[It appears that the number of those that stopped between 25 and 30 reverberations is decided. I counted 56.394 total.](Ling)

[Hmm? There's still that many that are left!?](Purple Snake)

[Yes... There are still over 70.000 that went over 30. It's beyond amazing.](Jing)

[Still, the power of the reverberations gets stronger and stronger, the higher one goes. They aren't people from the Blood World and their bodies aren't refined higher than the first levels of Mortal Flesh. Even if their pain endurance is high, there's no point if they die because of burst hearts.](Purple Snake)

Even Purple Snake was starting to pay attention to these participants, as they were worth nurturing. He might be petty and jealous, however, their continent could use such fresh blood to stir the stagnant masses, therefore inducing a breakthrough in the average cultivation level of the Immortal World. It was common sense that only chaotic times could birth true geniuses, while times of peace would soften their bones. Even if the Immortal World would undergo the same type of loss that the Blood World suffered, the result would be similar: only the cream of the crop would survive, prosper, and create offsprings.

Irrelevant to that, all they could do is watch over this new generation of cultivators and ensure that they reach their full potential. As for what happens after they reach that point, considering how they cannot even compare with the worst of the lot participating in this trial, it isn't going to be anything they should concern themselves with. That should just be left as something the upper echelons should worry about.

Probably noticing the change in Purple Snake, Floating Clouds Jing flashed a bitter smile. It wasn't only his arrogant junior that had just experienced the saying 'there's always another heaven above heavens'. The others from the Ling clan were the same and their young master was probably formulating the explanation he will have to give back to their clan's patriarch and the ancestor. Since the Immortal World had very strict policies, even if these geniuses were without a backer, the old monsters realms above them, wouldn't stoop as low as just killing them because of their potential that had yet to be reached.

They might scheme to kill them using other people's hands of course, but once they entered his old master's faction, it could be said that the ones able to reach with their hands and touch them are very limited.

[34.312 that stopped between the 30th and the 35th reverberation.](Ling)

[I am starting to become quite curious myself about how many reverberations are they able to resist. It feels like I'm watching history being made, or better put, the birth of a story that will be told for centuries to come.](Purple Snake)

[It looks that way... Having more details to give while enjoying good wine in a tavern is also for the best. Therefore, let us watch over them carefully, without missing any details. Also, take notes of the names that passed the 30th reverberation... actually, even those that passed the 25th are not characters we can skip either...](Jing)

Hours passed and it was already past 4 PM when another 12.352 people stopped between the 35th and the 40th reverberations. After another six hours, a batch of 18.293 also halted between the 40th and the 45th reverberation. There were still over 5.000 people that had taken a huge leap forward and broke past the 100% increase in their body potential.

Herman was also among them, stumped at the stupidly high number, incomparable with his past life.

"In my past life, there were only 368 people that reached the 40th reverberation. It's understandable for more to have reached the same accomplishment given how many cast Superior Spiritual Roots, yet, isn't this number kind of absurd? The ones that passed the 45th reverberation could be counted on both hands, yet now, from the looks of them there should be over 4000..."

The difference was made by casting the roots. Herman was aware of how much the body was improved through that painful process. The attributes one gained, were directly proportional to the quality of the roots they cast. That was to say that, if one endured the same type of pain he did and gained the superior quality ones, then receive the tempering of the Heaven Ascending Steele where Primordial Qi would flow through every cell in their body, the amount of reverberation from the Warring Drums that they could withstand would also increase to another level. What changed greatly, was the number of people with a complete cultivation path in their bodies. If one had only Advanced Spiritual Roots, it meant that they haven't yet connected the two pathways. By having both the small and the large circulation pathways opened and connected with one's dantian, the amount of Primordial Qi they could draw in was much higher.

Not only that, but they could also climb higher on the Steele and gorge themselves with higher density Primordial Qi, tempering their bodies further.

When realizing how much he changed the story, just by helping with a handful of the information three times, Herman could feel the corners of his mouth twitch. Someone that passed 45 reverberances receives a 150% boost in their potential. That wasn't all though. As their bodies were shuddering under the cleansing of the drums, their attributes received boosts as well. Herman himself was quite pleased with the numbers he gathered so far and was looking forward to the following rewards, as well as the number of people that could pass 50.

Increasing one's potential two folds was rarely heard of, even in the Immortal World.

By the following morning, the results were out and the trial ended. There were a total of 3.864 that stopped between 45th and the 50th reverberation, making the six examiners take in a long mouthful of cold air. There were still so many that passed!?

Their answer was given not long after when another 1.136 stopped between 50 and 55 reverberations. The shock continued when there were people that passed 55 reverberations and reached 60. 341 people rested on the ground, making them look like stray dogs that went through a severe beating, barely breathing. Even so, these 341 people stopped between 55 and 60 reverberations, leaving 19 which climbed even higher. By this point, both old man Jing and the young master Ling used so many high-level sound transmission talismans, that they realized how they almost depleted their stock. The commotion these little monsters created on Earth where everyone was still watching and admiring their world 'emissaries', wasn't even remotely comparable to the chaos they started in the Immortal World though.

That fogey Clear Lake has pretty much forced out people out of reclusive meditation, a taboo thing to do. Some faction heads were highly displeased, but once they heard the details, they couldn't help but do a double-take, making sure they heard it correctly.

Back on Earth, the remaining 19 people stopped at different stages above the 60th reverberation. Not only that, but Herman recognized every single one of these guys. There were ten 'Peak' members, Mio, LinkWill, UX, Qhost, Wilson Lynd, WillieGray, Thiefkid, Malavai, and himself. He recognized many of those present as members of 'Astreus', yet another dominant alliance from his past life. Yet, even them only had a handful of members in this 19 group, while 'Peak' members accounted for more than half of it. That by itself was proof of how ridiculously strong these geniuses were.

Stopping after the 60th reverberation were Wilson Lynd, Harper Nine, White, and Barzahd. All four had unsatisfied looks on their faces, yet none dared to venture further as they would be just throwing away their lives for pride, something that none of them were silly enough to do. After the 61st reverberation, Moon Empress and Mental stopped while still glaring at each other. The 62nd reverberation put a stop to the climb of WillieGray, ThiefKid, but also Ploki and Ocean from the 'Peak' alliance. With only eight people left, those on the ground were watching with bated breaths, curious to see who will hold on longer than the others.

After the 63rd reverberation, Mio, White, Lelouch, and Phoenix dropped to the ground, pale as a white sheet.

"I almost forgot that Bian Hua had a weak constitution in the beginning. It's amazing to reach the 59th and resist through almost 80% of the 60th reverberation. Still... this situation is rather... unpleasant. Everyone is looking at me as if I am a tasty piece of meat to be enjoyed soon. Well... it was expected for me to stand out, but I am not sure I can compete with these monsters just yet. I can probably reach the 65th reverberation, but these guys look like they can go beyond it."

[You must be Herman Roy, correct?](LinkWill)

Hearing the strongest genius from his world speaking to him with such an excited and inquisitive tone, even given the current circumstances, he couldn't help but curse in his mind. He was biting his tongue to persist through the immense pain and pressure, yet these ridiculous freaks were breezing through. Qhost looked slightly tired and his eyes were bloodshot, so he wouldn't last for much longer. Well, he had to answer since everyone's attention was on him... screw these old farts broadcasting this trial!! Now everyone in the world would know of him. What if they label him as a saint or something!? He wouldn't be able to raise his head again from shame in the Immortal World.

After all, he only gave a helping hand, similar to throwing an already chewed of bone to a hungry stray...

"Yup. LinkWilll, right? The rest should be Envy, UX, and Qhost."

[A pleasure meeting you and thanks for the tutorials. They were helpful.](Qhost)

[That's me. I am really curious where you popped out of so suddenly.](Envy)

[Now, now little Envy, don't be so aggressive. What if you scare your benefactor? Didn't your whole clique benefit greatly from his intel?](LinkWill)

[I don't think that's a concern you should have, LinkWill.](Envy)

While the two were furiously arguing and Qhost was shaking his head helplessly at their act, knowing that their display was shown to the entire world, Herman noticed how UX that looked at him, smiled, and nodded. That was it. Without any further words, UX struck the drums and welcomed the 64th reverberation with closed eyes, similar to how one would wait for the water to come pouring on them in a shower. Qhost gritted his teeth and did the same, almost crumbling to the ground in just a few seconds after. LinkWill and Envy also decided to compete through the means in front of them rather than words, leaving a very stunned Herman cursing at their incomprehensible pain resistance.

Indeed, like expected, Qhost somehow sailed through the pain and forcefully persisted until the end of the 64th reverberation, but collapsed to the ground while wincing in pain shortly after. Herman himself wasn't exactly in great condition either, but from the looks of the other three, they might even shoot for the 70th one.

The results were quite terrifying for Herman. He managed to climb up to the 67th reverberation and stopped there, as he felt that his body had no other drop of blood to throw up anymore. Envy stopped at the 70th after passing it just barely and LinkWill at the 71st, seemingly willing to take quite a bit of physical damage, just to deal some mental one to Envy. His sneering face and the look of superiority he gave to the poor guy catching his breath on the ground, made the latter almost throw up another mouthful of blood. The surprise came from UX who stopped after the 75th reverberation. The reason why? The main, real drum sent out the reverberation he had to endure and was caught unprepared as result.

Seeing him being sent flying and dripping out blood from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, everyone swallowed their saliva in fear.

"To think he can still stand up after that!? I would probably be crushed into mince-meat by only half of that power. Is he still human!? Do we have some hidden dragon lineage on Earth that I am unaware of!?"

The most worrisome thing was that in his past life, this UX reached the 65th reverberation even without the help of the information he gave out. Now, not only did UX managed to pass through 10 more, but from a more careful look at this person, it was easy to tell that except the blood that's slightly darker than usual, it looked like he was preparing for another go.

So many impurities have been cleansed from his body and was even thrown for over twenty steps back like a ragdoll, yet this dude was preparing to have another go at the drums. Fortunately for Herman's and the six cultivators' mental sanity, UX put a stop to his performance right then and there, calmly returning to the sea of people and awaiting the verdict of the examiners.

[It's finally over...](random lackey 1)

[To think someone can reach 75 reverberations... young master Ling, is there any record of such a thing happening before?](random lackey 2)

[There are some records that I don't have sufficient access to read, however I know that the son of a dragonling and a human girl reached the 68th. There should be others that went higher than that as well, however, none of them came from such impoverished backgrounds...](Ling)

[Well... at least the trials are finally over. Let's announce that we'll be back tomorrow and have people prepare themselves for what's next.](Jing)

[Old man, do you think master has sufficient time to put things in order in one day? Even with the time difference of one day here to one year in the Immortal World, would it be sufficient?](Purple Snake)

[This... I'm out of transmission talismans. Do you have any left?](Jing)

[Yeah. Here you go!](Purple Snake)

After checking back with Profound Immortal Clear Lake, the one day extended to two, and not only that. Due to the extreme results shown in this recruitment not only by Earth but other worlds as well, the main heavenly sects decided to unseal and open a new portion of Heaven that would be untouched by all, except these new geniuses they recruited.

Baffled by such a decision, the examiners had no choice but to announce the two days break to the crowd and then run back to the Immortal World to give their reports.

Back on the balcony of a building on the periphery of a small city, Herman was standing there frowning. Old man Jing announced that a new realm will be open for them, yet it was not referring to the Immortal World, but rather, the Heavenly Realms.

"The heavens are endless and due to the immense dangers hidden within, powerhouses at cultivation realms unimaginable to others have sealed them shut, leaving it to their descendants to open them once more, if they were strong enough. Not only were these realms untouched and contain ridiculous amounts of resources, but there wouldn't be any sects already opened in such a virgin land. To give away such benefits to us, it seems that the Blood World, the Asura Realm, and the Heavenly Chasm have performed just like they did in my past life. That combined with Earth's sudden performance in the trials might've put more pressure on the upper echelons of the Immortal World, therefore forcing them to give up control of an entire realm to newbies? That doesn't sound right at all... something's missing..."

It didn't take long for Herman to realize the real purpose of this 'handout'. The Immortal World's factions were planning to war against each other by using young and talented cultivators!

"To open a sealed realm takes anywhere between three to five years in the Immortal World. However, not everyone can use their bodies to travel to such a realm. Only those with strong potential can do that and even more important, only those that entered the 'competition' stand a chance. The competition is a signed contract between those that try to unseal the realm and the ones that aspire to ascend to it. The conditions are strict and only those that have yet to embark on the cultivation path for longer than a year have what it takes to participate. This... does that mean that if I can advance fast enough, I can be among the firsts to establish my sect and explore the new Heavenly Realm!?"