Free Web NovelChapter 147: Chapter 147: First Trial Ends
Chapter 147: First Trial Ends
The entire Grand Colosseum gasped.
City Lord Cassian nearly fell out of his high seat.
She was actually threatening the Stormveil Academy envoy?
Threatening to throw away a guaranteed Core Palace Disciple position—a direct path to the true pinnacle of the Solathane Dynasty—just for a boy?
The handsome Stormveil disciple’s face turned green with jealousy, while Calanthe’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
Fabian’s expression changed drastically.
He looked at the stubborn, fierce glare in the fairy-like girl’s eyes and instantly knew she was not bluffing. If he left the boy behind, he would lose her.
An Origin Insight Tablet was indeed a highly precious artifact.
But even if ten of them were shattered into dust, the Academy’s grandmaster refiners could simply forge more!
But a True Heavenly Physique?
In the entire thousand-year history of the Stormveil Academy, they had never, not even once, managed to recruit a genius with a True Heavenly Physique!
If he let this peerless treasure slip through his fingers because of a rigid rule about a broken measuring stone, the Academy Head would literally peel his skin off his bones!
Fabian coughed loudly, forcefully clearing his throat to mask his internal panic.
"Ahem! Seris, do not be so hasty," Fabian said, his tone instantly softening, making a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.
He looked back at Rhain.
"As I said, this is an unprecedented situation. Since I personally verified that no foul play was involved, we cannot unfairly penalize a candidate for an equipment failure."
Fabian raised his voice, ensuring the entire arena heard his final verdict.
"Therefore, I declare that because your performance cannot be properly evaluated, you shall be granted an exception! You are considered to have passed, and you are eligible for the next trial!"
Seris’s fierce, protective glare melted away instantly.
A sweet smile bloomed across her face, and she quickly bowed her head, "Thank you, Elder Fabian!"
Rhain also offered a polite bow. "I thank the Elder for his fairness."
Up on the viewing platforms, the Stormveil Academy disciples were left speechless.
"Just like that? He destroyed our sect’s ancient artifact, and Elder Fabian just... lets him pass?"
"This is blatant favoritism!" another disciple gritted his teeth. "He’s only getting through because he’s clinging to her skirts!"
But no matter how fiercely they complained in their hearts, none of them dared to speak out against Elder Fabian’s ruling.
Fabian didn’t care about the grumblings of his disciples.
"The trial will continue!" Fabian commanded.
Everyone was confused.
Continue? How?
The towering black steel monument was currently lying in a dozen shattered pieces across the arena floor!
But Fabian simply flicked his wrist.
With a flash of spatial light, a heavy thud echoed across the stage.
Another jet-black tablet slammed onto the floor.
This one was noticeably smaller—perhaps only fifteen feet tall—but it bore the exact same profound runes as the first.
The crowd was left speechless.
He actually carried a spare?
"Next candidate!" Fabian barked, entirely unbothered by the shocked stares. "Step forward!"
The trials resumed.
For the next several hours, the remaining thousands of young cultivators from across the Outer Frontier stepped onto the platform, placing their hands on the smaller Origin Insight Tablet.
But the overwhelming shadow of the ten-thousand-foot miracle made the rest of the trial feel completely dull.
Eventually, the final candidate stepped down from the stage, and the blinding light of the tablet faded for the last time.
The first trial officially came to an end.
Fabian floated back up to the main seat on the elevated platform, his gaze sweeping over the survivors standing in the designated passing area.
The statistics were incredibly brutal.
More than eight thousand young men and women had participated in this first trial today.
Every single one of them was handpicked geniuses from their respective clans and sects, and all of them meet the minimum requirement of the fifth level of Essence Condensation Realm within twenty years of age.
And amongst that massive sea of eight thousand prodigies...
Only two hundred had passed.
Only two hundred had managed to push the light past the pathetic ten-foot minimum mark.
The highest record was undoubtedly Seris, who had shattered the limits of reality with her ten-thousand-foot pillar.
As for the second highest?
It was merely three hundred feet, achieved by a prodigy who had stepped up near the very end of the trial.
And if they talked about the lowest?
Perhaps, it was none other than Rhain, the guy who didn’t even light the tablet to one feet.
DONG—!
The gong resonated through the Grand Colosseum.
"The first round of the screening is officially over!" Fabian’s voice boomed, suppressing the lingering whispers of the hundred thousand spectators.
Fabian looked at the two hundred surviving candidates. He spoke in a stern tone. "Do not celebrate yet. You have merely proven that you possess the bare minimum qualifications to not be called complete trash."
He slowly raised his hand.
"It is time for the second round."
____________
Up on the elevated platform, the handsome young man looked eager as he heard Fabian announcing the start of second trial.
Calanthe beside him also noticed it. Her eyes trailed from his perfectly styled hair down to the subtle, eager tapping of his fingers against the armrest.
She remarked, "You look quite excited!"
The handsome young man replied with a trace of excitement. "I am going to volunteer for the next round,"
Calanthe raised a slender eyebrow. "Oh? Why would you willingly lower yourself to interact with these Outer Frontier commoners? Usually, you wouldn’t even bother looking at them."
The handsome young man finally turned his head to look at her.
An elegant smile playing at his lips, "Don’t you know why?"
Calanthe let out a light, venomous scoff, shaking her head. "She is already married, in case you forgot."
"It doesn’t matter," the young man replied dismissively, "In fact, I am doing it for a good cause."
He cast a cold, disdainful glance toward Rhain before continuing. "A peerless fairy with a True Heavenly Physique doesn’t deserve to be bound to a piece of trash like him. He couldn’t even light the tablet properly, breaking it through some fluke or malfunction, and now he thinks he can just ride her coattails into our Academy. It’s pathetic. Someone needs to show him the unbridgeable chasm between a true genius and a worthless parasite."
Calanthe looked amused as she looked at his self-righteous expression.
"You really are a hypocrite," she chuckled softly.
_____________
Fabian turned his head.
He extended a single index finger toward the arena floor below.
Swoosh—!
A dense beam of blue essence shot from his fingertip, striking the indestructible yellow stone.
Without breaking his composure, Fabian dragged his finger through the air in a sweeping motion.
The beam of essence carved a trench into the solid rock, drawing a massive circle that spanned roughly two hundred feet in diameter.
"All two hundred of you," Fabian commanded, his voice rolling like thunder. "Step inside this boundary."
The surviving geniuses of the Outer Frontier exchanged uneasy glances, but none dared to disobey.
They quickly shuffled forward, clustering together within the massive stone ring.
Rhain also found a quite spot near the edge of the circle.
Once every candidate was inside, Fabian lowered his hand.
"The rules of the second trial are incredibly simple," Fabian announced, looking down at the gathered youths. "You will be up against exactly one disciple from my Stormveil Academy. The time limit is ten minutes."
He paused, looking at the two hundred people’s confused faces.
"You do not need to defeat them. You merely need to survive. However, if you fall unconscious, if you surrender, or if you are forced to step even a single inch outside of this drawn line before the ten minutes are up... you fail. You will be immediately eliminated."
Subtle whispers began to ripple through the crowd.
"Just one disciple?"
"And we don’t even have to win? We just have to stay inside the line for ten minutes?
"There are two hundred of us! Even if they are at the Spirit Manifestation Realm, they can’t possibly target all of us at once! If we just scatter and evade, ten minutes will pass in the blink of an eye!"
A wave of visible relief flooded over the candidates.
To many of the Outer Frontier geniuses, this sounded surprisingly easy. To stall a single opponent with a two-hundred-to-one numerical advantage was practically a guaranteed pass!
Fabian ignored the murmurs and turned his head toward the youths seated behind him.
"Who among you will step down and test our new juniors?"
Before Calanthe or any of the other disciples could even twitch a muscle, a figure shot up from his seat.
"Preceptor Fabian."
It was obviously the handsome young man.
He stepped forward, offering a respectful bow. But as he raised his head, his eyes drifted downward.
"Please," the handsome young man said, a harmless smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "Allow me the honor of instructing them."
Fabian looked at the young man and gave a nod.
"Very well, Navarre. You may go."
He then gave a brief reminder.
"Remember, you are today the strongest among the Inner Palace disciples present, at the third level of the Spirit Manifestation Realm. Do not go all out. We are here to recruit talent, not to harm them."
Navarre smiled politely, bowing once more to the half-step Domain Master.
"Do not worry, Preceptor Fabian. I know exactly how to measure my strength." ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Without another word, Navarre turned around.
With a graceful leap, his figure descended from the elevated platform.
Thud.
He landed in the absolute center of the two-hundred-foot circle like a feather, his white and gold-trimmed robes fluttering elegantly in the wind.
He stood alone, facing the two hundred greatest prodigies of the Outer Frontier.
Yet, there was no fear on his handsome face.
Only a look of amusement.
"Well now," Navarre beckoned them forward with his index finger, "Let us see how long you can last."
