Three bolts of lightning crashed onto the plaza, instantly vaporizing the paving stones where they landed.
When the smoke and crackling ozone cleared, three figures stood before the testing stone. Their auras were so incredibly dense and suffocating that the armed guards and slaves were forced to their knees, gasping for breath.
"A Crimson Sovereign..." murmured the first figure, a woman leaning on a staff of twisted black wood, her eyes wide. "In my three hundred years, I have never seen a spiritual resonance this pure."
"She belongs to the Azure Sword Peak," boomed the second figure, a towering man whose very voice rattled the weapons in the guards’ hands. "Only our martial lineage can hone a tyrant’s blade of this caliber!"
"Are you senile, old man?" The third elder, a woman draped in flowing purple silks, sneered. "With that kind of meridian density, she would shatter your fragile swords in a month. She requires the Thunderbolt Forge. She is mine!"
The three elders began bickering like merchants haggling over a priceless jewel, ignoring the hundreds of people bowing around them.
Liana stood at the center of the storm. She simply withdrew her hand from the stone.
Eventually, a voice echoing from the distant mountain peaks silenced the argument, commanding the elders to escort the girl to the inner sanctuary for the Sect Master’s personal evaluation.
The elders complied instantly, their arrogant demeanors shifting into reverence as they begged Liana to follow them to the VIP resting pavilion at the edge of the plaza.
With the crimson anomaly moved to the side, the testing resumed.
The deacon, now sweating profusely and trembling with adrenaline, barked at the slaves to move faster.
The elders were still watching from the pavilion, and the deacon hoped to uncover another hidden genius to claim a scouting reward.
Hundreds of slaves stepped up. Hundreds failed.
Finally, it was Theo’s turn.
He stepped up to the massive slab of obsidian, ignoring the deacon’s impatient glare. Theo placed his bare palm against the stone.
Instantly, the testing array activated, sending a sharp, probing current of spiritual energy into his arm to gauge his talent.
However, the moment the energy entered his body, Theo’s newly acquired Primordial Abyssal Meridian Network reacted.
It opened like a starving, bottomless black hole and devoured it.
The probing qi vanished without a single trace. In fact, the obsidian slab actually lost its luster, turning a dull gray as Theo’s meridians tried to suck the magical artifact dry.
Theo’s eyes widened slightly. Whoops, he thought.
If he got marked as an mortal with no roots, he would be sent straight back to the mines.
While the dark caves were a fantastic hunting ground for his Parasite class, he desperately needed access to the sect’s inner markets, alchemy labs, and most importantly, his primary investment target, Liana.
Thinking quickly, Theo forcefully suppressed the abyssal pull of his meridians and pushed a tiny fraction of his Minor Purity Water Body into his palm.
A pathetic, barely visible smudge of watery white light flickered in the center of the stone.
The deacon, who had been holding his breath in anticipation, immediately scowled in profound disappointment.
"Trash," the deacon spat, waving his hand in disgust. "Lowest-grade mortal roots. Remove his collar and send him to the outer sect’s janitorial division. Next!"
"Thank you, sir," Theo said cheerfully, offering a salute before strolling past the gates.
He walked directly toward the VIP pavilion where Liana was seated.
The sect disciples guarding the perimeter immediately crossed their spears to block him, but a subtle glance from Liana made them freeze and slowly lower their weapons.
Theo stepped into the pavilion, grabbed a cup of high-grade spiritual tea off a silver platter, and sat on the floor right next to her chair.
"Well, it looks like I’m officially an outer sect odd-job boy," Theo grinned, taking a loud sip of the tea. "I guess I’ll be the one sweeping the courtyard of whatever floating palace they give you."
Liana looked down at him.
"You devoured the testing stone’s qi," she stated softly, ensuring the hovering elders couldn’t hear her.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Theo deflected, leaning back on his hands. "I’m just a three-parts-fate, seven-parts-luck kind of guy. I’m just happy to be out of the slave collar."
Liana didn’t press the issue, but she didn’t believe him for a second.
She remembered the way he had absorbed the ambient energy in the slave barracks. A boy who possessed a marrow-cleansing agent and swallowed energy like a whirlpool was not a low-grade mortal.
He was hiding his fangs, and frankly, she respected the strategy.
Just then, a loud commotion erupted from the testing stone.
"Garrick! High-grade Earth roots! A Titan Physique!" the deacon shouted.
The plaza murmured in awe. Standing by the stone was a hulking mass of a teenager.
He had been a slave just minutes ago, but as the brilliant blue light pulsed from the obsidian, his posture shifted from subservient to incredibly arrogant.
Before the three main elders could even react, a figure clad in gray robes descended from the sky like a bat.
The newcomer was incredibly thin, with sickly, sunken eyes and skin as pale as a corpse.
"A Titan Physique?" The pale elder rasped. "Excellent bone density. Perfect vitality. You will bypass the outer sect entirely, boy. You will become the direct disciple of Elder Silas on the Blood-Iron Peak."
Garrick dropped to his knees. "Thank you, Master! I will not fail you!"
"Good," Elder Silas hissed, tossing a jade token to the boy before vanishing back into the sky.
Garrick stood up, his chest puffed out so far he looked like a pigeon.
The slave collar was struck from his neck, and he immediately strutted over to the VIP pavilion, ignoring his former fellow captives.
He bypassed the guards and walked straight toward Liana, flashing what he likely thought was a charming smile.
"Lady Liana," Garrick boomed. "It seems we are the dragons among these common snakes. I am Garrick of the Blood-Iron Peak. I look forward to cultivating alongside you as true elites."
Liana didn’t look at him. She took a slow sip of her tea.
Garrick froze. The sect guards snickered quietly behind their hands.
Unable to vent his anger on the Crimson Sovereign, Garrick’s furious gaze snapped downward, landing on Theo, who was still sitting comfortably on the floor.
"What are you laughing at, trash?" Garrick snarled, stepping forward to cast a shadow over Theo. "You got assigned to be a janitor. Know your place and move. You’re dirtying the air around us inner sect disciples."
Theo didn’t move an inch. Instead, he simply looked up and activated Destiny’s Eye.
[Name: Garrick]
[Structure: Titan Physique]
[Destiny: Shifting from Blue to Black]
[Evaluation: He has been selected by Elder Silas not as a disciple, but as a living, high-vitality human battery for a forbidden longevity array.]
[Estimated survival time: sixty days before he is drained to an empty husk.]
Theo blinked, and then a genuine smile broke across his face.
[Acknowledged, Host. Elder Silas’s cultivation method relies entirely on harvesting the blood essence of naive, physically gifted youths.]
Theo chuckled out loud, shaking his head.
He looked back up at the furious, red-faced Garrick and gave him a highly enthusiastic thumbs-up.
"You’re absolutely right, Garrick," Theo said. "Inner and outer sects are worlds apart. I probably won’t ever see you again."
"Damn right you won’t," Garrick sneered, crossing his arms. "Keep scrubbing those floors, laborer."
"Will do," Theo grinned. "Enjoy the Blood-Iron Peak, man. I hear the training up there is really... draining."