The Flame Heavenly King's sudden announcement sounded jarringly abrupt in that space, leaving the fifty-four eliminated candidates staring in stunned disbelief.
The second round was over?
What was going on?
Wasn't the second round supposed to involve hunting Demon Beasts?
How could the assessment be over before it had even begun?
"Just as I thought!" Jun Wangchen narrowed his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing through them.
From the moment the rules for the second round were announced, he had sensed something was wrong. Setting Earth Tier Demon Beasts as their targets was far too excessive. Under those circumstances, entering the valley to hunt would almost certainly mean death, with virtually no chance of survival. No one would throw their life away on an assessment so utterly out of proportion to their strength.
The subsequent ban on Martial Technique was even more outrageous. If they had Martial Technique in the valley, they might still have managed to hunt a few peak Black Tier Demon Beasts. Without Martial Technique, all they could do was run.
Those two unfair conditions could easily make people want to withdraw.
After all, everyone present had worked hard to become a peak Black Tier martial artist. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, reaching Earth Tier would only be a matter of time. Why would they sacrifice their promising futures for an organization?
And that achieved the true purpose of the Mythic Heavenly Palace's second round—testing their courage!
The path of cultivation was a process of stealing Yin-Yang, seizing creation, turning nirvana, grasping life and death, and commanding reincarnation.
Throughout that process, perseverance and effort were not enough. More important was a heart that feared neither life nor death and pressed bravely forward.
Only with a courageous heart could one overcome the inner demons obstructing the path of cultivation and