Feng Li stood up, sweat drenching his entire body. Trembles swept through his body every so often. Pain, like sharp needles thrust into the centre of his pupil, erupted in his joints. He fell on one knee, pulled himself up and walked down the platform.
Those that watched hadn't expected the kid with the most talent amongst those from weak forces to have such a pitiful Dao Heart, barely passing the trial at fifty minutes. He only earned fifty points, squeezing him in the last numbers. Most expected his Dao Heart to be equally great. But alas, the Heavens had a way of balancing things... sometimes. Relief swept through the other participants.
The most disappointed was Elder Mo. When the kid went up, he braced himself for another shocking result. The result Feng Li scored was still shocking. But on a more negative spectrum.
It was poor. Extreme talent with a weak Dao Heart was a disaster in the making. For one, his Immortal Ascension would be disastrous should he make it that far. Simply taking the next step, the Heavenly Step Realm could prove to be challenging.
How could he complete the Nine Heavenly Steps if he couldn't even cement his Dao Heart Foundation? Each step within the Heavenly Step Realm pushed against your Nascent Soul with the weight of your burdens. If your Dao Heart was weak, your Nascent Soul might shatter by the third step.
A cultivator's Dao Heart was an elusive concept. Very few cultivation techniques aided in that aspect of cultivation. If a cultivator wanted to strengthen their Dao Heart, they needed to carve out a path of their own.
"Passed. Mediocre Dao Heart Talent. Next! " Elder Mo shouted.
Feng Li's name lit up on the four slabs. Immediately, it sunk down to the bottom of the list, with a measly fifty points in the total points column. The stadium whispered amongst themselves at the disappointing result. As they did, he walked down, downcasted at the low-level score.
He sludged through the crowd and found his corner in the pavilion. Shi Ya and Liang Heng came over to encourage him. Liang Heng told him it wasn't worth it to dwell on the disappointing result but he should take it, accept it and find a way to improve it. Not all the greatest cultivators had strong Dao Hearts when they started. They improved it over time. And so would he. Shi Ya offered a shoulder for him to lean on. She didn't have many words other than silence and a gentle rub to his back.
The Dao Heart Trials went on. Liang Heng went up a few minutes later and finished the Dao Heart Test in excellent time, two minutes, scoring him eight hundred and eighty points, shooting him to the second spot immediately. A few more talents went on, and most of them made it within twenty to thirty minutes, earning them between five hundred to three hundred points. Which was the average amount of points in this centuries batch.
Shi Ya's turn came up and she finished her trials in sixty seconds, earning her nine-hundred points. Her accomplishment shook the trial grounds, though not as much as Dong Meirong's accomplishment. Her low-level talent stained her incredible feat. But a few of the Elders in the sect noted her achievement silently. As long as she did well during the survival portion of the exams they'd consider giving her some privileges. The same was said for Liang Heng.
Her name rose to second place, shoving Liang Heng's down a notch, to third place. The last batch of talents went. Some passed and others failed. Just as the moon sunk to the horizon, relenting its reign to the sun, the Dao Heart Trials were completed. A total of a hundred thousand people participated, and only twenty per cent made it to the next round. Those that failed were given the choice to become servant disciples or leave after the trials and search elsewhere.
Elder Mo walked onto the centre of the stage and stood at attention, with his hands behind his back, gold robes rippling as the gentle wind blew through the makeshift stadium. His eyebrows hung so low they nearly fell off his face. He swept a cold glance at the examinees and the group of Transcendent'that hijacked his ceremony.
He laced his voice in essence, choosing not to use his quintessence as that could have inconceivable consequences to mortal ears and minds when used that way.
"This brings an end to our pretty eventful Dao Heart Trials. It's a pitty that only three of you scored passable results going on the Chaotic Cycle Standard. The rest of you? Don't smile at simply passing this test. Your results were horrible. "
To prove his point, Elder Mo changed the information displayed on the four slabs. Top Ten Dao Heart Test Results of All Time, was written in bold. Ten names were listed. Ten times. Ten total points. Everyone's words choked their throats. Even Dong Meirong's heart shook at the revelation.
It read:
' 1. Long Qiuyue, Time: 1 second, Total Points: 10 000
2. Qi Liang, Time: 1.5 seconds, Total Points: 10 000
3. Xie Chao, Time: 1.9 seconds, Total Points: 10 000
4. Ma Zhong, Time: 1.9005 seconds, Total Points: 10 000
5. Long Weizhe Time: 1.99 seconds, Total Points: 10000
6. Long.....
7. Long...
8. Long...
9. Feng...
10. Feng... '
The list cracked their understanding of reality. For the past few eras within the Chaos Cycle, no one besides Dong Meirong and Qian Jian breached past the sixty-second mark. Yet there was an entire list of ten people who finished their trials in less than three seconds. What sort of Dao Heart Foundation was required for that? To most, especially those who finished the test in ten minutes plus, finishing it in sixty seconds was nothing short of a miracle. Yet so many people didn't only finish it in sixty seconds, but three or so? Where was the logic?
Everyone was standing in the space around the stage he built. He already stored the Immortal Slaying Mirror in his spatial ring, clearing up the stage. Although, the four recording slabs still remained, floating in the air.
Each slab was split into two viewing screens. The top half of the slab showed the top ten results of all time. The bottom half showed the top ten results of this Chaos Cycle. Dong Meirong's name stood tall in the first place position, no one else managed to break the record she set. Second and third place tied with seven hundred points. Second place was clutched by Shi Ya, who finished the Dao Heart Test in sixty seconds. Liang Heng stole third place, finishing at two minutes. Feng Li finished near the bottom, it took him a total of fifty minutes to finish his Dao Heart Test which only earned him fifty points, he almost failed the test.
The top ten results seemed so great when isolated, but when compared to the list on the top half of the screen, a thick cloud of disappointment fell over the participants.
"Your hearts are weak in comparison to talents that came and went throughout the Chaos Cycles. At second place is the current Sect Master of the Spectral Haven Sect. You lot are barely qualified to lick a toe of the Sect Master when he was your age," Elder Mo smiled, "Even the current prince charming of this generation, Prince Long Wei couldn't hold a candle to the Sect Master of back then. His Dao Heart was unbreakable. His talents were unfathomable. And while he was merely in the Saint Realm, he could battle a Human Immortal to a draw. Talents these days are weak. And pathetic. "
Elder Bohai tightened his eyes, focusing on Elder Mo. His young master had no place in this conversation. Why did he bring him into it? Power thrummed within him. Golden bubbles of quintessence floated to his fingertips. Purple bits of void energy slithered into the ball that formed, hiding its signature. No one below the Transgod Realm would be able to tell the difference. A powerful hand grasped his shoulders. He turned. And met Elder Cai's disapproving gaze. The bubbles of quintessence receded and his tensed shoulders dropped.
"We don't need to step in for the Young Master at every turn. His father will have our heads if do that too many times. Right now. You just have to watch. Let Young Master Wei deal with the old man as he see fit, you did call him back-"
A shrill boisterous laugh submerged the darkened atmosphere, adding bits of colour to it. The owner of the laughter was none other than Long Wei, standing on the wind, high above the pavilions. Purple Qi coiled around his feet, giving him the ability to fly two realms early. Only those that broke past the mortal barrier could fly within the Imperial Expanse.
The laws that built a transdimension were strict. No mortal had the basic qualifications or comprehension of laws to fly. Yet Long Wei did it, simply too.
Over countless years, techniques were developed to combat the Heavenly Dao's restrictions, but none could replicate the real thing. Long Wei didn't achieve fight through such crude ways, rather his comprehension of Void Qi had reached an extremely high level for a mortal, allowing him to fly in the air for short periods like full-fledged Immortals.
"You forced my hand, Elder. But this Prince does not take insults lying down like a dead fish. Or a starfish for those of you who prefer. I only need half a second to break Twentieth Grandmother's Record, " Long Wei's words took a while to sink into the people's ears, "I won't even bother with a bet. To save you some face. Just bring out the Immortal Slaying Mirror and watch me destroy these pitiful records you hold in high esteem. "
He said what? Could he not see the list? Those wer ethe thoughts running through lost people that could barely recover from the revelation of their 'bad' results.