Desolate Devouring Art

Liu Wuxie passed the booklet to He Yingwu, intending for them to face the assessment together and watch each other's backs.

As night descended, they returned to the inn. When Liu Wuxie entered his room, he didn't cultivate immediately. Instead, he brooded over the afternoon's events. The unrestrained arrogance of mere bodyguards revealed the astral domain's brutal truth, a world where the strong devoured the weak.

What unsettled him most was that even planet lords sent their children to the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Though they possessed boundless resources, they still entrusted their heirs to the sect. The reason was apparent: only away from parental protection could these youths temper themselves through hardships unreachable at home.

Liu Wuxie shook his head, casting aside the thought. His goal was singular—to join the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Only then could he set his greater plans into motion.

The night passed quietly.

After a night of cultivation, Liu Wuxie felt his foundation temper further, leaving him only a step away from the eighth-level Heaven Profound Realm.

At dawn, a knock sounded. He Yingwu entered with food, worry etched on his face.

"Wuxie, I scouted around," he reported. "This year's assessment is harsh. Only two thousand spots exist, yet a hundred thousand people applied, and ninety percent are already at the Transcendent Realm."

Both men, still bound to the Heaven Profound Realm, faced daunting odds.

"And so?" Liu Wuxie asked calmly.

"I know what you mean," Liu Wuxie interrupted, "but I must join the Heavenly Dragon Sect no matter how difficult it is." He strode to the table and began eating.

This trial felt trivial compared to the hell they had endured on Anlu Star.