"As expected from a Heavenly Beast," Newheaven said with a hint of respect in her voice. "They certainly are the most consistently talented cultivators in the entire world."

Bladedance agreed. "And from what I understand, she isn’t even from the main family at all. If she was, she would likely have been even more talented."

The rest of the group were in awe as well.

"How are there so many talented people in this group?" Silkspear couldn’t help but ask with some awe.

"As expected of junior sister and her family and friends," Brasswind said. "Her grandmother holds the highest score after all."

"She’s not even related to the beasts though, is she?" Silkspear asked.

"Didn’t you hear what master said?" Riftblade asked. "That young lady is a descendant of the Vermillion Bird. It would, in fact, be more surprising if she weren’t this talented."

Pearl stepped forward next. "I’ll go before brother."

Newheaven concentrated on Pearl’s turn. While she was more interested in Alex, she had come to know a bit about Pearl’s bloodline and the impossibility of his birth, so she was more than interested in learning about him as well.

"How talented would you say he is?" she asked Bladedance.

Bladedance took a moment to think before coming up with an answer. "Easily above 80. I wouldn’t be surprised if he crosses 85."

Newheaven’s eyes widened slightly. "Certainly not. It gets harder to reach the higher numbers. The difference between 85 and 80 is way more than what would be a difference between 60 and 65."

"I understand," Bladedance said. "And I still think he’ll do as much."

"If my understanding of the situation is correct," Alex said, joining into their conversation, "then you are slightly wrong, master."

Bladedance raised her eyebrow. "Do you not think he’ll reach 85?" she asked.

"No, I think he’ll cross it," Alex said.

"Then?"

"He’ll do even better than that," Alex added. "In my opinion, he will reach 90."

Newheaven could barely think of what to say. "So you think your beast is capable of reaching as high as your daughter?" she asked. "He might be a Heavenly Beast, but she is your daughter."

"I know, but Pearl is just that talented, Your Brilliance," Alex said. "But don’t let me tell you that. Pearl will show it to you himself."

They looked toward Pearl, who already had his hands on the pillar, pouring his Qi into it. A second later, he felt the pillar buzz as something came flooding into his body. He let the energy reach every corner of his being.

Once it went through every part of his body, it surged back into the pillar, at which point the pillar let out a droning sound and white light filled the lower region.

The light flooded the pillar faster than anyone had ever seen during that session. In the blink of an eye, it crossed past the halfway point and continued climbing without a stop.

Ronron watched with wide eyes as she didn’t remember her own turn having this much speed. Her eyes, which had started at the bottom of the pillar, were now already looking up as the white light filled the majority of it.

It slowed down a lot higher than anyone else’s did and then finally came to a stop when only a small portion was remaining.

Not a single person dared voice out their thoughts in that moment, as they could hardly believe what they were looking at.

Even the Sky God was slack-jawed, looking at a result that she knew was second to just a single other person.

The disembodied voice filled the silence, giving Pearl his result.

"91."

And then it went silent again.

Pearl smiled widely, moving away from the pillar. He looked around at everyone who stood there, seeing their reaction.

"Holy fuck!" someone finally gave voice to their thoughts.

It was Bladedance who said it. She could not believe her eyes at the result. She had known Pearl was talented and that he would most definitely cross the 85 points, but she had thought he would stop at 86 or 87, but no higher.

However, Pearl had done even more.

She understood that Pearl had evolved twice, so could that have been the reason for this absurd number?

"91. How is that possible?" Brasswind said in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

"That’s... insane," Silkspear said.

"Wasn’t the only other score in the 90s by Ronron’s grandmother? She received a 93, didn’t she?" Riftblade asked.

"She did," Brasswind answered.

They couldn’t help but gulp as they realized that someone truly talented had shown up once again, and once again they were related to their junior sister.

"Congratulations!" Scarlet said with a wide grin. "I knew I had no chance to compare to the two of you. And I was right."

"Thank you," Pearl said, arriving back in his group. "I didn’t expect to get that high myself."

Pearl did wonder how the score would have changed had he used the Mark of the Sovereign, which improved his battle power by 3, pushing it from 7 to 10. But since that was something he had to actively use, he didn’t think it would be fair to compare his talent using that.

Not that he would even dare show something like that when he was amongst so many strangers that he understood nothing about.

Alex patted Pearl on the back. "Good job."

"Thanks, brother," Pearl said. "And since you are headed next, I should give you congratulations already, right? I’m sure you will smash through my score."

"Who knows?" Alex asked. "I’m sure I can improve my talent still, so it may not be that high. Although there is only one way to find that out."

Alex turned toward the crystal pillar and walked toward it.

Ronron was still staring at the glowing pillar that was just beginning to fade when her father arrived.

"Oh, Father. You’re here," she said. "Do you need me to explain how this works?"

"That’s fine," Alex said, placing his hand on it. "I understand."