The group moved forward at slow steps. Colen was already showing an ugly face with each meter moved. Gomat was also suffering, but not as much as Colen. Ao, Mirrer, and Ula were more or less at the same condition as Colen too. As for Krune, well, he was following Ao and the others at his own pace. He could have gone ahead, but he didn't want to catch attention.
Between 10500 and 11000 meters mark, Colen, Ula, and another two guys that Krune didn't know the name finally reached their limits. There was no such thing as sitting and get used to the pressure anymore. Once they stopped, that would be because they can't resist. Just like that, those four lost their consciousness, and only their energy flags were left behind.
The remaining participants are now Krune, Gomat, Ao, Mirrer, and the guy that Krune doesn't know. Surprisingly, Ao had resisted to this point, which amazed Krune a lot. But now wasn't the time to talk to him since he could see that Ao was very close to his limit, it won't take long before he also passes out.
Mirrer was in the same state as Ao. It was a wonder to guess who would fall first.
Gomat proved that he really came from a Planet with its majority being demon beasts. He was obviously putting a lot of effort, but Krune could see that it wasn't his limit yet, Gomat can still move further! One really can't doubt the will of a dragon!
At 11259 meters, Mirrer passed out too.
At 11423 meters, Ao couldn't hold anymore and followed suit.
At 11972 meters, that guy that Krune didn't know the name bid farewell to the last door too.
Gomat looked at Krune, and one could see a smile on his dragon face. He even had the luxury to send Krune a Divine Sense message.
"Haha! I knew it! You were indeed the one to fight me in the end."
Krune then replied back.
"You are also amazing. As expected of a dragon, even their will is unfathomable!"
Gomat slowly shook his head with some difficulty.
"The fact that I have a Yang Core and I'm a dragon indeed helped. But what really tempered my will was the years of constant battles that I had undergone on my Planet and outside of it. I had experienced Life and Death situations more times than I can count already."
Krune believed him, if not for his several cheats, he probably would have passed out too. Still, everyone has their own luck, and one can't make little of the fact that Krune was the one who found about the Myriad Energy Techniques by himself. It is only right that he can use it without thinking that he is being unfair.
Gomat and Krune pressed forward.
12km...
12.5km...
13km...
"Argh"
Finally, Gomat couldn't resist anymore. In fact, at this distance, even Krune was feeling challenging to move forward as well. If his conjecture isn't wrong, he would at most be able to another kilometer if he kept this pace. After all, the further you go, the stronger the elder's pressure is.
Gomat looked at Krune and used his last bit of strength to send him a Divine Message again.
"It was only an idea, but now I'm certain that this is not your limit! Show me what you are capable of, you definitely can go further, I know that."
And then, Gomat's dragon body disappeared.
Krune was taken aback by those words, his idea was to move just a few more meters and then willingly give up. But after what Gomat said, he was conflicted. Gomat had done his best to challenge him until the very end, and Krune hates the idea of not giving his all after his opponent showed so much effort.
"Very well, whatever happens, happens! It's not like I can catch more attention than I already got anyway."
Poor Krune had no idea how wrong he was.
Krune thought that he would be able to move at most one more Kilometer with his actual speed, but that was only with this speed alone.
Suddenly, Tribulation Lightning started to flow around his body, and Krune looked ahead. Then, with a flash of purple light, Krune disappeared from where he was!
Krune's idea was simple and straight forward. Since he can only move another kilometer at a slow pace, he will bear the grunt of the increased pressure all at once and move forward until he passes out too.
The elders outside looked at that and were amazed.
"What?! He can still move like that?"
Gile was taken aback, even he didn't expect Krune to be this bold.
Jin and Tiago were also excited about that image.
"Just how far can he get? Can he pass the previous record of 16.7km?"
This was a record achieved by another Major Core owner over 50 thousand years ago, so not many could remember it. That Major Core owner was still in the Sect until now, though. Not only that, but he was also watching the test from his secluded place at the moment. His name was Lucio Koffel, the Divine Path Sect's Sect Master!
The hundred-floor tower test only happens once every 1000 years. As for the cultivation pressure door, it is only added as part of the hundred-floor tower around every 10000! But today, there has been an exception, the pressure door was used again just 6540 years after the last time.
The Sect Master was watching it with a thoughtful expression. He then thought about something that happened around 5 to 6 years ago. That day, he was coming back from an inspection of a branch of the Sect when he bumped into another spaceship. That spaceship was none other than the Wang Clan's one!
From inside, he could see Old Uncle Feng staring at him with Feifei by his side. At that time, he received a Divine Sense message from the old guy.
"During your next Entrance Exam, you might want to put a little more effort into it. You will probably find someone you will really like at that time too."
After that, the Wang Clan's Spaceship departed, and Uncle Feng did not answer the Sect Master's Divine Sense message when he asked what he was talking about.
But as the Sect Master of the Divine Path Sect, he obviously recognized Uncle Feng with a single glance and couldn't help but think.
'Feng the Crazy! I received information that he was under orders to protect a little girl from the Wang Clan. At first, I didn't believe that. Why would a legendary figure like him waste his time to take care of a little girl? Even if it was the Wang Clan's Head daughter, it was still asking too much of him.'
It was then that he remembered a rumor about the Wang Clan.
'They said that the Wang Clan gave birth to a Major Core owner. That itself isn't very important, with the number of planets that each of our territories has, a Major Core still appears every few years. Sometimes even 2 or 3 appear in a span of 10 to 20 years. The problem is that there is a specific Major Core that is extremely hard to appear between them. Could the rumors be true, is it that little girl?'
In the end, after hearing that it would be someone that he would like, he decided to bring forward the same test that he had undergone in the past. The cultivation pressure door! The same one in which he retains the record of 16.7km!
When he saw krune using that method to advance, the Sect Master eyes lit up! That was exactly the same thing he did in the past to beat the previous record too! Of course, such action would usually be considered suicide since you will receive the full increase of pressure way too fast.
But! There is one thing that others haven't considered before. If you are still feeling okay with the pressure on you and not on your limit. You can try to take all at once while you still can hold. This method doesn't work for those who are at their limit. In fact, it is also very risky even for those who are still feeling okay since it will be like they were hammered with all the pressure at once! Chances are that If you can't hold that impact, you will immediately pass out, and your final result will be even worse than if you had moved ahead slowly.
Krune's trail of purple lightning was increasing in size while his mind was entirely focused on resisting the pressure.
13.5km...
14km...
14.5km...
15km...
The full impact of the elder's cultivation pressure was making Krune grunt in pain, and he was almost reaching his limit. As far as he can see, he definitely can't reach the 16km mark. But that was also good, he already gave his all anyway.
Just as Krune was about to give up to the pressure and pass out, the long silent Light Spirit finally spoke for the first time during this test.
"Use your Elemental Source Energy that you had been accumulating to guard your soul! This is an Illusion Realm, so your real Elemental Source Energy won't be used anyway."
Krune was taken aback at that idea, and he couldn't help but ask.
"But isn't Elemental Source Energy something that was supposed to be used by Core Formation Realm cultivators? This Illusion Realm is blocking anyone from doing anything above the peak of the Foundation Establishment!"
Light Spirit answered immediately.
"Wrong! This illusion Realm in preventing anyone from doing anything that they were capable of 'AFTER' breaking through the Core Formation Realm. You got your Elemental Source Energy while you were still inside the Foundation Establishment Realm, so it definitely isn't something that goes against the rules of this Illusion Realm. If you don't believe me, try it out."
Krune didn't have time to discuss anymore since he was already on the verge of losing his consciousness. He then focused on the Elemental Source Energy that he kept for his Core Formation Realm breakthrough and enveloped his soul with that energy.
Sure enough, the moment that the Elemental Source Energy took its place, the pressure reduced significantly. Krune was ecstatic with that result and once more dashed forward. Even though he is using the Elemental Source Energy, the pressure was still tough to resist. Not to mention that he is using so much of it that the little bit that he accumulated won't last more than 30 seconds or so.
15.5km...
16km...
16.5km...
Lucio and the Core Elders' eyes lit up at that point, and they were extremely excited!
"Elemental Source Energy! It's Elemental Source Energy! He can already gather Elemental Source Energy even before breaking through the Core Formation Realm!"
Neither the Sect Master nor the Core Elders thought that Krune was cheating. Just what kind of Illusion Formation was the one that Krune was inside? It was the Divine Path Sect Illusion Realm Formation! Let alone a Foundation Establishment, even a Void Breaking Realm Cultivator or Demon Beast wouldn't be able to go against its rules!
"He can do it!"
16.6...
16.7...
16.8...
Lucio was already laughing out loud!
"He really has done it! He's mine! I want to see who will fight against me for him!"
But Krune didn't stop there.
"I can still go further!"
17km...
17.5km...
18km...
Finally, at the 18329 meters, Krune's Elemental Energy Source run out, and he was assaulted by the Void Breaking Realm elder pressure. In fact, even if his Elemental Energy Source hadn't been used, he still wouldn't have moved more than 1 or 2 hundred meters. The pressure at that point was so high that even it couldn't protect Krune's soul anymore.
Krune then lost his consciousness right after, and his energy flag appeared in the place where he was a moment ago.
The test still continued for those all the way back who hadn't fainted or given up yet, only after one hour did the final cultivator pass out and the test finished. After that, the illusion realm broke apart, and the Formation propelling it was deactivated.
Everyone opened their eyes at the same time, they then looked around and noticed that they were all back to the field before the test started. Then, on the monitors that everyone could see, the results were already out. Krune, of course, was the first place by far!