Beams of golden light pierced through the skies of the Divine Martial Continent, like eight comets shooting through the sky. The eight beams lit up the early night sky, bathing the land below with its golden brilliance.
The people of the Divine Martial Continent all looked up at the beams of light as they travelled overhead, and gazed at their mesmerizing glow. They had seen these beams before, but couldn't help but be entranced every time they witnessed them.
However, those that knew the truth of the beams were all confused, as they were not supposed to appear at the moment. The appearance of the beams of light sparked heated discussions across the entire Divine Martial Continent, as all tried to find out the reason for their appearance.
…
In a distant area, a massive city with tens of millions of people sprawled across an ancient plain. The city was so large that the ends of the city could not be seen at the same time. Massive marble white walls, a thousand feet high surrounded the city, while a towering translucent formation covered the sky above it.
Thousands of people streamed towards the city every hour, some arriving by foot on the roads that led to it, while others flew in themselves or on the backs of powerful beasts. Massive lines formed at the entrance gates as those entering the city were inspected by the guards stationed outside.
Outside the walls, smaller cities, towns, and farmlands spread out, making use of the entire land surrounding the massive city.
Inside the walls, hundreds of thousands of buildings, from small houses to incredibly large palaces existed. The style of the buildings varied in both color and design, giving it a unique look. However, the buildings were all in pristine condition, which made the city seem incredibly luxurious and well off.
Thousands of wide streets pierced through the ocean of buildings and were packed to the brim with people walking about. Many powerful beasts with cultivations at the Heaven Tribulation realm and above roamed the streets with cultivators riding on their backs, while those walking gave the beasts wide berth.
Hawkers sold wares on the side of the streets, while shop attendants beckoned those from the streets to enter their buildings, forming a buzzing and lively atmosphere. In different areas were large open fields with verdant trees, giving an area for the children to play and roam about.
Dotted across various locations of the city were many different sects, which carved out an area of their own and raised their disciples with great care. The size and power of the sects were quite impressive, and each sect attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of youths every year that wished to enter and learn.
Only the most talented of youths were able to enter these sects, and became the envy of many who wished to join but were not able to. Once a disciple of these sects, the youths were able to roam free within the city, their statuses far elevated when compared to before.
Ordinary people would make way for such disciples, while shop keepers tried to attract the gaze of such youths, who had incredible money at their disposal. Many of the youths belonging to these sects carried lofty and arrogant attitudes, as if they ruled the land. However, there were still those that they gave wide berth to, and lowered their head in deference whenever they crossed paths.
In the very middle of this sprawling city was another walled off area, a dozen miles across. Within this area was a singular building, so large that it could be seen from any one point of the city. It was a circular dome shaped building, which was many miles wide and tall. The building was made of pure white and gold materials, and glowed brilliantly in the afternoon sun.
Between the building and the walls surrounding it was a large open area in which tens of thousands of disciples could be seen going about their daily training. A singular entrance to the interior walled off section was gated and guarded by many powerful cultivators.
Above the gated entrance was a magnificent signboard, seemingly carved by an expert with incredible calligraphy and carving skills.
Honorable Alliance!
The signboard attracted the gaze of all who looked upon it as they walked by, as all cultivators in the city yearned to join the Honorable Alliance, which was the crown jewel of all honorable cultivators across the Divine Martial Continent.
Although the Honorable Alliance was more a conglomeration of the most powerful sects instead of a sect itself, it acted as the unanimous leader of the honorable branch of humanity. Each honorable alliance sect with enough power and authority had representatives assigned to the Honorable Alliance, which made up the governing voice.
At the same time, the alliance headquarters raised their own disciples, in a bid to improve the future strength of the alliance and ensure its survival. The disciples of the alliance headquarters were some of the most talented youths across the land.
On the talent testing steps, many disciples had reached the thirteenth step, and two had even reached the fourteenth step, showcasing their talent and might. When compared to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, whose most talented youths only reached the twelfth step, the disparity was readily noticeable.
In a certain part of the Honorable Alliance grounds, a group of Elders wearing white and gold robes and a dozen disciples were gathered around a pitch black object.
The Elder's sighed as they watched the youth be knocked off the object, only getting halfway up.
"Nine Steps. Next!" an Elder barked out instructions.
"Haaa, our disciples are becoming more and more disappointing. Maybe we've been too easy on them as of late," one of the Elder's commented through his sigh.
"Perhaps," another Elder quickly replied. "Each year we seem to fall father and farther behind. The Forbidden Alliance has given rise to that Amber Bloodrose, and even the mysterious Asuros has appeared. Even the monster, beast and faerie races have caught up in terms of their youths' talents, while we have stagnated for thousands of years."
The other Elders in the group all nodded their heads in agreement as they watched the next youth step on their talent testing steps, an eager expression on his face. Much like the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Honorable Alliance placed heavy emphasis on the talent testing steps. Like the other powers, it was able to identify future powerhouses better than any other method they had at their disposal.
"All of you are too gloomy," one of the Elder's replied, causing the others to look at him. "While these steps do identify potential future powerhouses, they are not foolproof. How many spectacular talents of the past failed to do something with their talent, while those who could not achieve high scores soared to the top of the cultivation world? There are many other aspects to cultivation that these steps do not test, and we should be wise to remember that."
The other Elder's fell into silence for a moment before coming to agreement with these words.
"I suppose you are correct after all, Elder Mistfall," one of the Elder's replied. "There are talent aspects that these steps do not consider, such as pill talent, formations talents, and special innate abilities."
The talent testing steps were the best test for pure martial prowess talent, but did not account for the multitude of other cultivation pathways. The Honorable Alliance, which focused more heavily on formations and pills than the other powers and races were one such example.
"Your words do ring true, Elder Mistfall," another Elder replied. "Our supremacy in the arts of formations, pills, artificing, weapon forging and more have solidified our position as one of the great powers of this world, and we should be wise to remember that."
The other Elder's all nodded their heads in unison, before their gazes fell back on the disciple that began to ascend the talent testing steps.
"However, we still have Luth, who is a powerhouse of his own. While his talent is one step below Amber, his battle prowess is beyond terrifying. It's not as if we are without our own talents," Elder Mistfall spoke up once more.
The other Elder's nodded their heads once more, before all their gazes suddenly shifted towards the horizon. Their eyes squinted as they tried to discern what they were seeing, before the distant object arrived before them in a flash.
Without warning, a golden beam of light crashed down onto the large black tablet to the side of the talent testing steps, stunning everyone in the area. The disciple who was on the talent testing steps was so shocked by the sudden turn of events that they cried out in shock before losing their footing and falling off the steps.
After a brief moment, the golden beam of light faded away, returning the area to normal once again. No one moved for a short moment, before the Elder's all walked up to the black stone tablet.
"What was that? Why did the communication beacon appear suddenly?" one of the Elder's asked in confusion.
"I'm not sure," another replied. "This light is only supposed to appear once a year when the new scores are updated. Why did it suddenly appear now?"
"Who knows? Maybe after all this time, the talent testing steps are becoming erratic?" another replied.
None of them had ever seen anything like it. The beam of light only ever updated on the same day each year, as the old scores were wiped and the new scores replaced. It was an eternal cycle, and none had seen it follow any other pattern.
As they approached the tablet, Elder Mistfall's eyes widened slightly as he suddenly recalled a story from long ago.
"I recall a story of such a thing happening once in the past before," Elder Mistfall spoke out loud, causing the other Elder's to glance at him while they continued to walk towards the tablet.
"What story?" one of the Elder's asked.
"It's from tens of thousands of years ago, and relates to the Astral Emperor," Elder Mistfall replied.
"The Astral Emperor…you mean?"
"Yes," Elder Mistfall confirmed. "When he reached the seventeenth step and was placed amongst the greatest heroes of this world, the beam of light appeared at that time. It was the only recorded incident of such a thing happening."
The eyes of all the Elder's widened in complete shock as the possibility of such a thing occurring entered their minds. Upon thinking about this, their casual walking pace changed as they quickly dashed towards the tablet and gazed upon its contents.
Their eyes all opened wide as they stared at the top section, unable to believe what they were seeing.
Even Elder Mistfall couldn't help but be stunned as he quietly read out the name etched into the very top of the tablet, with the score of twenty steps next to it.
"Asura"
