Outside the Divine Wall, several monks sat at the top of the massive staircase, watching over the stone stele, as well as the crowd. The monks were seated in meditation positions, each with their eyes closed and hands in front of their chest, one hand curled into a fist, while the other rested on top, flat and pointing upwards.
The stone stele rumbled lightly, as new words were suddenly carved into its surface, as if there was an invisible giant carving the words. The rumbling attracted the gaze of the crowd as well as the monks, who opened their eyes to look at the stone stele.
"The first trial has started," one of the monks said monotonously.
"Indeed it has," another nodded, his face expressionless.
"This will be the first insight into the quality of the candidates," another monk chimed up. "Despite the passage of untold millennia, the seed has yet to be claimed."
"Do not get your hopes up, brother Alrine," another monk said to the previous. "Countless of our predecessors lived and died not seeing the seed be claimed. It is a near impossible feat, and for a world this regressed, even more so. Our bones will most likely turn to dust before one capable of obtaining the seed arises, and our burden will pass on to the next generation."
"What you say is true, brother Pairen," monk Alrine nodded. "But the longer the burden, the more important it becomes. The seed grows, and this world's seed has been growing for a long time, waiting to be plucked."
"Indeed. But it will still be some time before the first trial is passed. Until then, we wait for the truth to reveal itself," monk Pairen nodded before closing his eyes once more.
…
Che!
John carved through the sky, his speed blasting the plains below him with a sonic boom. The ground trembled and cracked as he sped overhead. The ethereal light in the distance became brighter, while the pressure on his essence dantian increased.
"Hmph, still not enough to slow me down," John scoffed as he felt the pressure attempt to restrict him, but was unable to do so. He had yet to even use his essence Qi to fight against it, as the pressure was unable to fully subdue his dantian just yet.
A long trail of ruin stretched for over a thousand miles as John sped forward with his quickest speed.
"Not bad. I guess this realm is going to be a bit challenging like the Divine Trial on the Yuan Continent," John smirked as the pressure on his dantian finally reached a level that required him to fight back with Qi.
His dantian flared and Qi surged out, slamming against the pressure wrapped around it. The pressure was pushed back with ease, making it so that he was able to move forward without pause.
As the distance to the light shrunk, the pressure continued to increase, but never reached a level that concerned John at all. The details of the mountains finally came into view, revealing lush forests with towering trees at the base, which thinned out as it climbed up the mountain. The forest faded away to sparse shrubbery, and then barren rock, before leading to snow at the very top.
The mountain's stretched out sideways in all directions, with no inch left untouched. The only way forward was over the mountains, which stood several dozen miles tall. John arrived at the base of the mountain, and gazed at the ethereal light, which rested at the highest peak of the mountain before him.
It glowed brightly, as if enticing all to come for it.
"Alright. Let's see what you are," John said as his body shifted upwards, climbing in the air parallel to the steep mountain slope. The trees in the forest beneath him swayed violently, as if a hurricane had swept through the forest.
As he climbed, the pressure continued to increase on his dantian, causing John to use more and more Qi to resist it.
"Still not nearly enough to slow me down," John scoffed with confidence, his speed not slowing for a second. He hastily sped up the mountainside, reaching the top almost as fast as he had arrived. The pressure had indeed reached a decent level for him at the very top, but John merely increased his Qi output to fight against it, still not too bothered by its restriction.
Boom!
The mountain trembled as John landed at the peak, directly before the source of light. Avalanches of snow cascaded down the mountainside, crashing into the forests far below.
John walked forward towards the light, and stopped directly in front of it. He studied the nearly blindingly bright object for a moment, inspecting for any danger, and then reached out to touch it. He grabbed the object, which dimmed the moment he touched it, revealing its form.
"Another seal, huh?"
…
Rumble!
The stone stele rumbled, stirring the monks from their meditation. Their eyes widened with startled surprise, as if they had not expected it to rumble.
"What's going on?" a monk said.
"What? So soon? Impossible" another monk chimed up.
"Has the stele become broken after all these years? It's far too early for…" the monk's voice drifted out as he watched the words carved onto the stone stele underneath one of the names.
-Name: John Fenix
-Cultivation: Peak Heaven Tribulation
-Age: Eighteen
-Dao Name: 'Immortal Asura!'
-Trial One: One hour. Fifteen Minutes. Eight Seconds.
-Trial One Score: Twelve
The monks stared at the recently carved words with stunned expressions, something rarely seen on their stoic faces. Monk Pairen eventually recovered from his shock and hastily stood up.
"I must inform Prior Hishen and the Grand Abbot," he said before retreating into the monastery behind them.
…
Prior Hishen and the Grand Abbot listened to monk Pairen's words, and thanked him before dismissing him to return to his position. Silence filled the room for some time before Prior Hishen turned to the Grand Abbot.
"Grand Abbot…could the stele truly be faulty as brother Pairen suggested?" Prior Hishen asked.
"You truly don't believe such a thing is possible?" the Grand Abbot replied calmly.
"No…I do not," Prior Hishen replied. "Then…"
"There's no reason to get antsy," the Grand Abbot said with a small smile on his face. "We've waited all this time. We can wait a bit more for the trials to reveal the truth of what's to come."
