Two red doors started to shine bright and within a breath's time pairs of signs and inscriptions began to flow down its length constantly giving it the appearance of a rushing waterfall instead of a doorway, Then suddenly movement stopped all at once and a slight creaking was then made known to the new tiny world.
It was more of a gentle subtle way of moving as if what had happened before really didn't happen at all and these gigantic doors really were just gigantic doors that were simply not meant for human hands to open.
The door looked as if a giant arm should be pulling it open instead and most of the people there could even imagine a giant hand reaching from the sky and slamming itself onto the door and even when it slammed itself on the door making it barely moved.
continuing another person appeared and touched the door only slightly and then the door began to move slightly only slightly this time, but this achievement was better than the gigantic arm that failed to move it an inch.
Then another person came and his beard was long his hair white and his skin clung to his bones he looked frail and weak he then raised his index finger weakly toward the door and it seemed as if the door hinges bulged when the door slammed open on its opposite side.
The first thing seen was the three towers that were etched on a man's robes and what accompanied the three towers was a sword that seemed to shoot out from behind them and pierced through the clouds and its surrounding areas. His sleeves also had many smaller swords on them pointing up his arm.
Everyone stopped to observe the man walking forward, he looked youthful and handsome with his long black hair tied into a ponytail. The door continued to move even though no one was moving it at all and the youths footsteps sounded throughout the entire bridge.
The black haired youth didn't need to command respect with his voice or face he simply needed to give a slight appearance, if he really wanted to he could've shown his finger and the people outside would've stopped still as they had done now.
As everyone there didn't need to know this man's name nor his title they only knew one thing for sure, and it was that this man here was a cultivator and cultivators were powerful enough to kill an entire mortal family without consequences to themselves but a slight dip in their reputation which also meant that… most of the people here if he felt displeased with them could be killed with a single thought issued by this man.
Only, those of the bigger nobility were calm during this situation. Even Zu Dai and Bo Jiang felt fear when looking at this man yet somehow Zu Dai felt more determined than ever when he felt the fear fill him and slowly but surely his determination changed into that of sheer confidence into himself.
The man raised a hand and he spoke for the first time since stepping outside "Enter, the door shall test your aptitude… when you pass the exam your aptitude shall be revealed to you…" His raised hand then bent its fingers beckoning the examiners to come forward and enter the door which included passing him.
A long brown haired youth with average features but an athletic build stepped forward first his footsteps were the first even out of the nobility who were thinking over the words of the examiner as if they just listened to the words of god. Many people didn't step forward rashly because of the notoriety of how hard the first part of the exam was and because of the exam's strict rules people who failed weren't allowed to tell people why it was so hard.
The youth continued forward and passed by the cultivator who wore an expressionless face when he saw the youth walk forward. The nobility who watched the youth walk forward started to snicker and insult him, especially the muscular built nobility surrounded by his people. "What a dumbass I bet the door is gonna slam his ass into the water down below where he could have some quality time with his people."
The youth who was of course Zu Dai who continued forward with a smile and neared the gate more until he simply passed it all together and walked to the other side, Many people let out an audible gasp at the display and the muscular brute then said this quickly "Must've gotten lucky I assume."
Zu Dai saw an elderly man next to the door who raised a hand telling him to pause, He paused and then simply turned around 'I guess waiting is the best option.' He smiled brightly.
Many of the people had mistaken the words of the cultivator on the bridge, this was l the first part of the exam but it was rather an aptitude test that would simply allow the people to see their real aptitude as stated by the cultivator on the bridge and depending on their aptitude they would fail or pass that part of the exam.
Zu Dai was quickly followed by a running girl who reached him within a few seconds, she glared at him and did a slight "Humph!" as she reached Zu Dai looking away from him. It seems she lost the first part of their little competition.
He raised a hand and waved at his two friends that were appearing to still observe the gate, he then did a beckoning gesture toward the too while the next person walked forward which was Bing Ai accompanied by the other muscular nobility who surpassed her speed when he started to speed walk to take the lead.
They were each accompanied by their most bravest followers, the group passed through completely fine however two unlucky followers slammed their bodies against an invisible force making them fall back to the floor rubbing their heads. The cultivator that stood within the middle of the bridge then said "Failed." and waved his hand.
Zu Dai watched amazed as the followers' clothes around their arm tightened as if a serpent had just coiled around it and then the seemingly invisible serpent tugged the followers. They were first dragged across the bridge the invisible serpent around their arm coiled tightly, they looked as if they were in pain when the invisible serpent tugged and then Zu Dai assumed as if the serpent slithered and went toward their neck to cut off their circulation.
As the two stopped screaming suddenly, as if the serpent coiled its head around their necks and fear got caught in their throats unable to express any further. The invisible serpent pulled them and then no longer was there a serpent but a wyrm as the two followers were then pulled into the air suddenly by their arms.
They were then spun into the air like lifeless dolls, their fear stained expressions still hard on their face, the entire spinning process was drawn out and slow, giving people a good look at the unlucky followers tears and snot stained faces.
The wyrm must of let the two go as they shot out suddenly on one rotation toward the direction of the lake where they landed inside, somehow… safely? Anyway, discerning their level of safety was of no use anyway and not vital to himself anyway but rather to the others without aptitude.
Zu Dai looked back toward the friends he was beckoning over and wasn't surprised when he saw their look of apprehension toward his friendly gesture to come over and meet him on the other side. Zu Dai stopped beckoning them and just simply began to observe the crowd…
'This system is quite perfect… ' Despite being a peasant boy he tried to see the beauty of the system of how this aptitude test is actually going on… In truth the only way to find out if you could pass the exam was also the only way you were going to fail the exam but failing just seemed like a very bad option…
'This is going to result in quite a few people turning back and not taking the risk at all… ' Zu Dai looked toward the peerless beauty who was more or less standing next to him due to the open space between them and him. He smiled slightly. He wanted to say hello but viewed it inappropriate to do so right now… the exam and all.
He continued to wait for some time until his two friends Mo Chang and the other unknown person walked forward after some more encouraging smiles from himself. He really did want Mo Chang to pass this entrance exam simply because of the simple reason that he seemed good at gathering information and his father was also a powerful person within the sect.
Mo Chang passed the gate quite easily, he did so however with nervous chicken legs which did not befit his husky physique. After passing the gate easily he regained his strength and quickly walked over toward Zu Dai when the few simply began to converse about little things. Zu Dai drives the conversation anywhere he wants due to his high social skills and the recent high emotional changes Mo Chang just experienced.
The other unknown man simply distanced himself from the two while they conversed.
He reached the topic on his knowledge of the exam, where he reveals he doesn't know anything about it which Zu Dai had expected and then he reached the topic about the muscular dude who was about Mo Chang's height and found out that he was Su Ming his family is one of the nobility families that controlled the medium size sect.
"Don't get me wrong here, Sect's are supposed to be impartial but when… Families are included in the mix. The social dynamic changes a lot here so I suggest keeping your head down when one of the big families of the sect does something…"
He nodded and continued talking about Su Ming, which led to him discovering even more info… which displeased him. Su Ming is also the heir of said big family of the sect which is also second most powerful to the sect master.