There was a governor and many laws were made, but everyone knew that the one who truly ruled that place was Kayden. He had opened a training center, and as long as you passed the test, you would be accepted.
This test occurred once a year and had no restrictions—people of all ages and kingdoms could participate. Not only that, but participants could attempt as many times as needed until they succeeded.
However, no one who failed ever repeated the test.
It was something very simple; you only needed to withstand Kayden’s killing intent and enter the dojo. The number of steps you took didn’t matter. If you could take even a single step forward, Kayden would consider you a disciple.
The problem was that most people’s minds collapsed. The higher their rank, the faster they recovered, but even those in the Fifth Realm took months before they could speak properly again.
It was simply too brutal. The most unbelievable part was that even some Seventh Realm mages were unable to move forward. After the first Seventh Realm mage failed, no one else dared to try. It was simply a shame to be unable to withstand the aura of a mage three realms below them.
The test’s difficulty far surpassed what Kayden used when selecting slaves because there were more people, allowing him to better separate the wheat from the chaff.
Each year, billions flocked to Kayden in search of the test, but only two or three completed it. All were warned of the high death rate among Kayden’s disciples, yet they continued, fearless.
All those who admitted to being Kayden’s disciples gained bizarre strength and rose to social heights within a few years. The dream of becoming powerful without needing resources was too tempting for most people.
Three thousand years had passed with Kayden standing there, choosing disciples. By this time, hundreds of generations had come and gone, and his legend lived on through the deeds of his disciples.
They became so influential that empires stationed two Seventh Realm mages in front of Kayden’s building. At first, they tried to fight for candidates using force.
"Try" was a strong word. In the first attack that destroyed part of the ground, Kayden killed one of the Seventh Realm mages as easily as a chicken. His aura was so terrifying it paralyzed the other three instantly.
The situation became critical. Everyone realized that Kayden was crazy and didn’t fear the empires. Yet, even so, the Dark Empire gathered all its Seventh Realm mages and appeared in front of Kayden’s door.
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There were at least three hundred Seventh Realm mages, many of whom were even Kayden’s former disciples, including an Eighth Realm mage whom Kayden had taught.
"Master! I have returned," his voice boomed, full of pride. Yan was the strongest Seventh Realm mage ever in that world. It hadn’t taken much effort for him to become the Emperor of the Dark Empire.
The power transition was simple, with no major turbulence. The former emperor knew when his strength was insufficient and had even accepted Yan as his heir.
Kayden stepped out calmly, without any hint of surprise or emotion. He looked just as Yan remembered. Slowly, an overwhelming pressure filled the air as Kayden gazed at everyone.
"You’ve grown a lot in strength," Kayden said this as casually as a father would tell his son he was getting better at his favorite sport.
Kayden’s calm reaction put everyone on edge. Yan had expected fear, or at least genuine recognition—some shock at his power—but there was none. Kayden wasn’t even slightly unsettled.
While everyone was thinking this, Kayden subtly influenced Yan’s soul, provoking him to attack. Kayden wanted to break the boy’s composure and get a real fight, something he hadn’t had in billions of years.
"Grown? I’ve become the strongest man in this world. The seas part at my presence, everyone bows to my will, and the only reason I haven’t united the two empires is because of a few setbacks." In truth, the only setback was that he chose to see Kayden before the empires.
"And yet, you failed to strengthen your mind. You’re still unstable. You failed, Yan. Just accept it and move on with your life." Kayden’s words were like a punch to the gut for his former disciple.
The anger Kayden had been fueling exploded like a volcano. Without a word, Yan launched an attack of yellow water at Kayden, his special ability—a kind of divine mana liquid.
This liquid could take on dozens of forms, from healing to acidic. At that moment, it sped toward Kayden like an arrow, easily shattering the space around it. It was an absurd level of power.
Kayden had to use a powerful aura strike to block the attack. The sensation of giving his all again was intoxicating. This was a battle that wouldn’t disappoint him.
Thousands of divine water arrows were thrown, and Kayden responded with thousands of aura slashes. The universe itself seemed to carry out his actions; only his will was required at that moment.
"How are you so strong?" Yan was shocked after a few moves. Insecurity began creeping into his heart, growing stronger as Kayden sent subtle signals into his soul.
At that moment, two battles were taking place: one physical and the other between Kayden’s and Yan’s souls. Every attack Kayden made carried a tiny piece of his soul—so small it recovered in just a few seconds, but still terrifying.
A single particle of Kayden’s soul was enough to kill a weak-minded mage. All the Seventh Realm mages present fled for shelter after several died from casual attacks by Kayden and Yan.
BOOM!
A ball of water exploded with massive force and created a crater over ten kilometers wide that simply swallowed most of the city in ruins, not only that but it killed almost all the inhabitants of that region.
The seven-ray mages protected some random people they could, but most were killed, Kayden’s building was defended by him, and in secret, he ordered all his disciples to evacuate so he could deal with this fight with 100% focus.