The chosen young peasant quivering, she made her way to the green stairs. Taking a step forward, she landed her foot on the green jade.

"Urgh!" Almost collapsing, a brutal pressure descended upon her flesh, almost forcing her to the ground.

"Come on!" Impatient, the young man from the Tamon Sect seemed in a hurry. In a hurry to finish this bothersome task and disqualify everyone in a heartbeat.

Hoping to take the next step, the young girl was suddenly shut down when trying to step onto the second one.

"Ahhh!!!" Crying from a gust of energy, she began bleeding from everywhere as the pressure intensified abruptly. Sent flying away, she was caught by a middle aged man.

"My poor child! It's alright! You did your best! Daddy is proud!"

"Tsk!" Clicking his tongue, the young man showed his disdain to the village once again.

"Next!"

Frowning, the senior sister decided to stay still. It was, while uncomfortable, a perfect situation for her. Her goal was to oversee her junior brother and report his competence in this field.

'Sorry, but acting like this... I can't give you a good score...' Shaking her head, the senior sister contemplated on how to deal with him later.

More and more applicants trying their luck, only a young girl managed to reach the fourth step.

"Not bad. You pass this one." Jotting down the name of the lady, the young man still showed no shock. But it was quite evident. The fourth step did not seem impressive as the stairs contained ten of them.

"N-Next!" Raising his gaze, the young man felt a strange claw grip his heart when saying these boring, repetitive words. He saw a tall young man with long silver hair reach the stairs before shooting straight for the fourth step, where he...

"Huh?"

"Ah~! So difficult~!"

"......"

Watching Alexander show such bad acting, faking his hardship, gave a strange feeling to the Tamon Sect's duo.

A few faces twitching, the young man quivered in his speech.

"You pass as well."

"Do I really?" Feeling Alexander's overly bright smile, the young man shivered.

"Yes!"

"Phew! I made it! I barely made it!"

Almost breaking his brush, the young man dropped a jade on the ground.

'Barely?! You think I'm blind!? Like hell you struggled! You ran through the first three steps like it was a joke!'

'Do you think your acting is worth anything?!! Even a monkey would be able to tell you're fake deep inside your bones!'

Even though he was being called out by passing thoughts of incredulity, Alexander did not care to realize their existence. Standing next to the small girl, he greeted her with an even brighter smile.

"Hello~"

"Hello!" Uncomfortable being next to this monster, the young girl took a few steps to the side, gaining distance while simultaneously clutching the robes of the senior sister.

'You get greeted by an Empyrean Realm cultivator and you behave like this? You won't go far on your cultivation journey with a heart so frail...'

Frowning heavily, the senior sister felt that someone near thought of some outrageous words.

'Must be because I forgot something... what did I miss when leaving the sect?' Confusing instinctual outrage for a simple panic attack of forgotten belongings, the senior sister did not push the matter further.

The young man on the other hand, was a bit more vocal about his intrusive thoughts.

"Did I hear something weird? Was it the wind? But there is no wind!"

Scratching his cheek, Alexander was not sure how this duo would fare later on in the world of cultivation. One acted like a paranoid while the other shouted for nothing as if he was mentally challenged after a berserk state occurred.

'Weird people... must be a weird sect then!' Shaking his head, he watched on as the remaining participant each failed to deliver.

"Alright!! Back to the sect!" The senior sister whistling a bit, a giant silver roc flew down. It was a powerful First Core Beast comparable to the Golden Core Realm.

Slumping on the back of this giant bird beast, the young man became the starfish of the sky. With all four aboard, they departed from the village.

In the air, flying below the clouds under the clear day sky, the Tamon Sect duo chatted a bit.

"Finally back to the sect! This stupid recruitment process always gets on my nerve!"

"Hmph! Junior brother, you know that your performance the last few times was poor at best, right?"

"..." His mood falling back down, the young man was remembering his attitude during not only the last village, but also the last important area.

'My attitude... when I was...'

"Fuck!" Cursing aloud, he immediately felt his ear be pinched hard.

"Repeat what you just said? What about the image of our Tamon Sect? These new disciples can't be having the wrong impression now, can they? If they do... you know what I mean, right?"

Gulping audibly at the furious gaze near him, the young man nodded repetitively. He could already feel the cold blades of the sect's underground play with his skin.

"Junior brother understands!"

"Good!"

Observing them were the young girl and Alexander, both cross-legged on the roc's fluffy and feathery back.

'What impression? Do I care about your sect? I'm just here for fun... what sect even is this? Pff! Might not even have a single idiot at the Dao Fusion Realm! If they have one at the Dao Heart Realm, then I'll be congratulating them! I must congratulate a sect for being weaker than weak! Important ethics one should keep!'

Finished criticizing the poor sect's lowly influence, Alexander noticed a small sect amidst three mountains a few thousands of kilometers away.

'Even though this area is similar to a Tier-1 World in oppression, the potential trapped within is quite high. Compared with one, this place's energies show orderly patterns. Also... they are flying quite slow. If a roc like this one was inside a Tier-4 World, it would never be so slow. Quite strange actually.'

'Are these side effects... the will of Heaven? No matter anyway.'

"Mister! Hello! I am Lana! Nice to meet you!" Finally gaining the courage to talk, the little girl decided to greet a fellow disciple first. It would be less difficult than doing so with two immortal cultivators.

'Didn't we just greet each other? Whatever...'

"Mmh... You can call me Alexander, little girl."

'Nice spirit though. While inferior in almost everything, this little girl's attitude makes me respect her more than that moron over there...' Glancing curiously mid-thought, he only saw a youth roll on the roc's wide back.

'Yeah... great.'

'What great face this sect has! Even their disciples are crazy fucks. Looks like a pet. A misbehaving one.'

Feeling his gaze, the senior sister covered her face in embarrassment. She could simply not refute these unheard accusations. Their Tamon Sect truly had some black sheep in the herd.

"Junior brother, please behave yourself."

Hearing a grave tone from the side, said junior brother froze in place with a quivering voice

"Yes! Sorry!"

'God damned slave of the sect! Can't even let me express my anger and irritation?! I already regret joining this sect. I was only five at the time! I was so stupid!'

"Grrh..." Growling at her junior brother, the young woman barely managed to contain her wrath. How could she not tell her junior brother to be unhappy with her?

'It doesn't matter whether you are happy or not. Sad or not. The Tamon Sect is your home. We raised you, so we'll at least get your worth back some way.'

Sensing the purple and red dark auras the duo emanated, Alexander narrowed his eyes.

'This sect... is quite simple!'

Turning to the purple one, all that he could see was an angered sister looking at an angry brother, who was looking angrily at the roc's back.

'The problems of little, small scale cultivators... how long has it been since they were my own?'

'Golden Core Realm before a hundred years of age. They aren't bad. But...'

'They lack some awareness.' Feeling the need to teach the younger generation, Alexander's body glowed an ominous invisible shade of silver.

'Let me give you a small taste of what the world, no... life has in store for you!'

"Listen junior bro- Woah!!!" A sudden shock spreading across the roc's back, a silver arrow of energy pierced it from beneath, the remnant energy flying high up above like an ascending star.

"What!?"

"The hell is going on??"

Unable to process anything, the three other people present except Alexander had wide eyes and wildly beating hearts.

'Feel it. Feel the fear. Understand the power of destiny.'

"Senior sister! Help!!" The young man almost falling as the silver roc began to tilt in its cries, the silver arrow far above silently began shifting its course.

'To hold down the drifting immortals, gravity shall turn them into mortals.' His smile escaping, Alexander watched his arrow shoot back down, and so not at incredible speed but with incredible power instead.

'To contain the rampaging minds, luck might be asked to turn upside down.'

"Senior sister! Help m- AAAAAAHHHHHH!!! My arm!!! MY ARM!!!!"

'I expect a lot of fun from you two... This Alexander wants a small vacation in your humble Tamon Sect. No... this Alexander only wishes to entertain himself inside the edge of the Core Territory.'

'Being a mythical demon within the tall grass...'

'This is a fun I almost forgot about!'

Somehow understanding something from the most definitely not obvious smile of Alexander, the new disciple felt horror grip her still rampaging heart.

This fellow disciple of hers.

He did not seem so simple.

Were new disciples supposed to be like this? The answer, she knew full well of its presence. The answer laid to her left, where her so called senior brother and senior sister were begging the gods above for mercy.

And as the senior sister held a severed arm from her tender and annoying junior brother...

The silver roc gave way to weakness.

As such, gravity began pulling down the grand immortals down to their rightful place. To their destined place.

Pulled down by the roots, grabbed from their freely flowing hair. Down to the earth. Down to the mud.

The Golden Immortals left stranded beneath their home clouds, clutching a severed limb painting them red.

Only one man still above.

'I expected more from them. Can't even find the brains to fly from a fall.'

'What kind of dogshit immortal cultivator is this? What are wastes like you even claiming to be? Immortal? Immortal what?'

'But oh well~'

'I'm entertained, aren't I? So what's the fuss about?'

Above the line of descent, looking down on the new mortals. Only the true, smiling Immortal.