Chapter 173 - Final Test Begins

Next day...

"Welcome!" An elder floating in the air, said to a group of people below him.

This group, which consisted of a large number of people, roughly hundred of them, were the people that successfully completed the comprehension test before time was up.

Once the elder greeted, the people gathered below him nodded their heads and said in unison, "Thank you, elder"

The elder floating in the air before them then said, "Now, for today's test, it will be all about the durability and perseverance of your mind. At the second examination ground, you were faced by a particular pressure to test your physical strength, body resilience and perseverance level by inhibiting your body from moving forward to your required, main test area."

"However, in this test, you will faced by near-realistic illusions that will prevent you from moving forward. You will see things that you haven't seen before in your entire life and it will greatly horrify you to the extent that you will swiftly, seriously beg to be immediately brought of the test that will terrify you to the core of your being. This particular test, is designed to break or hollow out your minds. Now, as a note of warning, don't push yourself too much to finish the test, you could either run insane or enter into a vegetative state that may take unknown number of years to fully come out from. Besides, it's traumatizing. If you aren't mentally strong, it could lead to manifestations of dreadful images in your mind that could possibly haunt you till the day that you die" The elder solemnly said.

Huuuu!

Once he said that, everyone gathered below him deeply inhaled with terrified expressions appearing in their faces. Even Xiao Lin couldn't help but be alarmed by what the elder just said.

He then asked within himself, 'Can I be terrified of anything? Actually, I have seen things that will terrify me, such as the first appearance of the Demonic Blade King with that powerful suffocating presence that yielded a strongly choking smell of blood before me in the past. So, what could be as dreadful as that?'

'Hmm. Anyways, I am not sure if that could be as terrifying as the one that this elder spoke about. Ugh! Well, whatever the case may be, I am not going to back out, for I am not the type to chicken out of things that will take me to my place of amazing strength and dominating power.'

'Therefore, I am going to proceed to take this test. Then if I either run mad or enter into a vegetative state, it was my fate all along. However, because of my mother who could be held in torturous captivity by my father, I will fight this horrendous fate. I will do everything to finish this test and become a dignified and proud member of this great and illustrious sect.' Xiao Lin said within himself and nodded his head.

Just as he finished thinking, Tian Xi who was an overly curious person, raised one of his hands up and looked at the elder with a puzzled expression in his face.

Sighting Tian Xi's hand that was raised into the air, the elder looked at him and asked, "You, what's it?"

"Nothing, elder. However, I want to ask a question that just surfaced in my mind" Tian Xi said as he stared puzzledly at the elder.

"Question?" The elder asked with a perplexed expression appearing in his face.

"Yes, dignified elder" Tian Xi said respectfully and with a slight nod of his head.

"Hmm. Alright then. You can ask away." The elder said while Tian Xi nodded his head once again.

"Thank you elder" Tian Xi said.

He then continued with a polite tone in his voice, "Actually, elder, this particular test that we are to start very soon, what's it purpose?"

"Hmm. The curious one I see." The elder floating in the air before them said.

He then said further, "Now, this particular test is actually for the benefit of the sect. We don't want to have student whose mind will break upon being horrified by whatever frightening thing will be shown to them and then leak out everything about us, about the sect, to our many enemies out there who are always scheming to take down this eminent and grand sect so that they could rise above us and take our place."

"So, once any of your minds can break, then that person will be immediately shown the way out of the sect. You can see yourself as disciples that will be trained by our sect, but in actual sense, you are warriors that the sect is building to stand up for it when the time comes. So, the test will give us the ability to assess the determination, revolve, and ultimately, perseverance level of your hearts." The elder said.

He then continued, "Enough has been spoken. It is time for you all to take the test. I want to see who will become a warrior of the sect that will leave to go train himself or herself out there and then selflessly return for it when the times comes."

Then with a slight wave of his hand, the space around the large stony board began to warp. Then once the warp stopped in the next moment, the immense stony board immediately disappeared and swiftly materialized in the air far above the group of examinees gathered below the elder.

Once the board appeared, the elder said to them with a serious expression appearing in his face, "The test will start now. Guard and prepare your minds for it! Good luck"

The moment the elder said that, he shot away from them to the Hall of Elders to go join his colleague and watch the event that was soon to occur. While the massive stony board that was floating behind the elder in the air, began to release all sorts of soft, colored glows of light from it seemingly polished, smooth stone surface that instantly caused Xiao Lin and the others who were looking at it to suddenly find themselves in another region.

They were still there, where they currently stood at, but because of the illusion projection power of the enormous stony board floating in the air above them, it was as if they had been physically teleported far away to another world that was entirely different from their cultivation world.

Then in regions that their minds were pulled to in this vast, illusionary world, were things that began to horrify them little by little.

Once the illusions that the stony board sent to their minds began to take effect, the space around each of them began to warp before their bodies actually disappeared from where they stood to other regions of the large examination ground.

This was actually done so that when the examinees started sending out attacks in terror because of what they would see, they wouldn't send out attacks at themselves which will surely instantly kill them off.

Then once their bodies surfaced at those parts of the regions that their bodies were teleported to in order to stop them from sending out deadly Spiritual Energy attacks at each other in great fear and total horror, massive, cylindrical columns of a particular glowing energy, rapidly rose up from the earth around them to a shocking height of hundred feet above the ground.

...

Xiao Lin who was incredibly wary of where he was as it felt really strange to him, began to think if he was actually teleported to this place, or that his body was still where he previously stood at, and that he was only in an illusion generated by a powerful, mind-breaking illusions master.

"No matter what the case may be, whether I am in an illusion or not, I have to be tremendously careful here. I have to successfully complete the test, or I would be quickly sent out from the sect where I can only return next year to take the damned test all over again. Lot of things will be ruined if that happens. Ugh! That definitely can't be my portion. I must finish this test' Xiao Lin said within himself with his jet-black Spiritual Energy rushing to his hands, which then caused his hands to begin to generate a stunning glow of blackness.

"Look at that pale, handsome lad that calls himself Devil Fang, he is already sending his devilishly-colored Spiritual Energy to his hands in preparation of launching attacks at whatever will appear in front of him to ruin or devastate him. Hahahaha! That's kind of bad of him. So mentally weak. Now, who said he was a battle genius again?" The female elder called Elder Chu, who was particularly opposed to Xiao Lin, said with a mocking tone in her voice that invoked the feeling that she was immensely delighted at what she could witness happening before her.

Then before anyone else could talk, she said further with the gladness in her heart leaping by bounds, "Just a matter of time before that sick-looking brat have his mind break into thousands of places. Haha!"

"I just can't wait to see him screaming, 'Elders, help! Please bring me out of here. I don't want to die or go into a coma.. Help! Mwahaha!'" Elder Chu said and laughed at his misery which she could easily, clearly visualize in her head.