"Hiyah!" Shouting, a young man cleaved at a runic stone pillar.

The grating sound of metal rang out with the young man unable to stay still, soon sent a few steps back.

Without enough time to say a word, a powerful voice was heard.

"Fifty, black light! Disqualified!"

Shivering, the youth could only nibble his lips in frustration before leaving the premise.

Having ransacked a few powerful sects, Alexander had obtained many different items, some meant to test potential disciples. The runic pillar was exactly that.

Next was a young woman. Using a fan, she struck the same pillar with much force.

"130, purple light! Disqualified!"

Cursing, many wondered what was tested.

Sensing it, one of Alexander's clones spoke.

"This pillar is measuring your raw strength! Anything below a blue light is unqualified!"

"But with how long this is going to take at this rate, just know that only someone at the Blooming Lotus Realm and above has a chance!"

Baffled, many hexes were thrown in anger. But quickly realizing who they were cursing, many necks shrank while legs ran away in fear.

After a few minutes, only the confident stayed, with the next challenger, a middle aged man.

The rough looking man immediately kicked the ground, aiming a brutal punch at the pillar.

"Woah!"

"Strong!"

The remaining Cloud Immortal Realm cultivators were truly shocked by this display of strength, but when the result came out...

"150, purple light! Disqualified!"

Shocked, a young woman could not believe her eyes.

"Hey, brother Jin, wasn't that man's blow much stronger than the last one's?"

Stroking his chin, the man named Jin nodded solemnly.

"You're right sister Fu, the last girl struck with around 1 300 000 Sky Power, and this man added another 200 000!"

Her eyes wide open, not only at her brother Jin's accurate measurement, but also at the significance of this information, she felt deflated.

Alexander's senses sharp, one of his clones smirked.

"I heard someone talk about Sky Power? If you really want to know, I might as well just tell you, after all, what does it change except for a faster examination?"

"The minimum to pass is 201 or 2 010 000 Sky Power!"

Chatter instantly broke out, each participant asking their neighbor for help.

"Continue!" Not letting any of them gain time for strategies, a clone announced.

-----

Now a few hours into it, a peak Blooming Lotus Realm woman advanced.

A thin, curved blade lashing out, she accurately struck the pillar with power, causing its many runes to flicker.

"1 540, green light! Qualified!"

Her face brightening with a cocky smile, she was soon showered by cold water at the clone's next sentence.

"You have the choice to refuse or accept, if you do accept, you will become an inferior trial disciple! While you can still raise your status throughout the other tests, this will be your starting point if you cannot do so."

Almost stuttering, she asked in confusion.

"Sir! Wasn't the blue light the minimum? Shouldn't I be granted a higher status?"

Frowning, the clone scoffed.

"Higher status? Blue light is slave, cyan light is worker and green light is inferior trial disciple! If you want to be a regular trial disciple, you need a yellow light, as for a superior trial disciple, an orange light is required!"

Questioning what they just heard, many wondered what light was necessary to enter as an official disciple.

Unwilling to be the one on the fire, none dared to ask.

Therefore, the examination resumed.

After hours without anyone passing, a sudden middle aged man approached the pillar.

"Oh~?" Raising a brow at the Primordial Harmonization Realm man, the clones wondered how much status he could gain.

'Fifth stage... might hit a red light.'

Conditioning himself, the man flung a whip at the pillar, causing a shockwave to engulf the surroundings.

Amidst the chaos, the clones' senses were not impeded.

"22 000, red light! Qualified!"

Stroking his faint mustache, the man smiled slightly.

"If you accept, you will become an Azure Grade trial disciple at the very least!"

Nodding, the middle aged man simply accepted without hesitation.

"Good, go stand there." Pointing behind them, the clone ordered.

Resuming, the examination took longer than expected, with many refusing to be accepted as slaves or workers.

But some were truly outstanding.

The sky shaking, a young man in white robes struck the pillar, forcing it to tremble.

The man's black ponytail fluttered while his fan was cooling his face.

"73 000, white light! Qualified!"

Murmurs among the crowd, all of them were horrified.

And within their ranks, a young woman shouted with fear.

"Immortal Sky Realm!"

"What?!"

"How?"

"What kind of master would participate in this? Are you sure!?"

Grinning, the young man in question looked at a clone from the corner of his eyes.

Noticing it, the targeted clone answered his silent question.

"If you accept, you will become a Pure Grade trial disciple! Do you-"

"I accept." Not a shred of hesitation visible, the youth accepted without another word.

"Alright, go stand with the ones behind then."

Once more, it took a few hours for anything special to appear.

Protruding from the crowd was not a man or woman, but multiple.

A young woman with rose gold hair was followed by a burly dark skinned youth and a thin pale young man.

The woman used a thin but beautiful sword, its color matching her unusual hair. The thin young man appeared starved but even his sorry state could not hide his eyes brimming with vitality. As for the dark skinned young man, he rested a huge, rusted war hammer on his shoulder.

His clones' Divine Senses powerful, Alexander and his clones smirked.

'On the white robed young man's level!'

Without surprise for only him, the young girl's sword shaking the earth was expected.

*Clang!*

As if expecting nothing less, she was clearly aware of her strength, walking toward the qualified group even before hearing the clone.

"72 000, white light! Qualified! And as I see it, no need to ask anything more of you."

Waving his hand, the clone asked for the two others to do the same.

The pale young man's body fading in darkness, he reappeared behind the pillar in an instant.

The pillar shining not a white light but a multicolored one, many thought the youth to actually be more powerful than all others, but the clone's words did not seem impressed.

"33 000, multicolored light! Qualified!"

"Only 33 000? Is there a mistake?"

"Shouldn't the multicolored light be valued higher?"

Interrupting the confused crowd, the clone spoke once more.

"If you accept, you will become a Void Grade trial disciple! Do you accept?"

Seeing him nod, the clone indicated for him to stand behind with the rest.

"What about you young man? Want to try your hammer on this pillar?"

Grinning, the burly man kicked the ground, leaving a spider-web crack behind.

"Huss~!"

*Clang!*

Raising a brow, Alexander's clones were speechless.

'What a waste of power!'

Sighing at such a waste of talent, one of the clones stated.

"108 000, white light! Qualified!"

"If-"

"I accept!"

"Good, then go with the rest."

Dismissing him, Alexander was hopeful for a few more talent.

Unfortunately, just has his Divine Sense had probed, none were good enough to gather his attention since.

And after a few days of uneventful duality between qualification and disqualification, a few thousands were left.

"Alright, so we have three Pure Grade, one Void Grade and one Azure Grade trial disciples, thirty-one superior trial disciples, 213 trial disciples and 647 inferior trial disciples. As for anything below, 1 359 workers and just over a thousand slaves."

Organizing them in groups, the gates behind slowly opened wide, welcoming them.

Passing through, the gates closed right after, separating the sect from the rest of the world.

Walking up the stairs in the middle of the mountain range, a booming voice was heard.

"This Alexander congratulates all of you for entering my Devouring Sect. There is still a test to pass, but even if you completely fail it, regressing in rank won't happen. Once done, anyone at the Azure Grade and above will come to meet me personally."

Leading only the trial disciples to a secluded stone building, its sharp square foundation striking, he showed them inside, where another runic pillar resided.

Opening his mouth, a clone spoke with clarity.

"The workers and slaves can still attain a greater status, but since there are too many, just you all will do for today. Just place your hand on the pillar and circulate your Celestial Qi as usual."

Nodding, the first to try his luck was the Azure Grade middle aged man, combing his moustache at the moment.

A set of numbers appearing, the orange light was quite striking.

"Eighty-three percent, orange light! You will keep your status as is."

Nervous, many were still hopeful.

Next, a young woman approached, she was a regular trial disciple.

Placing her hand on it, the pillar shone, surprisingly, a red light.

"102 percent, barely a red light! You are now an Azure Grade trial disciple!"

With how a regular trial disciple had just leaped above the dragon gate, many gulped in anticipation.

"I'm next!"

"What are you talking about? I'm the one they are looking for!"

Sigh

-----

A few days later, all trial disciples as well as workers and slaves had passed the second examination, with a few in each batch increasing in rank.

And now, at the sect's peak, a group of ten were seated cross-legged in a dark room.

Their Celestial Sense too weak, those who could use it did not find it useful, especially since an array shone each time they released it, suppressing it instantly.

"You ten, trial disciples of my Devouring Sect, all at the Azure Grade and beyond, I welcome you once more." Some arrays flickering, many beautiful lights formed out of nowhere, their multitude of colors quite the sight to behold.

"I will hand over to you the sect's robes directly." Throwing at each disciple a space ring, they all peered inside, soon taking out a white robe.

Noticing the accents on them, some azure colored, others black and finally pure white, matching seamlessly with the original color, they understood what each accented color meant.

"Sect master! These robes are..."

"Low quality?" Interrupting the woman, he continued.

"They can regenerate themselves, but even so, I can't deny your statement. These old robes are not from here after all, the quality has to be lacking."

The Pure Grade young man from before, still in his own white robes, raised his hand with confidence.

"If I may ask, where do they originate from?" His gaze scholarly, Alexander was not surprised by the question, answering truthfully, as he did not need to hide anything.

"Each of them are from my former sect. I was its ancestor but also its founder. Its strength, while meagre for this place, was, relatively speaking, incredibly powerful!"

"Comparing it to here, each elder was a power never seen before in this place, but since it was situated in a lower realm, it is only so relatively."

Frowning, they could not quite understand. But before any could ask for clarification, the young woman from before spoke again.

"Sect master! I meant to ask earlier but... why do you resemble the elders at the examination? They all looked the same."

Some scoffing while others perked their ears, they soon heard a confirmation to some and disbelieving words to others.

"They are just clones, there are no elders here, they just serve as placeholders. But going back on the earlier topic, you will understand what I mean when I say 'lower realm', since you will cultivate this way. Well not all of you, but some will."

Ready to start experimenting with slaves meant only to grow his World Seed collection, Alexander dismissed almost all of them, only keeping the white robed young man, rose gold haired young woman and middle aged man.

"You three... I will give you a choice, whether you have the guts and recklessness to choose one of its options... is all dependent on how much you are willing to sacrifice!"