Way of the Knights

Chapter 432: Aptitude Exams 1.6

“Juniors these days…” A sigh containing helplessness and disappointment escaped from the lips of an old man who’s resting inside a private room. “Their determination is to brittle, its awful.”

“As much as I hate to agree with you, your words are right.” Another old man sighed as well, “These Juniors had been too pampered.” 

“These really can’t be helped, Your Excellency’s…” A middle aged man that has an aura of a gentleman and a scholar shook his head but his tone also contains a disappointed tone. “The hark work of our Ancestors brought us peace, but at the same time, that same peace caused the younger generation to slack off.”

“I feel bad for you and the sect Nephew Henry.” One of the old men sighed, “You might not be bringing a lot of people back this time even though the sect already lowered the standards for their disciples.”

“It’s alright, Your Excellency Heaven Slayer. None of these Juniors could be blamed for that.” Henry shook his head, “Though if I’m being honest, I am hoping that some of these Juniors could surprise us.”

“Don’t worry. Howard and I already decided that we will send some of our disciples to boost your numbers. Hopefully, these should make things easier for you people. After all, what you guys face, are a little too troublesome.”

“I, on behalf of our sect, thank Your Excellency Void Obliterator and Heaven Slayer’s love and concern for the sect. We will do our best to ensure the safety of your disciples and give them multiple serendipities.”

“Hahaha! Very well, then I’ll leave them at your capable hands.”

After this conversation the room feel silent once more and everyone went back to watching the participants try their best to endure the Test of Knowledge. 

In truth however, none of them were really paying much attention what’s happening with the participants. In fact, the Empyreans Heaven Slayer and Void Obliterator couldn’t care less about the results of these exams at all. They might be watching the events on the table but their thoughts are somewhere else. 

And as one of the current War Gods of Ancient Elysium Sect, how could Henry not notice this? Not only was he aware that these Empyreans weren’t paying attention to the live feed, he also understood the underlying meaning behind their words. 

Nevertheless, his performance was quite admirable too. Nothing that these two Empyreans say could cause his composure to fade. He was aware and alert, which is why even the Empyreans couldn’t underestimate him. 

‘You two old monsters could scheme all you want. If you want to play, then play we shall. Hopefully when time comes, you’ll be able to cough up something that could quell the sect’s rage.”

***

“10th revival…”

A murmur swept through blood colored field. If sounded like a faint sigh but this in fact, could cause some people’s heart to shake. 

Raven’s off to his 10th revival. Dullness and mental fatigue were already starting to consume him yet his eyes remained clear, a few breaths later the ceaseless massacre began once more. 

With how many times he dies and revived, its quite impossible for Raven not to understand the true purpose of the Test of Will but he didn’t think much about it. After all, even though he understood its purpose, he had no idea what are the requirements to pass this test. 

Actually, instead of treating it like test, Raven treated this like his everyday training inside the Crown Space. 

To Raven, dying multiple times isn’t something new at all. Hell, he actually feel a little unsettled during days when he didn’t even once. Dying has already become a part of his daily life, so dying multiple times in a row didn’t really have that much effect to him. 

Which is why instead of being bothered by the seemingly endless cycle of death and rebirth along with the ceaseless killing. Raven started using this to train instead. 

Raven constantly refined his fist techniques again and again. Though his progress isn’t much due to his enemies being weak, it is still remarkable since he’s working in tandem with his Avatars. 

Additionally, Raven was also using the technique he learned during the second test. In the end, Raven decided to call it the [Allheaven Restriction Scripture]. His expertise in using the first five seals were refined to a higher level. 

Not only does each seal appear more vibrant and profound, the area of restriction they caused widened too. Each seals could restrict the area about the same size as his Champion’s Influence, which is 30 miles around Raven. Depending on what restriction seal he used, the effect was maximized and none of these crazed and demented people could break the seals. 

Raven’s thoughts were pure and bright despite the fatigue he’s experiencing. In fact, he seemed to be in a special state where he completely disregarded everything else that doesn’t have anything to do with perfecting his techniques. He was whole-heartedly absorbed in training that he even started to how much time passed already or how many more revivals he had to experience before passing.

He mainly focused on his fist techniques, his 9 Destruction Steps and the seals. His fist arts where already in a stage where his casual punch could obliterate a mountain. He would’ve loved to use the [God Slaying Fists Art] but it is still too profound, he has yet to understand its essence. 

Raven was also using the ever so mysterious Wave Folding, trying to get his body to understand its profundities but to no avail.

As for the rest of his arsenal, he didn’t display them yet, specially the Spacetime Laws. In fact, unless he could make sure that he won’t be monitored in anyway shape or form by the sect, he wouldn’t even dare to show it to them.

He wasn’t trying to fool them or anything, he just wanted to make sure that should anything go awry, he could depend on something for his safety, and he thought that it would be better if he kept certain things to himself. 

When he unknowingly fused Spacetime Laws, Geezer handed him some techniques that works well with it and that could ensure his safety. Geezer did this not only to protect Raven from his enemies but to also protect him from the enemies Raven would face in due time. 

Raven understood the intent of his Master and of course, would naturally do his best to fulfill his wishes. Which is why he’s focusing on his Destructions Laws for now. 

Speaking of destruction, Raven already forgot how many bodies he destroyed by now. It wasn’t only due to the special state he’s in but also, after he estimated that his kills reached a million, he stopped counting. 

What he didn’t know is that something happened by then. 

Inside his inner world, where his confined Cosmic Energy are stored, a new type of energy appeared. 

It was extremely small. In fact, its presence is too faint that even if Raven entered his inner world, he would barely notice it. 

This energy appeared in a form of a wisp. It was gray in color and it roamed about his inner world. However, despite its faint trace, if one inspected it really close, they would discover that this tiny wisp contained a very malicious and hair-raising aura.

From it, one could feel an merciless, cold and indifferent air of pure and unadulterated killing intent. One that is capable to startling even the roughest of warriors around. 

This tiny wisp, contained the aura…of Slaughter. 

It appeared when Raven’s kill count reached one million, and it started growing from there. Without Raven’s knowledge, this tiny wisp of Slaughter Energy was absorbing some energy on Raven’s victims, treating them as food. 

Form a tiny and unremarkable wisp, it grew into a size of a mung bean. It continuously roamed around Raven’s inner world as if it was a curious kid. In fact, its biggest curiosity is from biggest ball of energy inside Raven’s inner world, which is Cosmic Energy. 

For some reason, the tiny wisp of Slaughter Energy could feel some form of familiarity to it. In fact, its even absorbing some cosmic energy to fuel its growth. But instead of growing bigger from the supplement of cosmic energy, it is being cleansed and transformed into a different version of itself.

As for what type of transformation it will have, not even Raven could answer that. 

Unaware of the changes happening inside his body, Raven continued his training and his massacre. Slowly but surely, a mysterious shroud was forming around him. First it only covered his limbs, but as he killed more and more, this shroud covered his entire body and was already gaining some sort of corporeal form. 

When the shroud completely covered his body, Raven unconsciously released his killing intent. His dull and empty gaze turned into a ferocious one, yet his thoughts never experienced some sort of change. He didn’t even noticed that his killing speed doubled as soon as his killing intent flared. 

Raven kept on killing until his face morphed into a ferocious expression. The gray shroud turned into a face that glared mercilessly on every maddened foe around him.

As soon as the face appeared, Raven threw back his head and released a primal roar that shook the earth and sky. His voice reverberated continuously until…

The world shattered.