[The Elders of the Sect approached the crowd that had emerged from the first stage of the examination.]
[Compared to the Elder that had nearly expelled you in the middle of the examination, several of these Elders seemed to linger their gazes on you longer than the other disciples.]
[You understood that they could detect your Dao Seed, and besides being at the Soul-Body realm at the lowest, you had no idea what realm these cultivators had reached.]
[Without pausing on you for more than a second, the Elders that arrived began to explain the rules and purpose of the second stage.]
[Each examinee would be teleported randomly into the Sect's examination forest. Within that forest would be demon beasts that the examinees would have to kill in order to gain points. The examinees would have a full 24 hours to collect as many points as possible.]
[On top of eliminating demon beasts for points, there are also various treasures throughout the forest for the examinees to find. Some are worth more than others, but all of them are worth the points of several demon beasts combined.]
[The demon beasts in the forest will not be weak. Instead, the weakest demon beast will be at the equivalent of a cultivator's 5th realm of Essence Refinement. The strongest beasts, though much fewer in number, will be at the peak of the Meridian Establishment realm. Far higher than any examinee should have been able to cultivate.]
[While telling you and the examinees that there are steps in place to prevent your deaths, the Elders announce that any competition between the examinees will not be monitored. This was an open invitation for the stronger examinees to steal from the weaker. Not something new in the world of cultivation.]
[The point system for this stage is fairly straightforward; 5th level Essence Refinement beasts would be worth 1 point to those at or below that cultivation level. 6th level beasts would be worth 2 points, 7th level are 3 points, 8th are 4, and 9th are 5.]
[The points given for killing beasts at the equivalent of Meridian Establishment would be equal to the beasts level times 10.]
[The Elders also mentioned that the examinees would be given 0 points for any demon beast they kill that is weaker than their own cultivation.]
[Then, without any further explanation, one of the Elders stepped forward and placed his hand on a large stone block.]
[The block began to glow, and suddenly, you found yourself surrounded by trees.]
"It seems like I may have a difficult time passing this simulation," Aron said, his eyes closed to reflect on the simulation messages. "While my speed may be at the top among all of the other disciples, my personal combat strength will only reach the 9th or peak 9th level of the Essence Refinement realm. Compared to someone like Julia, who has actually reached the peak of the Essence Refinement realm and can fight across levels, my personal power is likely too low."
Aron began to ponder how he could best score points. While he couldn't actively participate in the simulation, his will in the real world would be able to influence the 'him' in the simulation. And, considering the simulation would only resume once he began to read the next message, he had plenty of time to develop a potential direction for the simulation to follow.
Thinking back to the rules of the stage, it seemed that while the treasures in the forest would be limited and more difficult to find, they would offer the most points should he get his hands on them.
He could rely on his extreme speeds to traverse the forest and snatch any treasure that appeared. If someone managed to get to a treasure before him, he could attempt to steal.
What he couldn't allow his simulated self to do, was attempt to use his speed to fight the beast in the Meridian Establishment realm. Though his speed was enough to match theirs, the breakthrough to Meridian Establishment would provide the beasts with a defense that he wouldn't be able to break.
With a semi-plan in mind, Aron began to concentrate solely on using this plan to move forward in the simulation.
As he read the next messages, Aron released a sigh, relieved that it seemed to be working.
With his hypothesis nearly proven, however, Aron was even more confused as to the relationship between him and his half-sister.
The simulated 'him' seemed to be growing closer and closer to her, while the him watching it happen could do nothing but complain. No matter how much he despised her, it seemed that his simulated self wouldn't share his feelings.
[Finding yourself in an unknown area within the forest, you begin to utilize your movement technique. Without any sense as to your surroundings, you don't want to wait for a high level demon beast to catch you off guard.]
[With no clue as to which direction may provide you with the most benefits, you simply run forward. You determine that if you should hear fighting, you will head towards the noise. Otherwise, you will commit to searching for areas that may host treasures hidden by the Variant Earth Sect in preparation for this second stage.]
[Using your Field Snake Evasive movement technique, you appear to be a shadow as you make your way through the forest. If anyone, excluding the Elders overseeing the exam, were to witness you, all that would be seen was a blur.]
[Coursing through the forest, you run into tens of lower level demon beasts. Most don't react at all, while those that do react only do so after you have long passed them. Despite your overwhelming advantage over these beasts, you pay no mind to them. To engage in a fight now would only delay you on your quest to gather the treasures of the forest. The small points that the beasts would offer simply weren't enough for you to bother with them.]
[Like this, several hours passed. With exceptions to minor deviations in your course, you had largely run in the same direction. Every so often you would hear clashes of blades or explosions of elements being used. Upon investigation, all that you would see were low level cultivators battling low level beasts.]
[Even if these examinees had passed the exam up to now, they were still in the lowest rung. If any of them were to make it into the Sect, it would be as Probationary Disciples at the most. Years would have to be spent in order to fight their way into the Outer or Inner Sects. The competition for such positions was just too fierce.]
[At the 5th hour of the second stage, you decide to take a break. Even for your pure and dense essence, your low level cultivation cannot sustain a movement technique, or any technique for that matter, for too long a period.]
[Resting in the branches of a tall tree, you use the Dao Essence Breathing technique to draw in the Essence of the world into your heart.]
[Continuing this for an hour, your Essence is completely replenished. Leaping down from the upper branches of the tree, you continue running and, shortly after, hear an intense battle.]
[As you draw closer to the engagement, you can tell that the noises are different from that of a typical battle between cultivator and beast. Instead, the mix of elements being used and the sounds of metal clashing makes you think that two of the examinees have begun to fight.]
[Such a thing was not against the rules the Elders had set. In fact, this kind of competition was readily encouraged. Only by fighting with each other now would they eventually be prepared for the inevitable engagements with other cultivators in the real world. They would not be able to hide in the Sect forever. At some point they will need to come out into the world to temper themselves.]
[As you reach the scene of the battle, you notice that the two cultivators battling are at the same level as Julia, being at the peak of the 9th level of Essence Refinement.]
[One of the cultivators was using attacks that seemed to be laced with an extreme coldness. Their attributes are likely related to Ice. The second cultivator wasn't actively using their attribute within their attacks. Instead, they were wielding a large saber that seemed to be the same height as them. Even without their attribute, the power behind the saber was enough to directly clash with every attack from the Ice cultivator.]
[Though the fight was what had first grabbed your attention, your sight is soon drawn in by the view of the large beast that was lying dead on the ground.]
[The wounds that had killed the beast seemed to be a combination of Ice related piercing attacks, and large gashes that only an enormous saber would be able to inflict.]
[Putting the two together, you understood that the two cultivators that were currently fighting had once been working as a team. As for why they had decided to abandon their partnership? You figured that the answer had something to do with the silver goblet that was threatening to spill out of the guts of the giant tiger-like demon beast.]
["Indeed," you say, "How fickle the relationship between cultivators is. To go from allies to mortal enemies in an instant for a simple treasure."]
[Now, you have decided to completely ignore the fight going on. Using your speed, you flashed to the giant, dead tiger beast, and snatched the silver goblet from the wound that spread across its stomach.]
[Seeing that the blood of the beast that was in the goblet refused to spill despite your intense movements, you discover that the goblet is using some kind of barrier to keep the blood within.]
[Without hesitation, you bring the goblet to your lips and down the entire glass.]
[With not even a half second passing afterwards, your body freezes and you go flying forward. You are only stopped when you roll into a large tree.]
[Laying against the tree, your body begins to emit a bright red glow, and your skin grew noticeably more warm. Seconds pass by, and the bones that you had felt break in the impact just now began to heal.]
[After a minute, the red glow began to dissipate and your body was in perfect condition once more.]
[Only feeling that your body has grown slightly stronger physically, you tie the goblet around your waist and continue to run forward.]
[Until someone who knew what the goblet had done to you arrived, you could only assume that it had given you some form of advantage.]
[Indeed, as you ran, you seemed to be going even faster. To those whose speed and perception you already surpassed, the increase was not noticeable, however to yourself and to the Elders spectating the event, your speed had grown by a significant amount.]
"Hmmm, the increase must be due to the demon beast's blood, but what in specific?" Aron questioned. "A quick guess would say that I had absorbed some of the beast's innate strength, but for a treasure in the second stage of the Disciple Examination, that seems a little overkill."
While the treasure did have a significant impact, Aron wasn't too worried. After all, would an Elder not stop him if he were to absorb a treasure that could harm his potential?
Without giving it too much thought, Aron returned to the simulation messages.
[With the first treasure secured after 5 hours, it seems as if your luck has increased. After a short half hour period, you begin to hear the rhythmic breathing of a large demon beast.]
[Though you cannot see it directly, you follow the sound of breathing into the cave. As you go deeper and deeper, the cave actually grows brighter, with the fungus on the ceiling of the cave providing some natural light.]
[Upon reaching the source of the breathing, you discover a small rat creature.]
[Most demon beasts tend to grow in size as they cultivate, but there are some exceptions. When a demon beast stays the same size, it is usually a sign that they are condensing their strength into one section of their body.]
[As for the rat, it's power was dispersed. The strength of the rat was not united in one area.]
[You grab the blade on your waist and approach the rat. You think that the rat is likely similar to the tiger beast and was harboring a treasure of some kind.]
[As you get closer and closer to the rat beast, you notice that instead of a treasure in their body, the rat beast was laying on an egg of some kind.]
[With you tremendous speed, you approach the rat from the side. Using the beasts blind spot, you are able to quickly grab the egg that it was laying on and turn around to retreat.
[Opting not to kill whatever was in the egg, You place the egg in your satchel and move forward with your life.]
[The second treasure of this stage seemed to be a lot less of a burden than the first. Not even a lick of pain.]
[Wrapping the egg in something soft and placing it into position in your satchel, you continue to run forward. Two treasures were already quite good. Wouldn't a third be even better.]
[Thinking this, you continue running in the direction you were heading. Your senses were open to the max. If anything were to enter your range, you will know.]