Chapter 54 - Entering the Pagoda
Under the astonished expressions of the present people, Heu brought Lian to sit away from the crowd that had surrounded them. They needed some time to prepare themselves for the start of the second trial as they had to adjust their spirit and their mind.
Although the dream trial was only an illusion, it was very exhausting for the mind, especially when one had no experience in being subjected to illusions. Furthermore, the illusion generated in the dream trial would shake the person's inner demons, eventually leaving them in a very agitated emotional state. That was why some time was given between one trial and another.
In contrast, the combat trial, although it was also an illusion, simply went to recreate some imaginary opponents. So the participants ended up running out of strength but without the collateral emotional effects that the first trial had.
The younger generation inner members of the first group who first started the dream trial, had already begun to undertake the combat trial. At the same time, the others of the next groups were sitting waiting for their turn.
They, although they were focused on getting ready for their turn, couldn't help but take a look at Hei and Lian, who had caused such a stir on the other side.
In a particular point in the training ground, among those waiting for their turn, there were five youths, three boys and two women, who sat apart from all the others. From the fearful expression with which the younger generation inner members were looking at those five, it seemed they even feared to disturb them if they got too close to them.
These five youths were none other than the elders’ personal disciples and the favorites to occupy the top 5 seats in the ranking and win the most coveted prizes. All of their scores in the dream trial had been unbelievable. Each of them used a time very close to the maximum recorded record. However, that was before Hei and Lian managed to break that record.
The five personal disciples were looking with curiosity at the strange couple who had succeeded in such an unbelievable feat - breaking down the record that had existed for who knows how long. But unlike the others, they knew Hei's origins well, or at least they thought they did because their information was none other than that provided by their respective elders.
"Sister Mei, did you see that performance? Isn't it incredible?" Exclaimed a black haired girl with an excited voice.
She was Ying Yue, the personal disciple of the seventh elder who had met Hei some time ago at the point of exchange.
"Yes, I have seen." Replied calmly, the girl called Mei, that was none other than the sect leader’s personal disciple. Although she didn't show it as her tone appeared uninterested, her eyes were focusing at Hei and Lian, especially the latter.
"And, so what? He has broken the dream trial record, but in the end, it is his fighting ability that counts as well as his cultivation speed. Besides, the dream trial is random. He may simply have been lucky that an illusion of little importance has happened to him." A tall boy with dark hair and a lean build had arrogantly said.
Although he was skinny and didn’t give the impression of being a formidable opponent, his strength wasn’t to be underestimated. He was, in fact, the son of the sixth elder, as well as the probable future successor of the regulation division.
Within the sect, he was feared due to his connections with the regulation division. The younger generation's inner members were always careful about how to behave in front of him as to avoid being penalized.
"Cao Su, you know what you said is nonsense, right? There is no easy or difficult in the dream trial. Everyone would face their weaknesses according to their inner demons. The only reason they took so little time is that unlike us and everyone else, they didn't directly fight the illusion, but they accepted it within themselves. I guess you don't need me to explain to you what that means, do you, Cao Su? " said Li, the personal disciple of the second elder and his younger brother.
"What?! What are insinuating, Li? Do you want to fight? Do you think I'm not smart enough not to understand your sarcastic comments?"
"Enough." Instead, an authoritative and decisive voice replied. The owner of this voice was none other than Mei, who, being the personal sect of the sect leader, also had the authority to impose orders on other personal disciples in situations like these.
At her command, a red-haired boy answered with a laugh.
"Do you find this funny, Zan?" Mei asked in a serious tone.
Zan, the son of the first elder and his personal disciple, answered.
"Who cares about the method or whether it was easy or not. As Su said, all that matters is your fighting skills. Even though he put on a good show during the promotion trials for the outer members, his opponents were just trash in the end. So, for me, he is still just trash at the moment. If he shows some skills in the combat trial, then it will mean he isn’t that bad and that he is worth being crushed by me."
His words revealed absolute confidence in his abilities. It just didn’t consider Hei as his opponent only because he managed to break the dream trial record. But even if Hei proved to be strong, Zan was sure that in the end, he would be the winner against all other inner members of his generation.
"Uhmm, big sister Mei. It is our turn. They say that we have to enter the five of us together."
Thus the lively discussion between the five personal disciples ended, and they got up in unison to head towards the building prepared for the combat trial.
As they stood up, everyone's eyes focused on them, quickly forgetting Hei and Lian’s feats.
It was right. The dream trial was worth less than the combat trial, and Hei’s opponents during his previous fights had been nothing but mere outer members that certainly couldn’t be called powerful. So, as much as they did well in both trials, especially the combat one, others also could grab the sixth and seventh seats.
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But it wasn’t the time to make calculations about their chances of winning. In the heart of every younger generation inner member, there was only one question at the time - who was the strongest personal disciple of the sect? Who would lead the younger generation for the year to come?
Although the most favored were the personal disciples of the first and second elders, none of them knew precisely the power of the sect leader’s personal disciple as she was a very reserved person. The regulation division elder's son, despite his arrogant and touchy manner, was very gifted. It was also known that his father tended to favor him more than what he should, following him more assiduously than what the other elders did with their personal disciples. The granddaughter of the seventh elder, on the other hand, despite her cordial manner, was certainly not to be underestimated, considering she was the personal disciple of the strongest elder of the sect.
With all these unknowns variables about their actual strength, it was difficult to predict the outcome.
The five entered under everyone's eyes and were swallowed up by the darkness that reigned inside.
Meanwhile, Hei and Lian had been meditating all this time, ignoring the conversation between the elders’ personal disciples. It didn’t matter how those five thought about their performance, Hei and Lian weren't there to get their approval or recognition.
In any case, when the five entered, Hei opened his eyes, and so did Lian. Together they turned their gaze to the building for the combat trial. Then, they began to observe the lights that were being lit on the five floors of the pagoda that testified to which wave they were.
Bao Bei also carefully began to observe the changes in the pagoda. Because her illusion had to be the most credible possible, she had to memorize every smallest change while the participants were facing the various waves. She had already analyzed the other participants, but this time it was the elders’ personal disciples turn, who were the most likely to get the best scores.
In less than three minutes, all five floors went from green to dull blue. A sign that they had passed the first wave, but it wasn’t yet the time for the second one. The time was set at five minutes for each wave.
Since the combat trial was based on the management of your forces while facing multiple fights, it was essential to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible. But at the same time, you had to minimize the expenditure of energy. Beating the first wave using three precise minutes was synonymous with their strength and their fighting skills, as they used the first minutes to warm up, leaving at the same time some minute to recover.
After two minutes, the blue light lit up, and the second wave began. The second one, as well as the third one, were finished around three minutes, with several seconds of difference between the five. But the fourth wave turned out to be more difficult as they finished it shortly before the end of time that marked the beginning of the fifth wave.
Finally, they had reached the fifth wave, and now there were no more time limits since there were no subsequent waves, except the continent's trial. So far, they had all had more or less the same pace, so it was difficult to say who was ahead. But surely, the first to defeat their enemy and pass the trial would almost certainly secure the first place.
At 17 minutes and 32 seconds, one of the pagoda's floors lost its red color and became golden in color. A sign that the person to whom this plan corresponded had finally passed the fifth wave, thus becoming the number one for the moment.
Shortly after, the doors of the pagoda opened, and an orange-haired boy came out. He was the first elder’s son, Zan. His face was full of sweat as he walked with difficulty. Nevertheless, there was a proud smile on his face as he rejoiced at his victory.
Shortly afterward, the other floors also turned golden, and the other participants went out in turn.
The provisional ranking saw - in the first place, Zan, the son of the first elder; in the second Mei, the personal disciple of the sect leader; in the third Li, the younger brother of the second elder; in the fourth Cao Su, the son of the sixth elder; in the fifth, Ying Yue, the granddaughter of the seventh elder.
Although the difference of time between the five was only a handful of seconds, those seconds made a fundamental difference in deciding their ranks. But, only with this, it wasn’t possible to evaluate with certainty that the son of the first elder was the strongest of the five personal disciples. Still, certainly in the combat trial, he had provided the best performance.
Whether it was luck or he was actually the strongest, the first place was his.
Looking at these results, the other younger generation inner members couldn’t help but make wry smiles. Only a few of them were able to get to the fifth wave, and even fewer could overcome it. However, their times were far worse than those shown by the personal disciples.
With this, they again confirmed the harsh reality and the difference of talent that separated them from the elders’ personal disciples.
Despite the clamor generated by the performance of the five geniuses of the Flower Sect, the combat trial had to continue, and the next participants were immediately called. It had to pass a very long time before Hei and Lian's turn came.
Even if they had given them a rest time of 15 minutes, considering the number of participants and only five spots inside the pagoda, it was reasonable to wait a lot more than just a quarter of an hour.
When Hei and Lian got up and went to the pagoda, everyone's eyes returned to focus on the couple again. Although the talent shown by the five personal disciples had cemented their position in the eyes of the younger generation inner disciples, Hei had shown one surprise after another.
Although it was almost impossible for them for him to get the first position, if he did well enough, he could still get one of the seven coveted places.
But Hei wasn’t the only one kept under observation. Lian was also an object of interest from the crowd. The beautiful girl they thought was just an accompaniment, had proved to be very talented, and they were curious to know if she was good even in combat.
Thus the two of them, together with other three inner younger generation disciples who became agitated because of all that indirect attention they were receiving, entered the pagoda.
Inside, there were five bedrolls arranged to symbolize the tips of a pentagon. Next to where they were supposed to lie, there was another potion, different from the first one. That second potion always served to increase the intensity of the illusion.
There was only one person of the sect assigned to evaluate them instead. After all, compared to the dream trial, this time, only 5 participants were undergoing the combat trial at the same time.
Taking a seat in one of the bedrolls, Hei gave a final nod in Lian's direction to encourage her and then drank his potion, falling into a heavy sleep.
Suddenly, his surroundings began to change, and he found himself in an empty circular room. There were no doors or windows, and there was no sign of interior decoration. Except for his steps, there was no other noise whatsoever.
Shortly after that, a metallic voice sounded in the room.
"Combat Trial - Weapon choice. Think about the type of weapon you use, and it will be reproduced."
Confused, Hei did what the voice said anyway and thought of the spear he was using lately. It appeared without warning in his hand. It was exactly like his spear. Every detail had been perfectly reproduced. Then the metallic voice spoke again.
"Evaluation of the participant - the third stage of spirit apprentice. Age evaluation - 13 years. Playback error. The subject is higher than the level reached on the Rainbow Island. Calibration of the trial... rated high-level talent on the Continent. Creating an opponent for the continent trial."
The metallic voice uttered a series of words all in a row. Hearing what it said, Hei realized that his mother's speculations were right. The system had assessed him off scale and had him go directly to the Continent Trial.
Meanwhile, the exact same thing was happening to Lian as her opponent was also being materialized.