Infinite Slaughter System: I Kill, Therefore I Ascend!-Chapter 190: The Preliminaries! 7

At last, after what felt like a very long time to those below, Sect Master Ming Yue finally regained control of himself as he sucked in a slow breath then lifted a hand.

The air shuddered as his peak Nihility Realm aura rolled out, heavy and domineering, pressing down the crazed fluctuations of the Grand Elders and True Inheritors around him. One by one, they stopped their hysterics, though most were still trembling while mostly wiping blood from their lips or noses, but all falling silent.

The Sect Master straightened, clasped his hands behind his back, and allowed his voice to roll out over the arena like thunder.

"Calm yourselves, Esteemed Edlers. You are scaring the children." He joked lightly, causing those of the Upper Sect to manage a chuckle despite themselves, finally coming to terms with what they just saw.

Meanwhile, the rest of the entire stadium was deathly silent as they glanced upwards.

Ming Yue let the still active rainbow light wash over him - his golden hair catching the colors beautifully - then spoke again, each word slow and clear.

"What you are witnessing... is Rainbow-Grade Soul Talent."

He paused, letting that sink in, then continued.

"In the mortal cultivation system, from Qi Refinement to Ascension, there are nine major realms where soul power and soul talent matter to varying degrees. In the early realms, it is negligible and relatively unimportant, whereas in the middle realms, it is almost everything. This is true for both body and qi cultivation."

He lifted a finger, pointing lazily toward the blazing pillar rising from the orb.

"To a cultivator with the lowest tier of violet soul talent, each of those major realm barriers is like a mortal climbing a mountain with no supplies and barefooted. To a cultivator with highest tier of red talent, each major realm barrier is like walking down a straight and even road. But for a cultivator with Rainbow Soul Talent..."

Ming Yue smiled faintly, eyes narrowing.

"...for such a person, every mortal cultivation realm where soul talent is relevant becomes a gentle slope that goes downwards. Their comprehension and soul-based growth will be so far beyond the norm that, as long as they are not killed, they will walk to Dao Integration peak as easily as breathing, sometimes within the entire lifespan of a mortal."

A murmur that began to build to a low roar started up again, but Ming Yue’s aura pressed it back down.

"More importantly..." He started, voice dropping in pitch.

"...at the moment of Immortal Ascension, such a person will face less than half the difficulty of others. Tribulation lightning, soul fragmentation, law rejection... all of it becomes easier to endure, because their soul has already been acknowledged by the underlying structure of Heaven and Earth."

He swept his gaze across the sea of faces.

"Rainbow-Grade Soul Talent is also called Immortal Soul Talent. Historically, those who possessed it either died prematurely under the weight of their own karma... or stepped into immortality and did not fall."

He tilted his head slightly, smile widening.

"In other words, barring accidents, you are looking at a future immortal."

Ming Yue receded his aura and sat down, his eyes now firmly on Li Ling as if he was looking at a treasure which had immeasurable value. Due to this, the people in the arena were now free to move and talk, and naturally, the entire place exploded with chatter!

Path Saint Wang Kuangnu felt her heart skip a beat. "Since the founding of the sect... has there ever been...?"

"No wonder the upper sect nearly went crazy..." Path Saint Hei An murmured with understanding.

Meanwhile the Core Disciples who knew Li ling was about to join them were buzzing with shock.

"Future immortal...? That means... that means he’s not just better than us now... he’ll always be better..."

"I was still thinking we might catch up in the upper realms! Forget it, forget it..."

On the stage, the competitors’ reactions were written clearly on their faces.

Hu Lili’s jaw dropped as she scratched her head in mild confusion, her charming tigress-like eyes wide, then grinned suddenly, excitement overriding confusion.

"Future immortal, huh? Then if I beat him up even once, I can brag about it for life!" She thought, fists clenching eagerly.

Shi Gaolin’s expression tightened, then slowly relaxed into a wry smile as he exhaled through his nose.

"So that’s the gap... yellow to rainbow. I’m not delusional enough to think I can bridge that,." He admitted inwardly.

Yet his eyes shone with determination. "But a man still has to walk as far as he can, even if he knows where the road ends."

Wang Feng’s face twisted, red eyes burning fiercely. For a moment, unwillingness flared so intensely within him that it almost bordered on madness.

"Future immortal? Future dog’s fart!!" He roared in his heart.

"So what if you become immortal? I’ll carve my way upward and hunt you there too. A stronger prey is only more worth killing."

Then, slowly, his lips curled into a savage grin. "But... I’ll start with the tournament."

Shen Jian’s handsome face had gone pale while his arrogant tilt collapsed, replaced by an expression of helpless awe.

"Rainbow... Immortal... and that’s our clan’s... Patriarch..." He thought weakly.

For the first time, the arrogant young man who had no peers growing up truly understood the gulf between ’genius’ and ’monster’.

"...No wonder Aunt Ziyan submitted. There’s no shame in bowing to a future immortal." He thought to himself as a strange mix of reverence and frustration churned in his chest.

Bei Dongshi’s blindfold hid his eyes, but his fingers tightened minutely at his sides.

"So the heavens have chosen their calamity for this era," He mused silently, seeing fate lines and karma threads that were black as death springing out of Li Ling, with only a few maintaining normal color.

In other words, everyone Li Ling would meet and interact with, minus a few special people, would be killed without question.

’Truly a calamity of disastrous proportions...’ Bei Dongshi thought to himself with an exhale.

Bai Yegui’s reaction was the most complex of all.

He stared up at the rainbow column, then at Li Ling’s back. His mouth opened, then closed, then pressed into a thin line.

As his cold and semi-inhuman heart pounded, his mind spun with memories of their first battle, specifically the clash of Blood Aura and Yin Power, the collision of two perfection stage daoist arts at the second realm, and especially the exhilaration of fighting someone who truly matched him and even surpassed him somewhat.

"To think... I was proud of being your equal back then. All this time, I was trying to catch up to your shadow, and you were still wearing weights." He thought bitterly, a desolate feeling in his heart.

Cao Xian, standing off to the side with her orange color still in her mind, felt her mother’s carefully laid plans twist sharply. Her face went through several expressions in quick succession: shock, indignation, despair... then a slow yet strangely serene acceptance.

"So that’s what you are, huh? Not just a potential patron or partner, but a ticket to the upper realm itself." She thought, eyes half-lidded as she watched Li Ling’s profile.

She smiled faintly. "In that case, Mom was right to throw our lot in with you. That was probably the smartest thing we’ve ever done."

Throughout all of this, Li Ling stood with his palm still resting on the orb, bathed in rainbow light, yet his expression barely changed.

He slowly withdrew his hand and the rainbow radiance lingered for a few second, then thinned as it drew back into the orb until only a faint multicolored glow remained deep within it, like a distant memory of what had just occurred.

Li Ling glanced at the artifact for a moment, then turned away, heading back toward his area on the grounds as if nothing special had happened.

Inside, his thoughts were fully of speculation and wonder through.

"Tsk, so my soul talent is immortal level now, is it? Not that surprising, if I think about it." He mused.

He remembered the moment the Blessed Augury had reached Perfection, his soul being raised to a new lever as he detected his spiritual space for the first time - and ahead of time given his realm - along with a fully built Purple Mansion as if he was at the peak of Dao integration.

He also remembered the Dao Soldier Technique, which was even more exaggerated and granted him the ability to perfectly control his own soul and the souls of others, turning them into perfect slaves with an imprint of his choice.

"Blessed Augury at Perfection, Dao Soldier Technique... and all the little soul optimizations the Infinite Slaughter System has done in the background like the Memory Extraction Archive." Li Ling pondered with a titled head.

"Indeed, there was no way the orb was measuring a ’normal’ mortal soul." He thought with amusement, a smile forming on his lips.

He sat down again, knuckles placed against his cheek.

On the stage, the Divine Deva Overseer took a long steadying breath since his heart was still hammering from what he’d just witnessed, but he forced his Soul Power to circulate, smoothing his expression.

"The Test of the Soul... has concluded!" He announced, voice echoing across the arena.

"Your soul talents have been recorded. Combined with the previous tests, your total points will be updated."

A new wave of fluctuating light ran across the ranking monument that was placed for those from the Seven Sins Demonic Sect, the total scores shifting while positions rose and fell rapidly.

As usual, the name Li Ling at the very top simply widened the gap once more, the difference now so absurd that most competitors didn’t even bother looking at it.

"As a reminder for you competitors, there are still two tests left and the fourth test shall now begin!" the Divine Deva Overseer continued grandly, waving a hand as the arena shifted.

The central pedestal sank into the floor, the Pure Soul Orb vanishing from sight. New lines of formation light shone across the stage, weaving complex patterns that pulsed with a darker and slightly oppressive aura.

A faint mist began to rise, not water vapor, but of pure spiritual energy that was tinged with a strange illusory hue.

"The fourth test is the Test of the Dao Heart!" The Divine Deva Overseer declared, his eyes sweeping over the gathered competitors.

He paused, letting the words sink in.

"You will each be drawn into an illusion formed by the sect’s main Dao Heart formation. In that realm, you will lose your memory and be subjected to a very difficulty test where you must prove your dedicated to your deepest held beliefs."

The Divine Deva Overseer sighed. "For righteous cultivators, such a test is meant to see whether their hearts can remain clear and untainted."

He smiled faintly, and this time there was a hint of amusement to it.

"But for us, as demonic cultivators, the test is different. It will not judge whether your hearts are ’pure’ or ’kind’... but whether your Demonic Dao Hearts are firm enough to withstand the judgment of the weak, the cries of morality and the temptation of order."

His gaze turned cold. "Regardless of demonic or righteous, if your Dao Heart wavers, your realm will shake. If it cracks, you may fall in cultivation. If it shatters... you may never wake up."

A hush fell upon the competitors, this one tinged with a hint of fear that even the named talents could not shake.

"Enter the formation all at once and let your essence be weighed!" The Divine Deva Overseer commanded, gesturing to the misty arena.