No matter what they did, the group was barred from entering. Only Chumo himself, the one with an invitation, was allowed entry. Hence, he decided not to enter the place just yet.
Emery watched as his three friends tried to find a way to enter. Julian talked about how he came from far across Rome to be here, Thrax tried to intimidate the monk by showing off his strength, while Klea proved she was the queen of Egypt herself.
But the monk did not budge and he kept repeating the same thing. With a smile and a bow, the monk defied their requests.
When they were about to try that again, they felt another group approaching the gate to gain entry, hence they decided to step away.
It was a group of people wearing clothes made of goat furs lined with soft, silky fabric. They all carried weapons made of stone, but the only one who entered was an old woman in colorful robes. Julian's eyes perked up in recognition. "Oh, it's the balkan shamans."
Chumo looked at her intently before adding. "She's a rank 5. Pretty decent."
Not long after that, a big group walking close to each other came. They wore silk dresses and robes in all white. This time, it was Chumo who recognized them.
"They are the Han's scholars." Chumo muttered.
The reason Chumo knew them so well was not just because the Hans are the biggest power across Asia, but also because his kingdom was constantly attacked and invaded by the Hans.
Although they all wore delicate silk robes, a thin, long sword rested on the side of their waist, a sure sign that they were a group of swordsmen. The leader of the group talked to the monk, before parting and revealing two people.
One man and one woman wearing white silk robes entered the place, but no one could see their face, as they wore an opaque veil.
"They are very strong, both at the peak of rank 6. I can see why they say the Hans are the usual winner of this ritual."
Just like before, the rest of the Han's group went to sit in the fields. All two dozens of their group were all having high spirit force.
"Even the entourage were all at least rank 4 cultivators. The Hans are at a very different level."
Not long afterwards, another group came and Emery looked at them in surprise. The group consisted mostly of silver knights bearing an emblem he could recognize, the symbol of Iceni Kingdom. They were led by a man in his forties.
With the help of his enhanced hearing, Emery picked up the name of the leader, Frayne.
He recognized that name as one of the wizards Gaious once talked about. He was the youngest among the four known wizards of Briton. The fact this wizard came all the way here from Briton was a surprise for Emery.
"Do you know him, Emery? He's rank 5," Chumo said.
"Well, he's from my island, but no, not really."
More and more groups came and, as usual, one or two would enter the premises while the others sat on the field. Emery followed suit to not stand out, but he started to wonder why all these people would sit on the field like this.
Just when he was thinking more about the reason, he heard the sharp sound of a gong being hit. The sound reverberated throughout the whole temple and everyone who sat on the field were suddenly sweating. They all closed their eyes in full concentration.
Within seconds, Emery realized what happened. In time with the gong's chimes, he could feel strong energy pouring out from within the gate, followed by an echo of mystical chanting that could be heard throughout the temple complex.
The chanting continued in time with the beats and created a gentle flow of energy, but still strong enough to let the group feel its pressure.
The energy pressure quickly shocked the group and they activated their spirit reading to try and sense the source from behind the gate. However, none of them was able to obtain an accurate reading. Not Emery with his maxed spirit force, Klea with her S-rank aptitude and talent, or even Chumo with his newly acquired ability, [Eye of the Raven].
"A magus? Here on our planet?" Klea whispered and Emery could only nod in response. Although that answer would just add more questions that were the only thing they could come up with.
Luckily, although the flowing energy and the chant were strong, it was harmless and soothed their spiritual core.
The group sat in a lotus formation and concentrated on the chant, following the other people there. The combination of the rhythmic sounds and chants made them feel as if they were inside the stone origin room back in the academy; except, instead of a stone, each time the gong was hit, they felt their spirit core thrum in time with it, and with each beat, the feeling of power flowing all around them only became stronger.
The chanting went on for two hours, but at that short span of time, everyone could feel an increase in their cultivation level, especially Klea and Chumo who just received one point increase in their spirit force. Meanwhile, Emery, Thrax and Julian stayed at the same level, as they were waiting for a breakthrough.
When the chanting was over, Emery saw all the people who were sitting on the field open their eyes from their meditation, each of them satisfied with what they had just experienced. Perhaps, this was the reason why all the visitors and the monks here had a high amount of spirit force and why everyone stayed despite not having a chance to obtain the holy fruit.
The group was prepared to go in and see for themselves what was happening inside. If they were still rejected, Emery was prepared to open his [Spatial Gate] and sneak everyone in. But, when they approached the gate, the gate swung open and a little monk, a boy that looked no more than 10 years old, came out accompanied by two guarding monks.
Right after he walked out, his eyes landed on them. The boy's eyes looked deep despite his age, as if telling the world that he had seen a lot during his short life.
"Dear visitors, you are all allowed to enter. The Abbot has been waiting for you."
The door was finally open for them.
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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v..e.l,