Seeing the faint smiles on the faces of the elders from the Thirty Third Hall, the other elder's brows knitted together in displeasure. His gaze flicked once more toward Max before he spoke in a low and slightly sharp tone. "What is this supposed to an? Do you truly believe that this kid is going to perform wonders in the trials?"
Lady Virelia turned her head at that mont, her expression calm and unhurried as she t his gaze. A faint smile curved her lips as she replied evenly, "You will find out once the trials begin, will you not?"
The elder's frown deepened. He clearly disliked the confidence and complete lack of concern shown by the elders of the Thirty Third Hall, especially Lady Virelia. To him, their composure felt like deliberate provocation.
"Since you are so confident," he said after a brief pause, a sly smile slowly appearing on his face, "why do we not test this kid's strength a little right now?"
"There will be no such need," Lady Virelia replied without hesitation. Her tone remained gentle, yet it left no room for argunt. With that, she walked past him without sparing another glance and headed toward the camp assigned to the Thirty Third Hall. The other elders of the hall followed her, leading their disciples away from the gathering point.
The elder who had proposed the test was left standing where he was, completely ignored. His face flushed red with embarrassnt and anger as clenched his fists. In his heart, resentnt boiled over.
'Damn you, Virelia. Just because this kid took away the Sword of the Sword Sovereign does not an he is truly strong. I will see how your disciples suffer during the Path to Eternal Flas trial.'
This elder was nad Vale Heron, an elder of the Twenty Fifth Hall. The Twenty Fifth Hall fell under the jurisdiction of the Heron Family, and the longstanding hostility between the Heron Family and the Gris Family was well known within the Black Dragon Palace. Because of this rivalry, clashes and verbal sparring between their affiliated elders were nothing new.
Yet this ti, Vale Heron had openly challenged Lady Virelia, only to have his provocation dismissed outright. The rejection stung far more than he expected.
"Just you wait," Vale Heron muttered under his breath as he turned away and walked toward the camp of the Twenty Fifth Hall, his eyes cold with anticipation for what was to co.
----
"Wait patiently here and prepare yourselves for the trials," Lady Virelia said calmly to the disciples of the Thirty Third Hall as they gathered within their designated camp.
She glanced once over the group before continuing, "The trials will begin the mont the seven families arrive."
With that, she turned and left along with the other elders of the Thirty Third Hall, heading toward the gathering of elders from the other halls who belonged to the sa Gris Family faction. Their departure left the disciples behind, surrounded by the vast camps of the other halls and the towering trial structures in the distance.
As ti passed, Max casually swept his gaze across the surrounding area. Almost imdiately, he noticed sothing strange. Disciples from many of the other halls were openly looking toward their camp, and more specifically, most of those gazes were focused on him. So were curious, so carried admiration, while others were filled with undisguised hostility.
"Am I really that famous?" Max muttered aloud, half amused and half bewildered.
Carl chuckled at his side. "Famous is an understatent. Right now, you are probably one of the most well known figures in the Divine Realm among the younger generation. I would not be surprised if your face has already gone viral on the Divinet."
"Divinet?" Max frowned slightly. "What is that?"
Laura, who was standing beside them, turned to him with wide eyes. "You seriously do not know what the Divinet is?"
"Should I?" Max asked, scratching his head in mild embarrassnt.
Carl shook his head with a smile. "It is not surprising that you do not know about it, considering you ca from the mortal realm not long ago." He paused briefly, thinking about how best to explain it. "Think of the Divinet as a massive virtual network. All kinds of information are shared there, from cultivation news and major events to recordings, images, and discussions that spread extrely fast."
"Oh," Max said, nodding in understanding as a smile ford on his face. "So it is basically the sa as an extranet."
Carl blinked for a mont, then laughed. "Yes, that is a good way to put it. In the Divine Realm, we simply call it the Divinet."
Only then did Max notice the identical wristbands worn by both Carl and Laura. They were sleek and faintly glowing, clearly not ordinary accessories. The sight reminded him imdiately of the holowatches used back on Acaris.
"You will need to get one of those wristbands sooner or later," Carl said, noticing Max's gaze and lifting his left hand slightly. "They are very combat friendly. The mont the wristband senses that your body is releasing Divine Essence, it automatically rges into your skin and becos invulnerable during battle."
He continued, "They are quite cheap and accessible to almost everyone in the Divine Realm. On top of that, they allow you to stay updated on everything happening across the Divine Realm through the Divinet."
"I will buy one after the trial," Max said with a nod. "It sounds like sothing I really need."
As he spoke, his eyes drifted once more toward the countless camps spread across the red plains of Planet Cyrus. Surrounded by hundreds of thousands of disciples and watched by so many unseen eyes, Max felt the weight of the coming trials settle quietly in his chest.
As the disciples waited in their respective camps, ti continued to pass in heavy anticipation. Conversations gradually died down, replaced by a tense silence as everyone kept glancing toward the sky. Before they realized it, nearly an hour had gone by, the oppressive heat of Planet Cyrus pressing down steadily as the atmosphere grew more solemn.
Then, without warning, a sudden disturbance rippled through the air above the trial site.
Seven enormous star shuttles erged from the crimson sky almost simultaneously, their silhouettes cutting through the clouds of heat and fla like celestial beasts descending from the heavens. Each shuttle radiated a distinct and powerful aura, vastly different from the others, yet all carried an unmistakable sense of authority that made the disciples' hearts pound.
The shuttles moved with precise coordination and soon descended, landing in a perfect circular formation around the trial site. The ground trembled lightly beneath their imnse weight, and waves of pressure rolled outward, forcing many disciples to steady themselves.
"They are here…"
"The seven main families."
"Finally."
Whispers spread rapidly through the camps as countless eyes turned toward the newly arrived shuttles. Everyone knew what this ant. The arrival of these seven star shuttles signified the presence of the seven main families of the Black Dragon Clan, the true pillars that stood at the very top of the palace's hierarchy.
As the shuttles settled into place, an invisible pressure seed to descend upon the entire area. Even without anyone stepping out yet, the re arrival of the seven main families made the air feel heavier, as if the trials were no longer a distant event but an imdiate and unavoidable reality.
The Thirty Six Hall Grand Trial was about to truly begin.
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