At this time, separated into their own corner, were Xu Tao and Hu Wen. Swirls of lightning flashed all around their bodies. They both were tightly focused, giving it their absolute all in this challenge.
However, the best they managed could do was summon 10% of their Inner World power. Furthermore, they were utilizing their Divine Law essence energy to forcefully tear through the Dao energy principle's pressure.
They couldn't be like Cain and Amber, in which they can comprehend a tiny portion of Greater Dao sensation. If they were to attempt it, their Spiritual Sea would completely collapse from the immense pressure.
Neither their foundation nor perception abilities were at a level to even contend with the Supreme Divine Law principles of a Holy King.
Xu Tao fiercely gritted his teeth. His eyes blazed with raging lightning as he transmitted to Hu Wen, 'We-we only have twenty minutes left! At this rate, we won't be able to make it like them. We're going to have to summon our best Arts!'
Hu Wen gave a strained sigh. 'You're right. In a way, I believe this is how the test was supposed to be. We have to have precise control over our essence energy to guide our Art through this pressure. At the same time will the comprehension of our Law and Art increase. And our control will increase. What Lee and Xun did isn't our business.'
At this thought, the young Lightning Lords calmed down. Moments later, brighter lightning flickered from their bodies. Boundless Inner World energy surged. Their powers took a dramatic leap forward!
With golden lightning sparkling from Hu Wen's body and lightning ripples exuding from Xu Tao's body, the Dao energy principles pressure had greatly eased up.
The young Lightning Lords cracked a small smile. Their souls were under tremendous strain, causing their minds to feel fuzzy.
But at the same time, as Hu Wen said, they could feel their comprehension increase along with their essence energy control. They were precisely controlling their essence energy to resist the sensation of the Greater Dao!
Though it couldn't compare to Cain's or Amber's speed, they were able to see a very blurry path of the Greater Dao sensation.
The moment Xu Tao and Hu Wen surged their Inner World, various other disciples began bringing out their Inner World's essence energy.
Flashes of Sword Laws, Fire Laws, Lightning Laws, Wind Laws, Earth Laws, and Water Laws illuminated the surroundings.
Every half-step Divine Ruler and a few of the peak Divine Star disciples had the same idea as Xu Tao and Hu Wen.
Even Jin Ya surged her Inner World to resist the Greater Dao sensation.
However, while the others were under immense strain, Jin Ya's expression was almost causal. Every action of hers didn't need to be carefully planned. Nor did she feel immensely stressed about the time limit.
All in her mind was studying the Greater Dao sensation and using her Water Laws to flow right through the atmosphere.
She couldn't achieve a perfect state of connecting her essence energy to the atmosphere. But she was very close, perhaps even better than the half-step Divine Ruler disciples.
Without the loud flair of the other disciples, Jin Ya activated her best movement art. Her Water Laws started to ripple. A shine greater than before illuminated through her essence energy.
At this time, the other half-step Divine Rulers and the few peak Divine Star disciples paused for a moment. Each of them took the time to get a good feel of their bearings.
Then, without warning, they all took off toward the skies!
None of them produced deafening sonic booms or had speeds that can split the air apart. But they were still extremely fast to the point they can cross hundreds of meters in a couple of minutes.
Of course, these disciples were experiencing tremendous stress. Even as their Spiritual Sea perception abilities and control increased, the strain on their souls only grew the higher they got.
Some of the peak Divine Star disciples even began to feel a trickle of blood flowing down their noises. But no matter what they felt, not a single disciple slowed down for a second.
Unbeknownst to them, Jin Ya had finally taken a lookup. A burning, fighting spirit ignited from the depths of her pupils.
The surrounding crowd all had their attention on the ones flying up. Calmer discussions were held about them compared to Cain and Amber. The Holy King Elders had a much easier time studying these disciples.
Elder Heng held an indifferent gaze while watching these disciples. She muttered out loud, "Seems like Sun Wei and Jin Bo will take the lead. Although, Xu Tao and Hu Wen are merely a split second right behind them. Jiang Ling is also progressing nicely. And...hm?"
Elder Heng suddenly narrowed her eyes at a rising blue light. This blue light started out slow at first. But after only a few seconds, the blue light's speed increased by a tremendous amount!
The person inside was rapidly catching up with the other disciples. In mere seconds, she quickly surpassed the peak stage Divine Star disciples!
With her holy eyesight, Elder Heng could perfectly see who was in that blue light. And to her complete surprise, that blue light was actually Jin Ya!
'She actually has this level of comprehension! Her energy principles are turning more complex by the seconds the higher she goes. But above all, it seems she has great soul training since she can pull more Inner World power. Is this really all because of Lee?'
Since Elder Heng could spot it, evidently everyone else took notice of Jin Ya's incredible speed. A rise of confusion and genuine awe started to overtake people's minds.
After all, wasn't this just a Middle Stage Divine Star disciple?
How is she possibly outspeeding the Peak Stages and matching the half-step Divine Rulers?
When disciples and Elders alike scan Jin Ya's Divine Aura, her power still wasn't anywhere near the other disciples. However, what she lacked in power, it was more than made up for in Law complexity!
The Early and Middle Stage Divine Star disciples in the audience were in wonder.
"I-I can't actually detect her energy principles! What kind of improvement is this?! She can be counted near Late or peak of the Late Stage at this point!"
"Did Senior Martial Brother Lee really have such an effect on her? This is like turning a stone into a brilliant diamond!"
The only thing confusing disciples and even Holy King Elders alike was just how Jin Ya was easily fending off the Dao pressure.
Many were aware this has to do with a combination of both the soul and one's Spiritual Sea perception abilities.
Cain and Amber could be explained as simply having immense talent.
But what would Jin Ya's excuse be? Could Cain really have the means to also enhance a person's soul?
While people were left wondering, time quickly trickled by.
The size of the celestial mountain was still equal to that of a country. It would still take all other disciples a long time to scale up it without their full Inner World power.
Moreover, the longer the disciples flew up, the more their soul's cores strained.
Nearly every peak Stage Divine Star disciple had drastically decreased in speed. They were panting while sweat poured down their faces like a waterfall, completely drenching their luxurious robes.
The half-step Divine Rulers faired far better. But even, they all were running on the willpower of their Divine Will as they, too, experienced an immense strain on their soul's core.
Jin Ya wasn't spared from the soul's core strain. Even with extra training by Cain, she is still nowhere near his or Amber's level.
But still, Jin Ya managed to retain the same speed as the half-step Divine Rulers.
At the front helm of the pack were Sun Wei, Xu Tao, Hu Wen, Jin Bo, Jin Ya, and Jiang Ling.
Both Sun Wei and Jin Bo were in slight disbelief, seeing that Jin Ya was keeping pace with them. However, they weren't in a position to focus on her.
While Xu Tao, Hu Wen, and Jiang Ling nearly felt it was expected for her to come so far. They had more interactions with Cain, knowing full well of his terrifying abilities. The shock was considerably less for them.
When twenty-seven minutes finally passed, the leading disciples finally broke through the home stretch!
Six flashes of light hurriedly flew on the sky platform. As their Law essence energies dissipated, the tired and fatigue forms of Sun Wei, Xu Tao, Hu Wen, Jin Bo, Jiang Ling, and Jin Ya appeared.
They all promptly assimilated into a meditative state, hurriedly recovering their soul energy and easing the strain on their soul's core.
Cain and Amber quietly stood while watching the six. Their main focus was on Jin Ya, feeling a little surprised at her appearance.
With a small smile of approval, Cain transmitted to Amber, 'Look at this? She went beyond mine and your expectations. Seems like her own future is becoming increasingly bright.'
'Yea, brighter all because of you,' Amber stated factually. 'You not only added polish but also a new coat of paint to turn her into a diamond with shine. You really are trying to change the system, huh?'
'You can say that. But it's more so I want my Great Daos to be known throughout this era and all eras that come next. These steps are only the beginning.'
Cain spoke with absolute confidence. To which Amber merely giggled with joy.
If it were to be known that Cain had this unwavering determination to create a Great Dao that reigns supreme over all others, just what kind of expressions would everyone else have?
As Cain and Amber conversed with each other, the last remaining time quickly flew by.
Right before time was officially over, nine more people reached the sky platform.
Cain and Amber took a sweeping glance at them and couldn't identify any of them.
Similarly to the first batch that arrived, even worse than them, these nine disciples were gasping for air. They even had trouble maintaining their meditative state. Their bodies shivered uncontrollably.
It was evident that they pushed themselves beyond their limits and caused slight damage to their soul's cores. Whether or not they can grow from this injury remains to be seen.
But at this moment, out of the hundreds of challengers' disciples, only fifteen have passed the first part!
Despite it being an extremely low number, the surrounding audience was actually surprised it had reached such numbers.
The Holy King Elders knew far more than the younger disciples, thus they can accurately compare this selection process to the past.
"Last event only saw four disciples passing. And even then, only two of those four managed to become direct disciples. Now, there's fifteen of them."
"Though they passed the first part...besides those two, the others still need to worry about completely impressing the Supreme Elders. Not a single one of them can be impressed by the ordinary genius talent."
"I would like to say that Sun Wei has the biggest advantage of them all. But now, with all these changes, who knows just how this competition will go down?"
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