Victor and Seraphina were following Max closely as horde of monsters kept coming at them. All the other geniuses were also barely standing against the sudden horde of monsters. If not for the golden crowned geniuses taking the lead to eliminate most of the powerful monsters, most if not all the geniuses would have died here.

Max glanced forward, his Three Dimensional Body sensing something "Be ready," he said quietly. "Something's coming."

Before Victor or Seraphina could ask what he meant, the earth cracked open. Then, all at once, it began.

From every direction—above, below, and across the ridges—monsters poured forth like a living tide. There were thousands of them, perhaps tens of thousands, each radiating a sinister aura thick enough to darken the sky.

Their shapes were diverse and nightmarish: beasts of molten fire that left burning trails behind their steps, creatures of jagged ice whose bodies glimmered like glass, and twisted abominations of shadow whose eyes glowed red with hunger.

The ground quaked beneath their collective roar.

"It's a horde!" Victor shouted, his expression darkening as he unsheathed his azure spear.

Seraphina's grip tightened on her sword, her crimson aura flaring into life around her. "They're everywhere! This energy… it's like they were waiting for us!"

Max's gaze swept over the battlefield, his eyes narrowing slightly. "They were," he said calmly. "This isn't a random attack. It's the final test before the core region."

It made sense. The Heavenly Lord's Secret Domain was a creation of unfathomable intelligence, every trial structured with purpose.

These monsters were not wild creatures. They were guardians, programmed to cull the weak—to make sure only those capable of surviving absolute chaos could reach the Divine Platform that awaited in the core region.

And now, they were doing their duty.

The horde moved as one, crashing forward in a storm of claws and teeth. The geniuses scattered across the battlefield unleashed everything they had. Firestorms erupted, blades of light sliced through the air, and waves of elemental energy clashed violently.

The ground split apart under the intensity of the battle. Mountains cracked, and rivers of molten rock burst from the fissures, flooding the battlefield in searing waves. Screams filled the air as geniuses were torn apart, crushed, or frozen alive.

Max moved through the chaos like a blade through water. His sword flashed once, and a line of monsters collapsed instantly, their bodies turning to dust. The air around him rippled as he combined his 4th level Concept of Space with the 4th level Concept of Flames and 4th level Concept of Ice, turning the battlefield into a storm of devouring fire and freezing wind.

Each swing of his sword opened rifts that swallowed monsters whole. His black flames devoured everything they touched, leaving only ash, while the white frost from his new comprehension froze even light itself for an instant.

Behind him, Victor fought valiantly, his Azure Dragon Bloodline releasing waves of azure fire and lightning that crushed entire groups of monsters at once. But even he was panting, his energy rapidly draining under the relentless assault.

Seraphina's aura flickered with exhaustion as she burned through her energy to keep up, her crimson sword slicing through the swarm but never thinning it enough.

"This is endless!" Victor shouted, gritting his teeth as he speared another beast through the chest.

"It's not meant to end easily," Max replied, his tone even despite the chaos. "It's meant to decide who gets to enter." From the map Giant Dwarves had given him, he could tell that this beast horde was meant to eliminate at least half of the geniuses here before they could make it to the core region.

The reason? It was to filter out weak ones from the strong ones. Only the strong geniuses were allowed to enter the core region.

It was a cruel method but a very good one to filter out weak ones from the strong.

One by one, geniuses fell. Some were ripped apart, others buried beneath collapsing earth, and a few tried to retreat only to be surrounded and devoured by the monsters. The air was filled with the scent of blood and scorched energy.

But amid the slaughter, something began to shift.

After what felt like hours, the number of surviving geniuses dwindled drastically. From thousands, only a few hundred remained, and among them were the strongest—those wearing golden crowns, their power surpassing all others.

Then, as if a signal had been given, the monsters began to slow. Their roars softened into low growls. Their movements lost the frantic aggression that had driven them moments before.

The survivors froze, weapons still raised. Even Victor and Seraphina stopped fighting, their bodies trembling from exhaustion. The horde stood silently before them, filling the horizon like a sea of living death. For a moment, it felt as though another wave was coming.

Then, without warning, the monsters turned away.

The ground trembled one final time as the beasts retreated, sinking back into the shadows of the earth and the mists from which they had emerged. Within moments, the battlefield fell completely silent. The stench of blood lingered in the air, but the overwhelming pressure was gone.

"They're… gone?" Seraphina said in disbelief, her sword lowering slightly.

Victor exhaled heavily, falling to one knee. "They just stopped. What was that supposed to be?"

Max looked around the devastated landscape—the cracked plains, the corpses of beasts and humans alike, the fading heat and frost from the battle.

His expression was calm, but his eyes were sharp. "It was judgment," he said quietly. "The secret domain was testing who deserves to move forward. Those who survived were chosen. The rest… were never meant to reach the core region."

As if responding to his words, the mist ahead began to shimmer. The faint outline of a barrier appeared, glowing faintly with golden light. The air within it pulsed with energy so intense that even from a distance, it made their hearts tremble.

"That must be the entrance," Victor said weakly.

Max nodded. "Yes. The core region."

He turned back briefly, his eyes lingering on the bodies of those who had fallen. It wasn't pity he felt, but acknowledgment. Every one of them had been a genius in their own right. They had simply reached their limits.

The Heavenly Lord's Secret Domain demanded more than talent. It demanded survival.

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