Chapter 157 - The Elders Notice Two Other People

However, he didn't let the highly intricate diagram in his mind deter him from trying to comprehend it abstruseness.

So, with his eyes closed, he tried to understand the principle that the diagram hid within it form.

However, with the pressure that the diagram mysteriously exerted on his mind, he had a little bit of trouble in trying to focus on the diagram.

But he wasn't the only one that was having this trouble, the two other people around him were also having great difficulties in understanding the diagrams in their minds due to the unbearable pressure that was exerted by the diagrams upon their minds.

So, as they tried to comprehend the diagram, they also tried to resist the pressure that affected them.

Many minutes later, precisely twenty minutes after, other people who tried their best to resist the pressure emanating from the shrine artifact spirit and which affected their bodies, preventing them from advancing forward, also appeared before the large stony board that had many engravings of profound diagrams and images on it surface.

Then when they arrived before the massive stony board, they sat down in the cross-legged position on the ground before the board that was endlessly radiating a soft glow of all kinds of colors. Then as soon as they did so, multiple resplendent rays of light shot out from the boards towards their heads.

Immediately the rays burrowed into their heads and appeared in their minds, they abruptly turned into large diagrams that suddenly emitted pressures which unexpectedly pressed down on their minds, giving them the frightening feeling that it simply had the aim to crush their minds to paste.

As Xiao Lin was busy trying to comprehend the diagram that continuously emitted a certain degree of pressure on his mind to stop him from trying to comprehend it, Xiao Lin began to look at the diagram from one point to another point.

Now, his aim was to understand a small portion of the diagram before moving on to the small next part of it. He felt that with this method that he was employing to understand the massive diagram in his mind, he would be able to quickly break down it immense structure than to look at it as one whole thing, which would definitely waste his time in doing so. And surprisingly when he switched to this comprehension method, the pressure emitting from the diagram floating in his mind and invisibly weighing down upon it, actually lessened in degree.

Once Xiao Lin felt this, he slowly broke a smile across his face. He then focused more on that part that he was currently looking at to understand it.

At the moment, the diagram in his mind which was simply composed from millions of anciently profound texts that were linked together by an invisible force to form the diagram, was simply a massive hand when looked from far above.

So, as a hand that consisted of five fingers and the palm, Xiao Lin focused on one of the fingers, trying to comprehend what that part really meant before moving on to the next finger to understand what that also meant.

And, although it was a hand if looked at from far above, Xiao Lin however couldn't do that in his mind and comprehend in the next instant that the diagram was simply a palm, before moving on to really understand what the diagram which was in the shape of a massive palm was really about.

So, intensely focusing on one of the fingers of the hand, he tried to understand what profundity was hidden within it. And as he did this, trying to comprehend what the diagram was about, many others who were now taking the exam with him, began to cough out mouthfuls of blood one after the other from their mouths before directly fainting. While others who couldn't mentally withstand the pressure acting on their minds for long, abruptly removed their attention from the diagrams and stood to their feet to leave the hall. Thus signifying that they had given up on the test and wanted out of it immediately.

Xiao Lin who didn't know that this was happening around him, tried to comprehend the diagram in his mind bit by bit before connecting them together to have one whole comprehension of what the diagram floating within his mind was.

...

"Do you think that he would be able to finish that test before a month is up?" One of the many elders who had their eyes now fixated on Xiao Lin as he had shown himself to be one of the best examinee here, asked with one of his brows furrowed.

"I don't know. But seeing how far he has come and understanding the level that his persevering spirit operates at, I can confidently say that he will complete the task required to pass this stage before a month is finally up" Another watching Xiao Lin said with a smile in his face.

"Hmm. Alright." One elder said and spoke further by asking, "Apart from that boy that named himself Devil Fang, which other examinee here do you think that we can bring into our sect even if they fail at this stage?"

"Oh. Well, if that question is directed at me, I will say that short boy and that girl that shot past Devil Fang when the pressure came upon them in the palace hall." A female elder said, giving her own unbiased response to the question that the elder before her asked.

"Hmm. Very good answer, Elder Yun" The elder said with a nod of his head.

He then said further, "That boy and that girl also have what it takes to become our disciples here, even if they fail that tasks that basically tests their overall comprehension skills."

"The thing is, from the different ways that they individually completed the first task that they came across, I could notice how they easily handled it like the disciples of our sect that they were facing weren't good enough to knock them out of the glowing blue circle. So, based on that, I can easily tell that these lads aren't also normal-gifted kids." The elder said looking at the other elders who were looking at him and patiently listening to what he was saying.

And as soon as he finished what he was saying, another said, agreeing to what that elder just said, "From the fearsome battle techniques and movement methods that they unleashed and deployed to overwhelm and subjugate their opponents, I could quickly tell that they aren't also ordinary lads. They are just like that boy named Devil Fang but actually, less skilful and less stronger than him."

"Hmm." The elders agreeably nodded their heads in unison and then turned them away from that elder that they were gazing at to continue looking at Xiao Lin and the other boy and girl that they had identified as the more skilful and strongest amongst this batch of people that wanted to be admitted into the sect and be given titles as members.

After trying to comprehend for many days what the diagram in her mind was all about, the tall slender girl who had a massive, black-colored pyramid that was upside down and had engravings of skulls on it surfaces, which then moved in and out of visibility like it was formed from certain incorporeal materials, was able to comprehend what the large base of the pyramid was. And as soon as she did so, the immense stony board before her which was monitoring their individual rates of comprehension, shot out a colored beam of light towards the girl which then pierced into her body and turned into actual, dazzling motes of energy which made her feel completely refreshed and energized.

This was basically like a reward system to keep them going. So, anyone who was able to solve or understand a small bit or portion of the massive diagrams sent to their minds, they would be fired by a prismatic beam of mysterious energy which would penetrate into their bodies and fill them up with energy that they had drained when trying to comprehend the abstruseness of the diagrams.

Immediately she had that chromatic beam fired towards her which then penetrated into her body and formed dozens of radiant motes of fused mental and vital Spiritual Energy which traveled to her head at inconceivable speeds and rapidly permeated her whole body, the girl's rate of comprehension slightly increased. Then because of the small boost of her comprehension ability, she was able to quickly solve three-tenth of one of the numerous parts of the pyramid image that she was now focusing on.

And as for the other boy who started the comprehension test with the girl, he was still trying to figure out what the diagram in his head really represented. It was really confusing to him as it contained a lot of part that were each intricate to solve. He was also having the same issue as Xiao Lin who was now frantic at not being able to produce even a small bit of meaning from the finger that he was focusing on. Then still focusing on it, he asked within himself, 'Can I use my vampiric powers to increase my comprehension rate to a higher degree? For I am sure that even this image composed entirely from cryptic texts in my head, is certainly much more harder than the ones that my peers taking the exams received.'