Published: March 3, 2025
Chapter 507: Another Fifteen Years
“Greetings, Master!”
Over fifty candidates for death warriors entered the hall in an orderly manner. Under the command of Cold Moon Heart, they all respectfully bowed to the figure clad in a black robe.
Although they were unclear about the person's cultivation level, the faint aura that leaked out involuntarily made them tremble unconsciously. It was evident that this person's strength far surpassed that of "Instructor Cold."
Perhaps, this was the puppet master behind it all!
Four years had passed. After repeated eliminations, the initial one hundred candidates had dwindled to only around fifty.
This reduction was due to a slower elimination rate in the latter stages.
However, although the number had decreased, the "quality" had improved.
After four years, all the candidates for death warriors had reached at least the mid stage of qi refinement. Some with outstanding aptitudes had even reached the late stage of qi refinement.
For instance, Shen Shan, Gong Xinyuan, and Xu Haoran.
After bowing, the many candidates for death warriors waited for a long time without receiving a response.
A terrifying aura enveloped the room, and Cold Moon Heart stood solemnly to the side. Without permission, none dared to rise.
“Tick, tock.”
In just a little over ten breaths, some cultivators with poorer mental fortitude already had beads of sweat forming on their foreheads, which fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
“…”
In an instant, the cultivator who had made the noise felt his pupils constrict to the extreme, cold sweat pouring down his back in terror.
What they had undergone was the most rigorous training, and making a mistake at this moment could lead to unpredictable consequences.
“Fortunately, I wasn’t called out.”
Seeing Cold Moon Heart glance over before looking away without any other action, the cultivator sighed in relief, feeling a sense of survival.
This small incident revealed the fear everyone had for "Instructor Cold," and just how strict the training had been over the past few years.
After this brief interruption, the cave dwelling returned to silence.
For Liu Yu and Cold Moon Heart, it was merely a short span of over ten breaths, but for the fifty-plus candidates for death warriors, it felt like an eternity!
“Rise.”
Finally, after about twelve or thirteen breaths, a cold voice imbued with an inexplicable authority sounded.
“Thank you, Master!”
The death warriors felt as if they had heard the voice of heaven; upon hearing this, they all stood up in unison, their movements perfectly synchronized.
Liu Yu turned around, observing each cultivator from a high vantage point with a scrutinizing gaze.
At this moment, he wore a silver-white mask that appeared to smile yet seemed to weep, revealing only a pair of captivating eyes. His entire aura shifted, becoming sinister and chilling. If regarded as a demonic path hero, it felt entirely fitting.
“Very good, well done.”
“To have persisted to this point, compared to those with the same spiritual root aptitude, you are already worthy of the title ‘elite,’ having surpassed the vast majority of your peers.”
Liu Yu spoke indifferently.
His tone was cold and ruthless, carrying a mechanical quality, as if he were a heartless machine.
Being able to cultivate to the mid stage of qi refinement indeed surpassed the majority of cultivators with similar aptitudes.
Those with a false spiritual root had an extremely slow cultivation speed and a much higher probability of encountering bottlenecks.
Even transitioning from the early to mid stage of qi refinement had over fifty percent odds of hitting a bottleneck.
Due to the various defects of the false spiritual root, regardless of how excellent the affinity for spiritual energy was, most sects would reject candidates with false spiritual root aptitudes at the door.
Simply put, the investment and return were not proportional.
The resources required to cultivate a foundation establishment cultivator from a false spiritual root could, with careful planning, be used to cultivate several foundation establishment cultivators with three spiritual roots.