In the skies, outside the formation, in a small enclosed area that blended with the entire gigantic sect formation; four figures observed the disciples’ test. One of them was a fat old man, whose eyes shone intensely, and his entire cultivation was activated, focusing below.
Suddenly, the fat old man felt something amiss and spoke sharply. "He... he sensed our location."
Beside him, a black elf and a uniquely-looking Montide human snorted. Soon, the black elf spoke. "This young man is very suspicious. He left that mediocre clan and disappeared for years, and now he returns with divine talent. Then, he was able to survive a deadly trap. Definitely, this is a scheme of that demon. Someone must be protecting him in the shadows." Surprisingly, they were talking about the Demon that Alm and Bruno almost killed during their breakthrough.
The human beside him added, "They deliberately announced they would leave the sect, and his slave was killed in the process. Clearly, it was a setup by the demon for him to take over the institute’s leadership."
Then, the last figure sighed, and everyone awaited her words. She was an extremely tall and broad woman; her hair was brown like the earth, and despite giving an impression of being overweight, her muscles were firm and well-toned. Her appearance was unconventional, but it couldn’t be said to be unpleasant.
"The elder from that clan did everything to request a meeting. And with the possible involvement of this young man with the demon, there is no doubt. He is the son of that bitch; we have to do this without leaving a trace." The woman spoke coldly.
"Yes, Vice-Leader Vubia Obsidian!" The three immediately responded. In the next second.
Cough, Cough...
The fat old man started to spit out black blood violently and fell to his knees. Everyone widened their eyes in fear, not understanding.
***
Within the test for inner disciples, the whale snorted dryly. ’Trying to suppress us with cultivation alone? I want to see how you’ll recover your soul from this.’
Alm spat sharply, his Yin tattoo ignited. It was a subtle soul attack delivered like a needle. Whoever did this created a connection with their Qi; it was extremely simple to counter-attack oppositely.
’To achieve this, it must be someone with a semi-divine body, in the Body Destruction Realm.’ Bruno calmly analyzed. ’At this level, it can only be the upper echelon of the sect... things got too complicated too quickly. This is very strange...’
’Our plan was just to attract attention with our talent. But things unfolded beyond our control, and Ruri displayed abnormal power. Then, we were cornered by two central elders and hundreds of inner elders, and we still came out alive.’ Alm thought firmly.
Bruno then reached a clear conclusion. ’The demons living in the Skyward Forest have a dispute with that abyssal demon. The surprise that the Divinestone clan is still intact exposed our past; and how we disappeared from the map for years... they suspect that we are connected to the demon. After all, we are just forgers.’
’If they wanted us dead at all costs, they wouldn’t act so sneakily. Something prevents them from acting directly; we have to figure that out. But for now, we must move forward, being twice as careful.’ Alm spoke emotionlessly. ’They don’t know what happened in the forest, and they must assume that my Yin soul attack was something related to the demon. This is our window; let’s hide our cards.’
The entire event lasted less than a minute. Then, the black serpents lunged at the disciples. Quickly, in all factions, hundreds died in seconds; any minor wound from these beasts lethally poisoned. The beasts not only had extreme cultivation, but their killing power was indefensible.
"Corin." The whale spoke lightly, and the young man, who appeared to be an elf to everyone, nodded and leaped.
Then, wind runes covered the roaring skies, rapidly swirling wind blades around. They spread quickly, covering all the cultivators behind. Within the wind blades, these people were temporarily safe.
Seeing the young elf not hesitate to unleash such a powerful magical technique to protect these disciples, Xylos and Sunli scoffed.
The other disciples from their factions also mocked with disdain; it was sheer foolishness to waste their precious Qi on these desperate people. This was a tense and difficult moment, and this wasted energy might be the factor that led them to lose their lives.
Lokar’s expression was solemn and satisfied. Fyclea’s face softened slightly. She thought Denil was just trying to show off, but now she saw that he really wanted to help these people.
Corin then resumed fighting, attacking in the skies, while the duo below seemed even more furious and destructive than before. Their power before was disturbing, but now they multiplied their forces even more, as if they were just warming up before. What was their limit? The elder observing everything thought in astonishment.
At that moment, the whale pulled out dozens of two-meter-long spears made of wood. He tied them to his back, then held one, and suddenly, a pure glow of nature surged into the world.
"Bosmeri wood!" The elder and all four watching recognized it. Suddenly, the whale, without emitting any Qi or cultivation, shot the thin spear like an arrow.
Sssssssssshhhhh!
The spear simply advanced with infinite momentum, piercing almost twenty black serpents at once. The spear lost its force and turned into common wood, shattering. At the same time, all the pierced beasts fell to the ground... their bodies trembled... then burst into black blood.
"What natural power... this is poison for these demon beasts... and the bosmeri spear, the specialty of that Grassrunner forger." The elder muttered alone, but the whale didn’t give him time to calm down. He threw all the spears, one after another... then... withdrew dozens more of them... and more dozens... his stock seemed endless, and in a few minutes, countless died just like that.
"He released almost no Qi. But he’s burning this precious wood... money and his power..." the elder coldly added.
The factions in the front felt the dense nature energy killing frantically; they also noticed the wealth being thrown away. Those spears were very expensive, and only one forger could make them. Even Thalor, who had no money issues, found it an absurd waste of resources.
Everyone moved forward, and they could already see the nearby mountain; behind them, the dead piled up and continued to accumulate without stopping.
The excluded disciples fought with all their might. Even though they were protected, their numbers were still decreasing twice as fast as the factions in front. Only then did they realize that the whale had slowed down; he was very close to them, and each attack with his spear hit exactly the same points on the black serpents.
"The attacks of these serpents are strong and fast. Don’t engage with them. What you need to do is kill them in one go. There are five spots between their weakest scales; I’m showing you; focus on attacking their weak points." The whale spoke to everyone behind.
With the power of that spear, there was absolutely no need for him to do such a thing. He did it entirely for them, making everyone’s eyes turn red.
"However, don’t get too excited. With your power, aiming at those spots against a fast-moving target is almost impossible. That’s why you need to learn to cooperate and trust your comrades. You need to learn how to trust your lives to the people next to you. To prevent being poisoned, three people must block the attack. Then, another person takes advantage when it’s blocked to launch a fatal blow. It will depend on yourselves." The whale spoke seriously. "Simply put, die alone or survive together... if there is trust, that is. Your choice."
He pointed out the weak points, but although it seemed simple, it was incredibly difficult. Moreover, working together and trusting their lives to others was not something anyone could easily do.
"I can’t protect you forever; my allies are putting themselves at risk. If you want to become experts, there’s only one thing left: risk everything! You don’t have wealth or privileges. If you keep hesitating, you’ll lose the only advantage left, your will. Think about those torn apart; they wanted to put their lives at risk, but they didn’t have the power to do so. Are you willing to die like that? The opportunity is before you. Each dead beast will take you forward. Raise your weapons, show that you’re alive and that fate is in your hands! Kill!" the whale shouted.
Under the emotional and passionate speech, the cowardice and doubts in the hearts of those disciples were instantly eliminated. He was absolutely right: there was no turning back. If they didn’t put everything at risk, they would only die under the scorn of others.
If they did everything, at least they would have more dignity. And they might even gain a small chance of survival. Why not give it their all?
"The lives we have were granted by Lord Denil. Why do we still hesitate? Brothers, advance! I entrust my life to you!" shouted the leader, bravely charging forward. His saber cut through the air with fury, hitting an approaching snake.
BOOM!
The saber collided with the snake’s fangs, generating sparks. The young cultivator was pushed back by dozens of meters, while the snake also retreated. Ready to use its wings and regain balance, the creature was surprised by a sword strike that pierced one of its abdominal scales. The snake stiffened and collapsed lifelessly.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.
"Hahaha, success, success! Brothers, attack!" exclaimed the leading disciple.
Success boosted the group’s morale. Quickly, other disciples rushed to block the demon beasts, making way for fatal blows.
They formed small groups to face each snake. Adopting this approach, they began to learn and test cooperation, understanding the meaning of helping each other. Only by trusting their lives to the companions beside them could they have any chance of survival.
They never imagined that one day they would entrust their lives to someone else. Similarly, they never thought that someone would be willing to risk their lives for them.
After establishing this unwavering trust, their cooperation became increasingly skillful. Even without Corin’s help, they managed to advance steadily. Although there were some setbacks, compared to the previous massacre, the situation improved a thousand times.
The cultivation gap was minimal; practically everyone below the eighth level of the Core Formation Realm had already perished. Soon, they formed groups of five, finding a perfect balance and managing to turn the tide.
"Master... is he the reincarnation of a war god!? In just a few hours, this fragile group was transformed into a real army. This is ridiculous," murmured Corin, only heard by Loeus and Ruri.
Ruri wielded her katana with a bright smile, while Loeus reflected, recording in his mind every word and teaching. Corin, on the other hand, was a bit slower but began to understand his master’s methods.
At this moment, the whale sent a message to Corin, ceasing any additional support with his wind blades. However, the disciples managed to hold their ground. The initial panic disappeared, and within this carnage, they gradually understood the feeling of a battle for life.
Seeing this, the three at the front nodded, stunned. They were all weak, but currently, something changed profoundly in their minds, altering their futures forever. As for how many of them would survive, it would depend on the resilience of their lives.
Compared to the cultivators of other factions, they were completely different. Their movements were not flashy and grandiose; instead, they were relentless, without any chance of retreat or fear.
Time passed. The valley was ten kilometers wide, and now they were half a kilometer from the end. The number of beasts falling upon them multiplied rapidly. They had no choice but to accelerate their steps because slowing down would make it even more difficult. Each faction sent its top disciples to the front, opening a path.
These elite disciples were all powerful, being the only way for the entire faction to keep pace.
Thus, the five main factions reached the end. Of their 30 thousand disciples, divided among the five, only 17 thousand survived, representing less than 60%, below the test average. Everyone recognized this with regret, acknowledging leadership failures.
Then, in just thirty minutes, everyone saw the massive group arriving right behind. They were the excluded ones, weak and with below-average talents. All were united in a single faction. In front of them, four cultivators walked slowly with serene looks.
Initially, they were 30 thousand, and in the first hour alone, 5 thousand died. But now... they were 21 thousand surviving disciples, representing 70%, well above the test average. The newcomers smiled, clenching their fists firmly.
But...
In the sky, a tall, feminine figure descended to the top of the mountain and released her cultivation. Immediately, all the disciples noticed her and felt a mountain crashing down on them, pressing them.
Then, the elder in charge of the test appeared in front of everyone with tense eyes. This test was not over yet...