The Seven Immortal Pagoda may seem like a beautifully constructed structure, but it was actually designed to be a battle field. There were array formations all over the floors that would draw in the Spirit Energy from the surroundings and construct various scenes within the floors with different scenarios for each and every person depending on their age.
One had to defeat whatever that floor formation would throw at them and only then the path to the next floor would appear. And there would also be an invisible pressure bearing down on the candidates on each floor and the pressure as well as the difficulty of the array formations would increase exponentially on each floor.
That was why the Elder said that if they could reach the fourth floor, they would be considered geniuses and if they reached the fifth floor, they would become direct disciples of one of the Elders here.
Of course, the battles that the candidates would encounter would all be illusionary, but how could these youngsters who just reached the Spirit Condensation Realm would figure out what was real and what was illusionary? Naturally, there wouldn’t be any mortal danger to whoever entered this pagoda, as the formation would immediately stop when the candidates would encounter a dangerous situation and expel them from the pagoda. Whatever the injuries they would feel they suffered in the array formation would disappear the moment they step outside the pagoda, but the feeling of injury would be in their minds and they would feel the pain of the injuries without any actual injuries.
And that was the most scary part of this Seven Immortal Pagoda!
The Elders were grouped outside the pagoda and were chatting with each other. They had taken out some tables ad wine and were drinking there like it was a picnic and not a Selection for the future students of their respective Academies.
“How many do you think would pass this trial? You know, the number of candidates this year that reached this stage were almost thrice the number we usually see in the Selections. Don’t you think so, Leo?” An Elder who appeared to be in his thirties and draped in a loose yellow robe asked the one to his side.
“It can’t be helped. The Seven Academies are recruiting all at the same time. Naturally, the difficulty of the tests had to be lowered to that level. Otherwise how could these who were still in the Spirit Sense Realm could have made to this stage?” Elder Leo who was a slightly lean but muscular man spoke up with a frown. He was naturally dissatisfied with the candidates that had appeared this time. None of them had any remarkable abilities or better Soul Grades. The highest he had seen in this batch of candidates was a single fifth grade Soul Talent, but he was unfortunately an Attribute less Spirit Cultivator.
“Ah, yes! Elder Vanko, it seems that the small batch of candidates that were with you had a small girl with a Pure Wooden Attribute and that a Variant Spirit Cultivator also has been present. Is it true?” It was once again the same Elder who turned his head towards Elder Vanko who was sitting to a side and quietly drinking to himself. Only this Elder dared to talk to him this freely as he had a reputation to be unsociable and was only concerned with either his Cultivation or his Rune Formation Mastery.
“It’s true. The Wood Attributed girl was 8 years and I think she was at 5th or 6th Level Spirit Sense Realm. And the other was another girl who managed to reach the Peak of the Spirit Sense Realm after the second test.” Elder Vanko replied blandly and didn’t even bother to look at who asked the question. As he was answering, the figure of a small boy flashed in his mind and he couldn’t help but speak. “But those two were not the ones to look at. There was a small boy who was 12 years old and reached the Spirit Condensation Realm at the second test.”
“Hmmm? What is there to lookt at that? His age being 12 years is something but when compared to the Pure Wooden Spirit girl, he is just like trash! At most, his Soul Grade would be at most fourth grade. It doesn’t matter how much he would suffer, he could only reach the Spirit Core Realm Mortal Core Level at his peak!” The two Elders were surprised and confused when they saw the Elder Vanko who rarely praised any one talk these many words about some one!
The Soul Grade was a method used as a standard measure to measure the talents of the Cultivators. There were Seven grades that were ever recorded in the history. It depends on the number of Profound Entrances a Cultivator would possess on his Soul Root that would allow the movement and absorption of the Spirit Energy. The more Profound Entrances one had, the more easily one could channel their Spirit Energies and the more intimate their contact with the Heaven and Earth would be. That would make reaching the higher Realms much easier when compared to the Cultivators with a lower number of the Profound Entrances.
Elder Vanko sneered in his heart, but he just had to tease these old guys. “Oh! Yeah, he is indeed a trash. He is just a trash who happened to Awaken a Spirit at the [Infantile Stage] at his Awakening that grew to pseudo Adolescent Stage. He is just a trash who managed to condense a an Innate Spiritual Sense when he was at the 8th Level Spirit Sense Realm. Yes, he is a trash indeed!” Elder Vanko simply stood up and walked off with a good feeling in his heart as he saw the faces of the two Elders grow increasingly ugly with every word he spoke.
But it didn’t mean that he approved of Azalon or interested in him. It’s just that he used Azalon as a cause to berate these nosy Elders. But he had to admit that small boy made some kind of impact in his heart with his talent and skills. Although he didn’t know exactly what Azalon’s Soul Grade was, but if he managed to Awaken a Soul Spirit at the [Infantile Stage] just when it was Awakened, then he could only see that his future could be full of infinite possibilities! After all, just a few minutes back, he managed to form an Innate Spiritual Sense just when he was in the Spirit Sense Realm.
While the Elders were chatting and drinking, all the heroes of this part of the tale were all gathered in the ground floor of the Seven Immortal Pagoda. Azalon and Sophie were among them and they were looking curiously around with wondrous expressions on their faces.
Even Azalon was amazed with what he saw when he entered the pagoda. The ground floor of the pagoda was a vast floor paved with the same blue stones he had seen back in the tunnel, except for that the stones that were laid in this floor were many times larger than the small stones that were in the tunnel. But what amazed Azalon was not these stones but the slight pressure he felt as soon as he entered here.
The pressure was minuscule to the level that he could completely ignore it but it was present there nonetheless like an invisible thing hovering right above their heads. He looked around the floor and discovered a small staircase in an inconspicuous corner of the floor. How could Azalon not recognize that this was the staircase to the first floor? But it seemed strange to him that none of the other candidates were making a move towards the stairs.
He frowned slightly and turned around only to see Sophie staring blankly towards a direction without even blinking.
“Sophie. Sophie.” He called out softly but she didn’t respond and continued to stare. His frown deepened as he patted her shoulder and she jumped like a scared cat. Her eyes instantly focused on him and Azalon could see confusion and slight trace of fear in her pale blue eyes.
“Wha… what happened?” Sophie asked hoarsely. Azalon stared at her and shrugged his shoulders.
“You were spacing out. Let’s move to the first floor.” He shook his head as he simply said. He didn’t understand what she experienced but if this would be the case from now on, he didn’t know how much of help he would be to her.
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“First floor?” Sophie looked around and asked with a confused look. “But how?”
“What do you mean ‘how?’ Don’t you see the staircase over there? Don’t act like fool and look properly!” Azalon felt his temper raising as he replied in irritation. How could she not see the staircase that was in plain view?! Is she acting like a fool just to irritate him?
“What do you mean there is a staircase? I don’t see anything! Oh, I know. You want to get rid of me so that you can just ride to the top with your new found strength of the Spirit Condensation Realm, right? I am just a weak little girl who has no choice but to blindly follow you if I want to get into the Academies!” Sophie was practically screaming by the time she reached the end. Azalon could see tears welling up her eyes and suddenly, his irritation flared.
“Yeah! You admitted to it! You are just a weak little girl right now, just like I was for 2 years! 2 fucking years as the family trash and no one cared about me! I am trying to take care of you just out of pity and a small reason that you are one of my family and this is how you take it? Very well. Let’s see what floor you reach with your pathetic cultivation. Ah, that’s right. You can’t even see the stairs to the first floor that are right in front of your fucking eyes!” Azalon got closer to Sophie and was practically shouting in her face. Azalon took in a deep breath and tried to reign in the anger he was feeling.
He didn’t know why he was feeling such anger and irritation and why he was shouting at Sophie for such a simple reason. But his anger flared once again when he saw the pitiful look on Sophie’s face as tears streamed down her pretty cheeks and her eyes were slowly turning red and puffy. Disgust welled up in him when he stared at her. How dare she try to cry in front of him? Who was he? He was a reincarnated scientist from Earth and he became a Cultivator of the Spirit Condensation Realm! He was practically the strongest of the younger generation of the three families in the Blue Wind City!
And he was also one of the rare among the rarest type of Cultivators thay had Awakened three Spirits. Three Soul Spirits!
Immense pride swelled his heart like a balloon as he thought of that. He was so proud of himself that he appeared to be heads and shoulders above these pathetic excuses for candidates around him. Except for the really strong like him, how dare these ants stand before him like they were his equals? His eyes slowly turned cold as looked around at all the Spirit Sense Realm Cultivators. His gaze even landed on some of the candidates at the First Level of the Spirit Condensation Realm like him.
Outside the Seven Immortal Pagoda…
“Hahahaha… It has started. Each floor of the Pagoda has different functions and the ground floor is the ‘Floor of Emotions’. It will rile up the emotions of the candidates within and they will behave according to whatever emotion that rules their heart. Some will slaughter the others consumed by rage, some will violate the girls consumed by lust and some would even commit suicide when they feel disgusted by themselves! I wonder what’s happening inside.” A pudgy Elder much like the Xan Huan Elder who came to the Blue Wind City laughed loudly as he saw the numerous dots of light on the side of the Pagoda’s ground floor. Each of these light dots represented a candidate and they would disappear and reappear based on the position of the candidates within the Pagoda.
The other Elders also stopped whatever they were doing as their attention was focused on the ground floor of the Pagoda. The ground floor was different from the rest of the floors because the array formation laid there doesn’t distinguish the candidates based on their age or cultivation levels. It was the only floor where the candidates would all feel the same level of the scenarios. But the only respite was that the array formation in this floor was only built to affect the mental states of the candidates. If it was the same as the killing arrays as those on the seven floors, then there would be no chance for the weaker candidates to enter the remaining floors.
Within the Ground Floor of the Pagoda…
It was the exact same situation as expected by the pudgy Elder. It was extremely chaotic as all of the candidates were overwhelmed by different emotions and they were behaving as guided by their emotions.
Some were trying to kill the other guys who irritated them while some of them were brooding over in a corner appearing extremely gloomy as dark clouds hovered above them. Even their Spirits were affected by the emotions their Masters were feeling as well as the array formation. After all, they too were living things and had emotions and such.
There were even pairs of boys and girls that were doing some things that shouldn’t be done at their ages and their moans and pleasurable gasps filled the entire floor making the scene even more chaotic.
There were even some of the youngsters who tried to make a move on Sophie. She was a natural beauty and her ice cold expression as well as her pure white jade like skin and her body filled with immature charm of a budding lotus was like a hot cake in the eyes of those who were consumed by their lust. But with her Variant Spirit that had the Innate Cold Affinity and with her Peak Spirit Sense Realm, she was practically invincible below the Spirit Condensation Realm. Every candidate who tried to approach her would be turned into an ice sculpture under the cold Energy radiating from her and then immediately destroyed to pieces.
And Azalon was one among the candidates who were killing the others.
He was originally powerful even before he entered the Spirit Condensation Realm and with him now stepped into another Realm, his strength soared like crazy. With his movement technique and fist technique, he was literally like a tiger within a flock of sheep.
His every punch suffused with the pure and condensed Spirit Energy was like a sledge hammer that would instantly kill a Cultivator of the Spirit Sense Realm and his speed was almost to the point that none of them could even see the silhouette of Azalon before he striked out. And with his Spiritual Sense covering the area, there was no way he would suffer a sneak attack.
Peng… Peng… Peng…
Three cultivators at the Spirit Sense Realm were killed by Azalon and were expelled out of the Seven Immortal Pagoda. He turned his head around and his eyes locked onto a Cultivator of the First Level Spirit Condensation Realm.
That one was a young man who appeared to be around 15 years of age and there was a brown scorpion the size of a jug with a needle shaped stinger at the end of its tail that was glowing with a black light. It was a Dark Attribute Soul Spirit and with a swoosh the stinger pierced through the neck of a Cultivator and his body faded away along with his Spirit.
Azalon’s eyes glimmered with pride and anger as he looked at the youngster. But just as he was about to move, a shout that shook him to his core roared in his mind.
“WAKE UP, KID!”
Azalon’s body trembled as his mind immediately cleared. He looked confused for a moment and then he remembered what he had been doing till now. His eyes filled with fear as he looked around himself at the different scenes that were going on. He looked down and found the source of the shout that sounded in his mind.
Raka looked up with disappointment and disdain in his shimmering golden eyes at Azalon and Azalon felt slightly uncomfortable under that gaze. But he was really thankful that Raka was able to wake him up but was also puzzled.as to how he managed to do it.
He dared not tarry any longer as he once again felt his emotions being stirred by who knows what. His eyes searched and locked onto the small figure that was surrounded by a stream of cold Energy around her. His figure flashed once and appeared right next to Sophie. Her cold Energy that attacked him was broken apart with a wave of his hand and his other arm linked up with her waist as he pulled her towards the small staircase he could see in the corner of the floor.
Raka followed behind the two figures as they rushed towards the staircase. Some of the candidates who were battling tried to interfere but were sent flying by a punch from Azalon. With six steps, he was next to the staircase and immediately ascended them.
They appeared on the first floor of the pagoda and the foreign feeling that was riling up their emotions suddenly disappeared as soon as they left the ground floor. Azalon breathed a sigh of relief and put down Sophie on the ground. She was still absent minded but quickly regained her wits as she looked around. Her gaze paused on the young boy and the tiger at his feet. Her eyes flickered when she remembered what had happened.
She stood up awkwardly not knowing what or how to say anything. Azalon understood her predicament and smiled slightly.
“Don’t worry. You didn’t mean to say those words and I didn’t mean them either. Let’s forget about them. If you want to thank anyone thank this little guy. I think this should be the first floor of the pagoda. With this we are pretty much qualified for the Selections but let’s check out this place as well.” He tried to divert the topic and glanced around with interest at the surroundings.
“Hmph! Who would want any thanks from such a kid. Well… if you want to say it… I don’t mind it…” He could hear Raka mumbling in a low voice and smiled. One day, he had to have a good talk with his Spirits.
“Mmm.” Sophie simply nodded her thanks to both Azalon and Raka and she too looked around at her new surroundings.
The first thing Azalon felt was that the pressure he felt on the ground floor almost doubled in here. But it was not to the point where it was causing any discomfort to him. But he glanced once at Sophie and seeing that she seemed normal except for being somewhat pale in her face, he felt relieved.
Now, what would this floor do?