Standing outside the entrance of the castle, Joanna floated in the air above all the members of the Church of Prasufis currently on Planet Voxotis.
She was like a goddess floating before her subjects. Her pristine white dress added a layer of purity to her appearance and her grey downturned eyes scanned over the cultivators in the crowd.
Floating behind her was Adele who wore her standard 'working' attire, a black pencil skirt, white button-up shirt, black high heels and a black blazer to finish off her classy business-like look.
"I hope all of you here today have taken advantage of this past year to prepare yourselves for today. The trials in this castle will not only be extremely difficult but also incredibly dangerous.
Some of you may lose your lives but the rewards up for grabs will be worth the risks. I can confidently confirm that there will be Heaven-grade techniques, Heaven-grade artefacts and rank 7 pills up for grabs. I can also announce that everything you gain from these trials will be completely yours and the Church will not take anything you earn inside the castle."
There was a loud roar heard outside the massive castle and some cultivators were seen embracing each other while crying tears of happiness. While Heaven-grade techniques and artefacts were not uncommon in Noblia World, their value was greatly increased for individual entities because over 90% of these techniques, Heaven-grade and above, were possessed by the First and Second Rate Powers of Noblia World.
Artefacts were not as strictly controlled as techniques were since nearly every day blacksmiths and artisans created amazing artefacts
"All hail the Almighty Prasufis!"
Nobody knew who started it, but the entire crowd started chanting: 'All hail the Almighty Prasufis!' before expressing their gratitude for Joanna. It was their Archbishop who brought them to this small, underdeveloped planet and gave them this opportunity of a lifetime.
When the cheers and chants eventually died down, Joanna continued with what she wanted to say.
"Now, we don't have much time to complete these trials. The reason being that the Cloud Haven Sect could be arriving in the upcoming days."
The crowd started grumbling and cursing those from the Cloud Haven Sect. They completely forgot that this wasn't even their planet and they had hijacked it.
"So keep that in mind when completing the trials. Anyway, I won't keep you waiting any longer, good luck and may the Almighty Prasufis guide you well."
The cultivators roared once again and hastily made their way to the entrance of the castle. The first ones inside were those with the highest cultivation. 5 men arriving ahead of everybody else, looked at each other with a competitive glint in their gazes.
These were the 5 Bishops that were under Joanna. Bishop Brishan was amongst the 5 and he had a clear goal in mind, as did the others for that matter.
'Clear as many trials as possible and gift the rewards to Archbishop Joanna.'
These were the thoughts of these Bishops. They, like many others in the Church of Prasufis, had an obsessive love for Joanna. When they heard that Joanna might have a new lover they went bonkers and convinced themselves that the Soul Form of the 12th Spartan General was mistaken. How could a mere Mortal Ascension Realm cultivator conquer the heart of their untouchable Archbishop? It had to be a cock and bull story intended to disrupt their loyalty. Yes…that had to be it.
"Bishop Brishan may the best man win."
Bishop Brishan stared at the outstretched hand of his long-time rival, not only in love but also cultivation. He hated this man to the guts, but being the good man he was known to be, he slapped the hand away and gave the opposing Bishop a one-finger salute.
"Fuck you! Hahaha, Bishop Anton why don't you kiss my ass!" Bishop Brishan laughed boisterously before disappearing into the castle.
"You- I'll kill you!"
–––––
One of the last few cultivators to enter the castle was Mason and his team. After the death of Julian and Harold, the team focused heavily on their teamwork and their own cultivation.
Most cultivators chose to participate in the trials solo but Mason and his team decided to participate together to maximise their chances of success.
"Goodness…this place looks even larger inside than it does on the outside." Yera gasped and looked around in awe. Her thoughts were what everyone else was already thinking.
They were currently in what looked like a massive lobby with 2 flights of stairs on either side of the room leading up the castle. The walls of the lobby were made of mountain rock and the furniture was elegant yet simple. There were also multiple paintings placed on the wall mainly of a man with brown hair and brown eyes. The floor of the lobby was laminated wood and looked as if it had been recently waxed, giving it a shiny appearance.
The lobby also led deeper into the castle where there were a few numbered doors and the group of 6 could see people lining up in front of these doors. On the first floor/lobby, there was a total of 4 numbered doors.
"What do you guys want to do? Should we go higher and try to find some other trials or line up here and hope that nobody completes the trial before it's our turn?"
Mason asked the 5 others and they answered without even thinking about it. They would look around for another trial.
The group made their way up the stairs, searching floor after floor for numbered doors, but each floor was massive and contained hundreds if not thousands of doors with only 3-4 with numbers on them and sometimes there were floors with no numbered doors at all.
They eventually found an unoccupied numbered door with the number being 27.
"We all ready?" Mason glanced at all of his team members one by one. Seeing their determined expressions, he nodded and flashed them a charming smile.
"I know you might be feeling nervous, I am too, but we have earned this opportunity with our own hands and now it's up to us to fully grasp it. Remember that even if we fail this trial and the next and the next, we will still be handsomely rewarded for finding this castle in the first place."
His words were completely true, they fought and nearly killed a beast with the blood of a true dragon coursing through its veins. There were not many cultivators who could boast about that and although they sadly lost 2 members, they gained valuable experience and matured slightly as cultivators.
"Let's do this already! I'm so pumped!" Allison punched her palm and stared at the numbered door in excitement. Her infectious attitude spread to those around her and suddenly everybody was raring to go. If they were lucky they could potentially be getting a Heaven-grade technique or artefact alongside their promised rewards.
Mason nodded again and opened the door before they walked in one by one. What greeted them on the other side of the door was a blinding white light that blinded them for 5 seconds before the light eventually dimmed and slowly they regained their vision.
A small ball of yellow light similar to that of a mini-sun, floated in front of the 6 youths. The room they were in was empty. The walls, floors and ceiling were completely white, giving the illusion that the room was without end.
Suddenly a robotic voice sounded out from the ball of light, surprising the youths.
"Welcome Challengers to 'Trial 27: Imposters in an empty field'. The goal of the challenge is to find the demon hiding in the field and kill it. You have 2 hours reduced by 10 minutes for every additional participant.
You have 1 hour and 10 minutes to complete this trial."
Before anyone could ask any questions, their surroundings unexpectedly changed and they found themselves in the middle of an open field with plenty of livestock grazing peacefully around them, the ball of light was nowhere to be seen. It was as if they were spatially shifted outside, there was a gentle breeze blowing through their hair and an earthy smell drifted into their nostrils.
Cows, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens casually grazed the land. They seemed unbothered by the sudden appearance of the small group of humans.
Mason and his team looked at each other with confusion, but that confusion turned into slight anxiety when they noticed a timer floating in the sky above them and the constant decreasing of time.
[1:09:40]
[1:09:39]
[1:09:38]
"Mason, what do we do?" The big, bald head Adrian asked the pink-eyed Mason. There was a hint of unmasked urgency in his tone, but his body remained in a forceful relaxed posture.
"The ball of light said we have to find and kill a demon hiding in this field. It also mentioned the name of this trial being 'imposter in an empty field', if I had to guess then maybe this demon can shapeshift and take the appearance of one the beasts around us."
It was not Mason who answered Adrian but Dawn. Her eerie dark eyes scanned her surroundings wearily as she kept her eyes peeled for any unnatural movements.
"I had similar thoughts." Mason agreed and paid special attention to the cows grazing not far away from them. If it was a shapeshifting demon then they could be ambushed at any given time. They had to be the ones on the front foot if they wanted to pass this trial.
"If that's the case then why don't we just kill every beast here? I'm sure the demon will pop its head out if it's about to die." Allison asked while taking out her scorpion whip.
"Sounds like a good plan to me." Trent agreed and unsheathed the massive greatsword on his back.
Mason and Dawn rolled their eyes while Adrian had a big grin on his face. Yera had remained unusually quiet since they entered the trial.
"Well, I guess that's the best plan of action. Let's do it!" Mason threw a punch towards a random cow, sending a wave of mana crashing against the cow and exploding it into thousands of pixels.
*Beep!*
[1:08:21]
[-:-:-:]
[58:19]
When the group saw their countdown timer suddenly being reduced by 10 minutes they gasped in surprise.
"Maybe we shouldn't randomly kill the beasts…" Dawn uttered helplessly and the others nodded with gaped mouths and wide eyes.
With only 58 minutes remaining, Mason and his team had to somehow find and kill a demon that could be hiding anywhere.