Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Grand Colosseum
Chapter 143: Grand Colosseum
The sky above Mirravele City had not yet fully brightened when Rhain and Seris stepped out of the Gilded Sparrow.
The streets of Mirravele City, usually quiet at this hour, were already alive with movement.
Streams of cultivators flowed through the avenues like rivers converging toward a single ocean, all heading in the same direction.
Rhain held Seris’s hand as they merged into the bustling crowd.
After nearly half an hour of walking, the colossal silhouette of their destination finally rose before them.
The Grand Mirravele Colosseum.
Even from a distance, the sheer scale of the structure was enough to take one’s breath away.
The colossal amphitheater rose from the earth like a sleeping titan, its towering walls constructed from massive blocks of indestructible yellow stones.
Tiered seating climbed skyward in a massive circle, easily housing well over a hundred thousand spectators.
Even from the outside, the deafening roar of the crowd within could be heard — tens of thousands of voices blending into a singular, overwhelming thunder.
Rhain and Seris passed through the heavily guarded main entrance, showing the identification tokens Rosanna had prepared for them, and stepped into the Colosseum’s interior.
The inside of the Colosseum was even more staggering, and incredible than its exterior.
An enormous circular arena floor, easily more than three hundred feet in diameter, dominated the center. Surrounding it on all sides, tens of thousands of spectators were waiting.
As Rhain held Seris’s soft hand, navigating through the dense sea of people to find a suitable seat, a clear, gentle voice suddenly came from his left.
"Rhain! Seris! You’re here!"
Rhain’s eyebrows shifted slightly at the sound.
Walking toward them was Liana, her silver dress flowing behind her.
Following right behind her was the Old Patriarch of the Silvercrest Clan, Solas, along with the arrogant Sylvan and a few other Silvercrest men and women.
"Liana," Seris greeted warmly, a genuine smile blossoming on her face as the two girls met again.
Solas stepped forward, stroking his white beard, his sharp eyes settling on Rhain and Seris with a warm familiarity. "It is good to see you two again."
"Senior Solas," Rhain offered a polite nod.
As they exchanged pleasentries, the old man’s piercing eyes swept over the two of them, his gaze suddenly paused on their tightly intertwined hands, and then shifted to the subtle, profound change in Seris’s temperament.
She no longer had the completely reserved aura of a young maiden, but instead carried the quiet, radiant maturity of a woman.
Solas’s eyes widened slightly. "You two... could it be?"
Rhain smiled faintly. He did not hide it, and nodded. "Senior Solas has a keen eye. Before departing for Mirravele City, Seris and I held our wedding ceremony at our sect. She is now my official wife."
Liana’s smile froze for just a fraction of a second.
But then, almost immediately, she forced a bright, dazzling smile onto her flawless face, "That’s... that’s wonderful news. Congratulations, Seris. Congratulations, Rhain. I am truly happy for both of you."
Solas also sighed heavily in his heart. He felt a deep wave of regret for his granddaughter’s unrequited feelings. Yet, he still cupped his hands with a warm, genuine smile, "This old man offers you his sincerest congratulations."
"Thank you, Senior Solas," Rhain replied with a courteous nod.
Before anyone could speak further, a heavy, resonant boom suddenly shook the Colosseum.
DONG—!
A single, deafening gong strike silenced the roaring crowd of a hundred thousand in an instant.
"They have arrived," Rhain spoke, his dark grey eyes narrowing slightly as he looked up.
Walking with a slow, ethereal grace was a man draped in luxurious midnight blue robes, whose face was as calm as still water, yet his mere presence emitted an aura that made the very space around him tremble.
"Elder Fabian of the Stormveil Academy," Solas murmured solemnly, "He has already crossed the Core Formation Realm, and has stepped into half-step Domain Master Realm!"
But what truly shocked the gathered masses were the figures submissively trailing behind him.
City Lord Cassian Valdris. Patriarch Aurelian. The Solari Patriarch.
The three titans of Mirravele City, men who commanded the fate of millions, were walking half a step behind Elder Fabian, their heads slightly bowed, acting with the utmost subservience of docile servants.
And ahead of all three of these regional titans, was a group of young men and women.
They were astonishingly young—none of them appeared older than twenty—yet the auras radiating from their bodies ranged from the first all the way to the third level of the Spirit Manifestation Realm.
To the geniuses of Mirravele City, who considered a nineteen-year-old at the ninth level of the Essence Condensation Realm to be a once-in-a-century prodigy, the sight of these Stormveil disciples was nothing short of soul-crushing.
"Those are the Stormveil Academy’s disciples? They’re all at the Spirit Manifestation Realm? And they’re younger than me?"
"That girl at the front looks barely eighteen, and she’s already at the third level of the Spirit Manifestation Realm! That’s stronger than some of my clan’s elders!"
"So this is the Inner Province...’ Sylvan swallowed hard, his pride shattering into a million pieces.
DONG—!
The gong struck a second time, silencing the soft mumblings completely.
Fabian stopped on the grand stage at the center of the elevated platform.
Behind him, the three Core Formation Realm rulers, and the young prodigies of Silvercrest Clan stood respectfully.
Fabian did not speak immediately, but simply swept his indifferent gaze across the endless sea of candidates.
When he opened his mouth, his voice erupted across the Colosseum like thunder, amplified by dense essence to reach every single one of the hundred thousand listeners without distortion.
"I am Fabian, an elder of the Stormveil Academy. The rules of my Academy are strict, and we have no patience for mediocrity! We do not care about your backgrounds, your clans, or your local reputations. We only care about talent."
Fabian paused, his expression turning stern.
"I will state the rules once. Listen carefully, for I will not repeat myself."
The entire Colosseum held its collective breath.
"The first trial is a screening designed to eliminate those who are unworthy of even attempting our examination."
He raised a single finger.
"The requirements are clear. First: All candidates must be aged twenty years or below. No exceptions."
A visible wave of devastation swept through a significant portion of the candidates on the arena floor.
Several older cultivators — men and women who had clearly traveled weeks or months to reach Mirravele City — immediately paled, their shoulders slumping as their dreams were shattered in a single sentence.
"Second," Fabian continued, utterly indifferent to their despair, "All candidates must possess a minimum cultivation base of the fifth level of the Essence Condensation Realm."
Another wave of crushed hopes rippled through the crowd.
Dozens of young cultivators who had barely scraped into the fourth or third level of the Essence Condensation Realm turned deathly pale.
Some clenched their fists in rage, others simply lowered their heads in silent acceptance.
With just a few words, the brutal cut-off instantly disqualified vast majority of the hopefuls.
The harsh reality was a universal truth followed by many: in the eyes of the Inner Province, the so-called "geniuses" of the Outer Frontier were not even qualified to be called trash!
Sylvan’s face twitched, but a proud smirk quickly surfaced on his lips.
As someone at the ninth level of the Essence Condensation Realm, he was one of the very few who easily surpassed this threshold.
Liana also let out a quiet sigh of relief; having recently stabilized her cultivation at the sixth level, she had narrowly met the requirement.
Fabian raised his hand and a black light projected from his palm.
RUMBLE!
A blinding flash of light tore through the air, and a massive, jet-black steel monument slammed onto the center of the arena platform.
The ground fiercely trembled, sending a shockwave of dust rolling outward.
The monument stood over thirty feet tall, its pitch-black surface inscribed with profound, ancient runes.
"This is the Origin Insight Tablet!" Fabian’s voice pitched higher,. "It is an artifact forged specifically to peer into the truth of a cultivator. It will precisely and flawlessly measure your exact age, your innate talent, and the limits of your physique. There is no way to deceive it!"
Fabian pointed a commanding finger at the massive black steel.
"The passing criteria is this: when you place your hand upon the tablet and channel your essence into it, the runes will project a pillar of light into the sky. Anyone whose light fails to reach less ten feet is immediate trash, and you will scram from this arena at once."
He swept his cold eyes over the terrified youths for one last time before speaking again.
"Only those whose light reaches ten feet or higher will be granted the right to step into the next round for further trials! Now, let the first trial commence!"
