The powerhouses frowned. Usually, the phantom of the cube would reveal the new ranking, but this time it directly collapsed before it could even begin to solidify. At that moment, the idle chit chat faded and everyone looked toward the center of the plaza as one.
However, even though the blackhole had appeared, there was no movement even after several minutes.
"What is going on?" A voice echoed.
"What? Is the mighty Elizaren feeling anxious?" A laughing voice echoed to the side.
Elizaren was a man who very clearly exuded a powerful aura, even if he denied being a Sky God, only a fool would take his words at face value. What was especially important about him, though, was the fact that he had a head of radiant gold hair and piercing green eyes. It was clear he was from the same Clan as Vie and his younger brother, the Ashmen Clan.
Elizaren threw a glance over the speaker but didn't say anything. It was either he was better than his junior at feigning calm and civility, or this was truly his personality. At the very least, he didn't seem intent on using a smile to fake his happiness like Vie had.
"Oh my, no answer? Tsk, tsk."
The man who had spoken looked eerily similar to Akura, a descendant of the Fire Giant demons, though he seemed to have spotty scales. This was, of course, the Draco Race. While they had nothing to do with dragons, they seemed to love naming themselves and their techniques off of things that sounded similar.
"Come now, gentleman. There's no need to fight."
A man with a large belly stood out to speak. It was hard to tell whether he was a merchant or a buddha. On the one hand, his body was flooded with jewelry, heavy chains, tons of golden bracelets and rings, he even had a gem right in the middle of his forehead. And yet on top of all of that his head was shaved clean, he had a staff in one hand and rolled prayer beads in the other.
It was quite funny to see such an interaction, since this was almost exactly how the interaction between their juniors-Via, Akura and Mano-had gone.
The only difference was that while these powerhouses of the Fifth Heaven spoke, those of the Fourth remained eerily silent, unwilling to say anything that might offend these bigwigs. While it was the case that the gap between the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Heavens were far smaller than the gaps of the lower and higher Heavens, there was still a hint of hesitation to be found with.
Just when the group was jeering at one another, the blackhole trembled and a figure was thrown out, coughing out heavy mouthfuls of blood.
The surrounding cultivators frowned. It was a young woman who had clearly been stripped and humiliated. But while she was treated in this way, there wasn't much of a show to see as her skin and flesh was all a mangled mess. It was clear that while she had been treated as such, her innocence hadn't been tarnished.
Even so, the surrounding elders frowned. If this was a daughter of their Sect or Clan, just the fact she was treated like this would be a slap to all of their faces. Although women had many disadvantages in the martial world, when it came to who was protected the most, they were most definitely at the forefront. Even the lowest ranked female in a Sect or Clan wouldn't be allowed to treated like this by outsiders.
However, after a several sighed a breath of relief, realizing that they didn't recognize this person at all. It was only then they began to look around, wondering who this woman might be tied to, and even beyond that, could have possibly happened to her.
Suddenly, a shadow moved and enveloped the girl before vanishing.
The group was surprised. Of course, this wasn't because of the actions themselves as it made sense that such a person would want secrecy. But they were more shocked by the speed and methods. Also, this person seemed to have been hiding themselves from the very beginning.
The spectators looked toward one another, seeing the odd look in each other's eyes before turning away as the blackhole pulsed once more.
To their surprise, yet another beaten and ragged individual popped out. The gazes of everyone flickered. The Heavenly Path was a cruel place, and that was especially so for the last phase. But this one at a time thing the Heavenly Path seemed to be doing right now was more than just a little bit odd.
Usually, a large group would be spit out first, and only then would the highest contenders come out one by one. This was because only the best would be able enter the reward of the Heavenly Path, and as such they would exit one by one at the end after exchanging their Heavenly Favor.
But for some reason it was in... reverse this time?
"Vie?!"
Elizaren's brows shot up. He waved a hand and the injured Vie was immediately brought to his feet and forward.
The shock in Elizaren's heart was palpable. The only reason he could think of for Vie ending up like this is because he was ganged up on by the other geniuses, and considering Vie's charisma, the only way for that to happen was if he ended up with a world shaking treasure. So in reality, although Elizaren looked concerned and his face was ugly, he was actually gleeful inside.
He acted quickly and looked like a concerned elder, so no one reacted faster than he Once Vie was in his range of influence, there was nothing more to worry about and he laughed like a madman on the inside.
However, after Elizaren got a hold of Vie, his expression changed and flickered.
If Vie had been ganged up on, he should have had the auras of several attacks on him...
So why was there only one?
Just as Elizaren was about to try and heal Vie to question him, there was another sputter and another young man stumbled out.
"Akura?!" The elder of Draco Race reacted quickly as well. But after seeing Vie's appearance, he was much less optimistic about his own descendant receiving a godly or reward.
The expressions of the Fifth Heaven elders turned cold. What had happened, exactly?
The trembled once again and the geniuses began to come out at a faster and faster pace.
