On the other side, Krune checked over Tasier, who used his bloodline power. Although he was putting a strong front, Krune could feel that he wasn't feeling as good as it seemed.
"How long until you recover from the usage of bloodline power?"
Tasier pondered a bit about the time he kept using it and said.
"If I keep using your pills, it should take half a day."
Krune nodded. It means that Tasier won't be able to rely on it for at least 4 or 5 doors, maybe more. He then helped Tasier and Lofa to recover from their injuries and once again set off to look for another entry. As for the contestants that teleported over with them, that group had long since left. On the way, Krune looked at Tasier and said.
"During the next doors, you better not draw more of your bloodline since it weakens your overall combat power."
Tasier nodded since he knows that too. At the moment, he can only fight with 60% to 70% of his full strength. And that's because he didn't use his bloodline for too long. If he had used it longer, it would be a wonder if he could fight with even 50% of his power.
Krune's group found another door around 30 minutes later, this one had 7 slots and had two contestants waiting beside it already. They looked at Krune's group warily, but Krune did nothing to them, much for their relief. The door has been opening faster and faster, so Krune thinks that this one won't take more than two hours to open as well.
Tasier looked at Krune and asked.
"There are only two of them here. Shouldn't we take this chance to eliminate them and reduce the competition?"
Instead of Krune, it was Shinja who shook her head.
"We don't know what kind of abilities they have, if one of them manages to flee and call over more contestants, the situation might get worse instead."
Krune nodded at what Shinja said.
"My Tribulation Lightning is powerful, but remember that it isn't infinite. The more I use, the less I have. I'm taking every second available to recharge it, which takes quite some time."
Over two hours passed, and the number of contestants around the door increased to 16. Krune's group could be said to be the biggest at the moment, the others were lonely cultivators or demon beast, or their group had at most two contestants. Since the door has 7 slots, there is no doubt that everyone will at least be an attacker.
Krune was totally focused on the door, it was about time for it to activate. He had discussed it with everyone, and they made a plan to try to seize the defender position from the start. But for some reason, the door didn't open until three hours were up. It didn't matter, though. The longer it was, the more Tasier could recover.
Krune's group was the strongest at the moment, and by combining their efforts, they were able to seize the defender side of the slots for everyone. Tasier has been recovering for those three hours, so he could already fight with 70 to 80% of his strength. Not to mention that this time, as the defender, he just had to hold.
One must remember that Krune's group isn't the only one battling to advance. Their opponents also passed through several trials to get here, so some of them aren't at full power either.
Without any problems, Krune's group advanced into the 93rd floor.
A little earlier on Ao's group side, the situation was basically the same, their door had 8 slots, and the number of contestants waiting for it to activate was only 15. Someone would even be alone inside without anyone attacking.
The door activated the same way, and everyone rushed inside the slots. Ao and Joty were close to each other, and each one of them rushed to a door beside them. Surprisingly, because of one attack that Ao used to scare his opponent away, Joty's opponent was also affected. Joty took that chance to rush inside and get the defender position.
Once again, the ten minutes countdown started. As mentioned before, everyone had been going trough battle to get to this place, so quite a few were injured. Arlan, Ao, and Yusa had no problem to fend their opponents back. In contrast, Joty's slot had become the lucky one without anyone attacking. The guy who intended to take Joty's slot saw that Joty didn't seem very injured and gave up the idea, he then attacked another door from someone who looked in a worse state.
Not only Ao, even Yusa and Arlan, started to notice this guy's luck. Ao thought back to the battles using the battle formation and recalled that during those times, there was rarely an opponent who decided to attack through Joty's position. They couldn't help but wonder if someone's luck could really be that great.
Still, once more, this is good news for their group, so they didn't mind it for now.
The ten minutes soon was over, and Ao's group was teleported to the 93rd floor as well.
The 93rd and 94th levels weren't too difficult for both Krune and Ao's group. Joty, somehow, still relied on his heaven-defying luck to get there, and even him was starting to feel that something isn't right.
Krune's group was once more beside the next floor door waiting for it to activate when suddenly, another group with 5 members in total entered his Divine Sense. As soon as Krune saw who was there, he got taken aback.
Not long after, a scorching heat assaulted Krune's group and the other 7 contestants who were waiting for the door to be open. It turns out that the one who appeared was Gomat, the Yang Core Fire Dragon.
Gomat looked at everyone and was surprised to see Krune there. During the opening of the first test, he had seen Krune's transformation and the power that he could use. Gomat already knows that Krune is the Elemental Core owner. Still, he is extremely proud, so he looked at everyone and said.
"Do you all wish to leave now, or should I send you on your way?"
Krune snorted and then went forward. Around his body, one could see the arcs of purple lightning going around his ethereal body.
"I wish very much to see how you will send me away."
Gomat saw that, and flames started to cover his entire dragon form. He would definitely not back out against Krune, nor would he back out against any of the other Major Core Participants. If it was back then where there was no need to enter useless fights, it would be okay to ignore Krune, but now the slots available are clearly not enough for his and Krune's group.
But just as they were about to charge at each other, Gomat received a Divine Sense message from one of his four companions. He then looked over and noticed that the other contestants had taken Krune's side. It turns out that one of them had known that the wisp was the Elemental Major Core owner.
Although they don't know Krune's power, they do know about Gomat's. Gomat, Colen, and Nala were already somewhat famous even before the Divine Path Sect Entrance Exam started. It turns out that Gomat's reputation wasn't very good, so they believe that sticking by Krune's side will give them a higher chance of advancing the levels.
Gomat saw that and narrowed his eyes. If it was Krune's group against his own, he wouldn't be afraid. But if his group is ganged up during the time that he is fighting Krune, he will probably have to retreat and find another door in the end. All the remaining contestants in the first test are top experts from high ranked planets. Even Gomat isn't arrogant enough to think that he could deal with Krune and everyone else together.
The flames around his body settled, and he went to a corner to wait for when the door is activated. In the end, Gomat could only wait with his companions to fight in individual battles. The key issue of this situation was Krune. If the Elemental Major Core's group wasn't there, Gomat was confident in dealing with the rest.
Krune saw that and was relieved. At least he doesn't need to fight that Dragon in a random situation with so many variants on his side. Once the competition for the slots starts, it will all become one vs. one. That is because this door has 7 slots, and the total number of contestants at the moment is 14. So every single one will be at least an attacker or defender. Not to mention that they have been waiting for almost two hours for this door to open, so it should open anytime now.
There was one thing Krune's group was worried about, though. Which slot will Gomat choose? Everyone here knows that both Gomat and Krune have a Major Core each, so no one wanted to fight them. Most likely, the slots that they chose would have no fights. Krune then looked at his group and said.
"It doesn't matter what you do, don't try to fight that Dragon. Neither of you is his match. Although I'm confident that I can fight him, I would not be sure to defeat him in 10 minutes if he is the defender."
Shinja, Lofa, and Tasier nodded. They didn't need Krune to tell them that. It was evident that they would be courting death to get in Gomat's way.
Krune didn't say it, but he decided to wait to see what Gomat would do first instead of rushing inside of a slot. He had the feeling that the Dragon might actually not select a slot to defend, but in fact, wait for them to be full and choose an opponent to attack. Not to mention that Krune is more than confident in defeating someone else other than Gomat, so he isn't worried about losing the next floor entrance.
Finally, the next level door activated, and immediately after that, everyone rushed inside to take a slot. Since Krune wasn't going to enter straight away, he gave timing help to Lofa and Tasier, which guaranteed their defender position.
Shinja, Tasier, and Lofa looked outside and noticed that Krune hasn't moved yet, but then they looked in Gomat's direction and found out that the Dragon had done the same.
Gomat then looked at Krune and laughed.
"Haha! Could it be that you are like me and prefer to attack?"
Krune didn't say anything and waited for Gomat's decision.
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