Shocked gasps echoed throughout the crowd at the revealing of John's score. John stared at the number in slight surprise as well. Due to his middle Mist Creation cultivation, he had expected to score much lower, and was certain he would come in dead last, but much to his surprise, he had scored above some of the late Mist Creation cultivators. Although he was still in the bottom five, it was still extremely impressive.
"What the fuck? How did this rat score so high?"
"I know, it makes no sense. How is he so strong at middle Mist Creation?"
The Crimson Valley Sect group had been watching with anticipation, and were looking forward to the moment that John scored incredibly low and embarrassed himself, but much to their surprise, John had scored three hundred and fifty. Although it was still low to the point that he had no chance of qualifying in their eyes, John had successfully shut up the crowd into thinking he was a dumb fool. His score showed that even if he was outmatched at this tournament, he was a cultivation genius nonetheless.
Many similar discussions broke out in the crowd regarding John's surprising score. In the stands, loud laughter could be heard coming from Barden Fenix.
"That's my son for you. Good Job John." Barden had expected John to score much lower, but he wasn't worried about that. He knew most of John's strength came from his body, and was sure that John would do fine in the tournament. However, he was completely shocked to find out that John was able to score above even some of the late Mist Creation realm cultivators.
"It seems like my son is even more of a genius than I thought." Barden couldn't help but be proud of John.
"Agreed." Cade Fenix nodded his head at his son's words. "It seems like John is much more of a genius than we expected. These Qi Formation tablets measure peak Qi output. Typically, Qi power at least doubles when advancing a minor realm, so that means that John would score over seven hundred as soon as he advances to late Mist Creation, and score even higher as he advances through the realm. Most middle Mist Creation cultivators score between one to two hundred on these tests. An absolute genius indeed."
Cade Fenix was quite happy to see John's accomplishment. For each realm in cultivation, everyone on the same level would have the same Qi essence in terms of quality and potency. The only difference was quantity, and the more a person was a genius, the more sturdy they could establish their cultivation foundation and the higher that quantity of Qi would be. Higher quantity of Qi allowed a cultivator to fight at a higher level of power than others, and for longer as well. These two advantages were invaluable when it came to battles.
Although in Cade's eyes it still wasn't nearly enough to place well in the tournament, this number of John's alone brought great pride to the Fenix Clan. John would surely be another Parker Fenix in the future.
Cade Fenix looked over towards Warren Gildar with a gloating expression, and was quite happy to see Warren with a sour look on his face. Warren noticed Cade's gaze, but decided to say nothing.
Warren turned to one of the elder's sitting at his side and whispered, "It seems like this boy is someone we will have to keep our eyes on regarding our future plans."
The Elder nodded in agreement as a slightly murderous light appeared in his eyes.
Back on the stage, John was still standing in front of the tablet in a daze.
'I had thought only my body dantian and body was impressive, but it seems even my own essence dantian is much stronger than I thought it was compared to others. I wonder why it's so strong.'
John wracked his head for ideas to explain this, but was unable to come up with any. As far as he knew, none of the cultivation aids inside the palace increased his essence dantian power. The holy gate tempered his soul, and the sinister gate tempered his will. The Immortal Asura Body only focused on his body dantian and body itself, and so John was unsure of why his essence dantian was this powerful.
'Who knows. Maybe I'm also a naturally gifted essence cultivator.'
John couldn't think of any particular reason and so assumed that it might be a naturally occurring thing. Cultivators were born with different talent levels, and two cultivators putting in the exact same effort could end up with drastically different results based on their natural talent.
"Well done."
Waylon Varis finally spoke up after regaining his wits. He smiled at John and nodded his head in approval.
"It seems like Miko will have to try hard to keep you from catching up to him," Waylon said with a chuckle.
John thanked Waylon for the compliment and walked back to his group. While his group had been embarrassed when he had initially stepped up, they felt quite refreshed having gained back some pride in this situation. Ryan was laughing loudly as he patted John on the back.
"Good job. You silenced those fools quite nicely."
John was just about to reply when a voice came from the Crimson Valley Sect.
"Pfft, who cares. Even if he is a genius at the middle Mist Creation realm, he still is almost in last place. His only hope in this tournament is to be someone's punching bag."
"Exactly, he acts so proud, but he's still a fool for joining this tournament."
The Crimson Valley Sect group had been silent for some time, but finally managed to regain their composure and arrogant attitudes. Although John's performance was impressive, it was still a far cry from what would be needed to qualify for the pocket realm.
Ryan was just about to respond back when Waylon Varis spoke up.
"Ok, we still have more people to test. The rest of the Fenix Clan, please step up to get tested."
The rest of the Fenix Clan was then tested, but none of them stood out in particular.
"Lastly, the Crimson Valley Sect, please step up and get tested."
The Crimson Valley Sect started getting tested, and posted results above any of the other powers. They had five cultivators score above six hundred, which was the most of any group so far by quite a lot. The last one to get tested was a young boy who appeared to be around thirteen years old. He had long black hair that flowed down to his shoulders, and was quite handsome for his age, but his face and eyes contained a look of pure arrogance and disdain to all those around him.
The boy started to walk up to the platform, and both Waylon Varis and Cade Fenix narrowed their eyes at the sight of the boy. Waylon Varis stayed quiet, but Cade Fenix was unable to contain his words.
"Warren, what's the meaning of this. How come I have never seen or heard anything of this boy? Just like Jason, he's another unknown that you've suddenly brought up for this tournament. Where did these two come from?"
All of the five clans had spies placed in or around each other power to gather information. Through this, each clan and sect was quite aware of all the juniors in each power, their names, cultivation level, and talent level. The first anomaly that the Crimson Valley Sect produced was Jason, who popped up without anyone knowing of his existence. Not only that, but the talent and power he showed at the Qi Condensation tournament was beyond anyone else.
Now the Crimson Valley Sect showed off this boy as well. Although he hadn't tested yet, the powerful cultivators in the crowd could instantly tell that this boy was anything but ordinary. Such a junior would have been next to impossible to hide for thirteen years from the other powers, but the Crimson Valley Sect had managed to do so somehow.
Warren Gildar started laughing quite loudly before he responded. "I have no idea what you mean. We aren't planning anything. We have just kept both Jason and Dylan a secret until the pocket realm is about to open."
"Nobody would believe such nonsense," Cade Fenix vehemently rebuked. "Not only have you managed to keep them a secret somehow, but both of them are clearly talents beyond what your sect is capable of producing. What exactly is going on."
Jason was fourteen years old, was already at the early Qi Condensation Realm, and had shocking combat prowess to back it up. Now, this Dylan was another anomaly like Jason.
"Don't be blinded by jealousy just because our sect produced two heavenly geniuses and your clan didn't." Warren responded with an arrogant smile.
"Alright, alright, let's proceed with the test." Waylon Varis spoke up and squashed the arguing between the two leaders. Although he too was curious regarding this boy, he knew Warren Gildar would never reveal anything, and so bringing it up was useless.
Dylan walked to the stone tablet with a slight smile and placed his hand on the central circle. Soon after, brilliant blue lights emanated from the tablet before they eventually died down. The crowd held its breath as it expectantly waited for his score.
"Seven Hundred."