Azalon stood there with a blank expression on his face. He simply had no idea what happened the few moments before. All his mind registered was that his Spirits could talk with him and he could talk with them as well just like LILY!!
He had some inkling that this was because of the mysterious sensation he had as well as the formation of the vertical eye between his eyebrows. Not to mention the increase in his brain activity. But what exactly these all signified, he had no idea in the slightest!
Suddenly, he felt a slight shift in the Energy in the atmosphere at his back and he turned around only to see nothing different. The flowers and the trees were all beautifully dancing in the wind, and the pretty butterflies, bees and insects were all scurrying busy with their lives. But he could still feel the Energy fluctuations at this spot.
It was like, like… something was manipulating the Energy to form a sort of cushion!
He suddenly lifted his head and sure enough he saw two small silhouettes slowly become bigger in his vision as they descended from the peak of the mountain. Azalon couldn’t see their faces but he felt like that these two silhouettes were like unfathomably deep oceans and had a mysterious aura around them, especially one of them. He had such an aura around him that made Azalon feel that his own existence was really insignificant before that presence!!
Azalon instantly understood that what he was feeling was the cultivation bases of the two figures. His conclusion was proved when the two figures swiftly descended and landed before them. They were the same Elder Vanko who was supposed to be injured and the old crazy man who beat that Elder Vanko!!
And looking at them now with his change in perception, Azalon could see that the Cultivation Realm of the old man was many times more deep and profound than the Elder Vanko. It was evident to Azalon that this old man was someone with some great status and strength even in the supposedly massive organizations like the 7 Great Academies!
It was like the old man was almost one with the world around him and at the same time within a world of his own. Azalon didn’t dare open the vertical eye between his eyebrows to unleash that mysterious feeling as he was not sure how and what would happen when he did so and more than that how these two that were standing in front of him would react to that mysterious sense!
At least he couldn’t be even compared to the Elder Vanko let alone that old man who was in a whole new level than that of the Elder Vanko!!!
“As I thought, this old man should be at least at the Soul Core Realm or even in the Nascent Soul Realm!!” Azalon sucked in a cold breath as he felt that the aura from the old man was like a massive tempest that was raging with the old man as the epicenter, now that they stood so close to each other!
When he was concentrating on the two Elders, the 8 others who managed to break out from the dream world slowly gathered in front of the two Elders alongside Azalon and Kazan Hin. The old Elder and Elder Vanko turned their gazes to them when all of them gathered.
It was then that the old man gaze paused when it reached him and Azalon felt a chill run down his spine. His body shuddered and his mind trembled under that casual gaze. He could even feel his Energy Vortex and the Soul within the Vortex shudder slightly as the gaze landed on him.
He felt that under that gaze, he was like a transparent bottle that could be completely seen through without any chance of hiding something! It was like that gaze could even see the deepest and darkest secrets that were buried within heart!!
Even Raka cringed slightly when that old Elder was observing Azalon and his golden pupils narrowed slightly, but it relaxed in a moment and it resumed its apathetic and lazy look on its face.
It was only a moment that the old Elder’s gaze stayed on him, but for Azalon it felt like an eternity! He could clearly see that the eyes of that old Elder flashed with a brilliant light that was contained within the pupils when his gaze landed on Azalon and that was the cause for his uncomfortable feeling! Azalon immediately inferred that this old Elder should have the same eye powers like himself and moreover, the power of that ability would far outstrip Azalon’s power or ability when boosted by that Elder’s cultivation base.
Elder Vanko cleared his throat, looked at the last speck of sand make its way down in the small hourglass in his hand and spoke with a stiff voice.”The 10 of you have passed the second test, [Dream Trial], as you have managed to break out from the dream world within the time allotted to you. You may all be wondering what was all this is about. Let me explain in a moment.”
“The first test started the moment this Elder Paul made his appearance and we both withdrew from your vicinity. The first test’s reasoning was very simple. We have staged a simple play where you will be shown this wonderful place and we will disappear from your view. At the same time, we will give you some warning as well as some pressure regarding the Academy Selections by saying to you that you are late and as such. We informed you that an Elder is on the way and not to move around in the garden while giving you some fear regarding the array formations laid out in the garden. We wanted to see what you would do when facing this sort of temptation that was placed before you.” Elder Vanko explained it all in one breath and turned to look at the youngsters standing before him.
“And the second test, the dream world created by a [Dream Rendering Array] by creating a situation from the most prominent memories that had a lasting impact on you and making you to relieve those memories while riling up your emotions all the while. That was to test your spirit and Will power you possess to force yourselves out of that situation.” Elder Vanko’s expression darkened slightly as he cast a glance at the 12 – year old child standing at the corner of the ten candidates listening with a calm smile. He was slightly surprised at the calm look on that slightly childish face that turned into a smirk when that child saw him looking at him and his expression darkened further.
What he was doing was something more than just talking. He was subtly manipulating the Spirit Energy around him with his Core Sense to converge on to the ten of these candidates and at the same time creating a barrier like obstruction around the candidates preventing them from easily absorbing the Spirit Energy around them. With each word he spoke, the Spirit Energy would converge more and more and increase its presence on them under his Core Sense. At the same time they would also become aware of the difficulty of absorbing the Spirit Energy to bolster their cultivation levels!
It would be extremely frustrating to have that dense Spirit Energy to be around them only to helplessly drool at it and being unable to absorb it!
He was also observing the facial expressions of them so as to judge their conditions they were faring under the steadily increasing presence. This was also a kind of test but at the same time also not a test!
These handful of candidates passed through three consecutive tests without any relief between tests. They faced their strengths and weaknesses head on and came out victorious from the different scenarios all the while being under constant pressure!
This short amount of time they have spent performing the tests was for a single reason! That was to draw out and simulate all the latent potential that a candidate could display when under pressure and to what extent he could utilize that pressure to temper himself or herself. That was the true mark of a genius!!
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Even if you have tremendous potential dormant within you and you face a situation where that dormant potential will wake up, the determining factor would be how much you can profit from the awakening of that potential and increase your strength and talent! And the third test was just that! Arousing the potential of the candidates and observe just how much they would gain from this ordeal.
This test was also a kind of reward for these candidates that withstood the screening of these two tests and the Preliminary Test. Meditating in this Spirit Energy rich surroundings with their potential aroused would be like having double the results with half the effort. But that was only for the general case. A genius would channel that awakened potential and there were even cases where there would be some peerless monsters that would even advance to the next Realm when placed in the same situations!!
An Entire Realm!!! Now, those were existences that couldn’t even be described with words like genius or prodigy!!!
At the very least, he was only looking for the talents that could at least advance 3 – 4 Levels within the time of recuperation before the last test would commence.
But now this child was facing him with a calm expression that everything was in his hands… or was it really? When he remembered the Innate Spiritual Sense that this child condensed previously, his eyes couldn’t help but color with envy and even admiration. He had to admit that this kind of decisiveness and resoluteness was not something that could be seen in all kinds of people. Only those with this kind of attitude could walk far on the path of the Cultivation.
Azalon was the only one among the ten that could sense what was going on around him. He observed that the moment the Elder Vanko started speaking, there was a force that was driving the Spirit Energy in the surroundings towards them and also create a barrier that maintained itself around their bodies like a cocoon preventing the Spirit Energy rushing into their Energy Vortexes.
He was not excited nor anxious when he sensed the force envelop him in its cocoon and the increasing concentration of the Spirit Energy outside the cocoon. He suddenly smiled as this reminded of the same situation he had been facing just a few months ago. Isn’t the same situation as that of the bubble he could feel that prevented him from cultivating the Spirit Energy because of his Rejected Soul?? He didn’t think that he would face similar situation like this and at this time. That Elder Vanko suddenly turned towards him with a slightly grumpy expression and his smile turned into a mischievous smirk.
How could he not tell that these two could have sensed the mysterious sense he had with their Cultivation bases. In fact he was looking for an opportunity to talk to them to clear his doubts. He had a hunch that this old Elder was interested in him and he wouldn’t back away from at least answering what that mysterious sense was. As a matter of fact, Azalon had a slight idea of what this mysterious sense was, but he couldn’t be sure of that. That was also why he was thinking of asking these two Elders for information. He also wanted to know what happened to that little girl Nina. He had not seen her after he separated from her and Hank after the Preliminary Test.
Azalon didn’t continue to listen to the explanation of the Elder Vanko about the previous tests. How could he not have guessed what those situations were simulated for and what they were expecting them to do?
The Preliminary Test had been pretty straight forward beside the fact that the test had been sprung at them without any warning. That test was to test the reaction speeds of the candidates and rate them according to their adaptivity and reactions.
As the Elder Vanko said, the first test was about the presence of mind and the attentiveness a candidate will display. The situation was that the Elder Vanko took them to this beautiful and heavenly garden that was eye – dazzling to the extreme and then the old man responsible for the management of this garden came thundering down on this Elder Vanko on the premise that they had intruded into this place. And then he beats the Elder Vanko to a pathetic state and fly off leaving them behind!
Now, if you think for a moment, these two were completely manipulating the scenes from the shadows all the time. First by creating an intimidation in the candidates by showing that big ass mountain gate that was used as the entrance to this garden, then create an awe by showing off this impressive piece of land filled with natural sceneries and thick Spirit Energy. Then create a mind boggling scene of having that Elder Vanko who was numerous times more stronger than the strongest Spirit Cultivators they could have come across in their lives taken down extremely easily by that old man. Then issue a warning of the dangers within the garden that would attack the wanderers and then leave them here!
It was at this point that Azalon found something fishy going on! As per the act these two played out, the old man should be the one that loves and takes care of this garden. He had blown a top when he saw that Elder Vanko intrude into this garden. Now that very same old man leaves a bunch of children that never saw a place like this without a guard or vigilance! Isn’t that contradictory to the nature of the old man that was supposed to be obsessive or at least protective of this piece of land? And that was also why Azalon dared o come forward to explore the garden and cultivate his Spirit Energy in this environment.
And even if the act had been real, its not like they could just kill the candidates that have come to participate in the Selection Campaign of the Academies just because they have absorbed some Spirit Energy to cultivate here! Even if they want to blame some one, they could only blame that Elder Vanko for leading them here and that old man for leaving them here. That was because, as far as Azalon was concerned, these types of large and mammoth organizations lived and died for their prestige and image. If they lowered themselves to kill a pathetic Spirit Sense Realm Cultivator just because he cultivated a level or two in the garden, then the world wouldn’t laugh at them with their mouths!!! It was the same even back on Earth and that had also been the reason why they banned and exiled him from the Society!
And for the dream world, it was pretty much explained by that Elder Vanko. It was to measure their stubbornness and perseverance as well as will power to not crumble in front of those mind wrenching memories.
And this third test should be the aptitude test or in other words, measure the talents of the remaining candidates and take the best pick among them!
Azalon felt that all he had to do was to find a way around the cocoon formed by that Elder Vanko that was preventing the Spirit Energy from reaching him and cultivate that Energy.
“This is becoming more and more interesting!!” Azalon’s eyes glittered brightly as he felt that same fighting spirit rise within him he hadn’t felt for a long long time.
“Now, you will have 2 hours to remain in this [Crystal Flower Garden]. That is your reward for passing the second test successfully. You can do as you wish in this garden except for touching the plants, trees or flowers. You can take them if you want, but only if you can defeat me in a duel and I will even personally pluck you whatever you want from this garden if you defeat me.” Elder Vanko’s cold voice rang out and he exploded with the cultivation base of the Core Realm that produced a massive pressure on the ten candidates watching him making them curl up in horror!
Defeat him in a duel! Are you kidding me? I can’t even beat someone a level higher than me and you want us to fight with you? Do you think us as fools that would throw away our lives for fun?
They were all thinking the same thing but what they felt was an ember in the face of a sun when compared to what Azalon was feeling right now! In his mind’s eye, when that Elder Vanko exposed his aura of his cultivation base, Azalon could see a massive cloud of Spirit Energy that was pouring out from the Elder Vanko’s body and constantly swirl around him creating a cloud of Spirit Energy with his body at the center. But what surprised Azalon was the phantom of a massive 50 foot long python with glittering pale green scales all over its body and a pair of huge wings that spread open behind the Elder Vanko’s body giving him an appearance of having a set of massive wings, that was formed within the cloud of the Spirit Energy!
Azalon instantly understood that the phantom of the golden scaled serpent should be the Soul Spirit of the Elder Vanko that was stored in the Core Space in his Spirit Core! Raka who was sleeping in Azalon’s arms instantly snapped his eyes open when the phantom image of the golden scaled serpent formed and the golden eyes glared coldly at the golden scaled serpent Spirit of the Elder Vanko! Surprisingly, the phantom image of the golden scaled serpent fluctuated slightly when Raka glared at it and it was at this moment, that the old man who was standing beside Elder Vanko suddenly turned his eyes towards Azalon who was watching the scene that only he could see with wide eyes and open mouth.
Elder Paul was astonished when he saw the expression on Azalon’s face and also the small tiger cub in his eyes that was glaring in the same direction of Azalon with its golden pupils that had silvery lines under its eyes that formed an enchanting pattern on its gray fur that further highlighted the cold golden eyes!
“Interesting. This is getting more and more interesting!” Elder Paul muttered to himself as the astonishment faded from his old face returning it to its tranquil state.