In truth, it was only a requirement to become a core disciple of a branch sect if you weren't a resident of this planet. Planet Cathedral allowed all of its residents three opportunities to join Soul Rending Peak. So, while there were only 26 branch sect participants, there were well over 5000 total participants.
There were three levels of acceptance into Soul Rending Peak. The first was to become an outer disciple. The second was to become an inner disciple. And the last was to become a core disciple.
To become an outer disciple, only must finish in the top 100. To become an inner disciple, it was necessary to finish in the top 10. While only the top 1 placement could earn the right to become a core disciple.
As a result of these rules, many of the participants who were from well established families in Cathedral City, who could have directly earned a letter of recommendation from an elder to enter Soul Rending Peak, chose not to. This was because, to them, this was by far the easiest way to become an Inner Disciple.
Just like that, a judge wearing golden robes descended from the skies and onto the center arena, taking out three crystal spheres and allowing them to float before him before he began to speak in a clearly bored voice.
"There's been a change to the rules this year."
The moment these words were said, the crowd began to clamour. Such a thing hadn't happened in thousands of years, what was going on?
"The first three rounds will remain nearly identical. However, the second round will include a test of your title. In addition, after the fourth round is completed and the rankings have been decided, whether you are accepted or not will depend on a fifth round where you spar with a disciple matching to the status you are trying to gain.
"If you are ranked 100th to 91st you will spar with an outer disciple. If you are ranked 90th to 2nd you will spar with an inner disciple. As for ranking first, you will spar with a core disciple."
When the elder said this, the ramblings of the crowd erupted even further. In fact, it wasn't just the crowd anymore, even the participants couldn't hold back any longer.
"Elder!" A brave soul called out. "Will we have to win this spar in order to be admitted?"
The elder only continued with his same bland voice. "Winning is not necessary. You only have to gain the acknowledgement of the judge overseeing your match. If you are up to our standards, then you can join. If not, then you can forget it.
"However, the top ten participants also have a right, should they fail, to then challenge an outer, or inner disciple, depending on their ranking, to join my Soul Rending Peak at a lower tier."
Hearing this, the participants sighed a breath of relief. If they had to win, it would be far too unfair.
At a minimum, these disciples had already spent a year within Soul Rending Peak, likely even more. Whether it be their techniques, guidance, or resources, they were all at ridiculous levels compared to the outside world. It wasn't as though they all were like the Caedes family and could rival the sect with their personal wealth.
With that, the selections began.
...
Dyon watched these proceedings without much reaction. But, just how intelligent was he? Did he really need someone to tell him it wasn't a coincidence that his appearance and this rule change coincided with each other? Rules that hadn't changes in millennia changed for him? How flattering.
The test of title was obviously to verify whether Dyon was lying or not about being a Duke, while the spar was clearly meant to kill him.
Obviously, to these people, if Dyon couldn't make it into the top 100, they could deal with him however they wanted. Plus, with all of these battles, they thought they would get an accurate gauge of his combat abilities and would then be able to send someone capable of dealing with him easily.
It was too bad for them that Dyon knew he wouldn't have to use his full capabilities to place first here.
"253 years old, disqualified." The elders bland voice called out for the 11th time.
"No! Please! I was in my trials, I had no idea how much time I spent inside. Please, I managed to become a Viscount, I'm worthy!"
However, the pleading young man was still forcibly taken away. Of course, many sympathized with him, but there was nothing they could do.
Many entered their trials before coming back to earn an outer disciple spot. The problem was that it was impossible to guess how much time you'd need to finish, so some people often lost count or overshot the age requirements.
Unfortunately, many didn't feel like they would have the strength to pass selections unless they first earned trial rewards. To miss out by a mere 3 years, it was truly heart breaking.
This same scene occurred many times, but to Dyon's surprise, even among those who passed, no one was younger than 200 years old so far. If Dyon had the choice, he would make himself older. Unfortunately, life force was among the most difficult things in the cosmos to fake…
He could use his mask to impersonate his cultivation, and he could purposely lower his Presence to impersonate a Duke, but changing his age was something his mask had no ability to do.
Usually, this would be fine because the mask could hide Dyon's life force, but obviously, in a test like this, it wasn't useful. Dyon had no choice in the end…
"177 years old, passed." The elder's bland voice was slightly livelier after he said this. Clearly, those powerful enough to participate, while being under 200 years old was rare.
"Look, that's the young master of the Acor family. They're a young family, but it seems they're coming up in the world to produce such a young genius."
"172 years old, passed."
The clamour of the crowd increased. It seemed they were all too familiar with the young and powerful family of Planet Cathedral. At some point, they seemed more like popular sports stars than they did martial warriors.
"124 years old, passed."
At this point, Donari's elder brother completely shattered the record with an arrogant and smug look on his face.
To Dyon, the entirety of these proceedings was far too funny.
"87 years old, passed."
Donari himself went directly after his brother, as though to prove a point. However, although there was shock, it only took a moment to notice the fact that although he was far younger, Donari was also far weaker.
The problem was that only Donari knew how powerful he was. He had been hiding his true strength all this time… The fact Dyon beat him so easily was a testament to Dyon's strength, not a dampening of his own. However, others didn't know this, and Donari wasn't one to make excuses for himself. All he did was sneer and wait for Dyon's age test, almost as if to say, "You only beat me because you had more time to cultivate."
Dyon didn't bother with Donari's gloating appearance. Instead, he was thinking about something else.
According to his knowledge, his home universe had about the same expectations for age and cultivation. It was only those with outstanding constitutions who broke through that mold and entered the essence gathering stage around the age of 20 or 30. In all likelihood, Soul Rending Peak might have a couple individuals like that, but greatly dampened. After all, according to Dyon's understanding, this universe didn't have anyone with God level constitutions.
After Donari went, many other young geniuses stepped up, not to be out done. Many of them were between 150 and 180 years old, this seemed like a sweet spot for young geniuses and was also a good mixture of power, experience, in addition to youth.
However, seeing this, Dyon also understood why this quadrant had such poor rankings. The trials' difficulties were chosen based on age, not cultivation. The fact they didn't reach the high levels of essence gathering until they were well past a century old explained why the Duke stages were pretty much their cap.
"118 years old, passed." At this point, the elder actually smiled lightly. The string of talent was clearly better than he expected.
No one even noticed that it was finally Dyon's turn. They were all clamouring about the 118-year-old who was also at the 10th essence gathering stage. Clearly he was even more talented Donari's elder brother! Even better, he was from an unknown family. Imagine that, a commoner making it so far alone!
