The young enforcer re-examined Jared, the smirk on his face replaced by cautious respect. “Very well, sir… Since you insist, step onto the trial platform. Three assessments await you: a cultivation reading, an attack trial, and a defense trial. Follow me…”
Jared dipped his chin and walked beside the enforcer toward the designated testing area. The first trial was a test of cultivation. On the stone platform lay a Spirit-Measuring Crystal. To pass the trial, one merely had to rest a hand upon its cool, translucent surface and pour in a thread of celestial energy. The crystal would answer, its shifting colors revealing both the depth and purity of that energy.
Many cultivators tried to fool such tests. Some suppressed their true cultivation level behind layered veils; others swallowed pills that puffed up their aura for a single deceptive hour. Yet before the Spirit-Measuring Crystal, no trickery could stand. So far, every contender had sparked red, then orange, then yellow—signals of Levels Five, Six, and Seven of the Heavenly Immortal Realm.
When Jared’s turn came, he placed his palm upon the crystal. Slow and steady, he guided a wisp of chaotic celestial energy into the stone. A faint white glow answered him, indicating Heavenly Immortal Realm Level One, the lowest tier of the realm.
The young enforcer’s eyes narrowed, contempt bleeding through his polite mask. Murmurs rose. Fingers pointed. A dozen half-smothered laughs danced across the courtyard. The burly man whom Jared had cowed earlier bared his teeth, new malice glinting in his gaze. Everyone knew the crystal never lied; Jared, it seemed, was truly a Heavenly Immortal Realm Level One cultivator.
Relief flashed across the brute’s face. He was no longer afraid. That crushing aura from before—surely it had been some fancy trinket and nothing more. Emboldened, the brute shifted his weight, eager to stride over and teach the newcomer a lesson. Alas, he had barely lifted a boot when the crystal pulsed again.
White turned to storm-cloud gray. From that gray, seven halos bloomed—crimson, amber, gold, jade, azure, sapphire, violet—whirling faster and faster until they wove a swirling fog the color of unshaped chaos.
“W-What is happening?” the enforcer stammered, his voice cracking. He froze, lips parted, the registration slips trembling in his clenched fist. In all his years overseeing entry trials, he had never seen the crystal react that way.
Jared understood at once. His chaotic celestial energy housed everything: murderous intent, the Power of Dragons, the Power of Three, and power from different fire nascences. The tangled forces confused the crystal, sending it spiraling beyond any scale it recognized.
“Well… Perhaps there’s something wrong with the crystal,” Jared said mildly. “Shall we proceed to the next trial instead?”
The young enforcer stood with the registration slip trembling between his fingers. A heartbeat of doubt flickered across his face before he cast a questioning glance toward the elder reclining a short distance away, Earthfire Pavilion’s appointed overseer for the day’s trial. The elder’s eyelids lifted, their depths reflecting a quiet furnace. He studied Jared for a long, pressurizing moment, then gave a slow nod. “Proceed…”
The second assessment tested raw destructive power. Three specially forged Trial Pillars rose inside the arena, each calibrated to mirror the defenses of a Heavenly Immortal Realm cultivator at Levels Five, Six, and Seven. Jared stepped into the marked circle, yet kept the Dragonslayer Sword sheathed at his back. Instead, he pressed two fingers together, raised them like a blade, and aimed at the Level Six pillar standing dead center.
A thread of ashen sword energy slid from his fingertip, too quiet to hiss, too leisurely to blur the air. Before the cynicism of the crowd fully settled, the gray streak touched the Level Six pillar. No thunder roared, no metal shrieked. Only a single crisp hiss rang out, like a hot iron sinking into snow.
Under every stunned gaze, the pillar, engineered to endure a Heavenly Immortal Realm Level Six cultivator’s fiercest blow, surrendered. The sword energy drilled straight through, leaving a thumb-sized tunnel polished to mirror-smooth perfection, open from entrance to exit.
Silence fell across the courtyard. “H-He created a hole through the Level Six Trial Pillar?” someone whispered.
The brawny loudmouth who had mocked Jared most loudly only moments ago now looked as if someone had drained every drop of blood from his veins. He swallowed hard, suddenly aware of just how close he had come to disaster. The supervising elder’s eyes snapped open again. A blade-bright glint cut across his stare as he fixed on Jared, intent on stripping every secret from the young man’s soul.
Jared, as if he had merely brushed dust from his sleeve, turned toward the third station: the defense test. Three Combat Puppets waited inside the ring, each able to unleash the force of a Level Five, Level Six, or Level Seven Heavenly Immortal Realm cultivator.
“Select your puppet grade,” the enforcer said, reverence softening the edges of his voice.
“Let’s go for the Level Seven,” Jared answered casually.
Hearing this, a fresh wave of cries broke over the spectators. A Level Seven Combat Puppet wielded genuine, bone-shattering power. Was he so utterly arrogant, or did he just not care?
“Sir, a Level Seven Combat Puppet is exceedingly powerful. Perhaps you would prefer—”
“It’s okay. Let’s begin,” Jared interrupted, gentle yet immovable. The enforcer looked to the supervising elder. A faint nod came in reply. “Activate the Level Seven Combat Puppet. Unleash the first strike!” the enforcer announced.
A crimson, three-story automaton stirred to life. Scarlet lamps blazed in its eyes. Its right arm rose, molten light pooled around its fist, and heat rolled through the arena like the breath of a forge.
Boom! The punch split the air, a blazing projection screaming toward Jared’s face, trailed by a shock wave hot enough to sear stone.
