Langrum was surrounded by six malicious cultivators, attacking her in sync in a circular formation. They were at the second level of the Foundation Establishment Realm, while Langrum was at the elementary first level of this realm, just like Zane and Gael.
She fought bravely, blocking and dodging with wisdom. Whenever there was an opportunity, she counterattacked wildly, her beastly bloodline seeming powerful, providing her with supreme physical ability. Fortunately, her appearance was practically human due to her human descent. This gave her an air of a muscular, strong, and yet beautiful woman.
Zane and Gael were slightly impressed. A cultivator who could fight against someone at higher levels was considered a genius anywhere. However, someone fighting against six of them at the same time? That, not to mention that all six were also talented and could easily fight between levels.
But despite her terrifying ability, it didn't take long for deep wounds to appear on Langrum. Zane, who could see everything perfectly, commented both to Gael and Mira. 'She would clearly win if they were outside the tower, under normal conditions. But unfortunately, in this Yin environment where everyone fights with limited senses, she seems very uncomfortable.'
Mira quickly became distressed. Gael noticed it and didn't know how to react. Zane didn't pay attention to Mira, focused on the fight ahead. He seemed to notice something that made him angry, so he spoke to the two again.
'This foolish woman. How can she consider herself an evil cultivator?' He spat out in anger. 'Despite having a death aura around her, it seems like she doesn't like, nor is accustomed to, brutally killing. She's not familiar with these Yin laws like the other cultivators, so she will die for nothing.'
Gael was slightly shocked. 'Evil cultivators who don't like to kill, how ridiculous is that...' Then he remembered that now he was an evil cultivator and had similar ideas to Langrum. Well, Zane was evil, not him, but Zane was him... his thoughts began to get too complicated, so he simply stopped thinking about it.
A saber pierced through Langrum's shoulder, and the sound of blood splattering could be heard by everyone. Then, some sinister laughter erupted from the six cultivators in the fight.
Zane just snorted, finding it amusing. Mira squeezed their shoulder, making Zane turn to her and meet her eyes.
'Master... can we help her, can we?' Mira spoke calmly.
She looked deeply into Zane's eyes, trying to sense "who was behind" those eyes at the moment. Even though she didn't know that there were two consciousnesses, she understood that her master acted in very different ways all the time; Mira observed them closely, always trying to understand a little more about them.
Zane responded dryly. 'A fool like her doesn't deserve our effort.'
Mira seemed to understand that response and fell silent, contemplating for a few seconds. Then she confidently replied, 'This disciple, even knowing that, will personally help.'
She jumped off their shoulder while Zane was strangely silent. Mira took a deep breath and took a step forward, but then a chubby hand touched her shoulder, holding her.
'Master, I'm not afraid. Even if I die, it's only because I'm weak.' She spoke, emanating a slight and feigned willingness to fight without caring about anything.
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Zane sighed and put her back on the shoulder, even though she made an angry and disapproving face. She was clearly pretending, and Zane knew it. But he liked it.
'It seems like she knows how to manipulate you and make you fulfill her wishes.' Gael teased, almost laughing.
Zane didn't seem to mind at all. If anything, he was pleased, but not for a reason Gael would like. 'Hehe! That just shows how good of a teacher I am. Manipulating people appropriately according to the situation is a valuable skill worth developing. For a moment, I almost fell for your sweet talk, so it's fair to reward her and encourage her to practice more.'
Zane was ruthless, cruel, and always did as he pleased, nurturing a disdain for weak and indecisive people. Mira, on the other hand, chose to adopt a determined and fearless stance, doing what she wanted even if her abilities were limited. This attitude pleased Zane, even though he recognized how foolish it might seem. However, that's exactly how he acted most of the time.
At that moment, the six cultivators realized they had victory within their grasp and decided to end the fight with a coordinated attack. Langrum, in an act of desperation, released her Qi, enveloping herself in a dense Yang aura.
Usually, when men use dual cultivations, they steal the women's Yin to improve themselves. Langrum, being the one to benefit, obviously was stealing the men's Yang instead.
It was clearly a desperate external power, an energy created by the dual cultivation technique that should remain stored in her body, intended to enhance her cultivation over time. However, at that moment, she couldn't afford to preserve anything and used all she had to survive.
The strike from the six cultivators made the laws briefly contort with their speeds. Then, six blades advanced toward Langrum's body from all directions.
Initially, her entire defensive power blocked the attacks, but in the next moment, it gave way. The blades continued to advance, piercing Langrum's skin. However, after a few centimeters, they stopped abruptly.
Langrum spat out a significant amount of blood, and although she couldn't see, she felt those six cultivators freeze in a strange manner. Then, a wave of frenzied winds swept over her body, causing her to take several steps back. But it freed her from the blades.
Crack!!!
The sound of six bodies breaking echoed, leaving Langrum stunned. Then, everything fell silent; she sensed no presence or words, but she was certain that someone had saved her, which infuriated her.
Spitting blood once again, she struggled to locate the figure who rescued her. Dry words entered her ears and then faded away. "You owe me one, brat."
Finally, Langrum heard distant footsteps belonging to a fat and noisy whale. She was sure who her savior was now, which only increased her irritation.
***
The final test finally concluded, and the gates slowly opened with a thunderous noise.
The elder was outside, standing with a cold gaze directed into the tower. Suddenly, the sound of something hitting the ground in front of the gate made him step back, startled.
Looking at what was thrown on the ground, he saw the most talented and powerful disciple of this group, unconscious and lying at the door, covered by earth laws. Suddenly, the laws evaporated, releasing the young man. The elder felt something emanating from within him as if an electric current had run through the disciple's body. Then, the young man's eyes opened wide, and he stood up.
The first thing Zanou saw was the strange gaze of the elder fixed on him. The memories of the beating he had suffered returned to his mind. Unaware, something in his soul was triggered, and a primitive fear overwhelmed him.
He couldn't explain what happened, and he couldn't risk being caught again. Realizing the end of the test, he thanked 'Luck' and simply hurried out of the tower without giving any explanation to the elder.
Less than a minute later, a hundred cultivators silently emerged from the black tower. About six hundred entered, and the elder waved, satisfied and surprised, with only a hundred and twenty returning alive.
The overwhelming majority had died; this result was considered excellent and very rare among the younger ones. It was a brutal massacre, and each survivor should have killed dozens. Their wings and abilities should have evolved rapidly.
When everyone silently gathered outside, the elder took out a cylindrical object and activated it. Inside the tower, there was an array capable of identifying and counting who killed whom during the test.
Zane and Gael were calm, feeling the symbol of the evil god in their bodies. The first wing was fully formed soon after they left the recruitment exam, but it had almost no power or capabilities. It was difficult to analyze these wings' true power with so little, so they decided to study more deeply as more wings formed. At that moment, they concluded that, despite killing quite a bit, it was enough only for a third of the second wing to form.
Zane then expressed his dissatisfaction mentally to Gael. 'We should have killed everyone and seized the opportunity. You're a ridiculous coward.'
Gael didn't respond and just ignored him. He wouldn't accept a massacre without reason. They only killed those who came directly to them, but without realizing it, both seemed to have completely lost track of the numbers. After all, killing millions quickly was common for them. Gael was more bothered by Langrum's piercing and angry gaze in their direction.
Then, the elder's expression suddenly changed as he analyzed the result. "Uh... this seems to be wrong."
He looked at Zane and Gael intensely for a few seconds and sighed, reluctantly accepting reality. "Almost everyone killed an average of three others, not a bad result and only common..."
He sighed again, trying to accept his next words. "But... the array shouldn't have made mistakes. And somehow, it named the first, second, and third place for a single cultivator..."
"GOKU! He killed... 220 disciples!"