On the morning of two days later, on island eighty-six.

A large pavilion was placed in a remote location, outside the city of the island, near the shore.

The purple light radiated by the exoskeleton of the coral gave a mesmerizing appearance to the scenery and lines of youths could be seen waiting for their chance to enter the building.

'There are mostly kids who have just grown a dantian but there is some experienced cultivator. I wonder if the sect will leave a few spots for people like me.'

Noah was in line, waiting for his turn to enter the pavilion.

That building was the place where the first test of the Flowing river sect would occur, the rumors of the crowd around him spoke about some kind of examination that would identify the attitude of the applicants.

'My attitude shouldn't be a problem, I don't think that someone more diligent than me exists. The only problem is my past, I don't know if they will accept me once they make some investigation.'

Noah could clearly hear the many voices of the youths in line and was already pondering about the events that would follow the entrance test.

It couldn't be helped, Noah was confident in his ability, it was impossible to find another cultivator that matched his achievements at such a young age.

Noah wasn't even twenty-four but he was already a rank 3 mage and a rank 2 cultivator in the solid stage!

His body had also entered in the heroic ranks a long time ago, such feats were unthinkable when considering his age.

'The Flowing river sect in the archipelago is just a branch of the sect in the continent, it's the perfect opportunity to reach the Papral nation.'

Noah had bought information about the sect as soon as he learned about the entrance test, it was needless to say that it had cost him quite a sum.

Knowledge was precious, specific information about certain organizations would be pricier than maps.

Yet, using that service had confirmed Noah's hopes, leading him to participate in the entrance test.

The line moved quickly, twenty persons would enter the pavilion each time and exit it in ten minutes.

Considering that there were only a few hundred applicants, Noah's turn came quite soon.

The green curtains of the pavilion opened, allowing Noah and nineteen youths inside.

Noah was the oldest of the group, the others were all rank 1 cultivators in the gaseous stage, basically newbies of the cultivation journey.

"This is just the first skimming of the entrance test, we will test your personality and judge if you are a suitable cultivator for our sect."

An elderly man spoke in a calm tone from the other side of the pavilion.

He had a long white beard and white hair combed in a simple bun.

His robe was azure and simple, there wasn't any type of embroidery on it.

Two middle-aged cultivators stood by his side, a man and a woman who dressed in a similar robe, they seriously stared at the batch of applicants that had crossed the curtains.

'They are all rank 3 cultivators but the old one seems stronger.'

Noah judged quickly before lowering his head, he didn't want to attract their attention that soon.

"We will give you a Mental seed, it's a peculiar type of plant that feeds on mental waves. All you need to do is put it between your eyebrows and let it feed on your thoughts. The plant will flourish in a shape that reflects your attitude, we will then judge it and decide if you can have access to the second test."

The elderly cultivator continued his explanation and waved his sleeve as soon as it finished.

Twenty white seeds flew in the air and landed in twenty different spots over a large mat.

"Take position and begin!"

The woman next to him gave the order, the applicants didn't waste time and chose a random seed as they sat on the mat.

'What an interesting plant, the world is really variegated.'

Noah inspected the seed as he sat in a cross-legged position.

He couldn't find anything strange with the seed, it actually seemed lifeless at his inspection.

Then, he neared it to his face and a small change occurred.

The seed began to emit a suction force that tried to affect his mental sphere.

Of course, it was just a seed, even someone that had still to become a rank 1 mage could oppose that suction force, yet, Noah was still surprised by that behavior.

'It sensed my mind! Maybe I should have studied plants too back in the academy.'

The test of his attitude in the Royal academy had given him only average results in alchemy, making him ignore the course about the magical plants of the world.

Noah then stopped wasting time and placed the seed between his eyebrows.

He didn't resist the suction force, the seed was only so big, those few strands of mental energy that it began to absorb could be refilled in just a few seconds by his mental sphere.

In a few minutes, the seed sprouted, Noah felt that a kind of connection had been created between him and the plant, attaching it to his skin as it continued to grow.

Red branches slowly formed, followed by what seemed a black bud.

The growth continued until the plant reached its limits and the seed detached itself from Noah's face and fell on the mat.

Only then did Noah open his eyes to stare at the result of the process.

He saw a tangle of red branches covered in thorns, they seemed to have been covered in fresh blood for how similar their colors were.

In the middle of that tangle, a black rose had flourished, its exact shape was hidden by the darkness of its color, the light inside the pavilion wasn't able to completely illuminate it.

Noah inspected it and thought that it was extremely beautiful but a halo of sadness seemed to surround its entire form.

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