Ch-21:Millennial Competition

Everyone had vanished without a trace as the disciples were getting more perplexed by the second and the Elders were happy to see the existing status of affairs.

Certainly, the Elders and Disciples had been sent to two different places or rather different pocket dimensions created for this specific competition that is held across the world.

The number of disciples, as well as Elders, was constantly increasing in their respective pocket dimensions for what seemed like the next hour.

As if waiting for the cue, all the Elders went silent as they all could now directly see the disciples' pocket dimension but could not communicate with them.

The Elders from small powers were ecstatic like the ones seeing it for the first time while medium-sized powers like Daiyu were most abundant and the large-sized ones were only 8.

The number of Elders was less than the number of disciples as some Masters had more than a single disciple participating in this.

The fact that their world had so many powers was only now known to a lot of people as this fact was hidden from not only the participants but almost everyone except the top brasses in the cultivation world.

Suddenly, the old man appeared in front of the disciples who were now on guard against everyone around them as they had no idea why but their powers were restricted.

All of them could tell that they were in the same realm and could not even jump high in this place and being surrounded by so many young peers suddenly surprised them.

There was also a third pocket dimension where those who had reached a higher realm than the ones inside and were younger than 500 years old were located.

The couple and old man were also in this dimension but the disciples here were already aware of the truth as they had surpassed the limit of the competition making them bypass its starting phases directly.

Coming back to the old man, seeing him float freely in the sky made all the disciples silent due to not even being able to gauge the difference in strength.

"You have been exceptional in your Continents but that's about it. The people here all belong to the top powers of their respective continents"

"You are all here to participate in the millennial competition with your Master's permission. It is only held once every 1.000 years"

"Only those in your current cultivation realm as well as those under the age of 500 years are eligible to participate in this competition"

"If your power's disciples have a higher number by the end then they'll get access to another continent in your world"

"Some of you come from powers that are just a cluster of islands while some of you come from powers that already have more than one continent"

"It matters not what you think or know as the competition will occur irrespective of your choice as your Masters have permitted your participation by bringing you with them"

"If you think you can escape then by all means try to do so, as no one will stop you but know that the rewards for you are also pretty good"

"You can ascend to the upper realm as you are now if you can last until the end but it won't be easy at all"

"Your first test is to exit the place you're at now. Across the map, there will be random exits."

"Not every exit will be real though. Only half of you will pass. Good luck"

Along with his last words leaving his mouth, he also vanished from the pocket dimension allowing the disciples to move freely as they were all stuck from the moment they were placed in there.

While this all was going on, Raon was thinking about something else entirely, and surprisingly his conclusion was correct but he couldn't confirm it for now.

'The aura that these upper realm people carry seems familiar...'

'Doesn't the Master have it too...? His wife too...'

'Could it be...?'

As Raon was thinking about his master and his wife, the two in his thoughts were desperately trying to hide themselves from being discovered.

The only reason the both of them were here was that they are a couple as well as both are Raon's Master in the eyes of others and Daiyu Sacred Land's Sect Master owes them to deny them entry.

Naturally, Junho was the most bothered one as he could identify the old man as well as guess the identity of the young couple but he couldn't talk about it to even Si-Eun for fear of being detected and dragged to the upper realm.

"Young Master, Young Miss" said the old man as he bowed to the young couple, keeping his sights down and waiting to get approved.

He knew they weren't going to speak much with their haughty demeanor so the 'Hmm' sound made by both of them was enough approval for him.

"The total number of people from this planet is a little higher than last time, totaling 60.090 while the other planets also seem to have it higher"

"Unfortunately, due to the rules, we wouldn't know the total number until further tests as they would be held together with them" 

The old man continued to give reports as well as talk about the difference between the previous ones to the two but the two seemed to not care about it at all.

The old man was also aware of their arrogance and the reason they were sent to the lower realm was that it was a huge opportunity but the two only thought of it as mere punishment.

Unfortunately, despite his higher strength he could not touch them as he was their protector as well as the conductor of the competition.

It took several months for the test to end which made quite a few conversations among the Elders, the disciples in the third pocket dimension as well as the participants.

More than fifteen thousand participants were unable to find the exits before half of the participants found the correct ones and exited.

Around twelve thousand were killed throughout the test and only 30.045 passed the first test and were given recovery aids to prepare them for the next test.

The ones who died were different, but the ones who failed the tests were directly sent to their respective masters in their current condition leaving the choice of life and death to their masters.

All the ones who survived were either lucky or strong enough to kill the ones around the exit because each exit only entitled one participant to exit and teleported the others randomly.

Raon passed the test but he regarded it to be such a waste as those wounded were the leaders of their generation for their respective powers.

The Elders only felt it to be a pity if their disciples perished as no one would allow their legacy disciples to partake in this death game.

The only reason each Elder had numerous disciples could be said to be this one as they could also ascend with their disciples had they lasted till the end alongside their other disciples.

The 30.045 participants had adequately recuperated with an entire month of recovery time alongside the healing pills provided to them.

The time for the next test arrived as the disciples were thrusted into a pocket dimension infested with demon beasts, and the goal was to kill 10 beasts above a stage of your cultivation level and kill 1 an entire cultivation realm above you.

It was obvious that they were all geniuses among geniuses giving them the ability to fight above their level easily but this task necessitated teamwork due to the target being a bit too high for most.

The only ones at an advantage here would be those in the initial stage of the cultivation realm but things turned funny here as they would become prey to the strong ones to lessen the competition.

It took more than six months for 10.015 participants to accumulate the required number and pass the tests as it was evidently a little bit too difficult for the disciples.

The death count was a bit higher this time as it reached more than fifteen thousand, and the survivors who failed were again sent to their masters leaving the decision to save them or let them die in their hands.

A few continents' powers entirely occupied by evil cultivators didn't heal a single one as they couldn't care less, but some powers healed all, and some had to face the loss due to the severity of the wounds.

No one cared though, as long as they didn't die as the Masters also did it for their own selfish desires to ascend easily before reaching the cultivation limit required.

Most were already approaching the end of their lifespan, so they had no chance to reach the realm required to ascend and would die if they did not ascend, but ascending would allow them to break through there pretty smoothly.

The difference between the realm was even bigger than the highest continental power's energy-gathering formation's energy and the worst place on their planet.

This was the reason every single one who got this information would be crazed to get to the upper realm, but it is a little too difficult.

After the 10.045 participants recuperated for the next month, they were teleported to a different pocket dimension.

The new environment was a place that had trees but wasn't as thick as a grove as it also had plain grounds but they couldn't glimpse farther than the trees near them.