But suddenly, Krune noticed that he was already in his human form again. When he looked at himself, he let out a sigh of relief. In the real world, he was still wearing clothes. One must remember that when a demon beast transforms back into their human form, clothes don't merely magically appear on their bodies. They need to dress again after they take the human form. But it seems like Krune and all the other demon beasts in human form did not revert into their original forms outside the Illusion Realm.
Leaving this issue behind, Krune and everyone paid attention to the displays. Of course, the majority didn't know what those distance numbers meant. Still, the ones who participated in the pressure door couldn't be more familiar with it.
Colen, Nala, and Gomat had looks of disbelief on their faces. Even Gomat, who knew that Krune could go further, didn't expect him to move THIS further. What kind of crazy will is that?
Slowly, the contestants started to remember the events inside the hundred floors tower. Especially those who failed earlier, after that were eliminated, they were not expelled outside of the Illusion Realm but stayed in a dormant state for the rest of the time.
"Does it mean that this Krune got the first place?"
"But isn't the difference between him and the second way too absurd? Is it really right?"
"That's too crazy, can the Major Core be so different in the will alone?"
Nala was the one with the most complex feelings. She also had a Major Core, but even after stopping to rest and then continue moving forward, all she did was get to the 9.2km mark before passing out. She couldn't even reach the 10km where the pressure was supposed to double. Even if she had, she would definitely have passed out there and then.
'As soon as everything is dealt with, I'll immediately leave the Sect for missions. So what if the Life Major Core is best for healing and not battle? The last test tested our will, not the battle prowess. But even with my Life Core, I couldn't get close to Colen or Gomat, let alone Krune, that won't do!'
Determination could be seen on Nala's face. Her sister, Nadia, noticed the complex expression or her sister's face and understood why she felt like that. With such a big difference in the results, it would be weird if she was okay instead.
Colen was also looking at that with narrowed eyes. He knew that he probably wouldn't rank first when he heard that it was a will test. He spent most of his time training in his clan, after all. Although he also left it sometimes to experience the world, he knew it wasn't at the level of someone like Gomat who was born and lived in the middle of the fight. Still, he didn't expect the difference between him and Krune to be that ridiculous.
'Hmph! So what? I can still go further! From today onwards, I'm finally free from my clan's reins. I will be able to go out and train myself just as much as any of you.'
Gomat was the only one surprised but not unhappy. If anything, he was delighted to have found someone like Krune. He is, after all, a dragon! His will depend on the challenges! What is a better challenge there than another demon beast with similar cultivation and power than him? Not to mention that Krune is a wisp! So Gomat refused to believe that he would surpass him!
'Haha! Great! This is becoming more and more interesting! It seems like that to come to the Divine Path Sect Entrance Exam wasn't a waste of time, after all.'
After a few minutes, the displays showing the results changed to the stage where the Core Elders were staying again. Tiago once more came forward and started to speak.
"Congratulations to those who passed and thanks to those who participated. If you are under 30 years old, you can still try again in 10 years if you haven't passed. If not, this is bound to be a great experience that will help you in your future. Not to mention that it isn't certain that you have failed yet, but I will explain it later."
Those who failed immediately looked at the stage too. Tiago then continued.
"There are probably two things that you noticed. First, the time between the Illusion Realm and the outside world was different, It had been accelerated to 30 times the normal speed. So while you spent almost one month inside, only one day passed outside."
"Second, everyone who was supposed to have died is still alive and kicking. You probably can remember me saying that once you died inside, you die outside too. But that was nothing more than another lie. If fact, the Sect always cooperates with all planets inside its territory to make it looks like there is a lot of deaths. But in fact, in all history of the Divine Path Sect Entrance Exam, the number of deaths is just a little above eleven thousand."
"Some of you might think that this is still a high number, but I must remind you that the Divine Path Sect has existed for over a million years! Each Exam would bring at least a hundred thousand participants, not to mention that the Exam almost always followed the 10 years schedule. There had been rare cases where this time between exams changed like in times of war, but that was all."
Krune and everyone else couldn't help but nod. With such an old sect and the number of contestants trying to enter it every ten years, eleven thousand is really nothing at all!
Krune finally understood how the Sect managed to resolve the grudges between the participants during the Exam. Simply put, there were almost no grudges to start with, or at least not life and death ones. Very few would go so far as wanting someone else's death just because they failed because of him or her. Not to mention that the biggest majority doesn't even have the power to go after the culprit for their failure to start with. After all, they are probably from different planets, and most likely very far away from each other.
It was also understandable why it was said that a lot of contestants died during the test. This way, every single participant would definitely give their all in order to survive. The elders of all clans, sects, or any other powers would definitely cooperate with the Divine Path Sect too. First, if they told the truth, their own contestants might relax during the Exam and fail because of that. Second, it would be going against the Divine Path Sect will, who would want to buy a fight with them?
If the Geniuses really died every ten years, the overall power of the Divine Path Sect territory would plummet until it ceased to exist. After all, those geniuses that failed would still reach great weights in their own planets and territories. Not to mention that those same geniuses carry strong genetic traits that would be passed down to their descendants, which would give birth to even more geniuses in the future.
All in all, the Divine Path Sect would never dare to really kill so many participants as the young ones believe them to. A Sect of this size can't possibly guard its territory with its members alone, after all.
"Now then, proceed with the schedule. First, let me explain about the Outer, Inner, Core, and Legacy disciples. As you probably expected, the results that you achieved during the Exam will determine the place you were sent too. Of course, the highest place someone can be sent to in the Inner Sect. That's because to become a Core Disciple, you will need to accumulate merits! But this part will be explained by the elders in charge of the place you are all in."
Everyone nodded, some already knew about this, while others were already expecting it not to be easy to become a Core or Legacy disciple.
"Now, before we start to send you into the Outer and Inner sect, there is another thing we need to go through first."
Tiago then looked above in the sky as if waiting for someone to come. Suddenly, several figures could be seen approaching the stage at high speeds. But the majority couldn't determine who they were, that's because neither of them was using a Divine Path Sect robe, but regular clothes.
Of course, in the middle of everyone, there were several demon beasts in human form too, and in general, they used more casual clothes. But in general, everyone approaching the stage was well dressed according to the style of their own birth planets or what they simply liked. Quite a lot of contestants noticed clothes specific from their worlds in between and could tell that they came from the same place.
But there was one thing in common between all of them, they all had the Divine Path Sect Emblem pinned on their clothes. However, although the emblems were similar, there were a few differences between them.
It didn't take long for everyone to understand that those cultivators and demon beasts were the elders of the Sect. It's just that they didn't think that the elder would dress so casually. They then looked at the elders like Tiago, Gile, and Jin, who were in the stage before. Before anyone could even notice, they had changed their clothes too at some point. Just what is happening here? Every single contestant or demon beast had weird expressions looking at all of that.
"Haha! I love the look on your faces every time this moment comes. I even wish that the Sect made more exams just so that I could see it more often. What? Are you surprised that all the elders are not wearing the Sect's clothes? Then let me tell you. The higher your realm, the more important your state of mind is. So the best thing is to feel good about yourself. You are free to do anything you like as long as you don't break the Sect's rules."
Everyone here is at most in the Core Formation Realm, so things like the state of mind isn't that important for them at the moment. Still, the majority immediately liked what they saw, especially the women!
Tiago then put a serious face and said.
"Alright, let's continue with the next part. All the elders here present had watched the Exam and are now free to select anyone between those who passed to be their disciples. In fact, if they have got fancy on someone who failed, they can still use their authority to bring that person or demon beast under their wing and have them join the Sect too, so the failers still have a chance."
Finally, those who failed understood what Tiago meant with his words back then.
Of course, there were just around 300 elders, and the number of participants who passed the Exam was a lot bigger than that. Not to mention that there is bound to be elders who didn't like anyone and won't choose to start with.
Just as the elders were about to select their own disciple or fight between them to get someone they liked, another person appeared in the sky. All the elders who saw that immediately stopped on their tracks and waited for him to approach.
When all the contestants saw this person, which a few mouths twitched. That's because this person's clothes could be called anything but well dressed. He was using a pair of slippers, a t-shirt that was clearly several years old, and shorts. Everyone could see his hairy legs and his messy hair on the head. It looked more like he had just woke up. Or, to be more precise, he looked like a beggar!
Of course, there were very few who had no idea who this guy was but still didn't give a damn to how he dressed. And as you can imagine, Krune was one of them. He had never cared about clothes to start with.
But everyone understood that this person is most likely another elder of the Sect. Except for some influent contestants from top-ranked planets, no one else knew who he was. It made the majority who passed to wish this elder not to select them as a disciple. It didn't seem like anything good would happen if they were chosen by him. But the other elders' words right after this guy appeared took everyone aback.
Every single one of them bowed to this beggar and said.
"Paying respects to the Sect Master!"
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