Migo decided to sleep and wake up early to go to the plaza the next day to get a better view during the selection.
Deep in his sleep, a marble-like item slipped out of his robe. It rolled on the bed and silently fell to the floor. After a few moments, the marble-like item started to emit dim lights of different colors until they covered the whole room.
The marble-like item slowly left the floor and float towards him. It stopped and hovered above his head while still emitting different colored lights and started to release the essence of earth.
--
In his sleep, Migo was inside a brightly lit hall. He looked around but can't find an exit. Despite not knowing where he was or what's happening, he tried to stay calm and analyze what was going on.
He remembered going to bed as he was planning to visit the plaza early to secure a good place to watch the selection. After that, he was already inside this hall with no exit.
Suddenly, light orbs of different colors started to appear around him, floating in the air.
"What does someone like you doing inside this temple?" He heard a loud voice asking him.
'Temple? What temple is this?'
"A trash who was abandoned by his clan." It continued.
His expression darkened when he heard the voice again. The voice knew that he was banished. But how did he know about it? Is it someone from the Royal City of Ember? Someone from his clan?
"Who are you?" He asked.
"You have no right to ask questions." It answered. "A trash like you dared to enter this sacred temple. You have guts."
'A sacred temple?'
"But since you're here, I have to test you."
'Test?'
"No need to think little boy." Said the voice again.
One of the light orbs started rushing towards him. He tried to avoid it, but it was too fast. It entered his body and he felt a large amount of energy started rampaging inside his body. It felt like his body was going to explode. He screamed and rolled on the ground.
He remembered that when he tried to absorb the essence of the earth in his body before, he experienced extreme pain because his meridian was unable to use it to temper his body.
The pain he was feeling now cannot be compared with it. This was ten or many times stronger than what he had experienced.
"Oh boy, you are such a trash that you can't even handle this little amount of energy." The mysterious voice said. "No wonder your grandfather doesn't care about you."
One after another, the light orbs started rushing towards him and entered his body
'Am I going to die?'
The pain was just growing stronger. He felt like dying. It was as if he can feel his meridian and organs being destroyed completely by the surging energy inside his body.
"You are an ordinary man dreaming of something that is out of your reach." The voice continued.
Despite the pain, he forced himself to reply. "It's better to die dreaming than simply dying without a goal."
"But you're a trash." The mysterious voice replied. "You are not allowed to dream."
He can feel his consciousness slowly drifting away.
At the start, he thought it was just a dream. But the pain he was in now was very real. He tried to endure but cracks have already appeared on his body and his internal organs have already been destroyed.
"I cannot die. Not yet." He screamed. "I cannot accept dying like this. I may be am a trash today. But someday, I will prove to anyone that I am not. I will be strong. I will be respected."
"Young man, you will still die today even with that kind of conviction." He heard the mysterious voice said.
The pain was too much to bear. When the last light orb entered his body, he was no longer able to endure it and his body exploded and turned to dust.
He died.
--
Inside the room, the orb-like item turned into a ball of light. It entered his forehead and he woke up.
He was panting and sweating. He died. But when he looked around, he realized he was back inside the room he rented for three days.
'Was it all a dream?'
The pain he felt was very real to him. It cannot be a dream. But if it was not a dream, why was he still alive?
He can never forget what happened. He can still hear the mysterious voice inside his head.
"You are a trash. You are not allowed to dream?"
'Am I not allowed to dream.' He asked himself. 'Then who is?'
"Everyone has the right to dream. I just want to be strong. I just want to be able to protect myself and the people I care about." He said. "I want to prove that I am not a trash."
Fire of determination can be seen in his eyes.
Since the sun has already started to peek in the east, he decided to put everything that happened at the back of his dead and prepared for the day. He took a shower and went on his way to the plaza.
There were already people in the plaza waiting for the selection to start. He was able to secure a place near the center.
He sat quietly and listened to the conversation of the people around him. Everyone is talking about the selection and the young cultivators who will participate in the selection.
"I heard Brother Moji has already reached the middle level of Martial Heavenly Layer." Said a young woman wearing a blue floral robe. "He is very strong."
"As the son of the City Lord, it is no surprise that he is able to attain this level of cultivation at such a young age." Said another woman beside her. "I also heard that geniuses of the other clans have also achieved the same cultivation level."
"You are right." She replied. "Mizu of the Shuǐ Clan, Toppū of the Cruz Clan, and Chikyū of the Gimo Clan are also at the middle level of Martial Heavenly Layer. All of them have already secured a slot to go to the Royal City."
When he heard of the Gimo Clan, he remembered the cultivator from last night. He remembered that he called himself Tochi Gimo.
"There are only six slots remaining." The other woman said. "Who do you think will get them?"
"There's a lot of young cultivators who will participate in the selection. The three largest clans will also send some of their geniuses to join. I really can't say." Answered the woman in blue.
The plaza became a sea of people after an hour. Everyone is excited to see who will go to the Royal City and join the competition that is organized by the King himself.
In the center of the plaza, a selection field was prepared. A stage was built outside the selection field where the leaders of Crystal City will watch.
The Clan Leader of the Shuǐ Clan arrived first and took his seat. He was a middle-aged man with a very strong aura. He was wearing a black robe with a golden hammer embroidered on its collar. According to what he heard from the conversations he listened to while waiting, the City Lord and the leaders of the three largest clans are at the Venerable Realm.
The Shuǐ Clan specializes in making weapons since most of their cultivators' martial spirit is a golden hammer. Most of the weapons being sold in the Royal City came from the Shuǐ Clan. This made them the richest clan in Crystal City.
The Clan Leader of the Gimo Clan came next. He was also a middle-aged man wearing a brown robe. A silhouette of a mountain is embroidered on its collar. Their clan specialized in earth skills.
A beautiful woman is the leader of the Cruz Clan who arrived right after. She was of the same generation as the other clan leaders but looks younger. She wears a light blue robe and exudes a cold aura. She looked like an ice goddess.
Cultivators of the Cruz Clan specialized in water and ice skills. It was rumored that the leader of the Cruz Clan has a Venerable Realm weapon that can freeze anything it touches.
The last to arrive was the City Lord. He was a little younger than the leaders of the Shuǐ and Gimo Clan. He wears a blue robe and looks like an ordinary man. But he is the strongest cultivator in Crystal City.
It was said that he was from one of the clans in the Royal City and moved here to become City Lord appointed by King Guówáng.
"We will now start the selection process." He started. "The first phase is to enter the selection field by passing through the Divine Energy Formation."
He looked at everyone and continued. "Only Martial Realm practitioners who are less than twenty years old and have enough divine energy within their bodies will be able to pass through. When you're inside, you can use the formation to purify your divine energy. The formation will only last for thirty minutes. Please activate the formation now."
A True Martial Realm Cultivator activated the formation creating a dome-like space covering the selection field.
Everyone was excited. Participants have already started passing through the formation.
Migo has heard about this formation before. This was used a lot in their clan to help their cultivators purify their divine energy. The purer the divine energy is, the easier it is to advance the cultivation. It used ten low-level energy crystals to activate this kind of formation for thirty minutes.
Energy crystals are another type of resources that can help cultivators in their breakthrough. It contains pure divine energy.
Since the main purpose of the Divine Energy Formation is to help purify the divine energy of cultivators, only Martial Realm practitioners can enter it.
They might have also used another kind of formation to add additional restrictions like the age or level of divine energy in the body.
In just a few minutes, there were already more than twenty cultivators inside the formation. They sat cross-legged in the middle and started to meditate and purify the energy in their body.
There were some Martial Body practitioners who tried to pass through but were blocked by the formation. Martial Earth layer cultivators were also unable to enter.
When the time was up, the Divine Energy Formation stopped and deactivated. There was a total of forty-three young cultivators who are qualified to continue. Half of them were from the three largest clans.
Migo saw that the young cultivator from the free market was one of them.
"And that's the end of the first phase of our selection process. Congratulations to the forty-three young cultivators who qualify to the next phase." He looked at the crowd and smiled. "The next phase is to measure your talent and potential."
"City Lord, how are you going to measure our talent and potential?" Ask someone from the group.
He smiled at the young man. "We will be using this Monument of Talent."
A stone monument appeared out of nowhere and landed in the middle of the selection field.
"Once activated, the Monument of Talent will connect your consciousness to a dreamscape that where different tests are waiting for you to measure your talent and potential in cultivation." He explained. "The tests vary depending on your cultivation level. We will choose ten cultivators who will last the longest to proceed to the last phase of the selection."
Migo has seen the Monument of Talent several times before. Every year, their clan will conduct a test of talent and potential using the same monument.
According to what he remembered, the level of talent and potential may change as a cultivator grow and improve in their cultivation. The divine energy constantly modifies the body until it becomes a True Martial Body allowing them to slowly unleash their potential.
The martial art skills that a cultivator practiced may also be a factor to improve one's level of talent and potential.
"Be ready." Said the City Lord. "You may start now."
The Monument of Talent glowed. Suddenly all the cultivators in the selection field were in a trance-like state.
Unfortunately, the crowd is unable to see what's going on. Everyone was silent in fear of disturbing the participants. However just a few minutes, a cultivator woke up from his trance and was sweating. He was the first to be eliminated.
Migo thought of the dream he had. 'Was it the same as the Monument of Talent?'
He shook his head and continued watching the selection.