Although they had decided to separate in two groups, that would be for the time that there aren't enough slots anymore. On the 85th floor, Krune's group was able to find a door with 15 slots, just one more than what they needed. They followed the same plan as before and defended it until the next floor opened.
The situation continued like that until the 90th level. There, Makui Planet's contestants finally found a door with less than 14 slots. Krune and Ao looked at each other and nodded. Krune then said.
"My group has only four members, so I can move much faster than your group. In that case, I will be leaving first to look for another door. We just arrived at the 90th level, and it will take some time before the previous floor slots are totally filled or the time is over."
Just as Krune was about to leave, he warned Ao's group.
"You have more cultivators and demon beasts, so you will probably run out of doors with enough slots soon. You better think about what you are going to do at that point."
Everyone is Ao's group nodded. Joty then told Krune.
"We have decided already. When that time comes, Ao, Arlan, and Yusa will go ahead on their own while the rest of us will form another team. Until now, thanks to the battle formation, we did indeed give some help. But once we divide again, the formation will lose its meaning. At that point, sticking together with them will only dimish their chances of passing the exam. I'm not shameless to do that."
Mari and the others also nodded. They know that it is already a miracle to have reached this far. Krune understood and didn't say anything else. After that, his group departed.
Unfortunately for Ao's team, the second team plan would not go as planned.
After running around, Krune's Divine Sense finally spotted another door that already had a team defending. With Krune's Divine Sense, he could see them, but the other way around didn't work.
"I found a door, but it is still closed. That team can't see us because their Divine Senses can't reach where we are. So we are going to wait for the door to activate and then charge into the slots they're re defending. That team has 10 participants while the door has 12 slots. Lofa and Tasier will take the two free slots while Shinja and I will beat someone of them out of their one. Of course, that is considering that the defending team won't lose to another group."
No one complained about the arrangement. Tasier might be a proud demon beast, but he knows that between the four of them, Krune and Shinja are stronger than him. It's past the point where pride can overcome overall benefits. As for Lofa, she knows her power very well, so this was indeed the best way for her.
During the time that they waited, more teams appeared. In the end, it was as Krune had mentioned. The defending team was scared away, and the doors owners changed to a stronger team. But that didn't matter. The battles for those slots had, in fact, reduced the number of contestants defending it. Now there were three available slots for them. The plan was still the same, with just Krune battling now.
The only issue was that Krune could feel the presence of more contestants in his Divine Sense, and it seemed that they were waiting for the same opportunity. Still, Krune was confident in his team speed, so they should be able to enter a slot before others. Defending is easier than attacking, there is only the need to do that for ten minutes, and the defensor will win. Shinja, Tasier, and Lofa should be more than capable enough to do that. Not to mention that they had already decided to pretend to be weaker than the opponent to buy that necessary time.
Krune kept using his Divine Sense for an instant every few seconds. That way, he didn't have to keep it activated all the time, which would use too much spiritual energy. Around three hours later, the door for the next level started to shine with silver light. The next floor was now open!
Krune, Shinja, and Tasier sped forward, the three of them used the Lightning Element Movement, so they were obviously fast. Krune used his spiritual energy to grab Lofa and push her with him since she isn't specialized with speed.
Not only them but everyone who was waiting for the door to open charged forward as well. They had the same plan as Krune, take a free slot, and defend it for the next 10 minutes. But they were amazed when they noticed Krune's group speed, that was too fast! In the end, other than the team that kept defending, Krune's group was the first one to arrive. But the defense team knew that they couldn't possibly hold everyone back, so they each took a slot as soon as the door activated.
Krune threw Lofa inside of one of the free slots while Shinja and Tasier entered the other two free ones. Krune then immediately charged inside of one of the slots occupied by the enemy. It only took a few moves for Krune to crush his opponent and send him out. The rules say that you need to defend it for ten minutes, but Krune was to the attacker, the ten minutes rule didn't apply to him until he became the defending one.
Everyone saw how a wisp trashed the guy defending that slot and was taken aback. They thought that the wisp was going to take a free slot, and they were all intending to attack Krune first. But not only did he not take an open slot, but he also attacked an occupied one. Not to mention how easily he destroyed the guy inside. Their idea of attacking Krune first had totally left their minds, it was evident that they would be courting death to enter that wisp's slots.
There is also the fact that they saw the other three who came with Krune. If a wisp is already that strong, just how stronger are his companions? Still, there were many more contestants than slots that could be challenged, so they couldn't think much. In the end, other than Krune's, all other slots had been challenged. Still, Shinja and Tasier had no problem in holding back their opponents. They can even defeat them, but they followed the plan and pretended to be at the same level.
Lofa was the only one who was really giving her all to defend. Fortunately, the opponent was at the same level as her, so it was really a stalemate that they achieved. Since Lofa is a lot better at defending, both kept battling during the entire ten minutes. Close to the end, Lofa's opponents used his strongest attack, which consumed a lot of his spiritual energy, to try to take Lofa out. But anyone with half a brain could predict that something like that would probably happen. So Lofa was still able to hold her opponent to the end.
When the ten minutes were over, Krune's group and everyone who had successfully defended for that time were sent to the next floor. From the 12 slots available before, only 8 succeed in defending while the other four had been lost to the challengers. So it will probably take some more time for those four slots winners to be sent over.
Of course, Krune's group didn't care about that. They passed, so that's all that matters. Although the 8 participants appeared in the same place, neither side tried anything with the other. Unless it is a slot competition, fighting would only increase both sides' injuries now. Not to mention that they had seen Krune's group power.
Krune then approached Lofa and helped to recover from her injuries. Fortunately, it wasn't anything serious. Shinja then came close with a serious face.
"Krune, had you notice that there were way too many contestants than the previous floors?"
Krune agreed with Shinja, he also thought it strange.
"Yes, the number competing for the slots was much higher than any of the previous 89 floors."
Tasier then said.
"I think it is quite obvious, we are now inside the 91st level, which means that the last ten floors are now going to be used. If I was the power behind this, I would also increase the difficulty at the end of the test. They probably drastically reduced the number of doors and slots from the 90th to the 91st floor."
Krune, Shinja, and Lofa agreed with Tasier's thought.
"That means that Ao and the others probably got in the same situation as we did. It's just that they were the ones defending."
Either way, Krune's wasn't much worried about Ao, Arlan, or Yusa. If things get out of hand, he was sure that at least the three of them could enter a slot and defend it by themselves.
On Ao's group side, things had turned out as Krune predicted. Although they were able to hold the place until the door activated, right after it happened, lots of contestants charged at them. Ao then immediately gave then an order to enter the slots and try to defend it. There was no way that they could hold so many enemies.
Joty's group understood that as well and didn't complain, they know that the second team plan is over even before starting. They then immediately entered a slot, they might not be able to keep it, but they were determined to try.
Arlan was feeling troubled, though. His fiance might be part of the Divine Swords Sect too, but she definitely isn't at Joty's level. She probably won't be able to hold her slot in the end, even Joty will have a hard time doing so, if he does at all. But there was no time to think, the enemy would be there in just a few seconds.
Mina noticed him looking at her and smiled. She then sent him a Divine Sense message.
"No need to worry about me, if I can't hold back, I will just give up and leave. I doubt anyone will try to fight me while I'm leaving, they need to conserve energy for their own fights, after all."
She then entered one of the slots, Arlan gave her a final look and did the same.
In the end, the situation turned out exactly as predicted as well. It's not like a miracle could happen to start with. Except for Joty, who was lucky enough not to be paired against someone too strong, all the others were defeated inside their slots, Mari included. They then gave up and left their slot voluntarily.
Their opponents could have pressed forward to try to kill then, but every single one knows that as soon as Mari, Mina, and the others leave, their own 10 minutes of defense will start. It would be idiotic to spend even a bit extra of spiritual energy just to finish them off.
Arlan, who was playing with his opponent, kept his attention focused in the direction that Mina left and let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the late ones couldn't waste their time and energy on them defeated ones, they need that for their own challenges. Not to mention that they also need to fight to see who will be the one entering the slot to challenge the defensors.
Except for Joty, this was the end of the test for everyone else who wasn't part of Krune's group.
Ao, Arlan, Yusa, and Joty finally kept their defenses tightly until the 10 minutes were over, and they were sent to the next level. They were the only ones on the other side, though. The other slots were still in the middle of the fight, and it would take some time for the next one to come through their door.
"Mina and the others are okay, let's leave."
Joty, Arlan, and Yusa nodded and immediately left to look for the next door. They aren't Krune, their Divine Sense can't reach that far, so they will probably need more time to find it. On the way, Arlan gave Joty a few healing pills since he didn't have an easy time like they did. The second team might have lost most of its members from the very start, but now only the ones with a real chance at passing remaining.
Ten floors are left for the first test to be over, and only monsters will appear from now on.
