Chapter 23: Tian Cai

(AN: Anotha one)

Ulquiorra entered the abandoned sect along with Wang Yang and Yan Fei. It was truly a grand place with exorbitant decorations. It seemed as if it was even grander than a palace. There were pavements inlaid with silver, and sculptures of people and beasts. Ulquiorra's companions marvelled at the sight.

"What a grand place..." Yan Fei muttered.

"It truly is. I wonder what kind of cultivator led this place? How far had he reached? Nascent Soul? Maybe the legendary Void Crossing stage?" Wang Yang said.

Ulquiorra didn't care about the grandness of the place. He walked straight into the centermost building. It had an entrance made up of tall wooden doors about twenty feet tall and ten feet wide. The doors were inlaid with golden markings, jewels, and there was a symbol of a dragon. Ulquiorra didn't hesitate to push the doors open.

Once he tried pushing the door open, he felt as if a massive force was trying to bounce him away violently. It was a force that could fling away a Menos Grande if it were to touch it. Unfortunately, it had met its match today. Ulquiorra merely pushed once more, but with greater force. There were cracking sounds, and the jewels on the door broke before the door opened.

"A formation!" Wang Yang said.

Ulquiorra turned to look at Wang Yang. Wang Yang interpreted this as a sign that Ulquiorra wanted an explanation. Wang Yang cleared his throat before speaking.

"As much as I want to thoroughly explain it, I am but a mere layman in formations. All I know is that what you broke seemed to have been a high level formation using the gems on the door. Now, formations can be made using many things as nodes and catalysts. Mainly, cultivators would use flags and gems, but it seems that this door used gems for both the nodes and the catalysts. Formations have many types, and each one can have varying effects. From what I saw, this was a defensive formation that would trigger when someone applied force." Wang Yang explained.

Ulquiorra then looked back at the opened door. He peered inside to see a wide open space. Like the outside, the interior of the building was also grand. There was even a crystal chandelier on the ceiling. The three entered, and the moment they did, another formation appeared. This time, it was a huge one beneath their feets. An extremely blinding light emerged, and the three disappeared from their spots, and the doors closed once more.

Opening his eyes, Ulquiorra noticed that he was alone this time. He looked around to see that he was transported to a big room devoid of any sort of decorations. Suddenly, a silhoutte appeared a few meters away from Ulquiorra. It was a translucent old man.

"Greetings, young one. I am Tian Cai, an elder of the once estemeed Heavenly Dragon Sect." Tian Cai said with a smug face.

Tian Cai expected to see awe and veneration on the kid, but he noticed that Ulquiorra was merely looking at him with indifference. Tian Cai coughed even though he was a residual spirit. He then prepared to speak once more.

"Again, I am Tian Cai of the Heavely Dragon Sect! It's a sect that was founded by Tong Xiao who was able to break free from the bindings of this world, and ascend to the immortal realm!" Tian Cai said with a voice that kept getting louder and prouder as it went on.

Sadly, it was met with indifference.

"And?" Ulquiorra answered blankly causing Tian Cai to almost stumble in place.

"Young one, surely you've heard of the Heavenly Dragon Sect right? We once dominated the continent as one of the four most presitigious sects!" Tian Cai said.

"I've never heard of it." Ulquiorra bluntly said.

Hearing this, Tian Cai wanted to vomit blood, but sadly, he physically could not. Tian Cai wondered if the sect's fame was drowned out by history. Still, there should be traces of their sect somewhere right? Tian Cai sighed.

"Enough of that. In any case, I am here to give you a test for the inheritance of the sect! If you succeed, you'll be rewarded with the remaining treasures of the sect. Anybody that's able to survive the temptations and dangers of the outside along with being able to open the door is eligible to take part. Still, the real dangerous part starts here." Tian Cai said.

Ulquiorra pondered on Tian Cai's words. An inheritance of the sect sounds to be something good. Maybe this inheritance would also give him some sort of idea on what he could do next.

"Fine then. Begin." Ulquiorra ordered.

Tian Cai was flabbergasted as he saw a kid order him like this. Still, he would start the test as this was the order of the founder before ascending. That didn't mean he wouldn't increase the difficulty a little bit as payback for that disrespect.

"All right. Your first test is endurance. Starting now, defeat as many phantom cultivators as you can before tiring out. These cultivators would start with cultivation a realm above yours before slowly increasing the more you kill." Tian Cai said.

"Go on then." Ulquiorra said with indifference.

Tian Cai sighed. He disappeared before three phantoms appeared before Ulquiorra with third level Qi Condensation strength. Ulquiorra didn't waste any time before appearing above the phantoms, and then swiftly smashing their heads with a either a kick or a punch. The phantoms didn't shed any blood, but merely disappeared. Seeing this, Tian Cai was impressed.

"Ho? It seems that he has a tiny bit of capital to be indifferent. Let's see how long he would last though." Tian Cai said before sending in four Phantoms that had fourth stage Qi Condensation strength.

Once again, the phantoms were quickly dispatched by Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra wondered if this was all he had to do. Ulquiorra waited for what would come next. Tian Cai felt that he should make things a bit harder. He sent wave after wave of phantoms with increasing strength only to have them dispatched by Ulquiorra easily. He was currently about to send Foundation Realm level phantoms, but Ulquiorra spoke out.

"Enough. This is taking too long. Send me your strongest ones."