Thinking of his mother, Donari sighed. Maybe the only regret he had in leaving the Caedes family was leaving his mother behind. Although many might not know, Donari knew that his father didn't favor his mother for any wholesome reason, but rather because of her constitution. Donari didn't know much about it, but according to hints dropped by his mother, she had the ability to maximize the talent of bloodlines.
Donari had always known that there was some hidden reason like this. After all, his mother was just a mortal lady with no cultivation when his father met her. Even now, she was a mere foundation stage expert and that was after his father had poured centuries worth of cultivation resources into her, hoping to extend her life as long as possible.
For one reason or another, Donari's mother hadn't been able to give birth to another child. Maybe it was a consequence of her constitution, or maybe there was some other reason. In fact, Donari even suspected that it was all done by his mother to deliberately protect him. Knowing his father, if his mother ever gave birth to a child more talented than him, then he would be forgotten just like his elder brother was.
Donari shook his head, focusing on his spar instead. He hadn't thought about such sappy things in a while, maybe it was because his mother was only a few hundred miles from here that he had become so emotional.
By now, many of the participants had already gone. Even Virvor had already sparred with his respective inner sect disciple and passed with flying colors. Now, only Dyon and Donari remained.
Truth be told, Donari felt a lot of pressure fighting this inner sect disciple. She seemed to have a cold and serene mind that made it difficult for his killing intent to affect her, not to mention the fact that she was a saint who had lowered her cultivation to Donari's level so as to maintain fairness.
The worst part was that Donari's injuries from his fight with Dyon back on Unseen Peak still hadn't healed. He hadn't complained about it all because that just wasn't his style, but that didn't mean it wasn't affecting him.
Of course, Dyon noticed this. But, he knew that Donari would never accept any healing pills he could give him. Plus, the healing pills he had were personally refined by Clara and made with his celestial level body in mind, if he took them out publicly, it would cause another uproar.
Luckily, the inner sect disciple facing Donari finally nodded in satisfaction. With her cultivation, she could obviously tell Donari was injured too, so he had earned her respect for not bringing it up and instead fighting valiantly.
"You pass." She said with a light smile before her cold expression returned.
At that moment, it was finally time for what the crowd had been waiting for with bated breath. Which core disciple would Dyon fight? Did he truly have a chance? Even worse, while the disciples lowered their cultivation for the sake of a spar for others, the core disciples absolutely would not do this for Dyon! Would a young genius really have his future path cut off here?
Just as the crowd was anticipating the final spar, the sound of the core disciples arguing suddenly caught their attention. Before, there were battles going on so it hadn't been too obvious, but with everyone now patiently waiting, the only true action seemed to be happening on the Soul Rending Peak viewing platform.
Realizing that they were becoming the center of attention, the core disciples had no choice but to swallow their arguments. Losing face for their Soul Rending Peak was a massive taboo they didn't want to weigh on their shoulders, even if they were core disciples. However, they were almost set off by Dyon's calm smile. Was he really not worried about fighting one of them?
Core disciples of Soul Rending Peak were without a doubt the leaders of the coming generation. Their prestige in the entire 98th quadrant was nearly second to none. How could they allow a 32-year-old kid to sully their reputation like this? But, the problem of deciding who would fight was still a massive one they couldn't make.
Turning to the Vice Master, they left their place behind her to respectful bow before her. "Please, esteemed Vice Master. We cannot choose between ourselves, we believe it would be best if you made the decision."
When Evangeline heard this, she didn't have any particular reaction. She didn't care which of them fought Dyon, the result would be the same. Becoming a core disciple was not a joke. However, before she could randomly choose, a melodic voice interrupted her.
"Vice Master, how about you allow this lowly one to make the decision?"
At this moment, all eyes trained on the white-haired beauty who had an aura about her that was beyond words. She was the only woman they had ever seen that could sit beside their goddess and not seem completely outmatched. And what was more, she was so young!
However, everyone was also confused. Although they didn't dare to ask, it had been almost three days now since the assessments began, yet these beauties sat in seats of honor without anyone knowing who they were. They even sat in front of the core disciples, did this mean that their status was even higher than theirs? If so, who were they?
Hearing Lilith's words, Evangeline was a bit surprised and even got a bad premonition. But, declining such a simple request would seem far too petty of her. It was no wonder why Lilith waited until this moment to bring it up.
Seeing Evangeline's approval, Lilith turned to the crowd. "Many of you don't know who I am. Considering our destinies will be inevitably tied for the foreseeable future, I believe it's time I introduce myself.
"My name is Lilith Nightmare. About a month or so ago, I defeated senior brother Kernick Caedes to become our quadrant's new Key Wielder."
BOOM!
It was as though all those who heard these words felt fireworks going off in their minds. They could only dumbfoundedly stare at the beauty before them without any words…
Kernick Caedes could be considered as Donari and Olaf's elder cousin. He had been a pillar of their 98th quadrant for two centuries already, and although they had such a low rank, no one had the heart to blame him. Their circumstances were simply too poor and they knew that not everyone could be like that monster Dyon Saccharro who single-handedly raised his quadrant from the 100th rank to the 51st.
Better yet, Kernick had an extremely good reputation within the sect. Unlike other members of the Caedes family, he was exceptionally humble and modest, even going as far as to diligently cultivate the talents of their sect. Everyone knew Kernick's famous catch phrase: "A tree can't grow with only one strong root."
He repeated these words all the time even as he gave pointers to his junior brothers and sisters. To hear that his position had been taken by a complete stranger, albeit a beauty, many couldn't help but feel bitter in their hearts.
Seeing the reaction to this news, Dyon's eyes flashed with respect. He had never even met this Kernick character, but he already knew that he had the qualities of a true leader. If not, there's no way this many individuals would lament the loss of his position, especially considering it was taken by such a beauty. This Kernick was truly worthy of being a Legatee.
Being the key wielder of such a weak quadrant, it was very easy for one to give up. How many individuals would take advantage of the resources they could gain from their position and forget about everything else? Dyon was sure that the answer included many people.
Lilith, however, didn't seem too perturbed by everyone's reaction. She had little connection to this universe, so why would she care about their feelings? They were all just puppets on the strings of their devil path quadrants.
"From now on, I can only promise to do my best to live up to Senior Brother's image. I thought that this would be a good time to take the right first step.
"For good reason, our Soul Rending Peak has pitted the odds against this assessment participants here. He did, in fact, challenge the prestige of our sect by disrespecting the judges we've chosen. However, anyone can see how much of a talent he is. Although he's not quite ready to stand near the top, and his character needs tempering, he still deserves a chance to win.
"So, how about this, senior brothers." Lilith's light, yet cold smile made the knees of the two core disciples feel weak. At this point, even if she asked them to jump into the planet's core, they'd agree without hesitation. "You two are far too powerful and he has little to no chance of beating either of you. How about we give him a chance and allow the newest member of your core disciple ranks to fight him in your stead?"
