The Mortal Transcendent creatures didn't waste a single second. They dashed from where they were, rushing towards Long Wei. Winds howled as their Mortal Transcendent bodies tore right through air resistance as if it were just a figment of their imagination. Their mangled body shapes struck fear into the hearts of the weakened cultivators. A few men and women leaked golden liquid from their pelvic regions, wetting the floor. The fear of failing the trials came from deep within and gripped them so hard they fell back in the rivers of blood drenching the floors.
Qin Yan was numb. He couldn't process anything anymore. He saw no future for himself.
Resist?
As it stood he saw no avenue of resistance. The outcome was set the moment the four Saint Realm creatures made their presence known. Nothing else would save them. Closing his eyes, he accepted his fate, Spectral Haven Sect was not for him. His talent was far too low for these trials.
All he heard was a series of footsteps pitter-pattering against the wet floor. The sound pounded against his ears, syncing up with the rhythm of his heartbeat. They got closer. He scrambled back with the last bit of strength he had. They passed him. He turned back, wondering why.
A young man sat with crossed legs in front of the glowing blue pond. His handsome visage blended perfectly with the cool light. No smile was present on his face. The weak Heavenly Door Aura slammed him back to reality. He…must…warn…him! Even if it meant little. It was always best for one to die knowing.
"Watch out!" Qin Yan shouted.
The Mortal Transcendent creatures reached Long Wei's behind in less than a second. A thousand of them surrounded him. Qin Yan deflated. Another person failed the trials because he couldn't do anything. He couldn't even see the man's figure anymore, far too many of the creatures surrounded him. His death probably hurt way more than it should have.
"You forced my hand," a cold voice slithered through the wall of creatures and reached Qin Yan's ears with crystal clarity. He snapped his head in the direction. One thought passed through his mind, "It Can't Be."
That voice belonged to someone he was indebted to for eternity. It was something he never would forget. He heard it once, a few months ago. His father managed to get them a booking at the Ancient Delight Restaurant on Monarch, the centermost planet within the Imperial Expanse. Ancient Delight advertised itself as a non-discriminatory restaurant that was open to all people, regardless of their social status. Apparently, that was false. His father, the man he loved so dearly that he wouldn't second guess his choice to give up his life should there be a moment where it would be required was humiliated and thrown out of the restaurant on the account of being a mere human.
He would never forget that moment when the same crystal clear voice made its way to his ears...
"What happened?" the voice said.
"We were thrown out of this restaurant for being human."
"That doesn't seem right," the voice paused as if giving the situation extra thought.
Qin Yan was too busy helping his father up, he didn't turn around to meet the owner of the voice. That didn't last long. He saw the peripheral of the robes brush past him. A figure with lustrous long black hair flowing behind him like an ornament of great beauty personally handcrafted by the Heavenly Dao to gift its son walked past For a moment he thought the young man didn't care. How wrong his thoughts were then. The young man walked a few steps forward, leaving him behind. Qin Yan regretted that he never saw a face. A regret that came far too soon.
The man turned around and smiled, "Bring your father along, I want to see who dares chases you out if you enter with me."
The bright golden robes smacked right into his eyes. The sculpted dragon shoulder pads and breastplate that he wore on top of it, gave him a brief idea of the man's identity. He wasn't sure though. The young man came back, helped him and his father up, and instructed them to follow closely behind him. They swaggered into the restaurant. Everyone stilled at their abrupt entry. The bodyguards retreated into their shells like common tortoises, too afraid to even gaze up. Fear struck the manager when he saw them again. Qin Yan remembered the intensity of the emotion. It was thick, pushing past the windows of his eyes and anchoring itself into the room. It tasted bitter. And smelt godawful. The manager trembled and rushed towards them, all smiles, and tried treating them better than they did earlier.
"A citizen of this empire is not something you are qualified to deny in this restaurant, under two accounts. You preach equality for all, yet you chased out an Immortal human and his son. Your shop states that social class is not taken into account, which means regardless of the race or cultivation you should have treated them like kings and queens. You failed to do that. You have made a mockery of Imperial Father's Decree of Equality. Elder Cai," he said.
"This branch closes today. Their crime? Not disrespecting the Emperor's Decree Of Equality, Section 38," he judged.
"Young Master Wei, please? Give us another chance. This lowly one didn't know they were your friends. Please. Please!" the manager collapsed right before the man's feet, sobs instantly filled the quiet restaurant. At first, the manager wanted to twist black into white and weave an intricate lie that would expose the humans as liars. But the prince wasn't someone he could just lie to. He didn't know how many God Realm experts were tailing him. A mere Golden Immortal such as him couldn't lie in front of such figures. They'd see right through him and another crime would be levied atop his head.
The patrons gazed at the spectacle with interest. When people had eternal lifespans to spend, they couldn't help but become attached to the smaller things in life. Such as watching the downfall of someone.
Qin Yan's heart throbbed when he heard that name. It was the Crown Prince that came to their aid. The rumors were far from the truth. He too dropped to his knees, crying for failing to realize he was in the presence of an Imperial Prince. Was he disrespectful?
The prince helped him up, " All citizen's of my Imperial Father's Empire are equal. I'll make certain that these type of scumbags don't sully the work our forefather's put in for the presence of peace we have nowadays."
..............
"It's the Prince!" Qin Yan shouted in ecstasy.
Murmurs and grunts rolled out the mouths of the surviving Mortal Transcendents. Most of them lost far too much qi and blood, they could barely keep their consciousness active, yet the moment the word 'Prince' reached their ears, they perked up. Their slumbering consciousnesses woke up. And they saw.
Qin Yan understood prince wasn't the arrogant prick people made him out to be. He was a man worthy f the crown. That day proved it! His clan was only a mid-level Immortal Clan, yet the prince took it upon himself to mete out justice on his behalf. How was that the definition of arrogance and apathy? He was clearly a man of conviction and honor. Outside of these trails where he was forced to compete against others, he would never kill innocents. The man he saw that day would never do such a thing. A smile blossomed on his face.
"Don't lose hope. Its his Majesty!"
Qin Yan pulled himself together. The fact that there were four Saint Realm experts standing behind him faded out of his mind. There was nothing else that could fill his mind apart from the valiant figure of the Crown Prince.
Long Wei dusted himself and stood up just as the thousand disfigured Mortal Transcendent creatures surrounded him. At least the technique he wanted to create was done. He wouldn't need to worry about running out of qi in this trial again. But first, justice needed to be served. Who dared to disturb this Young Master's few moments of seclusion?
He opened his eyes. The sight of his poor beautiful eyes met disgruntled his presence. How could there be creatures as hideous as the one he saw in this world? Slimy textured skin, and thick limbs that looked like they were chopped off different humans of similar size and then stitched together by a two-year-old who couldn't tell the difference between a foot and a hand.
The creatures weren't there to be gazed at as awful works of art. Once they reached close enough proximity, they attacked with all their might. Slimy fists and kicks aimed to pound him into meat paste. He wouldn't let that slide. He slid his index finger against his middle finger, generating large amounts of heat. From his, now filled, dantian he pulled out a strand of void qi that he molded with the heat generated from his fingertips.
The creatures didn't even have a chance to touch the hem of his robes when he flicked the little ball of purple flame generated between his fingertips. His Heavenly Door Realm presence suffocated the cavern atmosphere. What it lacked in purity against the four Saint Realm Aura's it made up for it in quantity. And the sheer quantity broke the bounds of logic. His aura not only engulfed the cavern, but it went further, spreading beyond the cavern, beyond the cliff, and beyond the continent. A mere wisp of his Aura engulfed the entire planet with ease. And it was only in the Heavenly Door Realm. What more distance could it cover if he let out a wisp of his Saint Realm Aura? At its current stage, a simple whiff competed with the breadth and width of a normal Saint Realm cultivator.
Purple light spread out from the flame and engulfed everything within the cavern. It faded out. None of the Mortal Transcendent creatures survived. Not even a single piece of their DNA existed within the cavern. With a flick of his finger and a thousand Mortal Transcendents were wiped off the face of existence itself.
Qin Yan closed his eyes when the purple light erupted out of nowhere. When the light faded, awe was the only emotion that stuck to him. Not a single one of the thousand Mortal Transcendents was left. He couldn't even see pieces of their flesh. Nor could he feel the death aura. It was as if they never existed. And all of that was due to the young man that stood silently near the pond, a frown present on his face.
He knew the prince was strong. But this. This was something out of the ancient eras. It was things they were taught and told in school. These types of sights were supposed to be unverifiable myths from the Chaos Eras so far into the past that only a few pieces of information existed. And the Heavenly Door Aura suffocating the atmosphere only meant one thing!
The Prince Wiped out a thousand Mortal Transcendents while restricting his cultivation base to the Heavenly Door Realm. Where was the logic? Where was the Heavenly Dao at this moment? Wasn't it fair? How was this fair?
"Ahrag? this one is stonger than we thought," there was a tremble in Dgraah's voice.
Throughout its current years of existence within the Mother, it had never seen a hairless ape far weaker than it wipes out its generals as if they were air. What was it with this one?
"I was here, minding my own business. You just had to disturb me. That has sealed your fate. Pardon me. You would have died either way. The Heaven's have told me they are too ashamed of creating your kind. It can't fathom how its perfect laws, concepts and aspects brought disgorged pieces of fleshy monstrosities like you," Long Wei insulted the creatures without a care in the world. There Saint Realm Cultivation did little to rustle his feathers.
"Now if you don't mind. Kill yourself if you'd like your corpse to remain intact," He spoke a few seconds later.