"The Entry Disciple Trials will commence shortly! Participants, gather around and listen to Elder Fu as he explains to you the rules!"
The Trial Announcer's voice boomed outward, attracting the attention of thousands – all except for a young lady whose eyes seemed to be glued to a certain young man.
Elder Fu was a man who appeared to be in his late 70's. He had long white hair and an equally long white beard. He emanated an aura that was at least of the Profound Realm, clearly not your typical Entry Elder; it was even highly likely that he was instead an Outer Elder.
Elder Fu walked out in front of the thousands of men and women gathered outside the wall, somehow giving one the impression that he was bigger than all of them combined.
"As Assistant Hao said, my name is Elder Fu," he started to say, his voice demanding full attention. "And this month, as opposed to previous months, is special. The Sect has recently demanded an increase in the quality of Disciples, not the quantity, thus the difficulty of the Entry Trials has tremendously increased."
"!!!" "!!!"
Many emotions filtered through the expressions of the thousands below. They had journeyed from all over, leaving their towns or cities for the grand opportunity to tread the path of Immortals – and now they were being told that their already abysmal chances of getting in decreased even further??
How were they supposed to process this information!?
The majority of them wished to cry out unfairness, but they didn't have that much of a death wish. Elder Fu's aura alone was enough to force them all to behave themselves.
However, there were a few among the Participants who remained unaffected by the news. These were those who had absolute confidence in themselves and their abilities, being the geniuses of their villages or hometowns. Ning Yue was included among this group, but her contempt stemmed more from her family's position in society. That didn't mean she wasn't a genius all the same, it was just that her definition of genius and a commoner's definition were worlds apart.
Then there was Vlad.
He didn't take any of this seriously. He would evolve and ascend either way; he was just here to have some fun while doing so.
"It would appear that we have a lot of capable pupils this time around," Elder Fu stroked his beard, looking quite pleased. "Good, then we can get started right away."
"Fwooosh!"
"!!!"
Just then, a massive shadow descended from above. Its wings wildly tossed around the wind for thousands of meters, brewing up a wind storm that was powerful enough to take dozens of the weaker Participants off their feet. This shadow was revealed to be a massive crane when it landed beside Elder Fu, causing the ground to splinter around it.
While everyone else was surprised by the immense prowess of the beast, Vlad was staring at it with a voracious gleam in his eyes.
It stored a massive amount of Refined Energy inside its body – he could feel it – and it made him hungry – extremely hungry.
"If only I could take a bite out of it…" Vlad mumbled to himself, finding it hard to restrain himself.
Making a move against that thing would only get him killed, as it was for sure a Profound Realm beast. Moreover, from how it was acting subservient to Elder Fu, it was likely his contracted pet, which meant that, if he were to follow the will of his stomach, he'd have to face not just one but two Profound Realm powerhouses!
Vlad's mood became a bit irritable at this realization.
He required strength.
'I guess I'll just settle with a few of these weaklings for now,' he mercilessly thought while alternating his gaze between the thousands of humans.
He couldn't kill them all due to possible manhunts and all that, but surely, disposing of a few of the more trashy among them wouldn't anger anybody, right?
As Vlad was already plotting how he'd fill his black hole of a stomach, Elder Fu concluded his brief of the Entry Trial and its rules. In summary, the Trials were split up into three segments.
The first was a simple cultivation talent exam, where everyone would place their hands on a Spiritual Aptitude Stone and see how lucky they were in this life of theirs.
The second segment involved a brute strength contest, where the participants who made it through the 1st segment would compete to see which among them could cause a bigger reaction by punching a Strength Pillar.
From the first two segments, only less than 5% of the original participant count were expected to make it through to the last and hardest Trial: A free-for-all battle royale to decide the strongest hundred among them.
That's right, out of nearly 7,000 participants, merely a hundred were going to be able to join the Seven Swords Sect.
How could a Mortal so easily become an Immortal Cultivator? Naturally, the requirements were astronomically challenging.
"I've explained the rules of the Trials to you all," Elder Fu intoned. "And as a one-time reminder, killing will not be allowed until the 3rd Trial begins – and cheating is prohibited at all times. Understood?"
His suffocating aura spread out like a tidal wave, seeping into the bodies of the Participants and forcing them to obey his will – else they'd have to face the consequences of their actions.
Vlad felt an immense pressure weighing down on him, as if he were standing face to face with a mighty dragon just waiting to be unleashed. In spite of that, a grin tugged on his lips. He wasn't the least bit afraid; he was thrilled.
'So this is the Profound Realm,' he excitedly thought to himself, realizing that it was far different from all the Body Refinement Realm practitioners he witnessed in the past. The power the two wielded wasn't on the same level at all; they weren't even in the same dimension.
And if this was just the Profound Realm, then what about the Earth Realm and beyond? Just how powerful were the cultivators in these Realms??