A Cefora's Dreamland!

With 2 Aces leading the group, and an elder smiling from ear to ear, they reached a circular portal around which, space swirled towards the center, like a wormhole sucking in the air around it.

"This is a Pocket Realm. All the other tests will be taken inside. Go ahead and enter, there will be instructors inside that will provide further directions." The elderly man stood beside the portal and gestured for others to step up.

Kora stood there and silently analyzed the Pocket Realm as others started vanishing when they approached the portal. He has heard about Pocket Realms after coming to this world but never got the chance to see one as it was too rare and expensive. Kora also stepped forward and as soon as his hands touched the center, a bright light flashed through his eyes, momentarily blinding him.

*Swoosh!*

He appeared in the Pocket Realm and opened his eyes only to see five huge black towers in the middle and white walls surrounding the entire Realm, the floor, the ceiling, the walls, everything was made up of white marble and enclosed the surroundings in a squarish area. The towers were more than 70 meters tall and had black glass panels giving them a modern vibe. Kora, who has only lived in the medieval era in both lives has never seen something like this, thus he was quite surprised by the gigantic structures.

*Clap!* *Clap!*

"Two Aces in this batch? How interesting!" An ambiguous light fashed through the mauve eyes of a woman, who seemed to be in her mid-twenties, as she looked at Kora and the other Ace talent. Appearances were quite deceiving in the cultivation world as the woman was over 7000 years old.

All the men and women in the group entered a state of trance when the woman suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was the bloodline ability of the woman that seemed to enchant all the people, regardless of their age or commitments if they have any. Men ogled her body and supple curves, wantonly while the women were captivated by the woman's beauty.

But-

Kora met her gaze directly. He was not influenced by her ability in the slightest as he displayed a cold smile. Although he had sensual desires, he was the one reigning over his emotions. He would never let his emotions control him. Kora has detached himself from Pride, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Gluttony, Envy, and mastered Lust. He could never be influenced by any of the previous six and wields the last. How could this woman dazzle him? Who dares? Preposterous thinking! A transcendent can never be enthralled by a mere woman, one who has the illusions of the world in his palms can't be compared to the mortal thinking of a man.

"Oh?" The woman raised her brows in astonishment as she looked into Kora's azure eyes. In all the years, she has never seen any man who has the ability to resist her bewitching charms. So where did this anamoly come from?

"Dharma Practice calls on us to see what is true, and to step out of delusions!"

"I can never be influenced by you, Cefora! Keep your childish tricks to yourself." Kora jabbed that caused the woman's lips to curve up in surprise and amazement.

"What's your name?" Intrigued by Kora's mysterious references, she flipped her black hair down her shoulders as her mauve eyes flickered with curiosity.

"Void," Kora replied unhesitantly. After all, his name Kora meant Empty, Blank meant Nothing, And he was a Zero. Thus he chose a name that best suits him. Void!

"Void, I have never seen any man resisting my charms. Although I didn't dare to poke a dragon, I have done my fair share of tests on cultivators in the Glipike Kingdom." She raised her index finger and pointed towards the men who were in a state of trance and couldn't move their bodies as a small bit of drool slid down their lips, as she added, "Look at those idiots. They can't even move. But you...You are not only resisting my Cefora Charm but even conversing with me like everything is normal. May I ask how?" She asked, genuinely curious about this mysterious man who not only is an Ace-level talent but unaffected by her bloodline abilities like it was some cheap street hoodwink.

Kora raised his head in deep thought while tapping his chin with his finger for a few moments, before it suddenly struck him, like a bolt of inspiration, he replied, "I guess I am just different, Cefora..." He displayed an innocent smile.

"...I have a name," She felt slightly annoyed by Kora calling her 'Cefora' like she was a beast and not a person.

Kora inwardly smirked as he thought his plan worked. Anybody would be pissed if someone keeps calling them by their race, instead of their name. How would a human feel if someone keeps calling them 'human'? As a Grandmaster in courting women, he needed to start somewhere, and he needed her name for that.

"Oh? What is it Cefora?"

"Felecia Nokraz." She replied quickly, unwilling to be kept being called 'Cefora'.

"Ok Felecia, I think you are forgetting your real purpose..." Kora exhibited a playful smirk as he pointed to the still dazed people.

"R-Right!" She completely forgot that she was supposed to instruct them and also didn't notice how Kora called her directly by her name. The subtilities with which Kora can manipulate were impeccable.

Felecia snapped her fingers and as if coming out of a dream, the entire group rubbed their eyes in disbelief. Some of them even started to pinch themselves to confirm that they were really not in a dream. They looked at each other while mumbling in dubiety, panic-stricken.

While some squinted their eyes in suspicion, even though they were commoners, they knew about many different races living amongst humans. Thus when they saw a woman with mauve eyes and black hair, along with long pointed ears, some of them realized it was a Cefora Dreamer.

"Did you like my dreams of desire? All the boys must have seen me as the perfect woman that they desire the most and girls must have seen me as the ideal, perfect beauty in the entire world, and wanted to achieve similar gracefulness. Am I wrong?"

"As you can see, cultivation is not only about breaking through Realms, it is also about Psychic powers...Yes, many of you have noticed by now that I am a Cefore Dreamer."

"My bloodline abilities allow me to charm any being below my level of cultivation without lifting a single finger. It could be very bad for cultivators in a fight if they get spellbound by the enemy during a fight."

"The Grand Celestial Steps only takes into consideration one's talent in cultivation. I am a 10-level talent, can anyone of you confidently declare that they can beat me in a fair fight?" Saying so she suppressed her cultivation to Rank-1 Elementary Profound Realm and looked at all the Kings, Queens, and Jacks, but nobody dared to step forward.

A Cefora Dreamer was a dangerous race, even if they suppressed their cultivation she would be able to charm weak-minded people. And along with her top-level beauty, men barely had any chance to resist her.

The smoky-eyed girl, with 'Jack' talent was about to step forward when Felecia added, "If you lose I will kill you..." Felecia had a serious expression as she scrutinized all the individuals who were gathering their courage to step up.

Those who were thinking of challenging, all shrunk back like frightened kittens.

At that moment, the red-eyed 'Ace' talent stepped forward as he prepared his greatsword to fight Felecia.

Felecia flashed an amused smile and nodded as she said, "You pass."

The talisman strapped on his wrist glowed for a second, as it projected '100 points!'.

"..." Nobody had any idea about what was happening.

Felecia looked towards Kora and said with a slight smile, "200 Points to you." Kora's talisman also shined with a projection of '200 points!'

The red-eyed man squinted his eyes in suspicion as he was captivated by Felecia's bloodline abilities when Kora and Felecia were chatting.

"Leave behind the mental barriers of fear and apprehension..." Felecia continued.

"So what if you die? You are cultivators and you all are required to take risks in this cruel world to step forward and rise above all. Nobody is going to babysit you and you won't have any nanny's when you face troubles" Felecia's words hit them hard. They didn't think they would be graded like this.

"The first step to resisting a Cefora Dreamer's charm is letting go of all the fears in your heart and burning your heart with confidence. As a Cefora myself, I know men who could resist the dreamland I create..." She glanced at Kora from the corner of her eyes as she added, "...as easily as swatting a fly!" Although she said this like it was natural, even she was surprised by Kora's mental barriers that held insurmountable, mountain-like walls around it as she has never met a man, someone with lower cultivation than hers resisting her abilities this easily.

"Anyways, as you all can see, behind me are five towers."

"You will have five tests and the final points that you achieve will decide your final rankings. Only the top 10000 will be allowed to enter the Academy no matter the talents. I will only give instructions once, if you don't listen to the rules and break them that causes you to lose points, then don't blame me later!"

"Follow me..." Saying so, Felecia turned around as her black sundress swirled around her body.

Step~

Step~

With a wave of her hand the big doors of the tower opened and an image that seemed to mesmerize the students came into their view.

"The first test- The Ace's Crown!" Felecia pointed towards the golden throne in the middle of a big hall with a golden crown lying on it. The entire hall was lighted with various crystals that seemed to brighten the golden glow and a few stairs, in the corner, led to the upper floors.

"You will be divided into groups of four according to your cultivations, to make it fair for those who are still behind in cultivation, you will have partners with higher cultivation. But, don't think we will always try to make things fair, as the further we advance with tests, the cultivators with higher cultivations bases will have an advantage. Nothing is fair in this world. So curse your own fate not us. For now, unleash your cultivations bases and your groups will be chosen at random, so wait for the talismans to project a number and meet up with your team first."

*Ting!*

After a few minutes, the talismans glowed and projected a similar number on four people's wrists. Excitedly, everyone started grouping up with their partners but Kora had wrinkled brows as he felt the cultivation of Rank-5 Elementary profound Realm coming from the red-eyed man.

'Isn't his cultivation too high? Who invested so much in him? He even seemed to know about his talents and now this? If they already knew about his talents then he would have received the invitation directly like Athelisia, then why is he giving this test?' Thought Kora as he found it very suspicious. If a Viscount or an Earl focused on checking people in their regions and found Ace-level talents they would never hide it and promptly tell the Glipike Kingdom in order to earn rewards.

Helplessly, he unleashed his cultivation of Rank-4 Elementary Profound Realm to not appear too suspicious. If an idiot wants to play with lions, Kora wouldn't follow the idiot. After all, his objective was done, to be regarded as an Ace so that factions come to recruit him and get in the eyes of upper echelons, so that he can eat all of them from inside, without anyone questioning about his abnormal cultivation speed despite being a 'Zero'.

*Ting!*

His talisman glowed brightly with the number '386' as he closed his eyes raised his wrist for everyone to see and stood there silently.