While imagining the kind of carnage Elaine would cause if she were here to witness all of my admirers, I continued towards the royal carriage and promptly entered inside with Mandy holding the door open, causing me to gently slap her butt as I stepped into the carriage. Sitting down beside the window, I grabbed Ember just as she entered and sat her on my lap as I stroked her head; I don't know why, but compared to everyone else, excluding Elaine, of course, rubbing her body always felt so calming.
'Hmm, maybe it's because she doesn't have the womanly charm about her yet.' Mused Elif lightly with a raised eyebrow as he looked at Ember before glancing at Sara, Marley, Illumia, Idonea, and Mandy, only to shake his head.
"Follow behind Eyvor's carriage." Ordered Elif as he glanced at Mandy through the window, causing her to bow slightly as she approached Zulo and Zala.
After waiting for a few seconds, the carriage was promptly lifted into the air as he faced the direction of the sect building in the distance, and when Eyvor's carriage passed us, we promptly followed behind her while Shelia, Goliath, Echo, and Birger did the same. My many admirers tried to do the same, but thankfully, they were all too slow to keep up with our carriages and were promptly left behind, which was perfect since I was beginning to require a break from them.
"Haa, I can already tell they're going to be greatly annoying in the future." Muttered Elif with a sigh of relief as he rubbed Ember's head, who subtly nodded but remained silent.
As we headed towards where the ceremony was supposed to be held, we happened to pass by one of the ten generational peaks, the fourth tallest one to be exact, and unsurprisingly, there was someone already occupying them; however, although it was brief I had managed to get a rough calculation of their strength, and it was…
'…Pathetic. With the way Marley and Idonea are as of now, even they would be able to challenge them for the number four spot.' Thought Elif with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at the fourth tallest mountain behind him before shaking his head.
Although they were very weak, I didn't bother with it much; after all, they were merely placeholders until the strong and talented actually arrived, so they were of no concern to me; besides, I had no interest in taking the fourth mountain, I'd obviously take the tallest one for myself.
"Sarah, have you been practicing with your sword?" Asked Elif as he glanced at Sarah, who tilted her head to the side before sheepishly rubbing her head.
"N-No, I-I've been busy practicing other stuff. Mainly how to please and service a man and whatnot, your Highness." Replied Sarah softly while glancing at Elif, who nodded, only for her to suddenly be whisked away into someone's arms.
"Please and service!? NO! I refuse to allow that good-for-nothing talking tree to take away my precious little sister!" Exclaimed Marley sternly with a deadly expression as she tightly embraced Sarah, who sighed and opened her mouth, only to sigh again.
Shaking my head, I ignored Marley and Sarah and closed my eyes as I leaned back in my seat while Ember sat atop my lap, leaning against my chest. After a minute or so, the sect building began to enter my divine sense, yet we weren't heading toward the building; instead, we traveled along the outskirts of the building, flying over the beautiful vegetation below before I eventually spotted a large open filled, which was currently filled with tens of thousands of cultivators who were mostly around my age.
In front of the crowd was a large oval-shape dimensional rift, leading to who knows where, while behind the crowd, there was another one, causing me to raise my eyebrow since the Qi radiating out of the rifts were precisely the same, meaning they led to the same dimension.
'I'm assuming this is where the ceremony will be taking place, Eyvor?' Asked Elif via divine sense, his words prompting Eyvor to nod.
'Yes. Though I'm clueless about the dimensional rifts, I asked Father about it, and he said the ceremony is slightly different every time the Realm sect opens its gates to the world.' Replied Eyvor via divine sense as she looked down below, observing the massive crowd of cultivators.
Nodding at Eyvor's words, since we had arrived, we all lowered our carriages onto the ground towards the back of the crowd as there was no need for us to try and squish into the front, though not even a few seconds after I touched down, I sensed the crowd grow restless as thousands of woman began making their way towards me, yet, thankfully, Mandy created a dome of Qi, separating us from my slightly unhinged admirers.
'Heh, I knew that butt slap was worth it.' Mused Elif with a smirk as he looked out of the window and winked at Mandy, who faintly blushed before bowing.
Since we had a few minutes to spare before the ceremony officially started, we all silently rested within the carriage, waiting as the minutes slowly passed; eventually, though, after some time, a woman suddenly entered my divine sense after appearing from seemingly nowhere. She was floating above the crowd, and most hadn't noticed her as she was concealing her presence, though, after a few seconds, she revealed herself to the crowd, causing a lot of lustful men to mutter quite a lot of inappropriate things about her.
'Are they too stupid to realize she's an Elder of the realm sect, or do they simply not care? It's surprisingly hard for me to choose.' Thought Elif with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at the woman, who seemed entirely unbothered about what the men were saying.
Although the woman was decently beautiful, she didn't hold a candle to the likes of Illumia or Sarah, though I digress. Seeing as the crowd didn't seem to be quieting down, the woman squinted her eyes and released a tiny portion of her Qi, causing the crowd to be pressured, with even a few weak-willed ones collapsing onto the ground.
"I'm Elder Axzul, and I shall be overlooking this month's ceremony." Stated Axzul with a soft yet firm voice as she stared at the crowd below, giving looks of disappointment to the ones who collapsed onto the ground.
Axzul, although decently beautiful, wore a white silk robe with black stitching and a bluish sash; she had a sword strapped to her back, which increased her authoritative words, though I doubted some people even cared or noticed.
Once she got her words across, Axzul retracted her Qi before clearing her throat, gathering the crowd's attention, who were now behaving rather respectfully.
"I won't bother introducing myself much since most of you won't survive today." Said Axzul lightly as she glanced at everyone, causing their faces to turn slightly solemn while she gestured to the dimensional rift behind her.
"This is a dimensional rift leading to a small dimension, and in order to make it to the next round, if you want to think of it as such, all you must do is keep heading north until you find another dimensional rift leading you out of the dimension." Added Axzul as she looked at the crowd before gesturing to the dimensional rift behind everyone.
"Eh, that's it?" "No, of course not, fool, it can't be that easy." "Yeah, this is the Realm sect we're talking about; the dimension is probably filled with terrifyingly strong beasts and whatnot." Stated the crowd quietly as the cultivators whispered to themselves, trying to glean information from each other.
"Though, before I allow you entry, as required, to any who'd like to leave, do so now; once you enter the dimension, you'll only have two options: you either exit from the other side, or you die." Remarked Axzul solemnly as she folded his arms while gazing at the crowd.
Most cultivators didn't heed her advice and ignored it, while a few others actually decided to back out of the ceremony, earning them looks of contempt from others, which I found to be slightly amusing since Axzul had stated before that most of us wouldn't make it.
"Alright then. If no one else would like to back out, you're all free to enter the dimensional rift. Remember, you have a time limit of three days. After three days have passed, whether you somehow manage to make it out alive or not, you'll have failed." Stated Axzul with a nod as she flew to the side while gesturing to the dimensional rift, causing the crowd of cultivars to eagerly fly into the rift.
"Well then, I suppose it's about time; come on you four, let us get this elimination round over with." Said Elif lightly as he placed Ember beside him before standing up and stretching his body a little before glancing at Marley, Idonea, Sarah, and Ember, who all nodded.
"Be careful, your Highness." Said Illumia softly as she glanced at Elif, who scoffed while rolling his eyes.
"What, don't believe I'll effortlessly survive this? From how Axzul worded it, this is merely an elimination round to lower the number of cultivators, so it'll most likely be straightforward and easy." Remarked Elif as he glanced at Illumia while Ember, Marley, and Idonea left the carriage.
"Not at all, your Highness, I was-" Replied Illumia softly as she glanced at Elif, who suddenly leaned down before passionately kissing her while Sarah watched with a faint smirk.
"I told you to call me Elif when we're alone." Said Elif with a mischievous smirk and stared into Illumia's eyes, confusing her as she glanced at Sarah, who approached Elif from behind before the two passionately kissed, surprising her.
"O-Oh, dear." Muttered Illumia with widened eyes as she watched Elif and Sarah passionately kiss, the latter getting a little too handsy.