Chapter 318: End Of The Test

With Ember and Sarah by my side, we spent the remainder of the day simply walking through the forest, enjoying the scenery; of course, I concealed our presence, not because Sarah and I were doing something we shouldn't, but so that we'd come across cultivators, since if not, they'd purposefully avoid me, which would make gathering enough coins a tedious process.

'Well, while the men would definitely avoid me, I'm not so sure the woman would do the same.' Mused Elif lightly as he thoughtfully rubbed his chin, only to shake his head and forget about it.

Marley and Idonea were having it pretty easy and were close to acquiring their tenth coin; however, knowing how competitive those two are, I strongly suspect they won't be stopping at merely ten coins. Eyvor, Echo, Birger, Goliath, and Shelia were also experiencing relatively easy battles; in fact, most of them already had ten coins, and only Goliath needed another coin.

Since everyone was vastly weaker than me, I, of course, had no trouble acquiring enough coins for both Ember and Sarah, and when that happened, we simply ignored any cultivators that we happened to encounter. The rest of the felt like it was moving rather slowly, but eventually, twenty-four hours passed, and almost instantly, we were all teleported out of the dimension while reappearing just outside where the dimensional rift used to be.

"It's about time; I was growing bored." Muttered Elif lightly as he looked at Axzul, who was floating above the group.

"Everyone, summon your golden coins; those of you who have acquired ten have passed." Declared Axzul firmly and calmly as she looked down at the crowd below, her words causing many unfortunate cultivators to sport ugly expressions.

Waving my hand, I summoned all thirty of our coins out of our respective dimension rings and had them float just above our heads in a stacked formation; I must've done something correctly since everyone else did the same, yet most cultivators didn't have ten golden coins. In fact, the majority had either three coins or less, and while most people tended to stop once they acquired ten coins, that couldn't be said for everyone.

Among the many cultivators, I noticed a few had more than ten coins, though when I glanced at Marley and Idonea, I was left quite speechless. Both of my servants had over thirty coins, which was more than double the next closest person; though, after taking a closer look, it seemed Idonea had one more coin than Marley, bringing her total to thirty-seven coins in total, causing her to proudly smile. However, given the extent of their injuries, acquiring that many coins clearly wasn't easy.

With a wave of Elder Axzul's hands, she gathered everyone's coins before storing them within her dimension ring, before snapping her fingers, once again teleporting us as we now appeared within a large room while a pedestal with a floating crystal ball was in the distance. However, after doing a quick scan, the number of cultivars was significantly less than before, not even a tenth of what they previously were, causing me to assume only the people who had acquired ten or more golden coins had been teleported by Axzul.

"Here is the last test before being accepted into the Realm Sect; you must simply place your hand upon the crystal ball." Stated Axzul lightly as she softly landed on the ground right beside the pedestal while gesturing to the hovering crystal ball.

Everyone was a little hesitant by her words, as she has proven to only give the most basic of knowledge, though still, after a few moments, someone approached the pedestal before placing their hand on the crystal ball, causing it to release a soft glow as a number was projected into the air.

'Hmm, 89?' Mused Elif with a slight frown as he gazed upon the number in the air.

"89? He's quite old." Said Sarah lightly as she gazed at the young man who had sighed in relief, her words causing Elif to look at her in surprise.

"Eh, what's wrong, your Highness? I-Is that not his age?" Asked Sarah softly as she looked at Elif, who promptly shook his head while closing his eyes.

"No, you're probably correct; I was just surprised you managed to guess what that number represented. I suppose that brain of yours isn't only filled with this heavenly gorgeous Prince." Remarked Elif lightly as he nodded, only for him to sport a narcissistic smirk while he flicked his hair behind his ear, causing Sarah to scoff as she folded her arms.

With someone having taken the lead, one-by-one, cultivators began to line up as they placed their hands upon the hovering crystal ball, causing their ages to be projected into the air; while that was happening, Marley and Idonea had approached me, with one being happier than the other.

"Tch, stupid Idonea." Muttered Marley in annoyance as she glared at Idonea, who was proudly smiling while completely ignoring her.

"Your Highness." "Your Highness." Said Idonea and Marley, respectively, though the latter's voice lacked enthusiasm.

"Seems you two had a fun time; thirty-seven and thirty-six coins is quite a lot; how many people did you end up fighting to get that many?" Remarked Elif with an amused expression as he glanced between Idonea and Marley, causing the latter to grunt.

"Tch, not like any of that even matters, your Highness; your favorite servant didn't even win." Replied Marley in annoyance as she folded her arms while glaring at Idonea, who furrowed her brows at her claim.

"Your're clearly not His Highness's favorite servant, Marley, if it's anyone, it's me as I've been with him the longest." Stated Idonea with a slight frown as she eyed Marley, who scoffed at her words before aggressively stepping toward her.

"Being with him the longest doesn't automatically equate to being his favorite; besides, you were mostly at the R.M.A for those years, so don't spout those useless words. Besides, unlike you, I'm at least pleasing to look at; no offense, Idonea, but just because His Highness has gotten used to your scarred appearance doesn't mean he exactly finds it pleasing." Remarked Marley as she stared Idonea in the eyes while faintly smirking, causing her to frown before shaking her head.

"Maybe so, but I make up for that by not being absolutely horny twenty-four-seven, unlike a certain someone who can't control their own lust." Said Idonea with a deep frown as she pressed her face against Marley, who grunted at her words while they began pressuring each other with their Qi.

"Alright enough, you two." Said Elif lightly as he pressured both Marley and Idonea to their knees, causing them to both scoff before looking away and standing up once he retracted his Qi.

"For the record, I've long since gotten used to Marley's uncontrollable lust, so that doesn't bother me; I've also always found Idonea's scarred appearance to be somewhat beautiful as she stands out compared to most women. However, neither of you are my favorite." Added Elif calmly as he glanced between his two servants, who both faintly smiled before sighing in defeat.

"It's Miss Illumia, isn't it?" "Haa, I can't even be mad; Miss Illumia is a wonderful servant." Said Idonea and Marley, respectively, as they glanced at Elif, who raised his eyebrow before shaking his head, surprising them.

"Illumia was my favorite, but not anymore, as she's been replaced by Ember. She's quiet, hard-working, has an unnaturally strong desire to follow me, and is soft to the touch; to be honest, she's quite the perfect servant." Remarked Elif lightly as he gestured to Ember, who was resting in his arms, his words causing all three to show shocked expressions.

"Um, I-I don't mean to get all technical, your Highness, but isn't Ember still technically not your servant?" Asked Marley lightly as she looked at the surprised Ember while Elif shook his head.

"Nope, not anymore. I decided she was worthy enough to become my servant after she reached the eightieth step; greet your fellow sister." Replied Elif with a shake of his head, his words causing Marley and Idonea to nod in understanding while he outstretched his arms with a smirk.

Neither Idonea nor Marley seemed to like my statement of Ember being my favorite, but they still greeted her before silently standing by my side, though I could tell they kept giving her annoyed looks, causing me to chuckle.

Anyways, the line was moving rather fast, and after several minutes, almost everyone had already had their ages verified, with some being very close to the cut-off; one of the cultivators was even ninety-nine years old. With very few people remaining, I, Birger, Echo, Goliath, Shelia, and Eyvor proceeded towards the pedestal while the five of us did the same.

"Oh my, Echo, you're so old." Said Elif lightly with a faint smirk as he looked at Echo's age, which was exactly sixteen, though his words still caused her to roll her eyes since she was the oldest among the six of them.

Chuckling at Echo, I reached forward and gently stroked Eyvor's wings, causing her to instantly turn and look at me, though I simply winked at her before continuing to boldly rub her wing.

"I-If you're going to do that, at least do it in private, Prince Elif." Said Eyvor with a faint blush as she eyed Elif, who nodded while retracting his hand as she floated towards the pedestal.

Once it was my turn, I snapped my fingers, causing Marley to summon a handkerchief from her dimension ring as she grabbed the crystal ball and wiped it clean; when she had finished, only then did I place my hand on the crystal ball, causing my age, which was the same as the five before me, to be projected into the air.

After me, Sarah, who was two years older than me, went next, followed by both Marley and Idonea, causing twenty to be projected into the air, leaving only Ember for last as she placed her fiery wing on the crystal ball, prompting an eight to be shown in the air above us.