As the door opened, three people exited. Joyce was shielding her eyes from the blinding light with a smile. Manuel had spotted the elders from his Sect and gave them a thumbs-up, and Nero looked with vigilance at the surroundings.
Nero saw about 17 people looking at them. Eleven of these people were elders from the Elemental Sects, while the other six had no element. Those were probably parents or teachers from the loose cultivators.
The reason why there were eleven elders from the Elemental Sects present was because every Sect, except the Darkness Sect, sent two elders, while the Lightning Sect was completely missing. Even the Earth Sect had sent two elders, even though they knew that their group had died even before entering the Heaven's Trial. They were probably looking for a chance to rob the winners.