Who wouldn't want to be under the guidance of such Body-Building Lineage of the Sect ?
Getting back onto the Test Site.
The Elder then guided the bunch who had passed the test & took them on the other side of the hill top. There also lay a similarly appearing Formation.
"This Formation has a Martial Soul Inspection Stone, which is used to test & evaluate your Mana Aptitude & Mana Resonance & Root Comprehension ability.", as he explained he took out 50 Medium Grade Profound Stones & pushed it onto the Formation activating it.
"Now as per the Rank you have got in Spirit Board, one by one go on the Stage & try to push your mana on the stone & try to comprehend the source of the Mana , the soul of the stone within & write the answer in the Paper on that table ", the elder put an end to his explanations.
The First to step was a female of similar age to Sargon, Rockarna & Arjumon.
That means she ranked first & scored the highest score among the First Elemental Physical Test.
She was wearing a short skirt coupled with transparent red socks, she was both cold & Beautiful.
A Classic Cold Beauty !!
All the young boys except Sargon couldn't help but take a nice detailed look towards the young lady pumped by their young hormones.
She was Berinya Kostov , a Naval Race individual most famed for their Physical prowess, the progenitors of the Vampire Race.
She had a Pale White Skin & had shoulder length Platinum Red curly Natural Hair.Like other Naval races, she had not one but 2 colors of hair, reddish at the center & Platinum Blonde at the edges.
She had single eyelid narrow almond shaped eyes which were Dark Red Deep in color & alluring as the abyss.
She went on the stage & grasped the stone & started to induce mana on the stone & try to resonate with the source of mana within the stone, which was called the soul of the stone.
After some contemplation, she bowed to the elder supervising the test & went off the stage towards the table, wrote her answer & stayed back at the Group Sargon & others were resting on.
One by one all of the participants went on the platform & were given ame constant time to
find the source , went downstairs & wrote their answers.
Sargon also went with full confidence on the stage, after all when it comes to sensing the Mana & resonating with its source nobody can match up to him who possess other worldly knowledge.
If other Test takers could be said to be University Students, then he was already a Phd Student, who was finalizing his Doctrine Thesis.
The only disadvantage he had previously was Body Root Elemental Conflict which was largely solved by the activation of the Divine Tattoo, during the Baptization Pool Ceremony , where he could feel almost a 2nd Body-Root activated by the Ritual of Yajna Blood Wine.
Now this, False Law Transforming Boy Root i.e Divine Root as usually called in Nashirah ,was slowly harmonizing the various elemental natures within his body & making the Original Natal Body Root's qualification improve.
Soon he tried to push his mana onto the Stone.
Of Course this 'pushing Mana out of body ' was itself a fake-terminology used as the 1st Phase Inner Houtian Mage was incapable of controlling one's mana outside the body & could barely force the mana outside the Skin-Layer.
Sargon basically in layman's terms pushed the mana outside the skin of his fingertips & tried his best to lose minute mana into the stone , while simultaneously using the Mana adjacent to skin to sense the Structure of the Mana Stone within.
Before even the allocated fixed time had finished however he took off the stage & wrote his answers down on the paper & submitted it to a Deacon Elder.
Soon all of the Test Takers had finished their test & were busy making friends with each other.
Sargon was however very skeptical of Rockarna admitting himself that he hadn't done well.
After assessing the results from the paper, soon the Elder came onto the Stage & pointed at similar structured Spirit Board which this time seemed to be made of Stone instead of Wood, "As Usual, you need a 100 Score to Pass & 1000 is the Maximum Score which if you get you would directly be accepted by the Sect Ancestors. "
Of Course there was not much of a commotion regarding the opportunity to be a direct disciple of Sect Ancestor, after all 1000 Score was something harder than Ascending to Heavens with one Step, previously too no one except some country bumpkin made some noise about it.
Sargons & other's attention was soon grasped by the Spirit Board List.
Fariah Minghe Anqua , 800 Points
Rahus Lombaros , 790 Points
Sargon Apollo, 777 Points
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Arjumon Sinek , 720 Points
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Rockarna Hanim , 695 Points
This time, Rockarna Hanim indeed was telling the truth unlike playing Pig to pounce like Tiger. Nonetheless it was a decent Score.
"Brother you are indeed a hidden talent. Hope you take care of us well inside the Sect gate", Rockarna teased Sargon, making him blush from embarrassment.
He tried hard but not too hard & wanted a decent barely genius score so as to not stand out so soon. Such was the play of the Fate, Sargon & Rockarna were envious of each other.
Mountain glances at the flowing Free River below while Flowing River glances with envy at the Stable Heaven like Mountain.
Nonetheless Sargon was in good mood, so what if others know , perhaps it is indeed better for him to perform well, so that when he shows his Otherworldly Talent everything would be attributed to his Fake Talent & people will not think that it was perhaps because he had True Inheritance of Cultivation Path.
Soon the Elder took the passed Individuals to even higher Hill Point where a similar Formation & Platform stood on the center of the Formation but instead of any resources or heavenly treasures there were some Young Adults on the Center of the Formation Serving as an Eye of the Formation.
"This 3rd of the Three Tests would be governed by the Elders who cultivate the SpiritForce & walk on the path of Sorcerer using the Craving Spirit Heart Formation. They would touch & evaluate your pulse, check your situation of the Spirit Nadi Channels within which SpiritForce manifests & evaluate its righteousness.", the elder further explained about the test.
"After Such Evaluation they would further agitate your Mental Demons through Illusion, Ecstasy & Hallucination but don't worry this Illusion Test is the foundation for your Final Trial of the Bridge, so as long as you failed miserably to get out of Illusion as long as your Evaluation is passed, you can cross the Bridge and on the other side & you would be welcome as Freshman Disciples", the elder then closed his eyes & went back to meditate.
Soon one by one after each of the students went on the array platform as per their results scored in the 2nd Trial.
Fariah Minghe Anqua went first. She was a young lady from the sparsely populated Minghe Race, which was also considered to be one of the Elderkin Races along with Elves, Darvik, Naval , Dwarves & the now extinct Wood Gremlin Races .
So it is natural for her to possess the most distinguishing features of the Minghe Tribe, the blunt Cone-like Montral Horns & a particularly crocodilian large tail with some aquatic Scales covering it's skin & also a Pair of Sea-Shell like Gills in both sides of her lower Rib Chest region.
Her Skin tone was naturally dark Bluish & on top of her forehead was an extra few inches Dragon-Like Horns protruded out with magnificent Fashion.
She had a rather proud, pampered & childlike serious mannerism as she strutted herself onto the stage.
First her pulse was checked by the ELder sitting at the Eye & Center of the Platform & the Formation.
Then her Structure of frequently manifested stable Spirit Nadi Channels Network/Circuit were observed & then the quality, tendency & Calmness of her SpiritForce energies were observed through the usage of the Formation.
Result : Passed.
Meaning she had passed the Three Trials of the Sect with only the perfunctory Ritualistic Last Trial left.
Then the Craving Spirit Heart Formation was run at max power & clock & slowly the Elders at the Periphery started to chant & hymn a similar chorus of Mantras.
Then the Elder seated at the central took out a Zither from her Storage Bag & started to pluck the strings of the Zither producing calming & sense eating melody full with Melancholy & Sadness as she reminded Fariah, "Remember if you can't withhold the SpiritForce to immediately withdraw & wait to finalize your Last Trial "
"Umm", Fariah nodded.
Soon the intensity started to increase such that even the Sargon & audience could feel a minute seductive & Depressive nihilistic Force attracting them & pushing them to crave more Illusion.
After a while she could not take it any longer & she soon came out.
"Whole 2 minutes & 30 Second passed , Final Score : 715 Points", the voice of the Female Elder sitting on the center of the platform could be heard from all directions , echoing throughout the Valley.
"Hmph ! ", she had a rather proud & un-submitting attitude as she glared provocatively at Rahus Lombaros & Sargon Apollo, who were both 2nd & 3rd Rankers of the 2nd Mana Trials, seemingly challenging them.
A 715 was a good ranking as in the last trial ones Scoring Capacity is hugely reduced by the fact that more than half of the score was determined by the Illusion Resistance which was a harder Subject to score high marks on.
Rahus Lombaros, a human Teen who had a slightly taller physique with Sleek face & Triangular Eyes seemed even more pumped up & went on the platform while competitively looking at Fariah.
Sargon Apollo on the other hand looked warmly & slightly bowed humble position smiling amicably to Fairah.
She was startled & taken aback for a moment but soon her focus was on the results.
Whole 1 minutes & 56 Seconds, Passed, Final Score: 620 Points
Fuck ! !
He so badly wanted to do Undertaker Slitting Throat Gesture to reply to the competitive Challenge of Fariah.
What Face & Self-Dignity would he have if he with an adult's mind were to be easily affected by the tantrums of children.
Nonetheless, it was still hard & he was reminded of the times when he had to look after Stubborn Naughty Restless Children who seemed as if they had eaten a Goat's tail before being born, moving like it's tail here & there in pendulum mood swings.
Control Sargon! Control !
Since Sargon had not progressed not that much in his Spirit Force Discipline coupled with the fact that he seemed to have particular weakness of Sonic Illusory attacks , he could hardly suppress the after effects of the chaotic thoughts that rose in his mind by the effect of the Elder affluent in the Immortal Occupation of a Demonic Tunist.
At First, only the heart felt pain.
Then slowly the Tragedy & Depression had seeped deep into his bones.
His Mana & Energie within his boy started to lose its luster.
His Spirit started to falter.
Weird Thoughts started to come.
Why was I reincarnated ?
Perhaps if I had not found the Ohm Pendant , there would not have been the affliction of cancer & I would be in my Home.
Mom !
Dad !
Forgive me for being Unfilial. Your Son can't traverse Universe Loka Planes to shed the barriers of the Universe on the Mortal Realm to meet you. For by the time I would be powerful enough to reach you, perhaps not even your Ashes & Graves would remain Intact.
Brother, how are you doing ? Hope you have found a nice lady & are planning to settle your house with her.
Take Care of Our Parents in my stead.
CLANG !!!
The Female Elder, seeing that Sargon's mana was going crazy & could break & hamper the Mana Channels, stopped her Tuning on the Zither, thinking to herself, "I had played comparatively easier than that Minghe Girl at Front, Huh ? How could his situation seemed to be much worse,if not for his excellent ,stable & orthodox SpiritForce he would have even failed this test "
Sargon suddenly came unto his Senses. The Salty & Bitter tears filled with regret slowly overpoured & ran down his Face.
It took him a while to calm himself & freshen himself.Fortunately , the things happening within the Formation were somewhat blurry & opaque & he saved himself from the Embarrassment of such a scene in front of the Children belo.
"Whole 1 minute & 40 Second , Passed, Final Score: 580 Points", the echo came from within all the directions of the valley as if there were speaker-sources all over the valleys.
Sargon was unfazed about the results announced & quietly left the Platform to sit beside the Initiator Group from whom participants were called generally as per their ranking from the previous test.
He was taking deep breaths & calming his Inner Mana & SpiritForce energies & contemplating the issue at hand.
'I never knew that deep within my Heart I still feel regret & uneasiness & nostalgia about my past life.I thought growing in Nashirah with a New Roof over his head I had already reconciled my Past-feelings & let go of the attachments. I seemed to have just cured the Symptoms while ignoring the Cause. ', Sargon started to ponder on his own personal issues.
He didn't care about the results up the platform, for the Last Trial is the simplest of all trials, but the problems of the heart can weaken his foundation of immortality, make it difficult to overcome & persevere the Trials of Foundation Building & greatly affect the Future path.
He also simply couldn't ignore his past connections, but alas what can he do ?
Even some Venerable Figures could not bypass & traverse through the Chaotic Dangerous Boundary Walls of the Universe Loka Planes, perhaps only those proficient in Refining the Void could do such feats.
However, now he didn't even know what Path & realms lay ahead of the Foundation-Building Realm & how long would it take to reach such a realm of traversing through the different universe in the Mortal Realm ?
Perhaps it would take Hundreds of Years , or perhaps even 10,000 years would not be enough .
Things Like Future & fate that he had no control over were basically useless for Sargon to Ponder or to dare to challenge.
He could only bite his teeth & persevere the long road of Immortality forward & hopefully once he can traverse the boundary of Universe he can meet his Parents.
If not at least he could have some contact with his brothers or great Descendants of his brother !
Fate was Illusory & hard to Grasp for oneself.
While he was pinning his hopes on future & mentally calming & preparing himself for the Journey ahead the group had already finished the 3rd Test.
"Those who have just passed 2nd but failed 3rd Test can go down the West side of this Hill where there are various Guest-Halls of the various Vassal Families & Vassal Sects of our Violet Order State. If you lack a certain background just show the token you have & if you choose one of them, you would get preferential Treatments.", the Elder opened his eyes from long meditation & started to expound his knowledge & motivated this failed bunch for more Hardworking Character.
Rockarna also chimed in & further expanded the background of the Sect & how its Ruler Violet Valley Sect operated & formed Political alliance & working Bureaucratic style.
"Now you have all passed the 3 Tests of Body,Mana & Spirit ,now all you need to do is travers over this bridge & if you don't have any Ill intentions towards the Sect , you would come out of the other side as a Courtyard Disciple for 2 whole years. However, if you have bad intentions towards the sect I am afraid you would fall down the bridge & we will not search for your body below ",as he announced the Bridge Trial, his hand pointed to the peak of the Hill from which one could vaguely see an outline of the bridge in the fog.
Sargon & others slightly bowed towards the Elder & went on the top of the hill from where they could clearly see the bridge. While the elder closed his eyes & continued to meditate seemingly not caring about any results henceforth.
There was nothing astoundingly beautiful or graceful about the bridge. Instead it was an old & rotting bridge filled with the ancient aura.
It had the embarrassing appearance of a suspension bridge made from the combination of wood & Rope, there were no runes one could see on the bridge.
All in all it looked like a normal Secular Bridge with no aura indicative of Cultivation leaking out. Only the Aura of Gloom & Doom was spreading from that bridge.