Ch-23:Ancient Ruins

What the disciples saw was that they were not the only ones there, as they could see similar groups like theirs appearing every now and then.

The groups ranged from small-sized groups of a few thousand at the minimum to twenty thousand at the maximum.

Their group could be considered pretty low on the spectrum, having only 4.578 participants for this round.

The disciples in all their respective groups were displaying more confusion but also hostility toward the other groups.

Only the Elders who had seen this in the past were calm or heard of it, or Junho and Si-Eun, as they were from the upper realm.

The ones from the upper realm had also increased in number, but they were all wearing the same type of clothes, signifying their common background.

After the disciples totaled nearly half a million, all the conductors of the tests appeared together as if they had been waiting for the total.

The number was still increasing as more and more participants, as well as test conductors kept materializing.

The ones who were already in the next realm of the participants present were also gathered together, as their number also reached nearly fifty thousand.

Only the Elders and the ones who failed the tests were in their respective pocket dimensions, as all of them could see this scene quite vividly.

The disciples finally stopped appearing as one of the test conductors stepped forward, silencing the hushed discussions among the disciples.

"You all are probably confused, so let me clarify things a little."

"Firstly, this will be the last test, and it will last for the next 5 years."

"It is to explore the ruins you'll be transported to and find their secrets."

"It has a cultivation limit on the entry that is your current realm."

"The thing is, you can break through inside without any issues."

"The ones who find the exit within 5 years will be coming with us."

"If you can't find it in 5 years, then you'll have to stay in the ruins forever."

"These ruins are unexplored, so anything you find is yours."

"The disciples in the higher realm unfortunately can't enter this ruin unless someone of you breaks through."

"The ruins are special in the fact that the entry limit advances if a certain number of cultivators inside them break through to the next realm."

"There is no issue with the stage, but that is why this is the last test for the millennial competition as well as ascending to the upper realm."

The test conductor also informed them of other things they found about the ruins, as it would be simply asking for too much for them to explore an unknown ruin without any information.

The only problem was that no one knew about the ruins' actual location in their cluster, but they were unique and had to be explored.

The people of the upper realm weren't bothered by such a ruin, as they weren't that rare for them to begin with... or were they?

The ruins were located in a sandy area with a golden brown color surrounding the emerging ruins that were of the same color with different gradients, making it difficult to distinguish between them.

Surprisingly, the participants were led near it and dropped off, so they had to find the entrance and deal with everything on their own.

The weaker ones stayed behind, while those confident about their own strength rushed towards the ruins in the distance.

It was quite difficult to just make out the ruins due to their similar color as well as the fact that there was no light except a few shining stars in the night sky without any moons.

In such circumstances, there was no way for it to be peaceful, as thousands, if not hundreds, surely died before even reaching the perimeter of the ruins, let alone its entrance.

The disciples took quite a long time to find different entrances to the ruins, as they had to remove the perpetually gathering sand that was trying to submerge it back in.

The participants had to keep the sand from gathering at the entrance while defending against others while also being wary of any trap at the entrance.

It took the disciples around a week (6 days = 1 week if you forgot) for all of them to enter it, leaving none alive outside as they fought to enter it.

The biggest reason had long changed from reaching the upper realm to being able to keep what you get as well as being able to break through for the ones withholding it.

One could say that more than half of the disciples were already in the peak stage and were prohibited from cultivating further by their masters, but now they could finally resume their cultivation.

All of them were peerless geniuses, and the feeling of being unable to advance as well as being left behind wasn't something they would want to feel again.

Well, they weren't just brainless idiots, so they obviously wouldn't let go of their initial advantage over others before allowing those in the next realm to enter the ruins.

This test also caught the Elders unaware, as they couldn't see anything inside the ruins, and for them, the first event occurred more than a year after the disciples entered the ruins.

It took two whole months for the ruins to stabilize and allow entry to those in the higher realm, and then more than sixty thousand disciples were finally allowed entry.

The difference between them and those in the realm below was quite obvious, as their death count didn't even reach five thousand before all of them entered the ruins in just five days.

Only after entering did they realize that the ruins were just too deep underground as well as massive, to the point that it would take them years to explore just one floor completely.

Well, some would obviously be lucky and find some treasure while others already had resources for their breakthroughs, and then some didn't mind killing others for loot/fun/cultivation or any other reason.

There were all kinds of cultivators exploring the ruins, but surprisingly, there was only one guy who was already further ahead than others.

He was surrounded by 7 females who were dressed differently but seemed to be infatuated with him as they were leering over him.

The man only seemed to enjoy it as he killed every male on his way while letting the females join his journey, but he let them form groups around him.

The total number of females that he had following his orders would be well over a hundred as he continued his journey through the ruins.

He used them as scouts, and the huge number of followers aided him in increasing his pace quite a lot, if not for the need to satiate the females every now and then.

Behind him, there were many cultivators in groups of a few tens working together to find the paths, but they were at least an entire floor behind him.

The man had skipped whatever seemed useless as he kept going deeper and deeper but left some of his females to find valuables on previous floors that he passed through.

As the man continued his journey deep underground towards the core of the ruins, there were certainly cultivators who were soloing their way through them.

Raon was one of the few soloists going alone, as he avoided all the cultivators around him unless they bothered him, as he would kill them in retaliation if they attacked him.

He wasn't one to leave any stone unturned, killing the entire group to not alert other groups about his true prowess.

Even amongst these geniuses, he was able to fight and easily suppress the peak-stage cultivators despite being at the advanced stage himself.

He could have broken through to the peak stage, but he was waiting for the ruins to react, as he only broke through the peak stage after the ruins allowed entry to the next realm of cultivators as well.

During this duration, the entirety of the ruins went into stasis as no one could move from their position for the entire duration of two months, and Raon broke through during that time.

He wasn't alone, though, as quite a few went with their breakthroughs, knowing they wouldn't be able to move as those in fights recovered entirely.

All the cultivators who broke through this duration were able to cultivate further as the energy stopping them seemed to enter their bodies, purifying as well as strengthening their energy.

This process was something that cultivators would pay any price to get, as it directly increased the cultivation speed and their fighting prowess permanently.

As the two months passed and stronger cultivators entered, the disciples kept doing what they were doing for the next three years.

No one exited the ruins that were buried and emerged from the sand all the time until only one month was left for the five-year duration, which caused the Elders to feel nervous.

The only ones aware of the truth were the test conductors, as they were well aware no one would be able to leave the ruins in a mere five years except maybe 1 or 2 who were lucky enough to find an exit, but even that did not happen.

They assumed that the ruins wouldn't allow exit until someone found its core, inheritance, or whatever was left behind there for it to exist.

Unfortunately, nothing changed even in the last month until the last day, when the entire ruins shook and rose to the surface.

This incident took even the ones from the upper realm by surprise, let alone the Masters' of the disciples.

Deep inside the ruins, someone muttered, "I am close... I'll definitely take it…"