However, everybody understood that to become a strong cultivator, one couldn't be merciful.
Emperor Shi and Emperor Yu's first recruitment process was extremely important. Mu Chen was the emperors' direct disciple, so if he did anything good for the candidates, it also had to be in accordance with the objectives set in the frame for the recruitment process.
Therefore, when Mu Chen said he was taking them to a nice place, only few people felt relaxed. A vast majority of them were actually getting ready to fight, getting ready to fight for a palace that is.
Mu Chen took the candidates to a palace that was different from the one Hou Qing Lin had taken them. The palace looked like an illusion and contained a particular energy.
"Inside, the oppressive strength is going to crush your bodies. It's similar to the energies which were used on the flight of stairs. It's not entirely the same though, inside, the lights will take you to different places." said Mu Chen smiling. Everybody was wondering what it was, was it a deployment spell? Different lights, different places?
"If you want to become imperial cultivation disciples and obtain one of the 81 palaces, you must enter. Going inside that palace can be beneficial or fatal. Now, you can decide whether you want to take the risk or call it quits. If you decide to give up now, you can still stay in Tiantai and practice cultivation for a hundred days and you'll have the opportunity to apply as a second-batch student."
That was a nice place according to Mu Chen…?
"I'll repeat, you can choose what you want to do now, you can give up or you can put your life in the hands of fate!" said Mu Chen.
"As a cultivator, I fear nothing!" said someone and then immediately jumped into the lights. The energies were oppressive.
"Boom!" He released pure Qi, but the energies kept oppressing him. It seemed like he was going to suffocate. The energies were even more oppressive than the staircase from the first exam.
"Bzzz!" A terrifying sound invaded the atmosphere and that candidate disappeared.
"He's right. Cultivators are fearless!" said someone else who then jumped in. Many people followed. The same thing was happening to all of them. The pressure seemed very high and then they slowly disappeared.
Lin Feng didn't move. He slowly sensed that oppressive energy and frowned.
Lin Feng had the sensation that the intensity of the energy was different from one moment to another. There was a pattern. The more a cultivator could the oppressive energies, the more oppressive the energies became.
"Mu Chen said that those lights could take us to different places, I suppose the opportunities will be different depending on how long we can stay in those lights." thought Lin Feng. He then said to Qiu Yue Xin, "Yue Xin, when you're inside, try to endure the lights as long as you can until you absolutely can't stand it anymore."
"Alright!" said Qiu Yue Xin nodding. She looked like an obedient child.
Lin Feng walked into the lights and in a flash, a terrifying energy oppressed his body. That energy was terrifying. No wonder so many people couldn't endure it for that long.
Xuan Yuan followed Lin Feng into the lights. He wanted to try competing with Lin Feng again.
Inside the illusion, Lin Feng had defeated him and killed him. Xuan Yuan had to gain back his reputation. Otherwise, he would never gain back his self-confidence.
Lin Feng didn't mind. Lin Feng had already humiliated the Yang siblings and Xuan Yuan. He had his revenge. The most important thing now was to become the emperors' disciple and rank as high as he could in the competition. After becoming an imperial cultivation disciple, all those people who wanted to kill him wouldn't be able to anymore, at least, he would be safe in Tiantai.
The energies became even more oppressive, but Lin Feng looked relaxed. That wasn't difficult for him after having practiced in the magical flight of stairs.
More and more people ran into the lights. Some people used their own strength to endure the pressure longer. Most people were convinced that the longer they could stay inside, the better. Otherwise, after the flight of stairs, why would Mu Chen bring them there?
"Bzzz… bzzz… bzzz…"
Many people disappeared.
Those who could endure the pressure were less numerous. The energies were becoming even more oppressive by now.
Lin Feng sensed the fifth wave of energy coming and it was very intense.
He circulated his blood strength throughout his body and closed his eyes. It seemed like he wanted to fuse together with those energies and with the natural force of the Earth and sky.
"In the flight of stairs, the energies could propel people away. This energy is different, the pressure is downwards, as if one had something heavy on their back. It continues to get heavier until you teleport." thought Lin Feng calmly. At that moment, the pressure was extremely intense. Lin Feng continued condensing energies, if the oppressive energies suddenly disappeared, his own energies would propel him to the clouds.
"Maybe the places we're being sent are up in the sky." thought Lin Feng. He opened his eyes and raised his head. Everybody had first moved up before disappearing.
No matter what, Lin Feng wasn't going to give up. The energies were powerful, but at least they were useful to practice cultivation under. Lin Feng was fearless. He didn't mind suffering to become stronger.
Everybody disappeared and in the end, only Xuan Yuan and Lin Feng were left.
Mu Chen looked at Lin Feng and smiled when he saw how perseverant he was. That was interesting.
"I hope you'll become stronger, little boy. Our master sent my fellow disciple to Gan Yu to singularly find you after all." thought Mu Chen. That was the world of cultivation. They didn't mind most things. Even though their teacher attached such importance to Lin Feng, if he couldn't persevere, then he was worthless. He had to be determined to remain interesting. Nobody was willing to waste time on an unmotivated or ungrateful student. Only if Lin Feng took great efforts, would the emperor would respect him.