Elder Mo's eye twitched. Was his countless years of climbing each cultivation and social rank nothing but a joke? First the kid threw his face in the mud. In front of juniors barely a percentage of his age and his peers. He left the trial grounds for a few hours without seeking permission from him. Did he come back? Just to run his face through shit again?
Had his name and status lost meaning sometime before sunrise? Was his Inner Elder status not enough to earn a waddling prince's respect? Did his Peak True God Realm Cultivation base mean nothing? Of course not!
"Young man. I suggest you just sit down and follow the process like everyone else. You can prove your talents in the Survival Test," Elder Mo chose to divert the attention towards the upcoming trial.
His hold on his emotions slowly dripped away from him. He wanted to leave things be and forget about the incident a few seconds ago before he was forced to do an action that he'd regret for the rest of his life…if he still had one. His focus shifted to the gate he needed to create. A spatial passageway to the survival trial mini-realm was needed to transport the participants. He sliced off a piece of quintessence from his God Core and channelled it to his fingertip. He thrust it to his right side. A high-pitched screech whistled from a single point next to him. The wind whirled into a massive spiral. Large amounts of suction force entered the trial grounds. Quickly, Elder Mo sliced off another bit of quintessence, forming a conceptual shield that protected the participants from the suction force.
Elder Bohai shielded Long Wei a moment before Elder Mo tore a hole through space. The other Transcendent Elders did the exact same for their Dao Children.
Long Wei's lips pursed. He was ignored? Who did this Elder think he was? Was this not blasphemy against the Imperial Family? Against the next in line to the Throne? There was no way he would take an insult in the face of so many people and let it go unresolved. His single statement had the potential of tainting his immaculate reputation as the Almighty Wei. What was there that he couldn't do cultivation-wise? If he let everyone brush past him, he'd become a laughing stock.
"This Crown Prince demands you pull out the Immortal Slaying Mirror this instant," he spat.
Long Wei couldn't believe he had to repeat his demand to a mere Inner Elder. Burning rage brewed within the pits of his stomach.
Young Master Wei wasn't a man to be ignored.
Never!
Just as Long Wei was about to let his inner rage grab a hold of his actions, he calmed down. He loosened his shoulders. A side glance and Elder Bohai knew what needed to be done: Crippling. Elder Cai, being the ever-cool-headed instructor broke that plan in an instant with a huff.
He opened his eyes.
His aura descended for the briefest of seconds. In that single second, everyone within the God Realm felt their lives reach an end. Few could describe the sensation in words. It was conceptual. As if the Heavenly Dao erased your existence thoroughly, through all space and time within a second, and restored it the following second. And you were somehow able to keep your consciousness throughout the entire process.
The Vice Sect Master and the Three Elders kept on drinking their wine, completely unaffected by the aura that descended. No one else within the God Realm could brush it off.
His voice laced with the power of a true powerhouse far above the True God Realm said, "Old Man Mo. I'd suggest you sit down and listen to my Young Master's words. While I can't interfere when mortals and immortals want to play around with my young master. I caution someone of your status for trying the same.
You have publicly shamed the Crown Imperial Prince. Which is no different than shaming the Emperor himself. Since this is the first time I won't hold you responsible. Consider yourself lucky."
Elder Mo's face paled. Sweat dribbled from every pore of his body, soaking his golden robes. Unknown to most, in the brief moment Elder Cai's aura descended, most of it was focused on him. All he saw was a bright red draconic beast opening its galaxy-wide maw to chomp him. His experience wasn't like the others. The maw focused the entire concept of death into his Mindscape for a single second. He would have imploded had the aura lasted a few seconds longer. And that still left fear lingering in his bones.
"Ye... Yes."
He wasted little time. The Immortal Slaying Mirror slammed into the centre of the stage. The passage he was opening disappeared the same instant the mirror exited his spatial ring. The Vice Sect Master didn't mind the disrespect. He wanted to confirm something. And the situation played into his hands. If the Prince could really break his grandmother's record, then that would prove helpful in solving one mystery that had been eating at him for the past twelve years.
Elder Bohai retreated into the pavilion. Elder Cai was still as terrifying as he was a few thousand years ago. No. Now he was way more terrifying.
"Long Wei. Remember your purpose for staying here. Not everything needs to devolve into bloodshed the moment you see fit. Somethings can be resolved peacefully. As I just did now."
Long Wei's eyebrows trembled. That was 'peacefully'? What was violence? He nodded either way as if he understood what Elder Cai said. His father nagged too much for a being that was said to be one of the most powerful within the Myriad Realms. It often made him wonder if the statement held any truth at all? He was one of the most powerful, yet his authority as Emperor could be stripped from him if he lost the clan too much face on the way he managed it? What was his family hiding?
"I'll deal with it myself next time. "
"Don't lie to yourself. Long Wei. You should stop doing that," Elder Cai put one last word before closing his eyes and entering a cultivation state once more.
"Hmph!"
Long Wei dived down to the stage in a blur of purple qi. He landed lightly on the white tiles. And thrust his spirit sense immediately into the mirror. Elder Mo steeled his gaze and hoped the Dao Heart Trials ate the young man alive. Disrespect after disrespect flooded his way when it came to the Imperial Family. This wasn't the first occurrence. It felt as if the princes had a thing against him. Long Wei's half-sibling disrespected him a few hundred years ago for no apparent reason. And now he was doing the exact same thing. Couldn't Long Wei, let the trials run as they were meant to be?
Shock wrote all over his face when he saw the white light gush out of the Immortal Slaying Mirror less than a second since Long Wei thrust his spirit sense into it.
Long Wei opened his eyes. They were still clear, bright and deep as the abyss. No sweat lined his pores, nor did his limbs tremble from the untold horrors he experienced during the trial. He took it casually, as if he went out for a stroll in his backyard spirit garden, plucked a few stalks of medicine and gave them to a palace maid. Just because he could. He placed his hands behind his back and rose into the air, disappointment rained on him.
"This.... Was disappointing. I could have finished it instantly. But I can't break my promise now can I? "
True to his words, he broke past the mandatory hundred tests in half a second, not a second less or more. He expected the test to be challenging, maybe forcing him to use zero-point-six seconds to complete it. But it was nothing special. The Dao Heart Test within the Palace Grounds was a bit more challenging. It was a full grade higher than the one here. Yet, he could only finish it in zero-point-one seconds with hardwork. The one they had in Spectral Haven Sect? He could break it in less than an instant if he wanted to show off a bit more. But he was a man of his word.
It took the four viewing slabs thrusting Long Wei's name to the top of both top ten lists for reality to sink into the people. Long Wei broke two records in one breath. He killed two stones with one bird. If that was even possible. But he did it. And they couldn't gather the required feelings to express themselves.
Elder Mo fell back. The...that...that...was possible, he thought? Records could be broken this way too? What level of Dao Heart was required to break the Immortal Slaying Mirror's illusions in less than a second. Was there truly something above a Transcendent Dao Heart Foundation? Did he stumble upon such a terrifying Dao Heart's wielded and offended him?
Long Wei didn't bother to exchange any more words with the elder and flew back to his pavilion. He left the crowd thinking of committing suicide that instant. Their understanding of reality had been flipped over countless times throughout their day. They couldn't take it anymore.
It took a few minutes for Elder Mo to gather himself and restart the process of opening the survival test trial mini-realm. The Survival Trial Grounds was a mini-realm roughly sixty thousand kilometres in diameter. It was a circular planet once called Gaia a few Chaos Cycles Ago. Most of its history was wiped out through the sands of time, never to be remembered for the rest of eternity. A cultivator of the Spectral Haven Sect found it four Chaos Cycles ago and turned it into one of the many trial grounds of the sect.
He remained silent throughout, not bothering to speak.
Within the gold and blue Pavilion, the Vice Sect Master smiled and thought to himself, "So you really used that when helping him open his 'Mindscape' during his Qi Condensation. Quite the spender. What are your plans...i expected you to use that for yourself. Did you find an alternative? Classic 'Long Tian', always bending over to go against expectations."