In front of Wang Tian stood a tall tree, it was at least 100 meters tall with lush green leaves and a strong solid trunk. On one of the branches of the tree, a large red fruit rested releasing a soft glow of energy.
"So thus it begins, the final trial." Wang Tian muttered before stepping forward. Immediately a golden light descended upon him, applying a strong forceful pressure upon Wang Tian. 'This is much stronger than I thought it'd be.' He thought before trudging onward.
This was the final test, a test of endurance. Naturally there was a way to get around this though, if one crushed their token they could get through the trial with reduced pressure, and the higher the token the more it reduced said pressure. Alas Wang Tian knew better than to do that because the final reward could only be accessed if one still had their token left.
"Haa, this is good training actually." He smirked as he walked through the pressure, each step he took the pressure added up and his body began to creak but he wasn't scared. The Dracodevil's Heavenly Body wouldn't be stopped by some petty pressure.
Once Wang Tian was about half way through, the other disciples finally arrived. "Hah, there he is we can still catch him!" One of the disciples roared before rushing ahead. Immediately the pressure shot down on him pushing him onto his knees.
"Hmph! Trash, if even this Outer Disciple of the Skyward Sword Sect can withstand it, why cant you?" The Core Disciple of the Mountain Shaking Sect snorted before stepping forward. For a second his expression flickered as an expression of worry flashed on his face.
"See, not so hard." He laughed as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. Seeing him manage to enter, the disciples were reinvigorated as they too began to enter the pressure field. Although they fared better than the first disciple they were still amazed by the pressure.
"This doesn't make sense, how is that guy so far ahead under this pressure!?" One of them complained as they gazed at Wang Tian. "Who is that guy anyway? Tell us!" The Mountain Shaking Sect and Falling Rain Sect disciples questioned.
"Hah! Jealous much? That's Outer Ranking's Rank 1 Wang Tian!" A Skyward Sword Sect disciple chuckled as they too trudged forward. Hearing this the other Sects were shocked, as something began to click in their minds.
'Wait, doesn't that mean he's only at the 5th Layer or 6th Layer at best!?!? How is this possible!?' They all collectively thought as they gazed toward Wang Tian's back. Even with the time advantage, it simply made no sense how he was so far ahead. After all this trial was based on endurance and overall strength more than speed.
Hearing the intense chatter behind him Wang Tian was pleased to say the least. 'These guys think they can match up to me? Maybe in their next life!' Chuckling as he continued onward, Wang Tian had about 30% left to walk down but he wasn't in a rush. His closest competitor had barely passed 20% of the trial and it only got harder and harder as it progressed.
Finally, someone had enough as a strong qi permeated the air. "Fuck it! As long as I get that fruit nothing else matters!" He roared as he sped up, charging through at unprecedented speeds making it half way through the trial.
Unfortunately just as he was about to continue he slowed down once again as the accumulative pressure caused his legs to shake. An expression of fear dawned on his face as he protected his body with his qi.
This trial, was simply impossible for him! This made no sense to him, he was a Core Disciple of the Mountain Shaking Sect, and had a strong body, while his qi quality could be considered lacking in some aspect, it was still nothing a 5th or 6th Layer disciple could compare to, so how was Wang Tian so far ahead?
'What could it be? The only thing we've gained is the token, but it can't be he gained something else?' The burly man thought as he looked at the token engraved with the number 9. As he held it in his hand, it began to crack as he accidentally applied too much force before it shattered completely. Immediately a white glow enveloped him as the pressure reduced to 10% of what it was before.
"So this is how!" The disciple roared before charging ahead, now it was much much easier than it was before. While the pressure would still add up his chances of reaching the end were now significantly larger than they were before.
Seeing this phenomena other disciples looked in confusion before they too took out their tokens. Crushing them one after the other, the disciples rushed forward with newfound vigor as the pressure let up on them.
This helped them so much, that around 20 disciples made it to the half way point in the matter of minutes, and 3 disciples were barely 20 meters from Wang Tian. "Heh! So this is how you got so far ahead, well seems you've lost kid! Once we're out of this pressure field I am turning you into mince meat!" The Mountain Shaking Disciple roared.
"Hmm? You're truly laughable, do you really think you can compare to I, Wang Tian?" He chuckled as his qi slowly enveloped his body. While the increase would be nothing compared to what it did to the others it would still boost his speed nonetheless.
Now covered in qi, Wang Tian strode forward towards the end in large strides, he was barely 10 meters away before, and now he but a step away from victory. The disciples looked at him in envy, and rage as they saw him reach the end. Especially the Core Disciple of the Mountain Shaking Sect, he was furious as he scowled at Wang Tian.
"You mad brah?" Wang Tian laughed before escaping the pressure field. His body immediately felt many times lighter and he quickly turned off his qi before gazing at the red fruit.
The next second Wang Tian was charging towards the tree at full speed, at this rate he'd reach the fruit in about a minute. "Fuck! HURRY UP WE CAN STILL BEAT HIM UP IF WE ESCAPE!" He roared, as his pace increased charging towards the exit with all his might.
"Senior Brother Shan, fuck him up!" The Mountain Shaking Sect disciples roared. Hearing this the Skyward Sword Sect disciples were nervous, after all while they all wanted the fruit it was better if their fellow disciple acquired it rather than the enemy.
Finally their Senior Brother Shan made it to the end of the pressure field he touched the final barrier. "THWANG!" His hand was repelled as he looked on in shock. "BULL SHIT!" He raged before slamming into the barrier once again, but this time he was repelled with even greater force sending him flying backwards.
"Huh?" All the disciples looked on in shock. The Mountain Shaking Sect disciples were on average closer than the other Sects so one after another they tried to get through the barrier but all of them failed. Eventually some Skyward Sword Sect disciples and Falling Rain Sect disciples also made an attempt but they were more cautious after the continued losses of the Mountain Shaking Sect.
"Heh! Seems I've won." Wang Tian announced as he held the Fruit of Might in his hands. "Let me let you all in on a little secret, only those who still have a token left may pass through the final barrier, so the second you crushed yours you lost your qualifications and were in a sense disqualified." Wang Tian explained.
"Good luck next time!" Wang Tian then ran away circling around the tree and going down another secluded path. 'Heh they'll never find me now, they'd have to go all the way back through the cave and then somehow find this one path, they'll never manage!' He thought to himself as he raced down the path.