The Elder's of the Honorable Alliance all stared at the tablet with stunned expressions, unsure of how to react. Stunned silence filled the area as other disciples and Elders from the surrounding area, attracted by the sudden appearance of light, started to arrive.
Their gazes fell upon the tablet, at which point their eyes and mouths widened as well in complete shock.
After remaining dazed for a short while, Elder Mistfall regained his composure.
"We must report this to the alliance heads at once," Elder Mistfall instructed. Before waiting for anyone's reply, Elder Mistfall sped off towards the massive circular structure, the Honorable Alliance headquarters.
…
In different parts of the Divine Martial Continent, similar scenes were playing out.
In one corner of the Divine Martial Continent, an expansive jungle stretched out for thousands of miles in each direction. The jungle was incredibly dense and contained all sorts of exotic lifeforms within. The trees stretched miles high into the sky, their trunks dozens of yards across.
Thick vines snaked around the various forms of vegetation, while powerful beasts thrived in the canopies above and swampish ground below. If viewed from high above, one would see many clearings opened up in the jungle at random locations. Each clearing was several dozen miles across, and a quick glance revealed large cities within each clearing.
The cities were much more exotic and unique than the Honorable Alliance city, as the lush vegetation of the jungle was allowed to thrive between the buildings. Vines wrapped around most of the buildings as well, many of which were made of wood from the surrounding jungle.
The atmosphere of each city was wild and untamed, as if the cities were beasts themselves. Within each city lived the beast race. The beast race was humanoid in shape, but had the properties of many different types of beasts. Most were covered with fur or scales, and their heads were similar to the many different beasts found around the continent.
In the very center of the massive jungle was the largest clearing, which was a hundred miles across. In this clearing was the largest city, which contained tens of thousands of buildings, far larger and grander than the other remote cities.
There were eight massive structures, each erected by the eight most powerful clans of the beast race. In the very center of the eight structures was a large clearing, with only a singular object in the middle, the talent testing steps.
The talent testing steps were shared by the beast races, which were made of many different powers. Similar to the Honorable Alliance, youths were currently testing themselves on the steps, while the powerful older members of their races watched on.
The gazes of the elder members shifted up as a beam of light slammed down onto the testing tablet, shocking them greatly. After recovering from their stunned stupor, the elders all rushed over to the steps, their expressions becoming more shocked as they read the top of the tablet.
After a moment of silence, a commotion broke out amongst the elder beasts.
"We must alert the Council of Elders. This matter must be dealt with at once."
…
In another area of the Divine Martial Continent was a frozen tundra, tens of thousands of miles across. The frigid cold was inhospitable to most cultivators, and only select races could survive in this area.
In the very center of the tundra was a massive mountain range, in which a singular mountain pierced higher than all the others. The mountain was tens of thousands of yards tall, and was perpetually covered in snow.
The very top of the mountain had been shaved flat, and on top of the flat section was a massive sprawling ice castle. The ice castle was dozens of miles wide and many miles tall, and was incredibly majestic. The walls of the castle were made with ice, which when reinforced with formations and special techniques was harder than even steel.
Within this castle resided the most prominent members of the Faerie race, and those residing within the castle were exclusively women. Unlike the other races, only the females of the Faerie race had cultivation talents, which specializes in soul arts.
The men of the Faerie race were much weaker, and mostly stayed out of sight as the female members ensured their safety. The Faerie race was rather removed from the world, and enjoyed peace and quiet over anything else.
Within the castle walls a similar scene as the others played out. The Faeries all gazed at the talent tablet, their expressions mixed.
After a long silence, one of the Faeries sighed, her sigh soft and ethereal.
"Ahh, the emergence of this "Asura" will surely spell chaos for this continent. The powers Asura belongs to will surely do everything to protect him, while the opposing powers will do everything to ensure such a talent is snuffed out before they can rise. The only question remaining is…is it a talent belonging to an ally, or a foe?"
…
In another part of the Divine Martial Continent, a city similar to the Honorable Alliance city was nestled in the valley of a barren mountain range. However, unlike the Honorable Alliance city, the atmosphere was much more gloomy and sinister.
In the very center of the city, a similarly massive building made of pitch black material stood tall. Near the building, many cultivators with shrouded cultivations stared with a menacing gaze at the talent tablet, which had just been rocked by the beam of light. One of the Elder's suddenly dashed away from the tablet and into the great building, at which point a council was formed to discuss the matter at hand.
In the council chambers of the building, a dozen incredibly powerful cultivators, dressed in black robes, all sat on a throne which formed a circle. In the middle of the circle stood the Elder who had rushed into the building and informed them of the matter.
"Asura?" one of the cultivators on the thrones sneered out. "It wasn't from our Forbidden Alliance. Contact the Monster Race and see if it was one of their talents. If it's from one of them, things are manageable. However, if this Asura is not from them, then we must find out which power they belong to and eliminate them, especially if they belong to the Honorable Alliance. We cannot allow such a talent to bloom in the future."
The other eleven cultivators of immense power all nodded their heads in agreements, as a plan began to be discussed amongst themselves.
…
In another part of the continent, one of the beams of light travelled through the sky, until it suddenly vanished. This beam belonged to the talent testing step that was unaccounted for, and which had stumped the rest of the continent for tens of thousands of years.
Attempts had been made to follow the beam of light, but it always disappeared from sight and divine sense at the same location. Massive search parties had been enacted to find what was causing such a thing to happen, but nothing was ever discovered.
This invisible beam of light travelled for thousands and thousands of miles further, before it suddenly slammed down onto the earth below, burrowing deep into it.
Below where the beam of light had pierced down upon, a cavern dozens of miles wide and high existed. Within it were a series of sprawling buildings, which were gothic in style, and were covered by statues of malevolent looking creatures.
The cavern itself was lit by large formation fires attached to the walls of the cave, giving the entire cavern a low but menacing ambiance.
Large spikes covered the walls and ceilings of each building, making them look even more menacing. At the far end of this cavern, a massive pitch black castle nestled against the cavern wall.
The castle was several miles tall and wide, and also embraced the menacing style of the other buildings. Outside the castle, thousands upon thousands of heads could be seen mounted to pikes, some fresh while others were completely rotten.
The heads belonged to humans and beasts alike, and a river of blood flowed from within the castle to the outside, meandering through the rest of the cavern.
"Gahhhhhhhhhh!"
A tortured cry echoed out from within the castle, filling the cavern with its pained howl. Snickers and laughter echoed out from those outside the castle who heard the screams, before they went back to their business.
In the very center of the castle was a massive chamber. Roaring fires on the exterior walls of the chamber lit the interior with a reddish glow, while massive metal chandeliers above with lit candles provided some additional light
However, the overall lighting of the chamber was still quite dim, which basked many corners of the chamber in shadows. At the very end of the chamber, a massive throne a dozen yards tall and wide rested. A close inspection revealed that the throne was made from the skulls and bones of powerful creatures and cultivators, making it look incredibly menacing.
Behind the throne was the river of blood, which seemed to originate from the throne and work its way through the chamber and castle to the cavern outside.
Upon this throne sat a shadowed figure, which appeared to be around five yards tall. The figure, its features obscured by the shadows, watched on as the pained cries continued to fill the chamber.
To the side of the figure was a large cage, in which dozens of different creatures, from humans to beasts were trapped. They were all striped naked, and surprisingly all had cultivations at the Dao Transformation Realm or above. Such powers would be considered peak on the Yuan Continent, and even important on the Divine Martial Continent.
However, at the moment, they were no more than caged prisoners, their freedoms completely stripped. As the cries disappeared, the shadowed figure reached out towards the cage and reached within, grabbing one of the cultivators from within.
The human male, who appeared to be in his forties, cried out in horrified protest as he struggled against the massive hand that had clasped around his waist. However, no matter how much he struggled, he was unable to force the arm of the shadowed figure to even budge slightly.
"Noooo!"
The horrified scream of the man rang out before it was quickly silenced, as the shadowed figure bit into the man's skull, crunching it into a pulp. Blood rained down onto the floor, adding to the river of blood, while the figure continued to devour his meal.
After eating the man, the figure reached out towards the cage once more, which caused panicked cries to boom out once more.
However, his hand paused as the chamber doors suddenly flung open. A creature with red skin and piercing yellow eyes entered the chamber and raced to the throne before bowing respectfully.
"What is it?" a low, guttural voice boomed out from the throne, sounding more like a growl than a voice.
"My Lord, there has been a recent development with the talent testing steps," the creature replied while keeping his head down.
"Out with it, do not waste my time," the shadowed figure growled.
"Yes, my Lord. To put it bluntly, a new name has appeared upon the talent testing steps, and scored twenty steps."
The shadowed figure, which was completely uninterested in the man's arrival, perked up slightly.
"Oh? Such a thing happened?" the shadowed figure replied, its voice so deep and guttural that it shook the castle walls.
"Yes, my Lord," the creature replied.
The room fell into silence as only the crackles of the raging fires filled the chamber. After a moment of silence, the shadowed figure spoke up once more.
"Go fetch Asuros and tell him to come to me. I have a task for him to fulfill."
"I will do so at once," the yellow eyed figure replied, before turning on his heels and walking out.
"Wait," the shadowed figure called out, causing the creature to turn on his heels. "What was the name of the talent?"
"Asura, my Lord," the creature replied quickly.
Boom!
The aura of the shadowed figure flared out with absolutely incredible power, causing shrieks of pain to echo out as the prisoners in the cage exploded from the force of the shadowed figures' aura. Despite being in the Dao Transformation realm, they were unable to withstand the aura of the figure at such a close range.
Even the yellow eyed creature felt his body nearly explode before the aura quickly retreated, causing the creature to breathe out a sigh of relief. After regaining his composure, the creature stared at the shadowed figure warily, as he had never seen the figure react like this before.
"Asura? Interesting" the guttural voice of the figure boomed out.
After another moment of silence, the shadowed figure dismissed the red skinned creature.
"Now leave me," the shadowed figure instructed, before its gaze shifted to the cage of exploded carcasses next to him. "And bring me more food."
"It will be done, My Lord."
