Myriad Rivers to the Sea

The central platform of the Eye of the Storm offered a brief sanctuary. The twenty-one remaining candidates in the Domain King bracket rested on the white stone. They circulated their Qi and worked to soothe their bruised minds.

Daiki sat with his eyes closed. The endless gray void of the second test had mentally drained everyone. He focused on the steady and refreshing wind of the Astral Gale Realm to ground himself.

The Organizer stepped back onto the high floating podium. His golden robes snapped sharply in the wind. The thousands of spectators in the stadium leaned forward in anticipation.

"The recovery period is concluded," the Organizer announced loudly. "We will now begin the third test. This trial will measure your speed and your movement techniques. You will all be transported to the same starting line within a massive illusionary course. The objective is incredibly simple. You must cross the finish line."

The Organizer raised a single finger to emphasize his next point.

"Fighting is strictly restricted. You may not attack another candidate and you may not sabotage their path. The arrays monitoring the course will instantly eliminate anyone who attempts to cheat or harm a rival. You must rely entirely on your own abilities to traverse the terrain. The bottom seven candidates to cross the finish line will be eliminated."

A new and complex array illuminated beneath the white platform. The runes flared with a vibrant green light. Daiki felt the familiar pull of spatial displacement. The stadium vanished and his vision blurred for a fraction of a second.

He reappeared on a massive starting line paved with polished black stone. The other twenty candidates materialized directly beside him. They were standing at the edge of a sprawling illusionary landscape. The course stretched out as far as the eye could see. It featured treacherous canyons, towering mountain peaks and dense simulated forests.

A heavy pressure suddenly settled over the entire starting area. It was not a soul pressure like the previous test. It was a spatial restriction. The Organizer's voice echoed from the sky above the course to explain the sensation.

"Stepping through the void is permitted," the voice boomed. "However, the arrays of this course heavily reinforce the fabric of space. It will be incredibly tough to tear rifts. Those with spatial skills are not handicapped but they will not be able to reach the end in an instant. Proceed with caution."

A deafening horn blasted across the illusionary landscape. The third test had officially begun.

Back in the stadium, Li Yu channeled his Qi into his crystal viewing orb once again. He could only see the two remaining Galeheart candidates. He enlarged the projections for Daiki and Zephyra and watched them burst off the starting line.

Li Yu watched Zephyra first. The elemental spirit was in her element. She did not possess a physical body to drag her down and one of her strengths was in her movement techniques. She dissolved her solid form the moment the horn sounded. She transformed into a dense cloud of pale swirling mist.

She did not run across the black stone. She merged her spiritual sense with the ambient air currents of the illusionary course. She found the paths of least resistance and simply flowed forward. It was a display of elemental assimilation.

When she encountered a towering cliff face, she did not need to climb. She allowed the updrafts to catch her vaporous form and carry her directly over the peak. Her movement was incredibly smooth and completely silent. She conserved massive amounts of Qi by letting the environment do the heavy lifting for her.

Daiki lacked such elegant methods. The giant demon was built for heavy impacts and stationary defense. The Blood Iron Clan did not prioritize swift footwork but it did not mean he was slow either. He had to rely on his physical conditioning to keep up with the specialized speedsters.

Daiki bent his massive knees and channeled a terrifying amount of Qi into his legs. He anchored his feet against the black stone and exploded forward.

The ground completely shattered beneath his boots. He launched himself through the air like a fired cannonball. He relied on his Kurogane physical tempering to withstand the kinetic force of his own launches. Daiki began to fly across the landscape by doing explosive jumps. It became quickly clear that the space here made traveling quickly harder.

What would have been a quick sprint normally, turned into a grueling journey that required more and more Qi. Even simple flight was more difficult and draining. Daiki covered massive distances with every single leap. He soared over forests and bounded across deep canyons.

Since this was an event where the entire bracket was in a single place, screens were broadcasting the broader race for the crowds. The spectators roared as they watched the diverse movement techniques of the other academies.

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The assassins from Shadow Step Academy were forced to make difficult choices. Their entire fighting style revolved around slipping through shadow or the void. They attempted to use their signature techniques to bypass the treacherous terrain.

They gathered their Qi and tore small rifts in the fabric of space. The spatial arrays of the course fought back instantly. The space crackled with violent purple lightning as the assassins forced the rifts open. It was like trying to wade through a river of hardened amber.

The assassins stepped through the void and successfully skipped large sections of the course. However, the spiritual strain on them was immense. They emerged from the rifts completely exhausted and gasping for air. The restriction somewhat balanced their innate advantage and prevented people from simply skipping the entire course. They could skip distances but they had to rest and recover their Qi before tearing the void again.

The candidates from Lunar Crest Academy showcased a much more fluid approach. They were masters of water and illusion. A leading Lunar Crest fighter summoned a rushing river of condensed water beneath his feet. He rode the crest of the wave like one would ride a flying sword.

He encountered a massive chasm that his water wave could not cross. He did not slow down though. He condensed a small droplet of water and hurled it across the gap. The droplet sailed through the air and landed on the far side.

The cultivator immediately activated an illusionary displacement technique. His physical body shimmered and instantly swapped positions with the distant droplet of water. He materialized on the other side of the chasm and continued riding his wave without breaking his stride. The technique was similar to tearing through the void and cost him a lot of Qi but it was worth it.

The remaining fighters from Solar Flare Academy relied on volatile propulsion. They were hot headed and completely aggressive. They fired continuous blasts of highly condensed Yang fire from the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet.

The resulting explosions blasted them forward at breakneck speeds. They flew across the course like living rockets. It was an incredibly dangerous and erratic technique. They risked burning their own meridians if the timing of the explosions was even slightly off.

The fiery bursts left trails of thick black smoke across the illusionary sky. They possessed incredible straight line speed but they struggled heavily to navigate the sharp turns of the simulated canyons.

Goro from Primal Fang Academy utilized a strategy very similar to Daiki's brute force. The massive Behemoth did not leap. He simply ran.

He leaned his heavy armored shoulders forward and charged like a runaway mountain. He did not dodge the simulated forests or the rocky outcroppings. He smashed directly through them. His heavy footfalls shook the entire illusionary realm. Trees splintered and boulders shattered as he maintained a perfectly straight line toward the finish.

Daiki continued his explosive bounds across the landscape. He was sweating heavily and his leg muscles burned with exertion.

He realized very quickly that he was not going to finish first. The specialized speedsters were simply too fast in a footrace. Zephyra’s mist form and the Lunar Crest displacement techniques were vastly superior for covering raw distance. Daiki did not let frustration take over his mind though. He remembered his goal. He did not need to win this specific test. He only needed to avoid the bottom seven.

He focused entirely on maintaining a steady and powerful rhythm. He ignored the fiery streaks of the Solar Flare cultivators passing him overhead. He paced himself perfectly to ensure his Qi reserves would not run dry before the end of the course.

He bounded across a final wide canyon and saw the glowing green finish line resting on a flat stone plateau. He landed heavily on the plateau and crossed the line with a final burst of speed.

He slowed down to a halt and checked his placement on the glowing board nearby. He was tenth.

It was a very safe and respectable finish for a cultivator who specialized in defense and brawling. He had successfully utilized his physical foundation to keep pace with the agile fighters. Zephyra had finished second overall. Her formless mist travel had easily outpaced almost everyone else. A Lunar Crest fighter took the first place spot.

Daiki sat down on the stone plateau and waited for the rest of the candidates to arrive. The assassins from Shadow Step staggered across the line shortly after him. They were completely drained from fighting the spatial restrictions. Goro smashed across the line a few moments later while leaving a massive trench in his wake.

The final few candidates eventually crossed the glowing boundary. The array beneath the illusionary course powered down. The twenty one candidates reappeared simultaneously on the central floating platform in the stadium. The roaring cheers of the crowd washed over them.

The Organizer stepped forward and projected the final results onto the massive screen of light. The rankings were clearly displayed for everyone to see.

"The third test is concluded," the Organizer declared. "The bottom seven candidates failed to keep pace. They are eliminated."

The bottom section of the list flashed a brilliant red and the names were crossed out.

Li Yu looked at the board to confirm the casualties. No one from Galeheart Academy was eliminated this time. Daiki and Zephyra had both secured safe placements.

The other academies suffered heavy losses. Consuming Tide Academy lost two of their physical fighters. Their water based movement techniques were designed to fight and were too slow without a deep ocean to utilize.

Iron Root Academy lost two massive defenders. Their grounded nature made them incredibly tough in a fight but it rendered them far too slow for a pure race. Shadow Step Academy lost another assassin who had exhausted their Qi trying to tear the restricted void too many times. Solar Flare and Primal Fang each lost one fighter who failed to perform well.

The Domain King bracket was officially reduced down to fourteen remaining fighters.

The weak and the slow had been entirely purged from the ranks. Only the most versatile and resilient candidates remained. Daiki wiped the sweat from his face and looked toward the high podium. He had survived the brawls, the isolation and the race. The fourth test was approaching and he knew it was going to be the most important trial of them all. He sat down on the white stone and began to recover his Qi.