Kai was led to another room, this one much larger than the one he’d initially been put in. There were already about a hundred people there, none of them batting an eye when he walked in.

Therefore, he did what he’d done before, going over to a corner and sitting down, closing his eyes to wait.

A few minutes later Rian plopped down next to him and said, “They made the test a little harder to pass this year.”

“We both seemed to have gotten through it,” Kai said.

“You’re joking right?! I may have ‘just gotten through’ it as you say, but you, by the gods. By the end of this day, some blacksmith will be telling his wife how you split the pillar in half and almost killed all of the elders presiding over the test.”

Kai sighed in dejection. “I tried to gauge how much power I had to put in to leave a mark, but it was hard to guess through the others who got tested.”

“I thought you were powerful and had some secrets, but Sword Earth mastery,” he said in a whisper. “That’s something I don’t think anyone else at this competition has.”

“Don’t worry,” Rian continued, putting his hands up and turning his face a little. “I only saw it because I was next in line and other than the Elders, I don’t think anyone saw anything but pure strength being used. And trust me, I won’t tell anyone either.”

Kai sighed in relief and said, “Thanks. I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.”

“Oh, but it is. The Heir of House Landon is the only sword user close to your level, and he’s just mastered the ninth Form.”

Kai face hardened at the name and he asked, “Ah House Landon. I assume that’s one of the four most powerful Houses?”

“You’d be correct,” Rian answered. “Their Heir, Cassius Landon is the only other Spirit Realm Cultivator in this testing. He’s a powerful sword user, though it seems to me he takes a backseat when compared to your weapon’s power. Don’t underestimate him, however. His potential first Spirit is rumored to be a Sanguis Death Raven. Obviously follows their crest, but that Spirit is also known to be one of the most powerful recorded Spirits to date and has a whole horde of powers that nobody knows about. I’d be careful around him.”

Kai nodded to him but the gears in his head started to turn. He needed to learn more about the House of Landon.

They both made some more conversation as the room started to fill up. It hit almost five hundred people before they were once again, all taken from the room and back out into the Arena.

However, this time, the pillars were all gone and the group they joined numbered at around 1200. The middle of the Arena had one larger Stage this time, where another Advanced Elder was standing but this time with a black robed Cultivator, who seemed much older and much more ageless at the same time than the red robed Cultivator.

Once they had all settled into a crowd in front of the Stage, the red robed Elder waved his hand and once again, they were surrounded by a blue tinged dome that blocked out all noise from the outside.

After a few moments, when the noise within the dome died down, the red robed Elder said, “Welcome! I would like to introduce you to one of our ten most esteemed Council members. This is Executive Yannick and he will be conducting your Endurance Test today.”

“Before he begins however. I would like to introduce to you two very important people that will be taking the test with us today. Please, welcome Her Highness Alyssia Azel, the Crown Princess of the Realm, and Cassius Landon, the Heir of House Landon.”

He gestured to the front of the crowd of people and two figures made their way onto the stage. The Crown Princess was overwhelmingly beautiful, even without the makeup or jewelry that the Ladies of the Court could never seem to go without. She had long dark hair that was swept back into a simple ponytail while her icy blue eyes stared out at the crowd of competitors.

She was dressed in a simple white robe, with a large yellow lotus etched onto the very middle of it, covering the chest and stomach area of the robe.

The Landon Heir was also dressed plainly, in a robe of green, with a familiar black raven carved right in the middle of it, covering his chest and stomach just like the Princess.

He had blond hair and shocking sky blue eyes, a shade darker than the Crown Princess’s.

And while all the men focused on the beauty of the Crown Princess and all the women focused on the attractive Cassius Landon, Kai stared murderously at the Landon Heir.

It wasn’t the same man that had come to the village, he knew that, but the family resemblance was still there. Someone from the house of Landon had helped destroy Kai’s life and he would find out who it was and make them pay.

He looked away after a few seconds before anyone could notice, because he knew that he would need to be patient and gain power first. And the best way to do that was to pass these tests.

The two nobles were sent down off the stage after a few minutes of cheering from the 1200 competitors.

Kai focused on the Executive as he started talking. “Welcome, potential students of our most esteemed Sect. I will be administering your Endurance Test today. When the test begins, I will start to send out a small part of my Aura. I will call out the power of the Aura starting from F tier and then going up. To pass this test, you must be able to endure my B tier Aura. We know that this test might seem harder than it has been in the past but we also know that this is the most talented group of competitors we have ever tested and as such, our exclusive requirements have become just a little more exclusive.”

It was simple, yet also seemed exceedingly difficult to pass. The red robed Elder was most definitely at least a Spiritlord, which meant that the black robed Executive was even more powerful. Kai could only imagine what the full might of this Executive would look like.

“Once you have reached the end of your endurance, just drop to your knees and my Aura will no longer affect you. Remember to push to your limits, and good luck. The test begins now.”

There was no warning, no time given for them to circulate energy. One moment there was nothing, the next, an Aura settled on all 1200 of them.

Kai closed his eyes as he felt a slight buzzing over his body.

“F tier,” a voice called out from the stage.

Kai let his body settle and his breathing jump into a rhythm. He needed to persevere. The F tier Aura just felt like ants that crawled up and down his body. He didn’t even feel pressure yet.

“E tier.”

And then, there was a slight pressure, almost like a light massage that traveled across his body. There was still nothing to concern him, and the Aura actually felt good.

A few minutes of this and then, “D Tier.”

And this was where the pain started. It wasn’t anything much, just once again an increase in pressure, but one that actually made itself known. Kai started to hear knees dropping to the sand, but blocked it all out.

He retreated into himself, into a void that he’d used for years, most recently one that he’d used to flee a torture so painful, that even the Souls in the River of Death had cried out for his mercy, not that it had done anything.

It was just pain, which was nothing knew to him.

The pressure increased, bit by bit, until he could feel his knees shaking and his bones creak in agony. And even then, he didn’t make a sound, refused to back down. It was just pain after all.

It was a few minutes later, right when he felt his Meridians about to start developing tears, that he finally conceded. Letting go, his knees slammed into the ground with force and he almost slammed face first into the sand before someone caught him.

He opened his eyes and gasped for breath, relieved as the oxygen filled his lungs. In front of him with wide eyes and a gaping mouth was Rian, his hands the only thing stopping him from face planting.

Kai gripped Rian’s shoulder and forced himself to his feet, even as his limbs shook from overwork and soreness began to permeate his body.

He looked around and saw hundreds of Cultivatos recovering from the Endurance Test, sweat pouring off of each of them in waves. He was no different, but he refused to look weaker than he already did. Yet, he noticed that many of the competitors around him were giving him looks, both awe and fear in their eyes.

“Did I pass?” Kai whispered to Rian.

“Are you serious?!” Rian exclaimed before Kai gestured at him to lower his voice. “Did you really just ask me that? You didn’t just pass, my friend. You were one of only three to hit A tier.”

“Wait,” Kai said in confusion. “I thought B tier was passing.”

“Yeah they basically lied. They let anyone who hit C Tier stay. They were just trying to see how determined everyone was.”

“What about you?”

Rian shrugged and said, “I got a second into B tier before dropping and I thought I did pretty damn well. But you. You’re a fucking monster man. You know the only three people who hit A tier were you and the two Spirit Realm competitors right?”

“You’re joking,” Kai said in disbelief.

“Nope. Not only that, but I was the only one who noticed that you didn’t circulate any energy either. The other two were both circulating Heavenly Energy and also called on their Spirits to withstand the pressure. You, my friend used your gods damned freak of a body to withstand that overwhelming pressure.”

Kai shuddered at that, knowing that he’d now be scrutinized much earlier than he wanted to be but sighed in acceptance. There was no way back now.

“I just assumed they’d stop the test at B tier.”

“Nope. The one thing Uroboros loves to do is give out prizes and the top three for the Endurance test get a drop of pure Heavenly Energy to use for their Cultivation.

Kai just sighed at that, as that wouldn’t do anything for him. He hung on to Rian’s shoulder for a few minutes as he finally got his feet under him before he stood on his own.

Another few minutes later, as everyone had more or less temporarily recovered from the test, the Executive on stage said, “Congratulations to those of you who managed to pass. I apologize for the misdirection, but determination is a large part of our school. Now, you will receive the rest of the day and tomorrow’s day off before the next test. Show up in this Arena in two days time with the token that will be given to you as you leave. Do not lose it as you will not be allowed to enter without it and will not be given another.”

Yellow robed Elders went around to each of the approximately 500 people that were left, handing out bronze tokens with the image of a snake eating its own tail. As one got to Kai, he handed him both the token and a vial with a drop of golden liquid inside.

Kai pocketed the token, but as soon as the Elder moved past him, he handed the vial discreetly to Rian.

“What are you doing?” Rian whispered to him.

“I can’t use this vial. It won’t synergize with the specific Gathering Technique that I use and would only hurt me.”

“Are you sure about this though? You could sell this in the Auction House for tens of thousands of gold.”

Kai shrugged and said, “It’s honestly too much of a hassle and I doubt they’d even believe me when I’d say where I got it from. And hopefully, it’s not like we’ll be in the city much longer. Take it, my friend. You’ll have much more use for it than me.”

Rian just stared at him incredulously for a few seconds before saying, “Thank you so much. You have no idea what this will do for me in the next couple of days. It will give me much more of a chance to pass these tests and enter the School. However, I fear that I can never pay back a debt like this.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kai said waving his hand dismissively at him.

“No,” he said, bowing for a second. “If there is anything I, or the house of Freian can do for you, you only have to let me know.”

“Understood,” Kai said, knowing that Rian wouldn’t take anything less than that.

They left the Arena a few minutes later, and Kai walked out of there with his first true friend in years. He could only hope that his future plans wouldn’t mess that up.