Chapter 27 - Final Phase Begins

A man in black robes sat at the back in the higher stands where the sect's representative occupied while dark qi swirled in his body. This man was from the devil sect.

He witnessed the events happening; he was first unfazed by the powerful families and their descendants, but things changed after seeing three undetectable people. Even his spiritual sense was unbled to detect; this surprised the dark robe man as he immediately noticed these people.

When he saw the two women floating in a sitting position and drinking something unknown, he became more interested in these people. Next to the black robe man was a member of his sect; he also wore black robes and bracelets around his arms.

"Feng Ku, check with our spies in the Ju empire for information about these three."

"Yes, elder Mo."

The black robe man, Elder Mo, sent a qi message to the man standing as the next moment, the ground opened as the man sank into it, disappearing from the stand. The other member saw what happened but didn't react much.

Other sects also had suspicions and doubts about Patrick's group, especially the strength Patrick just displayed; such power with just a pinky meant he must be the disciple of a powerful cultivator or master, or at least from a powerful family. With this thought, many began evaluating their views on Patrick's background, thinking his probably from a high-ranking family, considering he had two extremely beautiful women as his company.

Patrick and the host entered the training ground, where they tested for comprehension of the skills cultivated. The room was big, and the crystals illuminated light in the room. The man led the way in the room; he turned and looked at Patrick, wondering if Patrick comprehended the cultivation books in seconds after seeing it; if that were true, it would be best to acquaint with such a genius.

"Young brother, this is the testing room, and there are three stages; if young bro.., the master need anything, I will be here."

The man changed his way of addressing Patrick from brother to master and tried to curry favor. Patrick realized this as he was a mortal and knew what they do when they notice an opportunity such as a potential benefit. He nodded to the man as he walked into the testing room, the door shutting behind him. There were many doors to the testing room so that others could test simultaneously.

Everyone watched Patrick enter the testing room; their attention shifted to the screen displaying the test results and points. The emperor was the most interested in this genius he has set eyes on; his main goal is to obtain the body cultivation technique Patrick cultivates.

Moments after Patrick entered, Kang Mu finished, and many others. His first action was to look for Patrick and see if he was still cultivating, but to his disappointment, he saw Patrick's empty spot and asked the host standing at the foot of the stage.

"Where has that weak man gone to?"

The host, hearing "weak," almost punched Kang Mu in the face; if Patrick is weak after displaying such strength, he can be considered nothing but an ant. He just ignored the arrogance as he spoke.

"For those of you who were unable to comprehend the cultivation techniques in the required time, you are eliminated. The rest of you come with me."

Those who failed held disappointed faces as they walked down the platform; the remaining stood in a cluster as they amounted to twenty. Only twenty have remained in the fourth phase-out of the one thousand candidates. They followed the man to the testing rooms as they prepared to demonstrate their comprehension and impress their families and other sects.

On one of the screens displaying the insides of Patrick's room, everyone could see Patrick inside about to begin his first test of attacks.

The door shut behind Patrick as he stood in the bright room. He saw a mechanism activated, and soon after, wooden dolls began attacking. The comprehension test was for the cultivated skills, so Patrick had to use the skills and nothing else. The wooden dolls attacked Patrick, but before the attacks reached him.

[Skill: Golden budda shield activated]

A golden shield clothed Patrick; he stood with his hands behind his back as the dolls surrounded him. He watched as the shield had no impact on it. Patrick saw the crystals and smiled at them, mocking the other candidates.

People saw the scene where the dolls attacked Patrick and used the golden budda shield cultivation method. Many were shocked, especially the host who had doubts; he now completely believed Patrick and thanked his ancestors for not agitating such a person. The sect representatives were more stirred as their goal was to have such geniuses in their sects.

"He indeed comprehended the methods in seconds?"

"Are you blind? He used the golden budda shield, but why do I feel like this shield looks more golden than the normal shields everyone practices?"

Many began commenting on their thoughts and how things look weird with Patrick's shield. But the main thing was that Patrick does indeed have the talent to comprehend methods in seconds, while others take minutes, days, and years to cultivate; he takes seconds.

With such a talent, sects will fight to recruit a person and even give him enormous benefits. Indeed, the sects contemplated approaching Patrick after the final results or which sect he would choose. Some began contacting their sects for more reinforcements because it would be trouble when selecting.

Kang Mu saw this as he headed for his testing room; this stranger has destroyed his image as the number one genius in the Ju empire. And the fact that sects were in disorder meant that they would be fighting for him; although he's already a disciple of the puppet sect, he was still mad.

Patrick watched as the dolls attacked. He held two fingers and shifted them to the right; the dolls scattered to pieces as they flew to the right with this action. With the destruction of the dolls, as if someone was controlling it, bronze dolls appeared but twice the number of the wooden dolls.

The same attack process continued, but Patrick used the lightning dragon punch, this time causing half of the dolls to shatter into dust. After the bronze came the golden dolls, but these new dolls were just two, but the shocking thing was that they had cultivations; the empire created these new types of dolls to make the competition harder.

The two golden dolls walked slowly towards Patrick with faces like humans; they released their cultivations and pressured Patrick. Their cultivation was in the spirit king's seventh stage realm, this was the ultimate test for the candidates before they entered sects, and it is a life-threatening test.

[Skill: Ghost shadow steps activated]

As Patrick disappeared from his position, the two dolls immediately reacted. They also vanished from their positions; both parties clashed as the room got brighter with flashes everywhere. This action caused the display to be unseen as the screens couldn't show what was happening inside. Some complained, but they could do nothing about it.

The host and other coordinators documented the comprehension level of the cultivated skills of the candidates from each room; the host was personally recording Patrick's result.

A couple of moments later, Patrick's room doors opened as he walked out unscratched and clean robes. This caused the crowd to fall into another commotion as they recognized Patrick as the number one genius of the Ju empire or maybe the entire eastern continent.

Other rooms began opening as candidates walked out; some candidates passed out because of their energy spent. Some failed as the machine will automatically stop if a candidate could not defend for long, and those that passed were slightly exhausted.

"Congratulations to the rest of you who passed the comprehension and testing phase. You will all receive qi replenishment pills to recover your energies. After, we shall begin the final phase, which will be the combat phase."

Kang Mu and the remaining participants received their pills, including Patrick; although he didn't need them, he still accepted and gave them to another candidate next to him. This candidate was a little surprised by how this new dark horse acts, first he's extremely handsome for a man, and his strength was beyond his cultivation realm. He was the first in all the phases, plus now, he's giving his pills to him; this was very strange because most geniuses were arrogant and rarely spoke to people below them.

"Thank you, how may I call big brother?"

The boy asked Patrick. Patrick replied.

"Call me Alex."

"Since everyone has recovered, then we shall begin the final phase of the competition exams."

The host spoke to the candidates; the crowd burst into commotion as this was the most exciting phase of the competition exams; this is where the combat powers are fully demonstrated.

"First, you all are to pick the wooden slates in the box; if your numbers match, then that will be your opponent. The only rule is no killing; as for injuries, you get that you fight in the real world every day."

The first two were middle-class families; they were both in the mind accumulation realms. There was not much difference in their strength, but one could predict who would win from their cultivated techniques. The fight began as both parties unleashed powerful attacks causing the stage bricks to have qi attack marks.

A couple of minutes later, the winner was declared; the crowd wasn't much interested in the fight of weaker powers but the powerful descendants. The emperor saw this as he nodded his head, approving of the person who won as it meant one has sufficient talent to enter sects if they reached the last twenty of the candidates.

"Next is Kang Mu and Li Feng."

Another announcement caused the crowd into commotion as the person they expected to display the most talent was finally fighting. Kang Mu and the kid named Li Feng walked to the stage as they both cupped their hands, greeting in respect.

Kang Mu had his eyes on Patrick as if telling Patrick to watch what would happen when he matches him in the competition.. Patrick stood with folded arms on his chest as he smiled for the first time in this competition; he thought of how he should devastate the arrogance of this boy and bring him the ultimate despair.