a promising young talent, and at that moment, all the young ones felt a hammer pressing against their bodies. It was a complete suppression, freezing even the air in their lungs.
Immediately, the two workers trembled, and in a second, being the focus of everything, they fell, losing control of their bodies. They were two poor cultivators at the beginning of Foundation Establishment, and Ruri, with a whole realm above and a core twice as large as normal, was like an emperor pressing down on mortals.
The whale sighed, and Ruri heard it, making her Qi even more agitated. Quickly, even the space started to tremble, and everyone felt the blood rising in their throats. That’s when they heard a scream approaching, running.
"WHO DARES TO ATTACK?!"
The whale looked ahead, seeing an old-looking man emerge; he was an external elder. Ruri turned to him, and her eyes locked onto him with all her Qi. Suddenly, the old man, in the midst of the Core Formation Realm, felt an infinite pressure, and the Qi in his meridians became extremely heavy and slow; he was being suppressed!
He stopped, with stunned eyes, and looked at the young girl, soon forgetting to breathe as he analyzed her cultivation. "A core... first level..."
Everyone heard the words, and a fear passed through all of them. Suddenly, due to the elder stopping, immediately a dozen elders ran in their direction. And in the sky, another old-looking elder appeared.
The first elder felt the suppression disappear as the others approached. He took a deep breath, and quickly, they surrounded the group. Above, the eldest elder, responsible for the test, spoke, "You..."
Suddenly, he stopped, and now the entire space trembled, and all the elders around spat blood. Beside the whale, Corin activated his cultivation. And the elder in the sky, who was at the elementary level of the Heaven Stage Realm, felt an indescribable dread. Was he one cultivation level below that elf?
He then looked at the whale, who seemed to be the leader. And immediately realized, trembling... he also had a higher cultivation than him.
"Gentlemen, who caused trouble for you?" The old elder quickly thought and descended to the ground, speaking calmly and humbly.
Ruri snorted dryly. "Hm? This idiot insulted my master, and I put him in his place. Now you want to kick me out."
"It must have been a mistake, young fairy. Don’t worry about trivial things." The elder waved with a slight smile. "May I know where you all came from?"
The whale then took out a silver runic badge. "We’re from the realm of dwarves, recommended by the king himself. We just want to take the test."
"Great, the sect will be happy to welcome you. Come, don’t waste time."
The elder spoke calmly; everything became clear, although he was still frightened. Dwarves were known to be the second-largest force in terms of cultivation on the planet. Everyone knew they had some secret method for cultivation. If they were from there, their terrifying cultivation was understandable. But... for the dwarves to send people, there should be much more involved. There were currently no dwarves in the sect, someone recommended by them, even if not dwarves, was a rare occurrence in history.
They then followed the elder, who walked ahead calmly. The entire atmosphere became calm again. The young ones now just observed the group with bated breath, what kind of cultivation should they have to scare even the main elder? They wondered. And at this moment, neither Alm nor Bruno bothered to pay attention, but piercing glances different from the others were focused on them from a distance.
Arriving in front, they saw several tables with head-sized green crystals on top, and hundreds of elders looking at them.
"Please, gentlemen, the first test is just a record and evaluation of talent and age." The elder spoke calmly, encouraging them to step forward.
Corin was the first. He approached the elder, who looked at him with trembling eyes; this elder couldn’t even determine the elf’s cultivation level. He was instructed to touch the green crystal. First, natural energy passed through his bones, measuring his age and other parameters.
Everyone fell silent, and the elder behind the crystal saw small runes appearing on it. Soon, he spoke a bit tremulously. "Age 18, cultivation at the first level of the Heaven Stage Realm..."
All the elders felt their hearts stop, and those young ones in line who were closest couldn’t even comprehend his cultivation level. Then the elder added.
"Elven Blood, incarnated sovereign talent."
Everyone trembled at those words. Corin currently resembled a pure elf a lot; his ears were already slightly pointed before, and they became even more apparent. They weren’t as large as they should be, but there were variations among elves; thus, these uninformed humans just accepted it.
In response, Corin just narrowed his eyes. "Incarnated sovereign? Why not something cooler like a god?"
He felt the whale’s gaze on his back and changed his expression, falling silent, a bit upset. Ruri could do whatever she wanted; he had to be subtle. He was also a disciple, and Ruri was being privileged!
"It’s just a humble metric for ordinary youths, don’t worry about it," the leader elder said with a smile. "The second test will start soon; sorry for taking up your time, but we have to wait a bit."
Corin just nodded and walked to the side. Soon, Loeus approached, placing his hand on the green crystal calmly.
After ten seconds, the elder spoke a bit calmer but still stunned. "Age 19, cultivation at the fifth level of the Core Formation Realm." Then the elder added. "Half-human, half-beast blood, talent at the incarnated sovereign level."
Everyone was amazed. This young man had a cultivation above most elders and was still young. Being a hybrid, he should face numerous challenges in cultivation, and having such terrifying talent was certainly his greatest weapon. If he had pure blood, he would be on the same level as the elf, but he was just a bit below now.
Loeus moved smoothly, and Ruri took a light step forward. With her movement, all eyes followed her, and soon their hearts throbbed. That moving figure made everyone sigh and desire to please her.
She touched the crystal, and the elder struggled to avert his eyes from her and see the runes. "Age 16, cultivation at the first level of the Core Formation Realm."
Whether elders or the young ones nearby, everyone trembled. Sixteen years old... she started cultivating for real a year ago and already broke through to Core Formation...
"Human blood, talent level... Incarnated Emperor..."
Everyone gasped. That was the second-highest talent possible; sovereigns appeared once every century... but all the elders, even the oldest leader, had never seen a young one reach the Emperor level. There were records in history, appearing every 20 or 30 thousand years; it was such a long time that they believed them to be legends. Now, a pure human emerged... and she was only 16 years old.
Ruri turned around and smiled, looking at the whale. Everyone saw that smile and was stunned. Soon, she took steps to Corin’s side and shot him a competitive glance. He, in turn, returned the look, and sparks seemed to fly between them.
The whale waved. Disciples competing was good for both. Ignoring the hateful and envious glares directed at her, the whale took a step forward and touched the crystal. The elder looked at him, and in his eyes, there was no strangeness regarding his appearance; he seemed to know and have seen many like him in this sect.
Everyone had high expectations; this was the leader of these invincible young ones. Then, after a few seconds, the elder spoke. "Age 22, cultivation at the first level of the Heaven Stage Realm."
The cultivation was abnormal and inconceivable, but the age left everyone stunned; he couldn’t be recruited as a disciple according to the rules.
Suddenly, that elder widened his eyes, catatonic, and forgot to speak. Everyone around looked strange; what the hell happened? Then, that elder opened his mouth, trembling.
"Half-human, half-beast blood, talent at the incarnated God level."
The whale saw everyone standing there, unable to say anything; that should be the greatest talent of all. But, after two minutes, he lost patience.
"I didn’t come to be a disciple, as you saw from my age. I want to go to the Forge Institute; where should I go?"
The elders snapped out of the stupor, and none could reason before that question. Then, the oldest elder thought quickly and replied. "It’s on the other side... sir, you can go after completing the registration for the first test."
The elder who tested them finally woke up and stood, startled. Then, he took out four small green crystals and approached the group with runes floating around him. He entered their data into the crystal and asked for their names in order for the registration.
All three received the small crystals. That was proof that they passed the first test, and if they failed, they could become mortal workers for the sect. Then, the elder turned to the whale.
They were asked for the name. ’Hmm... Sasuke or maybe Batman?’ Bruno thought mentally for a second, and then, right behind him, from the young ones at the beginning of the line, there was some commotion.
New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on ƒгeewebnovёl.com.
Suddenly, an old-looking man wearing clothes from a small clan appeared with bewildered eyes. Then, he spoke quickly. "Denil!"