Before Gilgamesh and Wyg parted ways, Wyg asked whether he could come spectate all of Gilgamesh's tribulations henceforth.
Obviously, Gilgamesh did not object. He welcomed any and all spectators, though he didn't care about the attention.
To him, it just felt like he had to show everyone how badass he was.
He explained this to Wyg, who immediately tried to slap some titles onto Gilgamesh.
"You should be known as the God of Cockiness! King of Showing Off! Prince of Arrogance."
Gilgamesh silently left Wyg behind and decided to continue his stroll around the sect.
He really didn't want to go back to cultivating.
After a quick glance at his sea of energy, he saw that the faintest aura of life was beginning to emanate from it.
It wouldn't be long before a change came.
At some point, he heard some chatter among the disciples that Big Brother Feral had arrived at the Proving Ground, meaning he had issued a challenge.
Gilgamesh realized that he had completely ignored the last fight, and hadn't seen the rankings either.
A bit curious, he headed in the direction of the Forest Master's tower to catch a glimpse of the rankings. As for Big Brother Feral, he actually couldn't care less.
As far as he knew, him and Big Brother Feral had no kind of relationship in the past, so he was absolutely nothing to him.
However, he did feel inclined to kick his ass in front of all his fans. Perhaps he would do that at some point.
The closer Gilgamesh got to the Proving Ground, the more disciples he saw. They were all looking at some form of object in their hands that projected holographic screens.
Seeing this, Gilgamesh thought back to the devices that Ishtar had shown him how to use.
Soon, their conversations reached his ears.
"Damn, so he's set his sights on the top 200 now? He went from the top 500 to the top 200 just like that?"
"Yeah, he's challenged the Disciple in the 150th place, Lotus. Every Inner Disciple that's challenged her before ended up losing."
"This is gonna be crazy!"
Finally arriving at the outskirts of the Proving Ground, he saw the disciples that had already set up shop, looking to take advantage of the crowd that was sure to gather.
Gilgamesh passed them by without so much as a second look, and saw a tiny crowd already formed near the Hall of Guardians.
It was possible to see someone standing at the center of the little crowd, as well as some glowing writing in the air above them.
Once he was close enough, Gilgamesh was able to read the writing.
Challenger: Outer Disciple, Feral. Wins: 32 Losses: 1 Total Matches: 33 Rank: None.
Opponent: Inner Disciple, Lotus. Wins: 12
Losses: 0 Total Matches: 12. Rank: 150th.
"Wow, so he's challenged Lotus?"
"Duh! Didn't you see the notification on your holographic jade slip?"
"A what? I don't have one of those!"
"Oh..."
"You're a bumpkin... yuck..."
Gilgamesh saw the crowd part in order to distance themselves from a clueless servant boy. He looked both ways as the disciples and servants all but ran from him, and helplessly cried out.
Gilgamesh stood at the forefront and looked around, but he couldn't see any indication of the rankings.
So, he asked someone.
"Jeez! Another bumpkin-"
Slap!
Gilgamesh suddenly felt like he had to slap the disciple that had begun to talk down to him for not having the holographic jade slip.
All eyes widened in shock as he walked over to the disciple he had slapped and hoisted him up by the collar.
"Where's yours," Gilgamesh smiled.
That disciple shit himself repeatedly, then gave Gilgamesh his holographic jade slip.
The other disciples merely felt sorry for that disciple.
"Gilgamesh even dared to put Outer Disciple Viktor's corpse on display, so obviously he wouldn't let that kind of disrespect slide."
"It's that poor guy's fault. He failed to see the truth, even when it was right in front of him."
After a few words and moments of silence, the disciple disregarded Gilgamesh's act of assault and daylight robbery.
It wasn't because they feared him, it was simply because this was the way the world worked.
Besides, it wasn't like Gilgamesh had killed that random disciple. So it was fine.
Gilgamesh poured some energy into the jade slip, and it lit up before revealing a holographic image. On it, he could see the Rankings.
Ignoring everyone below the top 3, Gilgamesh found himself staring at the positions and titles of three people.
"Guardian-talent, Inner Disciple, Dauntless. Guardian-talent, Inner Disciple, Rose. Shaman-talent, Inner Disciple, Sanctified."
Once he was finished looking at the names of the top three, he deactivated the jade slip as a thought came to mind.
'I wonder why I have no interest in anyone but those three...'
While he pondered the reason why, he prepared to leave the Proving Ground. However, when he turned around, he saw that hundreds of disciples had already arrived.
He had spaced out a bit, and was now boxed in.
If he wanted to, he would have just pushed his way out, but he suddenly realized something.
Usually, when he thought about the reasons behind his compulsions, he would just think for a while and come up with nothing.
It wasn't normal for him to just space out like that. It was almost as if something else had been attempting to aid him in finding out the truth.
Gilgamesh then cast another eye on the Omniscient Author, and gleamed the possible truth.
It was waking up, so perhaps its passive effect was slowly returning.
Outside of Gilgamesh's little bubble, the fight was about to begin.
A female Inner Disciple wearing robes decorated with numerous blue lotuses had arrived. Her features were soft and supple, and a transient beauty blossomed in her eyes, as though they were otherwordly flowers.
With an uninterested look, she suddenly gazed into the sky and sighed.
"Let's get this over with, Feral. I want to get back to work."
Big Brother Feral nodded, and his aura spiked. As he stood there, unmoving, the raw power of his body alone caused the space around him to warp.
It was evident that, with a single motion, he could produce an earth-shaking force.
Sensing this terrible power, Gilgamesh was instantly snapped out of his special state, and forced to look on with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.
Lotus shook her head and yawned, and as her robe fluttered she waved her hand and produced a small wooden bowl.
"I've imbued this with some of my wood-based life energy-- even though I hate using that power. Whatever healing elixir you drink pour into this bowl will have its effect tripled."
She tossed the bowl to Big Brother Feral, who merely stared at it before swiping his hand out.
To the vast majority of disciples, his arm blurred before reappearing at his side. Even Gilgamesh had some trouble keeping up with his speed, and he was taken aback.
Suddenly, Lotus's expression changed into an aggrieved one and she palmed her face.
"I just explained that I hate using life energy, but you went and destroyed the item anyway."
Big Brother Feral closed his eyes and slowly folded his arms.
"Such an item... is useless. If I can't recover on my own, with my own power, then I don't even deserve to recover!"
Some gasps and excited yells came from the crowd at this moment.
"Big Brother Feral is a true man!"
"That's my future husband!"
"I love you Big Brother Feral!"
Gilgamesh was completely abhorred by the crowd's response, but he had to admit that Big Brother Feral's character seemed commendable from that one statement.
Finally, Lotus removed her hand from her face and grimaced.
"So be it."
Her hand reached out in front of her before sharply falling, and her true energy provided a directive for her power to follow.
From the earth directly below Big Brother Feral's feet, numerous bright green vines broke out and wrapped around his feet in the blink of an eye.
His brown eyes quivered, but he had no further reaction.
As the vines continued to wind around him, they eventually covered his torso before beginning to sprout the most eye-catching azure lotuses.
Big Brother Feral looked around at the vines and tried to move, only to find that he could not make the vines budge a single inch. Finally, his eyes and brows showed a reaction; he was impressed.
Lotus then clasped her hands and gave a warm smile, "You lose."
Silence reigned throughout the entire Proving Ground.
Could it be true?
Had Big Brother Feral already lost?
Gilgamesh frowned while staring intently at the vines. He could just barely discern a faint true energy coming from within them, supplying them with their power.
This was likely the nature of Lotus' true energy at work, meaning that it would be incredibly tricky for even him to deal with.
However, he also knew that the very aura around Big Brother Feral's body was also imbued in what was likely to be his own true energy nature.
Gilgamesh felt as though the fight had only just begun.
Just as he expected, Big Brother Feral suddenly took a breath.
"I've lost?"
At this time, the aura that was lingering on the exterior of his body was withdrawn from the environment, and Big Brother Feral's body twitched slightly.
Snap!
Instantly, the vines holding him in place were torn apart and shattered, exploding into insignificant bits and pieces before reverting to true energy and disappearing.
The crowd was in an uproar. The silence was completely broken at this moment.