Within the large palace that adorned the peak of the mountain on which the Celestial Star Palace resided, a meeting was being held.

“Sect Master, is it true that this year will be fortuitous for our palace?”

“That’s right, the prediction simply seems too grand to be entirely true.”

At the head of the table sat a woman with unparalleled grace that contrasted the indifference in her expression. Simply the natural aura radiating from her body could command the attention of anyone in her vicinity.

“It’s true.” The woman said. “Not only did the divination speak of fortune for our sect, but it also spoke of calamity. Not just for us, but the entire world.

“However, the latter half of the prediction isn’t set for the near future, so we only need to focus on the former.”

The gathered elders knew the accuracy of their Sect Master’s divinations. They had personally bore witness to previous divinations come to fruition time and time again.

“We sincerely apologize, Sect Master. None of us dare doubt your divinations or ability, it is just a bit hard to process.” One of the elders said.

“Well, we have no reason to doubt the prediction, however, what makes this year so different?”

“Hahaha!” Suddenly a laugh resounded through the area. When everyone turned their attention to the source, they saw an inconspicuous white-bearded old man. However, none of them dared to speak against him.

“Isn’t that the reason we’re watching the disciple examination this year?” Commented the old man. “Let us be patient and find out with time.”

The attention of all those present subsequently shifted to the large screens that decorated the hall. On these screens were thousands of young cultivators currently taking the talent test.

“The amount of geniuses present in this year’s examination is already high, and some are even like that Long boy whose talent is one of the highest in the continent.”

At that moment, the Sect Master felt a vibration within her spatial ring. Taking out a jade slip, she injected her mana only to hear a frantic message.

“Sect Master, you need to see this!”

It wasn’t hard for her to locate the source of the call, and when she did, she was forced to pay attention. Not only her but the rest of the elders who heard the message as well.

On the screen in front of them, they saw an unknown young man powering his way through the final steps of the talent test.

“Impossible!” One of the elders shouted as he stood up in shock.

“Is he going to reach the obelisk?!”

“There’s no way, that kind of talent wouldn’t remain unknown for so long.”

“You’re right, but he keeps pushing forward without pause!”

While the other elders discussed the scene, the old man and the Sect Master silently looked at each other, interest evident in their eyes.

As they watched, Damien made his way through the final steps and pushed himself onto the small island at the end of the lake.

“Hoh?” The old man said with a raised brow. “I think this boy might be worth paying attention to.”

***

Meanwhile, Damien was on his knees, roughly catching his breath while his body recovered from the injuries he had accumulated during his final push. Although they weren’t deep, they were numerous.

As he stood up to return to the shore, Damien felt a slight pull from behind him. Turning, he saw the small obelisk at the center of the island letting off a slight glow.

However, he didn’t immediately walk toward it. He remembered the last time he randomly touched an obelisk, and he didn’t want to relive that kind of experience.

But the obelisk didn’t seem to give him a choice. From its center, a beam of black energy coagulated before shooting forward. The whole process was so sudden that he had no means to react.

Without any intervention, the energy entered his body and disappeared. There was no flashy scene or great change, in fact, he couldn’t even feel the energy’s existence anymore.

The beam was small enough to draw no attention from the others in the room, so he didn’t cause any major reaction apart from him completing the walk across the lake. Calming his nerves, he slowly walked back to shore.

The pressure seemed to only work one way, so his walk back was leisurely. He spent the time thinking about the black light that he saw, but he couldn’t come to a conclusion.

‘I’ll just figure it out later.’

On the other hand, Long Chen’s gaze was practically drilling holes into Damien. He could accept the fact that Damien beat him, but for the difference to be this large, he was slightly indignant.

‘I have to train harder.’

He wasn’t the type of person to have prejudice against those without massive backgrounds like him, but it was different with Damien.

A genius of his caliber should be known, but for him to come out of the woodwork here and now without any prior achievement and crush Long Chen’s score, was a blow to his pride.

But he was still a cultivation fanatic. He made no plans or schemes to bring Damien down, instead, he decided to see if Damien was a new goal for him to surpass. Simply having the talent didn’t qualify him as such, so a battle between them was necessary.

And he could feel the same fighting spirit from Damien. He could feel Damien’s will to be challenged and pressured to grow simply from his aura and demeanor alone.

If Long Chen was forced to state what his feeling toward Damien was after this first meeting, it’d be mainly admiration.

With Damien’s test done, there was no need for him to stay within the room anymore. And so, without delay, he entered the portal to the second exam.

‘What an interesting guy.’ Damien thought as he reached the shore. Ignoring the stares of everyone present, he followed Long Chen into the portal.

***

What entered Damien’s view was an isolated space. Rather than a large room like last time, he found himself alone in darkness. While it felt like it expanded to infinity, it also gave off the feeling of a small enclosure.

Since he was aware he was still within the disciple examination, Damien calmly walked forward to explore the room, but after only a few steps, he was forced to halt his movements.

The space in front of him twisted and melded together before becoming a jumbled mess of things he couldn’t understand.

Words in ancient languages he couldn’t read floated through the air, and various images flashed by and disappeared in an instant. The entire thing seemed random but planned at the same time.

The entire room was filled with contradictions, confusing Damien’s senses, but his eyes were focused on the floating words in front of him.

There was something profound about it, but he couldn’t quite make out what. At some point, without his conscious thought, he had sat down on the floor and slipped into a meditative state.

As he focused on the scene in front of him, three large blocky words appeared in his field of view.

“Wall of Comprehension.”