Ye Tian saw everyone rushing towards the Palace of Knowledge, but waited a bit. In the midst of the chaotic situation, he saw that the Golden Heaven Daoist, Dwarf King and Dark Abyss Sect Master didn't move at all. And it wasn't for nothing, the answer would be laid right before their eyes in a few moments.
His black-colored, abyss-like eyes seemed to shine with many colors, as if the mysteries of Heavenly Dao were contained in an untouchable abyss, 'So that's how it is...'
Chaos Heaven Body, after perfected, had many wonderful mysteries to be unconvered. Nothing could be hidden from his eyes, no existence could hide themselves from the [Eyes of Chaos]. His lips curled up, and so he waited as the countless cultivators rushed towards the entrance of the Palace of Knowledge.
Just as the first cultivator stepped in the entrance, something happened... Skeletons with the commonly seen daoist robe and different weapons suddenly appeared, ''Those who try to desecrate the Palace of Knowledge may die!''
Each and every Skeleton exuded the aura of Returning Core Realm, from 'Low' to 'Peak'. As one of them slashed with its sword, a crescent-shaped light shot out, killing the poor cultivator of the Spirit Harmony Realm. There weren't many skeletons, but many cultivators widened their eyes, warily looking at them from outside, ''Oh, Heavens! Isn't that the Wu Xue who fell when he was trying to breakthrough to Ethereal Life Realm?''
After the cultivators in the scene looked closely, they noticed that many of the Skeletons here were powerful cultivators that died in the Heavenly Tribulation of Returning Core Realm or even Ethereal Life Realm.
Ethan could, indeed, create Skeletons with powerful strength by using the Spiritual Energy stored with Heavenly Dao or even with his own Omnipotence in the World of Origin. However, doing so would be an extreme waste of precious, extremely pure Spiritual Energy, and it would also have serious side-effects to his body once he leaves the World of Origin.
So he simply collected the bodies of those who tried to breakthrough and died to the Heavenly Tribulation, preserving their skeletons and some memories. Ethan's intention was to make the cultivators feel awe towards the Palace of Knowledge, even cultivators at the Ascending Decay Realm wouldn't be able to recover a body from the Heavenly Tribulation, after all!
And such effect was achieved, Lu Zun, Dwarf King, Dark Abyss Sect Master and all cultivators at the scene fell in silence, the previous chaotic situation calmed down. However, the Dragon King broke the silence and sneered, ''Losers of their era dare to stop my way? They weren't my opponent when they were alive, not to mention now!''
A wavy, fiery aura shot from the Dragon King, his eyes and horn glowing in a menacing crimson glow. Following his words, many weak and strong cultivators alike looked at the Skeletons, just like a tiger would glare at its prey. It was of no surprise that while quite a few cultivators were killed by the Skeletons, they passed the first test, ''The entrance of the Palace is right before our eyes!''
This time, even Lu Zun, Dwarf King and Dark Abyss Sect Master entered the Palace. Ye Tian had hidden himself in the crowd, he didn't fight the Skeletons at all, 'A bit despicable, yes. However, I won't be tiring myself for such a simple test.'
Just as Ye Tian passed through the entrance, he felt the scene changing. The entrance turned to be a Transmission Gate, and every cultivator was teleported randomly, 'It seems that my luck is good as always. There is no cultivator nearby, I just wonder where I was teleported...'
He scanned the area warily, Ye Tian was very cautious by nature. The cruelty of the cultivation world was seen by his very own eyes in the ten years he was experiencing the world, 'Huh? There is a room here? It says... Medicine Garden? Heavens, it seems that I wasn't just lucky!'
Quietly, Ye Tian approached the Medicine Garden before pushing the door with all his strength. It was an extremely heavy door, even for a cultivator at the peak of Returning Core Realm like him, ''Holy... cow!''
A huge variety of Spiritual Treasures appeared, but Ye Tian didn't rush to collect it. The whole room was extremely clean, the soil was of high quality, 'There are no traps? Who would be so generous to simply give such a huge gift to cultivators?'
There were also bookshelfs with knowledge about Pill Refining and Spiritual Treasures.
It was a doubt that other six cultivators carefully chosen by Ethan to become the Keepers of Knowledge had. They were all teleported 'randomly' to seven different rooms, while the rest of the cultivators were teleported far from it. Each room was very different, one was about Medicine, other about Forging, and so on.
Each cultivator chosen by Ethan would be holding one of the seven 'main' knowledges of cultivation.
It was unfair, very unfair.
But Ethan didn't care at all, he just cared about the faster development of the World of Origin. His Omniscience had calculated the seven most suitable beings to become the 'Keepers of Knowledge', their futures if the Palace of Knowledge didn't appear, and their futures after the Palace of Knowledge appeared. Everything was taken in consideration.
Variables wouldn't appear, because Ethan simply wouldn't allow one to appear.
Most cultivators, be it from different races or different forces, all agreed on one thing, ''Heavenly Dao is fair. It gives rewards to those who pass its test, and give punishment to those who fail its tests.''
It's just that no cultivator would expect that while Heavenly Dao is fair, its creator wasn't exactly fair.
They didn't expect unfairness to appear. [1]
Seven cultivators, some were at the Returning Core Realm, others at the Ethereal Life Realm. All in all, each of them found their own 'destined' rooms, of course, many cultivators still had their own opportunities in the Palace of Knowledge. Some of the Open Body Realm that were lucky enough to enter the Palace of Knowledge were able to directly breakthrough to the Spirit Harmony Realm!
Some found a hidden cultivation technique that would allow them to quickly rise in power. Some found Spiritual Treasures.
It was a day that many cultivators died at the hands of Skeletons or other cultivators, but also a day that many cultivators found huge opportunities. Even if in the future, tombs of powerful cultivators at the Ascending Decay realm appears, any cultivator would remember the distant past and sigh, ''It's a pity that I wasn't born when the Palace of Knowledge appeared...''
The wonders and horrors found at the Palace of Knowledge were enough for it to be crowned as the biggest opportunity seen in Mortal and Immortal Realms!
...
The way of the seven cultivators chosen by Ethan was surprisingly smooth, they all thought that their luck was extremely good at this day. In such a 'coincidence', they arrived at a room in the very center of the Palace of Knowledge, but it wasn't named like the previous rooms at all.
They looked at each other warily, the first one to talk was Lu Zun, ''I didn't think someone else would also think of going to the center of this place...''
His golden-colored eyes seemed to glow slightly, a huge pressure descending on the other cultivators, but one of them was unaffected by his pressure, and it was the Dark Abyss Sect Master, ''Golden Heaven Daoist, there is no need for you to act like this... You wouldn't want a fight to happen between us, would you?''
Ye Tian, also at the scene, let out a relieved breath as the pressure disappeared. He looked around cautiously, 'Di Qian, Luo Ye, Gu Meng, Hei Gou, Lu Zun and Dark Abyss Sect Master...'
From the six cultivators besides him, two of them were from different races. Hei Gou is a Spirit Beast with the Heaven-Devourer Dog bloodline and Di Qian is from the Dwarf Race. Lu Zun, Luo Ye, Gu Meng and the Dark Abyss Sect Master are humans.
Dark Abyss Sect Master's name is a mystery to him, though. Nobody knows her true name, 'Luo Ye and Gu Meng are powerful figures in the Returning Core Realm, same goes to Hei Gou and Di Qian. However, I'm confident that if a cultivator at the Ethereal Life Realm doesn't shoot, I'm invincible!'
''Dark Abyss Sect Master, the cultivation world wasn't made for the weak. You know it as much as I do.'' Lu Zun said as he stared at the woman who relieved the pressure on the weaker cultivators, and so he increased the pressure.
However, the Dark Abyss Sect Master stared at him calmly, as if such a pressure was nothing, ''Oh, please... You don't need to put such a show, you're a battle maniac that likes to fight people stronger than you. It's just that now, there is no one above you in strength, why must you put pressure in the younger ones?''
Hearing her words, Lu Zun sighed lightly...
It was true, but he had a hunch that this nameless room held the biggest secret of the Palace of Knowledge. The truth was that Lu Zun was worried that these talented youngsters at the Returning Core Realm would die, 'I don't want youngsters with potential to become my opponents to die, after all...'
Suddenly, a voice was heard by the seven cultivators in front of the room as its door opened, ''Destined ones, may you enter the room. You, seeking the purest kind of knowledge, are destined to hold the power known as Knowledge.''
The voice was extremely gentle, and the seven cultivators at the scene looked at each other before entering the room.
Note [1]: This is a reference to the synopsis and also a reference to 'Chapter 1: The Farm'.
