Chapter 32: Sacred Ground Test

Soren then spent the next week exploring the entire Immortal Dragon Sect territory, and on the last day, Soren felt a bunch of people begin gathering in mass where Soren felt that a majority of the powerful cultivators who belong to the Immortal Dragon Sect resided, so opening a portal to their position, Soren stepped through and found himself standing next to some random kid who was at the Immortal King state, a state that was considered an impossible dream to most back in the Heavenly Way Immortal Realm, but was common occurrence in this Divine Realm. Looking around, Soren noticed that most everyone present was either an Immortal King, or an Immortal Emperor, and while both of these realms were hard to achieve in the previous realm, these realms were considered the trash among cultivators, while anything below that wasn't even worthy of looking at.

'So everyone is starting to gather… I wonder what we will be doing, as there are hundreds of thousands of people here, but I don't think the sect would accept this many, otherwise it would be pointless to hold an exam, and everyone of this level would just be accepted': soren

After a few hours, people seemed to have stopped flooding in, and shortly after, a familiar figure appeared floating before everyone, before he descended down onto a platform, and began speaking.

[Hello, everyone!... My name is Long Laolong, I am an inner core disciple for the Immortal Dragon Sect, and I'll be incharge of overseeing your test for this event… I know it's a bit weird that an inner core disciple like myself has taken leadership of this event rather than an elder, but I am quite capable with my cultivation of a Divine Emperor, so you should have no worries about dying to the beasts inside of the sacred ground… But alas, there will still be some death's, as it's not completely avoidable, but this just means that you are weak… Now, I will set some rules for this test, before giving you some information as to what sacred ground we will visit… Any questions?]: laolong

Upon seeing nobody speak out, Laolong began explaining the rules for this test to everyone present while making sure his voice was heard to all the hundreds of thousands of participants in this test, as he would hate for any screw ups to happen.

[Now, the first rule is quite simple… No fighting among participants unless given permission from myself, or other examiners that may be present later on. Rule two! Any and all items found in the sacred ground are kept by the sect until you become a disciple, and if something is deemed unfit for a disciple, the disciple who found it will be given an alternate reward of equivalent value instead. Rule three! Any and all fights will be decided with a knockout, or a surrender, and any malicious intent felt from one participant towards another will be disqualified, but if a participant happens to die, and the examiners rule it as accidental death, the one who killed the participant is still okay to continue… Now for the final rule, and personally one of my favorites that I completely made up myself… Have fun!... Now, I wish you all luck, and will see only 50 of you in the end as my junior brothers]: laolong

Laolong smiled towards all of the participants, but Soren could tell that it was a smile full of scorn, as it was the same smile Laolong used with him previously, but Soren couldn't care less, as he only joined Laolong because he asked first, and Soren was interested in the idea of being in a sect.

[Now… Today we will be taking this exam in a new sacred grounds that have yet to be named, but our sect has sent a team in previously to make sure it is suitable for our tests… The strongest beast in this sacred ground is at the Heavenly Emperor state, while the weakest beast is at the Universal Immortal state… This sacred ground is separated into 6 different levels, with the outer level housing the Universal Immortal beasts and the weakest Immortal King beasts, while the second level houses the strongest Immortal King beats, and the weakest Immortal Emperor beasts… This goes on all the way to the sixth, and most dangerous level housing the Heavenly Emperor beasts… I recommend that you all stay within the second and third levels, as anything higher will spell instant death for you… Now if you all are ready, please step into this portal, and we will arrive at the unnamed sacred ground]: laolong

Soren then watched as everyone began stepping through the portal, and he soon followed suit, as he appeared on the other side along with hundreds of other disciples, and what he saw was quite something. Soren saw gigantic mountains stabbing through the skies and into the clouds making the tops unseen, while below the clouds all sorts of beasts were flying about, while the sounds of roaring filled the silent atmosphere, before it went silent, only to respond with a new roar from a different beast. Soon, everyone had came through the portal, and was followed by Laolong as the portal closed behind him, and then after gathering all the attention towards himself again, he tore open the space as he began taking out special badges that were gold in color, and had the image of a dragon circling around cultivator in lotus position, and then he began handing them out while speaking, as everyone got in line to receive the badge.

[Listen up!... This badge that I'm handing you is special… You must wear this at all times, as it not only signifies that you are a participant of this exam, but it also lets me know where you are, and if you inject your energy into the badge, I will come and rescue you… Got it?]: laolong

Everyone began to nod at his words, then he gave a smile that seemed to be hiding a wicked motive as he shouted.

[You are tasked to bring me a total of 10,000 points to pass this trial… Universal Immortal beasts are worth 1 point, Immortal King beasts are worth 10 points, Immortal Emperor beasts are worth 100 points, Earth Immortal Emperor beasts are worth 500 points, Sky Immortal Emperor beasts are worth 1,000 points, Peak Immortal Emperor beasts are worth 5,000 points, and Heavenly Emperor beasts are worth 10,000 points… You all have a time limit of 3 days to gather enough points to pass, so without further adieu… Let the test begin!]: laolong

Soren then watched as everyone began disappearing as they entered the outer level of the sacred ground and began killing Universal Immortal beasts while slowy heading inwards to the second and third levels, while the more arrogant and cocky cultivators completely disregarded the free points on the outer ring, and went straight for either the second or third levels, while some cocky guys entered the fourth level, only to panic and call upon Laolong who quickly entered and saved them before taking them out of the sacred grounds, and failing them there. Those who saw this scene play out vowed to never use their badge to call for help, as that marked them to be disqualified the second they do, and while Soren saw all of this, Laolong's fake smile never left his face, making Soren think that his acting skills were far above everyone in the movies, but hearing how he had been alive for so long, to even see the last ascender 10 million years ago, Soren thought that Laolong had plenty of time to perfect his acting skills.

'I guess I can enter the deeper levels': soren

Soren then began walking deeper into the sacred grounds while killing anything that got in his way, before storing all his kills into his inventory, as he planned to pass the test without raising any flags that he was stronger than they thought. Soren then began walking into the deepest parts of the forest, but felt a tugging sensation, as he felt something trying to draw him in, and thinking it was some kind of beast and it's innate skill, Soren decided to follow the call, as he was a bit interested, and soon, Soren came across a cave that gave off an eerie sensation that made all the senses in Soren's body tell him to stay away from whatever was inside, but he also felt the pulling sensation calling him inside.

'Hmm… What do I do… My body tells me not to enter at all costs, but it also tells me to enter at all costs… So strange': soren

Soren was having conflicted feelings, as he knew something was off, as from Ava's scan when she scanned the entire universe, there was nothing above the God state here, and Soren was still leagues above that level, so nothing could harm him here, yet his body is sending off warning signs telling him to stay away, but he felt no fear, as if they were false signs.

'Ava, can you scan this cave and tell me what's wrong with it?': soren

<{Scanning… Done!... There is nothing dangerous inside, but there is a spell placed on an array that is meant to scare off unwanted intruders, while inside the array is something that seems to be calling you towards it}>

'Can you tell me what's inside?': soren

<{I could, but what would be the fun in that?... I suggest you enter for yourself and find out}>

'*Sigh*... What a bother… I guess I'll enter, as I'm quite interesting in this array, while the thing calling out to me also has my curiosity': soren

Soren then began walking into the cave as it seemed less dark and depressing inside, than it did outside, and as Soren closed in on the target force that was still trying to scare him away with a harsher pressure that was actually able to make him form a bit of sweat on his forehead, and upon seeing a glowing barrier, Soren stretched out his fist, and punched the barrier, completely shattering it as the glowing light of the barrier dissipated, revealing a single jade-like skeleton sitting in lotus position, with a weird crown on its head, along with a torn and tattered robe, and a weird stone staff resting at the skeletons back. The skeleton's teeth seemed to stray from a humans, as the canines were elongated, and at the tailbone of the skeleton was a bone tail, making it look like an ape, while the crown seemed to look familiar, as it appeared to be your regular gold band, but it was split at the front, and had an odd cloud like shape.

[Wait… This seems all too familiar, and the staff resting behind this skeleton seems odd as well… This couldn't be… Monkey King!?]: soren

Upon speaking the name, the jade-like skeleton began to glow in a bright light as an astral light began to take from around the skeletal system before the image of the Monkey King became present and started to move away from the skeleton as it walked around, leaving the skeleton still in lotus position, before the Monkey King began to speak.

[Yes… I was known by many names, such as Stone Monkey, Handsome Monkey-King, Sun Wukong, and many more, but in general, most know me as the Monkey King… I have lived for billions of years, and have seen many eras rise and fall under terrible rule and governing, but I grew tired of all the fighting, so I came here and though a special technique I created myself, I exploded my cultivation, and crippiled myself in the process so that I may finally find peace and die… But before I left, I set 2 arrays that would keep my legacy a secret until the one who is worthy enough comes by, so now that you're seeing this, I would assume you felt the calling that brought you here, so take my crown that made me a king, and carry on my legacy as the new Monkey King]: wukong

[Uhhh… Hard pass]: soren

[... What!?]: wukong

[I'm not really interested in becoming a king, as I'd rather just have fun exploring on my own]: soren

[... No!... You must!... Fine! Don't become the king, but carry on my legacy!]: wukong

[*Sigh*... This is boring… I'm just gonna leave… Good luck Sun-kun, I hope you find a worthy successor… And thanks for being one of my heroes growing up]: soren

As Soren spoke, he began leaving, while Wukong felt he needed to act quickly, as once he disappeared, it was all over, and nobody would ever be able to inherit his legacy, so as Soren began leaving, Wukong walked over to the skeleton, and with the last of his power, he took the crown off his head, and charged Soren as he shoved the crown onto his head.

[Huh?... What th-... Noooo!!!]: soren

Soren couldn't sense Wukong, as he was just a spirit, but upon feeling the slight spike in energy, he turned around to see Wukong placing the crown on his head with a mischievous smile before he began to fade as he spoke.

[It is complete… The crown of binding has found his next owner, please be well my heir, and use my Yeoui properly… Hehehehe]: wukong

Soren saw this and began trying to fight the crown off his head, but no matter how hard he tried, the crown refused to come off, and instead began tightening itself around his head, and began squeezing his brain, giving him a slight headache.

[What the fuck!!!... That fucking Wukong!... He surprised me!]: soren

Soren realized that it was hopeless to continue trying to take off the crown, as it would only tighten itself even more, until his head exploded, so instead of fighting it, Soren decided to ruin Wukong's legacy instead.

[You want to force your crown onto me?... Then I will ruin your legacy instead… Hahahaha!]: soren

Soren then walked over to Yeoui, and looked at it before he tried to pick it up, and just as he expected, it was extremely heavy and wouldn't budge, so he tried putting some profound energy into his hands, yet it still refused to budge a single bit.

[What the hell!... I can't even lift this damn thing… Legacy my ass!]: soren

Soren then had an idea as he then began making his profound energy flow into the crown instead, and after he did that, Soren realized that the crown began to clow with a reddish tinge, as it began to enlarge as the crown that was once squeezing his head, had now expanded to be more like a halo that wrapped around Soren's forehead as it floated in the air.

[Hehe… You know, this is a bit cooler than I expected]: soren

Soren then put his focus into picking up the Yeoui, and as if the crown was the key, Soren was able to pick up the stone staff, as it began to darken into a pitch black rod that looked like the rod used by Pain from Naruto, but much longer, and with a new idea, Soren spoke.

[Enlarge]: soren

Soren then watched as the Yeoui in his hands began to expand in both length and girth as it also felt a bit heavier, but Soren couldn't really tell, as there was a smile on his face, and then with a few more words, Soren made the Yeoui extremely small, as he remembered from a Korean Manga known as a Manhwa, a story about the Monkey King, and in that story, the main character known as Jin Mori, used the Yeoui in this size as he hid it inside his ear. Soren then placed the small Yeoui on the inside of his ear, as he then began walking outside of the cave, while also thinking back on one of the most OP Martial Arts in history, as he wanted to incorporate it into his Heavenly Void Emperors Profound Martial Arts, so that in the future he would be a literal God in combat, with no opening.

'Renewal Taekwondo, huh?... I guess I might need to head back into the world of Naruto to practice it on other Taijutsu masters, or maybe I'll head to the God of Highschool universe instead, as the technique originates there, anyway… But for now, I'll finish exploring these realms here… I want to see what an actual fight is like with someone stronger than myself… Hehehe, this should be fun, no?': soren