"You'll be teleported randomly across a a spherical planet with a diameter of sixty thousand kilometers. Each one of you will be given a pendent that will act as your safety mechanism. Should you experience a moment where you are about to die, it wil teleport you back here. Since this is a survival test. The rest of the rules wil be up to you to figure out. No one gives you a handbook in te cultivation world. Good luck, " Elder Mo said.
Long Wei leapt from the pavilion and landed on the seat next to Feng Meng, one leg crossed over the other. Feng Meng was startled, surging his red spirit qi to his palm, ready to strike. He calmed down when he noticed the silky black hair and deep black eyes that challenged him to a staring contest. He turned his head away from him and pulled Violet closer to his chest.
"What do you want? " Feng Meng asked.
"Is it wrong just to want to see my favorite cousin?"
"Just spill it, Long Wei. You and I both no that's not what you want, " said Feng Meng.
"Alright. You got me. Give yourself a round of applause for guessing my intentions," Long Wei sighed, "Where did we go wrong Feng Meng? You weren't like this at all two years ago. "
"This isn't the time to reminisce about the past, "Feng Meng rolled his eyes.
"Okay. Okay. I have a preposition. Team up with me during the survival exam. I'll give you one half of the Cosmic Beads? "
Feng Meng stopped the quick answer he wanted to give. One-half of the Cosmic Beads? Long Wei? He wasn't buying it. Still, he hesitated before cementing his resolve to fairly compete against Long Wei and prove his abilities.
"No. Not after what you did," Feng Meng said.
"You are really a stubborn one aren't you, " a little anger melded with Long Wei's voice, "Fine. I won't force you. It is a pity that you are going through so much to deny your favorite cousin. But I understand. I really do. Maybe I should have a talk with Feng Tian about this. I'm sure he'll love it when he hears this. And... I know. "
Long Wei mouthed the last two words. With a smile on his face, he leapt up, planning on taking a quick dash to his pavilion. There he'd speak to his elders one last time and make his way to the survival trials.
It took Feng Meng a full second to process Long Wei's words, freezing him in place. His mind immediately wandered to something Feng Tian caught him doing a year ago. He felt so stupid now that he thought over it for the past year. If the Matriarch knew what he did, not only would his engagement to Violet be put at risk, even his position would be stripped from him, and his cultivation stripped from him. Living a conformable life in a mortal plane would be the best possible outcome.
He caught a corner of Long Wei's robe as he jumped into the air, "Calm down now, Prince Wei, we haven't reached a conclusion in our discussion just yet."
Long Wei smirked, sitting back, "I apologize for trying to leave while were discussing. As I was saying, I want you to capture Dong Meirong, the moment you find her. Simple right?"
"Why though? How wil even accomplish that?"
"Don't ask too many questions. You just have to do. Am I right? " said Long Wei.
"Fine. I'll capture her once I find her, " Feng Meng agreed.
"Good. Let me know through the Bloodline Tapestry."
Long Wei patted Feng Meng's shoulder, flicked the sleeping Violet's nose and smiled at him. With a gentle tap to the ground, he soared towards his pavilion. He exchanged a few rushed words with the elders.
As he did, Elder Mo called for everyone to stand in neat rows. Participants exited the pavilion and gathered around the stage in neat rows that spread far into the horizon. The Transcendent Dao Children marched to a special clearing a few meters east of the stage. They didn't want to meld with the peasants of the cultivation world. Each one of them stood tall in their pristine robes of various colours.
Those from various Dragon Clans wore dragon chestplates of varying draconic designs, under their robes. Muted colours were preferred over brighter ones. Those with even a smudge of the Phoenix bloodline surging through their veins had a fascination with bright colours, favouring those on the red, yellow and pink spectrums. Most God Beasts had an unhealthy obsession with colours that matched the colour of a few of their features in their True-Body state. Sirens loved robes on the purple spectrum. And Kunpeng's loved those on the grey spectrum.
Humans didn't have a racial obsession with certain colour tones. Each one's preference was unique. A few spotted red robes, others yellow, and some orange. Elder Mo let out a rare smile at the sight. The Imperial Expanse went through a lot of progress ever since it was founded a few thousand Chaos Cycles ago.
He hadn't lived that long, but some of the residues of those cycles still made it to the Chaos Cycle he was born in. Finding a place where both humans and the various God Beast Clans, pure and impure, could gather was impossible five or so Chaos Cyce's ago. They came such a long way through all these years and he felt proud, to be one of the few beings that ushered in this new Era.
"Brace yourselves. I'm about to perform a mass teleportation in the next six seconds. Remember. Survival is key. "
Elder Mo waited patiently as everyone broke into a ruckus for two seconds before everything died down. People closed their eyes and focused on their breathing. Feng Li, Shi Ya and Liang Heng stood together, hoping that they would arrive near each other by some stroke of luck. Elder Mo connected to the spatial passageway, stretching out his hands to the crowd. With a loud puff, golden light shot out his hands in an instant, covering the entire area. A few bits of it manoeuvred towards Long Wei.
The golden light disappeared. None of the participants remained. The Four Slabs in the sky rose high into the air. Light pulsed from them and they merged, forming one large slab. It flew downwards and hung a few meters from the ground, facing towards the pavilions.
Little golden bracelets appeared in each of the pavilions. Each bracelet had the ability to inject the immortal or divine senses of the various Elders that accompanied the trial takers into the slab. And through it to Gaia, the trial grounds. An Immortal's immortal sense could cover a few million kilometres in distance as long as there were no shrouds out in place, and a God's divine senses could cover trillions upon trillions of kilometres under the same condition. The moment their senses entered Gaia they could see the entire planet, only that they couldn't interact with it normally, as Gaia itself was in a different dimension.
Gaia was situated in the Mortal Dimension, also known as the mortal plane. No existence within and above the Immortal Realm could exist within the mortal plane. That was the Dao's Heavenly Law.
The gold and blue pavilion was lively as always. The wonderful sound of laughter submerged it. Old men smiled and laughed, passing wine across a small table, the Vice Sect Master wasn't laughing with them. His thoughts were preoccupied, with Long Wei's result. Qian Jian and the other personal disciples of the elders spoke in muted and rushed tones, snickering and laughing among themselves.
"Who do you think is going to win this thing? " the First Elder of the Spectral Haven Sect asked his junior brothers with a smirk on his lips.
"Well. The results are set in stone in this one. If a miracle doesn't happen at least. I'd say about ninety-per cent Long Wei. I would have rated him lower. But his Dao Heart Test Results frightened me, " the Second Elder said, "Only his result was pretty passable when you compare it to the true Dao Heart Test taken behind closed doors. Post-Instant. That was his father's score. "
"I'd say eighty at most. We ate purely going off his cultivation levek which does out him way above most of the people participating. But is his combat power up to par? If it isn't. His loss is all but guaranteed, unless he shows us another profession, since this is the survival "the Third Elder said.
"The score. Is it relative to cultivation or is it standard, elders? "Qian Jian interjected with a smile.
As much as they wanted to remain fair in their assessment of the situation, Qian Jain believed that the man he chose to aid him in the future couldn't be nothing more than hot air. Long Wei's aura passed the basic thickness test. It was an aura that oozed true confidence.
Not a false one.