915 10
The crowd was stunned for a bit, as though they must have heard incorrectly. This didn’t make any sense!
At that point, everyone remembered Dyon’s Jade Queen Bee honey… If he was only at the 7th grade now, didn’t that mean he was only at the 8th grade before? Maybe even worse, maybe he was only born as a 9th grade talent?!
“To think he would waste heaven’s treasures on such poor talent…” Someone in the crowd lamented.
“Even if he had only taken a single drop of that honey, that could have been used to create another 3rd grade warrior!”
“Ridiculously selfish.” Someone else agreed. “If he wasn’t so greedy, our quadrant could have finally risen up from the dregs of the rankings. Even a single extra drop could have created another heaven defying genius!”
The crowd inadvertently began to boo. To them, it was as though the things Dyon worked for, the things he earned, should be owned by them as a collective. Since his last name was Jafari, this was his home quadrant, how could he not have more thoughtfulness?
Truthfully speaking, Dyon didn’t hide anything. His meridians were still a step away from entering the 6th grade, but he was currently still at the 7th grade. Faking this was just as hard as faking his age. Even if his energy cultivation was sealed, meridians weren’t like the soul. They were a tangible part of the body. Although they were being used as the foundation for his inner world, they were, fundamentally, still a part of his body.
Dyon didn’t mind the words and only casually stepped toward the title test.
“To think that you’d make such a bet with me while only being a mere 7th grade talent.” Donari’s elder brother laughed as though he was seeing the funniest thing in the world. “Truly a waste of heaven’s treasures. Aren’t you scared of being struck down for your overblown arrogance?”
As a member of the Caedes family, he had been tested to have 5th grade meridians, while Donari himself had 4th grade meridians. It was no wonder he was so arrogant.
If he won this bet, he would finally be at the same stage as his younger brother, and if he monopolized all 100 drops, there was even a chance he could step into the legendary 3rd grade stage and lead their quadrant to untold glory.
“Is there a need for this?” The golden robed elder spoke blandly. “No title. Move on to the soul talent test and show some thought for those around you for once and stop wasting our time.”
Dyon’s hand paused over the Presence test before he looked up at the elder standing before him.
Wasting time? The tests took a split second at most. He wasted more time stalling Dyon than Dyon would have taking the test. There should probably be a limit to bias, shouldn’t there?
However, the elder didn’t see it this way. As he saw it, before this, he had to be careful in case Dyon was an outstanding talent. He was a mere outer sect elder, if he offended a future inner or core elder, he wouldn’t be able to raise his head ever again. But, now that he saw Dyon’s talent was only of the 7th grade, what did he have to fear? Such a talent wouldn’t even be able to become an elder at all, at most they would be become a pavilion caretaker. He could treat people like that however he wanted.
Even better, considering Dyon age and cultivation, he might not even make it into the sect at all. What did he had to worry about?
The ‘boos’ of the crowd grew, as though the words of the elder only fueled them further.
The only ones who said nothing were those of the Unseen Peak. After seeing Dyon so easily destroy Donari, and seeing the fact he was only 32, they understood something clearly. Even if Dyon had poor talent in energy cultivation, his body cultivation talent was so outstanding that he could already stand near the top of the younger generation at the tender age of 32. They weren’t so stupid as to ride the wave the golden robed elder and the crowd was on.
In the cultivation world, as long as one had talent in one path, it could easily make up for the others. For example, if Dyon had body cultivation far exceeding those of his age, then he entered the tower, the rewards he received would be able to boost his energy cultivation to the level he was at now. The same would be true if he was talented in energy cultivation, but not body cultivation.
Dyon’s eyes met the golden robed elder’s. “I’m far too bored to deal with you. I just hope you can justify yourself to your superiors.”
“My superiors? Why would they care for such a talentless youth with eyes placed on top of his head?” The elder sneered. “As your elder, it is my duty to inform you that one must know when to lower themselves and show respect. Even if you were talented, that would be necessary, let alone the fact that you aren’t.”
Dyon smiled. “And when I need the advice of a mere outer sect elder, I’ll be sure to let you know.”
The golden robed elder’s features twisted and contorted, his muscles bulging as he weighed the pros and cons of slapping this youth to death right now.
However, in the time he was thinking, Dyon’s hand landed on the crystal and a radiant light erupted and covered the coliseum in such a strong Presence that many felt their knees go weak…
In the moment, the 98th quadrant had witnessed something for the first time… The Presence of a King!
The Presence measuring crystal cracked, allowing spiderwebs of damage to race along its surface before it burst into a cloud of dust.
The golden robed elder trembled where he stood.
Although the crowd might not know, he knew what the meaning was behind the crystal shattering.
Since the methods for testing titles was imperfect outside of the Epistemic Tower, it was obviously much harder to test those with higher potential. For a mere 98th quadrant, their best materials could only test to the marquis level, even those who were on the borderline between marquis and duke would cause the crystal to shatter. For example, their current Legatees would cause the crystal to shatter.
However, this was a massive problem. Even for those Legatees, the time it would take for the crystal to shatter was at least double if not triple the time it took for Dyon to cause it to do the same action. By all rights, this meant that Dyon’s title potential far exceeded that of their Legatees!
No one even noticed when Dyon walked over the soul crystal and placed his hand down. It was only after he stood there for more than ten seconds without it showing a reaction that the golden robed elder finally reacted.
“N- no innate soul… Passed…”
It was only now that those of the Unseen Peak sucked in a breath. It seemed Dyon didn’t lie about being a Duke, or else he would have never achieved these test results.
“Ah, ah.” Dyon’s voice interrupted. “Does that mean your first assessment of my title potential was correct? After all, you did say no title out loud. Could it be that crystals shatter for those with no title?”
The golden robed elder ground his teeth. “Duke Potential. Passed.”
pAnDa (nov)e1 Donari’s elder brother couldn’t understand. How could someone with 7th grade talent have better potential than he did? It didn’t make any sense!
In the crowd, behind the concealment array, Asyna and RolRol were just as surprised. After being highly disappointed by Dyon’s meridian grade, Asyna had even thought of leaving. Although it was true that other talents could make up for it, there was a reason energy cultivation was seen as the main path. It simply had the best returns of any of the other paths, so of course it was.
“By all rights, a 32-year-old who had entered the trials shouldn’t be able to make it to the essence gathering stage with mere 7th grade meridians.” RolRol muttered.
“Also, assuming the honey he has was a reward for his trials, it makes even less sense…” Asyna added.
Before, Asyna thought that Dyon had entered the tower around 10 years old. This would give him about 20 years in his trials, and would also mean that he had already reached the first essence gathering stage at 10.