"Let's see," Iliantara moved forward, her eyes fixed on the platform as she walked toward it. Given the light bathing the whole place, her appearance attracted the gazes of many, considering her special bodily features.
"Come forward and touch the slab," the Elder said, observing the woman in front of him. Noticing that she possessed no signatures of Qi and recalling that she had been standing with the same man who broke the slab, he simply told her to touch it. It was possible that if she emerged as strong as him, there would be no slab remaining for the outer disciples to test.
In the end, given his position as an elder, he was far more experienced at reading the room. He was aware that if he couldn't sense the Qi from this woman, considering she had the same aura around her, it would be disastrous.
"I understand," Iliantara calmly responded and continued on, having made up her mind from the beginning not to strike, knowing it would likely cause damage.
Initially, she aimed to learn about its mechanism or functionality, but now her interest had shifted even more toward the man with whom she had just conversed. She wanted to meet him again during the second trial. She couldn't shake her curiosity about how he managed to remain undetectable, even to her senses.
Of course, she was not hastily reacting or even considering showing her eagerness, as she understood that fulfilling curiosity comes with a price, and there was no reason for her to pay it to a stranger.
Stretching her hands, she directly rested her palms on the surface of the green gemstone, which bore several cracks. Slowly, a glow began to emerge from it.
:: Pass ::
Though it showed the pass result, she kept her hand resting on it while slowly, without harming the gemstone, letting her mana move inside it as she started to understand its working principle.
After slowly stretching her hands away, she left a trail of mana spilling and dissipating from her hands.
Finally done with her work, she moved toward the second portal without glancing back, keeping both hands clenching her sword as she entered the second portal.
"Hm, come forward," the Elder said. For a fleeting moment, he remained silent before turning toward Yao Lian, who slowly moved toward the platform. Standing there, she stretched her hand to place her palm, but he interrupted, adding, "You can punch."
"Haa... Ha... Did you see it!" Yao Lian yelled toward Esme, feeling proud to tell this woman that she had proven her strength. She smirked while lifting her gaze, looking down upon her.
"It seems we are not going to meet in the second trial," Yao Lian's gaze grew cold as she turned towards the second portal, moving forward with the determination that now she had broken the judgment slab. There was no way for these people to pass, and it made her feel proud, as she saw herself moving a step closer to taking revenge for her family.
"Isn't she overreacting?"
"Leave it, she must not have believed she would pass."
One after another, the outer disciples who stood near the edges felt confused while somewhat understanding the excitement of this woman who passed the trial through her strength and determination. But that was it, as she had become their second target after that man, Lucas, who broke the stone slab.
They all turned their attention toward the platform where the slab had not received even a scratch from the fiery flame Qi. While the floor beneath was burned, everything appeared just as it had before, without any marks.
"Aren't you kind enough, Esme?" Ryuk remarked, seeing Yao Lian's reaction as she looked toward them with that smirk.
He understood that she must have seen something that they hadn't, considering that she had passed while reacting as she did. The only one who could have caused this illusion was Esme.
"She would have burned herself," Esme shrugged her shoulders, revealing that indeed it was she who had shown an illusion to Yao Lian, making her believe that she had broken the slab when, in reality, she had merely passed.
The moment Yao Lian began to exert all her strength while using most of her internal energy, Esme cast an illusion that was only visible to Yao Lian, where the stone slab transformed into dust particles.
Given the strength of her illusion, which copied senses, mind, and even energy signatures, it was impossible for Yao Lian, who was unaware of the full extent of Esme's ability, to distinguish between illusion and reality.
[Absolutely fabulous! (づ ̄ 3 ̄)づ As the future big sis, you always have to lend a hand to those ladies that Host brings into his harem—ERROR!!]