Suddenly, tremendous pressure fell upon the peak. Not intending to harm, but suppress. It was Elder Thorne who had descended.
All the chatter died down instantly. The people raised their heads collectively and saw two figures and gasped.
"Is that Elder Lin and Elder Thorne?"
"Wait…those two are the examiners?"
"Damn, this year we are really unlucky!"
Many whispers and gasps were heard before a sharp voice cut through the air.
"We, the Divine Sword Sect, welcome the promising new generation. This year's trials will be conducted as per the previous year's objective, that is, to test 3 things," Elder Thorne's voice boomed among the gathered crowd.
Rahu was listening intently, but couldn't help but be bored. He was the least affected by the pressure released by the elder.
"Sword Comprehension, Will and Strength," Elder Thorne concluded.
Murmurs erupted among the crowd again, as confusion was spreading.
"The participants need to reach that cave over there, and the first 1000 partcipnats inside the cave standing can be eligible in the first round." Elder Thorne said as he pointed at a cave that was at least 10 miles away from there.
It was covered by a dense forest, and many demonic beasts could be seen roaming around the vicinity.
Both elders vanished, panic erupted among the masses, the implication was clear, this was their last chance to retreat.
After a few seconds, blades flashed, blood flew. The crowd rushed towards the cave.
"Move bastard!"
"Y-you how dare you stab me?!"
"Hey! Who touched my butt? Asshole!"
The mobs rushed forward, though 10 miles might seem far, but for higher-realm cultivators, it really was nothing.
Just after a few seconds, a cultivator reached the radius of 1 mile, just as he was about to take a step forward, he suddenly bumped into something invisible.
With a loud boink, the cultivator crashed onto the ground.
"What the heck?!" the random cultivator was bewildered.
"Fools, how could it be that easy, when the grumpy elder specifically warned you?" Rahu chuckled; he was walking leisurely. Almost, as if he were sightseeing.
"But, master, how can they not see something so simple as that formation array?" Karma tilted her cutely and asked.
"Well, let's just say that examination isn't for every lin, pin, and din out there."
"Hm, but Karma still does not understand!"
"Then you're useless, wait, how did you even survive this long with that head of yours?" Rahu asked, a bit incredulous.
"M-master! How can you be so mean to Karma?!" Karma pouted and huffed to the side.
Rahu chuckled, "This array is a bit special, you see, only ones with [Sword Sense] could be able to see the tiny gaps scattered across the array." Rahu pointed at the array and said in a lazy tone. Many cultivators who dashed past him were sneering.
"But Master, if you keep walking at this pace, we will reach the cave after the next generation takes their spot!" Karma hurriedly spoke. Indeed, he was last; many others were already surrounding the array.
"Why the hurry? I'm sure at least a few hundred of them are gonna be eliminated, and even if they don't we can still kill those inside, right? The grumpy old man said, 'The standing thousand' will be passed." Though he said that with his speed, they had already arrived at the spot.
As he had guessed, more than a thousand were still standing outside; it seems some had already figured out the way inside.
Rahu looked around, then took a step and landed at the boundary of the array. Closing his eyes, he stretched out his hand and lightly touched the barrier. In that moment, his violet orbs shone a blue hue.
With a thought, he spotted hundreds of thousands of spots that were the weak points of the barrier. They were blue colored and unnaturally shaped.
"Well, this isn't even the first round, no wonder it's so easy," Rahu mused, with a flick of his finger, an opening tore through the barrier, just enough to let him.
He stretched out his hand and walked inside amidst the surprised gazes of hundreds of cultivators. Even standing still, he attracted gazes left and right.
Walking inside the cave, he saw cultivators standing there; there were exactly 150 of them. They turned towards him, surprised.
The cave itself was big, and interestingly, there were thousands of smaller chambers at the end of the cave.
Rahu walked in without interest; he really missed teasing Vivianne. With a sigh, he went towards a corner and sat down, closing his eyes.
Time passed, and soon people began to pour in. It was already afternoon. With the sun up in the sky, the cave welcomed the last participant, who was a panting girl.
"Karma, are all of them here yet?"
"Yes, master! Karma had just counted for the fifth time, and the count added up to 1000 when that girl arrived!" Karma said excitedly, as if she had unraveled a quantum theory.
Rahu slowly rose; the dim lights through the cave flickered, just as he was about to rebuke Karma, a deep voice thundered through the cave.
"Each one of the candidates enters the chambers separately, and there starts the first round of your trial. Now go," Elder Thorne said in his usual grumpy tone.
No nonsense, straight and direct.
The cultivators strode to the chambers, entering one by one. Rahu too chose one, which was at the far left side of the cave.
Just as he was about to enter, he heard a voice," No pets allowed," Elder Thorne said, looking towards Rahu, specifically Karma.
Rahu sighed; he had expected this. He picked up Karma by her neck and tossed her aside like a piece of garbage—a bit gently, though.
"M-master, how could you a-abandon me?" Karma asked in an incredulous tone. She couldn't believe she was abandoned just like that. Although she knew it was against the rules, he could have at least argued to the elders for her a bit! Heartless Master!
"Well…sucks to be you," Rahu smirked and walked inside the chamber; the door closed. Seeing the pitiful beast, even Elder Thorne felt a bit of pity for that creature, though his gaze only earned a furious growl from Karma.
…
Rahu walked inside the chamber, neither too big nor too small. In the middle of the chamber was a small pillar.
On top rested a spherical stone, larger than a human head. There was a message written on the pillar which said,
{Sever the stone, You may use [Sword Intent]}
"Oh? Now this…is interesting," Rahu smirked.