"That's it?" John asked, as he stared at what was contained in the walled off section.
The walled off section was two hundred yards in diameter, and the top of it was covered by an incredibly powerful formation. The floor of the walled off section was made of hard bricks, and the only thing that existed in this area was a circular staircase. To the side of the staircase was a large black tablet, with words etched into its surface.
The staircase, which was pitch black, was roughly fifty yards across, and was completely round. Each step circled around the entire staircase, which gradually tapered off towards the top. It looked almost like a small hill, and John couldn't see anything else within the area that would serve as a trial.
"Do not underestimate this trial," the Grand Elder replied to John's question. "These stairs before you are far more profound than you could imagine."
John gazed at the Grand Elder for a brief moment before looking back at the staircase before him.
"Is that so?" John replied, half unconvinced. "What's so profound about it then?"
He could feel a unique aura coming from the staircase, but was too far away to tell just how unique it was. As such, it was rather unimpressive from his current perspective.
"Indeed, it is so," the Grand Elder replied. "In fact, this staircase you see before you is imbued with an incredible formation made by an ancient formation master, and can count as one of the most profound formations in this world."
"Seriously?" Both John and Iris couldn't help but ask, slightly doubting the Grand Elder's words.
The Grand Elder paused for a moment as he stared at the stairs before them, before he started explaining the truth behind them once more.
"These stairs are a talent testing formation, one that was created in the ancient era before the calamity," the Grand Elder explained. "While it is not the most profound of formations when it comes to combat prowess, it is part of the most profound talent testing formation to exist in this world."
"Is that so?" John once again mumbled as he looked at the staircase, before his interest in the Grand Elder's words suddenly piqued up.
"The calamity? What's that?" John couldn't help but ask. He had heard remnants of rumors regarding some sort of ancient calamity, but wanted to see if the Grand Elder knew more about it.
The Grand Elder remained silent for a moment, as if thinking about how to word his answer.
"The calamity was an…invasion in the past, by foreign entities many hundreds of thousands of years ago,," the Grand Elder began to explain. "When this world was at its very peak of existence, a foreign…race…invaded this world."
"Foreign race?" John asked for more clarification.
"We do not know much about what happened in the past, as most of the world, its history, and legacy, was shattered in the calamity. We can only piece together bits and pieces of what had happened back then. But our best guess is that a foreign race of immensely powerful beings invaded this world, nearly destroying it. Only through the combined might of all the most powerful cultivators, as well as the ruler of the world at the time, did they just barely manage to fight off the invasion.
However, the damage from that war broke this world, and sent it back into a dark age. Only now are we barely clawing our way out of that dark age, with hopes of eventually reaching the level of power this world once knew."
The Grand Elder fell into silence after explaining the calamity to John and Iris. John fell into a deep silence as he thought over everything. His thoughts shifted to the ancient city, the ancient battlefield outside its walls, as well as the bizarre creature and massive blood red hand.
'I wonder if all of that is related to the calamity,' John mused internally. 'It seems like theres a good chance it is.'
"This formation before you is one of the lingering remnants of that time," the Grand Elder suddenly stated, bringing John out of his deep thoughts.
"If it's so valuable, why have other sects and powers not tried to steal it?" Iris asked.
"That's because it's not the only one in existence," the Grand Elder turned to Iris and replied.
"Not the only one? You mean there are other formations just like this out there?" she asked.
"Yes, the Grand Elder replied. "There are nine formation platforms just like this out in the world, and each formation platform is linked to the others. The other platforms are controlled by the other powers of the Divine Martial Continent."
"Other powers? What are the other powers, if you don't mind me asking," John couldn't help but ask. His knowledge of the Divine Martial Continent was very limited and he wanted to know more about it.
"I do not mind at all," the Grand Elder replied while smiling slightly. His attitude was incredibly amiable, like a passive monk who never angered.
'I like this Grand Elder already. He has none of the usual haughtiness that those high in status and power usually have. He reminds me a lot of Thunderzen.'
"There are many different powers on the Divine Martial Continent, but only those strong enough to stand at the top have one of the nine Divine Talent Steps. Those powers are the Honorable Alliance, the Forbidden Alliance, the Beast Race, the Faerie Race, the Monster Race, the Giant Race, the Barbarian Race. Of the last two, one belongs to us, even though we are part of the Honorable Alliance, giving our Honorable Alliance two Divine Talent Formations. As for the last one, it is unaccounted for, and we do not know which power holds it."
The Grand Elder fell silent after explaining that all, giving John time to digest this information.
'Beast race? Barbarian race? Faerie race? Monster Race? Giant Race? This continent is incredible. The Yuan Continent only had humans, but the Divine Martial Continent contains so many other races!'
John felt his blood heat up as he thought of this, as there was still so much of this world he had yet to explore.
'I'm sure there are incredibly powerful fighters from those races. I can't wait to fight them all!'
