Death... and me

It turned out that the Trial Grounds were inside a mountain. Rean and Roan were on top of a hill many kilometers away, at the very limit of what Rean's Spiritual Sense Bending could hide them. In a certain way, it was a risky move since they could be found at any second due to their proximity. Still, this was the only breach they had found so far, so they decided to risk it.

Fortunately, it had paid off. Right now, they could at least see the outline of what would be considered the trial grounds. They could see many Imperial Guards around the entrance, but none of them got close to it. Finally, after making sure to mark down where it was, the two of them retreated into the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.

"Alright, we found the entrance. Sister Orb, we're going to try teleport in that direction now."

[No problem. The Circuitry Teleport Formation is ready anyway. I also saw where the Trial Grounds entrance is located, so I will adjust the direction of the teleport from here.]

This time, only Rean stepped on the teleport formation. That's because he was the best one at keeping himself hidden with his skills. One must remember that the teleport only controlled the general direction, not the exact point. For that, they would need the save point, which couldn't be used at the moment. That being said, Rean could very well teleport underground and have to make his way up, or even teleport in mid-air. There definitely wouldn't be a lack of Spiritual Senses watching his arriving location in the latter case. Last but not least, the exact distance couldn't be set either. They had to measure it with the amount of Spirit Stones used.

[Are you ready?]

Rean nodded as he activated his Spiritual Sense and Light Bending skill once again. Soon, he disappeared from everyone's sight. Sister Orb then activated the Circuitry Teleport Formation right after. Eventually, with a flash of silver light, Rean was teleported away.

In the next second, a flash of silver light appeared elsewhere before there was nothing there anymore. Naturally, Rean was there with his skill activated. However, everything was dark around him.

Following that, Rean fell on the ground, which was a few meters under the place he teleported. During that time, he also spread his Spiritual Sense, trying to make out the location in his head.

'Nothing?'

Rean then got up after landing as he paid attention to his Spiritual Sense Bending skill.

'There isn't a single Spiritual Sense in this place. Roan was planning to go through the Trial while keeping my Spiritual Sense bending skill active. But from the looks of it, Spiritual Sense can't be used to watch the insides of the Trial Grounds. It's still too early to be certain, but I guess Frandin was right about no one being allowed to watch the Trials.'

Rean then carefully spread his Divine Sense little by little. The last thing he needed was to alert everyone with his own Spiritual Sense. He could bend others' Spiritual Senses with his Light Element. Obviously, he could bend his own as well. However, it only worked up to a few meters away from him. Besides, if he bent his own Spiritual Sense around someone, that meant he won't be able to see them as well, so it wasn't that useful.

However, Rean quickly found out that all the walls around him acted against Spiritual Sense. Not only that, but it seemed like the entire Bloodline Trial Ground had something blocking Spiritual Sense. He couldn't spread it more than five or so meters, and that was already his limit.

'Sure enough, Soul Power is the rule in the Trial Grounds. I believe Soul Power would be able to see much further away than Spiritual Sense... if I had any.'

Rean started to walk right after.

'Now, then. Just where the hell am I on the Trial Grounds? If the entire mountain is the trial grounds, then I should be close to the entrance. After all, we calculated the amount of Spirit Stones to teleport more or less one to three kilometers into the Trial Grounds. The mountain is tens of kilometers long, so I shouldn't be too far into it. Of course, that's considering that the Trial Ground does use the entire mountain.'

Rean didn't run, nor did he jog. He was slowly making his way around, trying to make out his position. After some time, he could finally tell that there was no one around.

Following that, Roan and Frandin were brought out of the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm.

"This... I can't see anything. Where are we?"

Rean and Roan didn't tell Frandin of the plan until now, so it was understandable that he was lost.

"We're inside the Rank Five Bloodline Trial Grounds."

"What?!"

Frandin's blood almost froze at that moment. This was the type of place he thought he would never put his feet on in his life.

"You must be kidding!"

*Pah!*

Roan then slapped the back of Frandin's head.

"Stop wasting our time. If we say we're here, then we're here. We brought you out as well because we have no Soul Power whatsoever. We will probably need you to pass this thing."

Frandin rubbed the back of his head and nodded. Still, he couldn't help but feel somewhat excited.

'Rank Five Bloodline Trial! If I pass it...'

Rean then asked Frandin.

"Try to use your Soul Power. My Spiritual Sense doesn't go further than five meters in this place. It obviously has some formation or power blocking it."

Frandin took a deep breath and nodded before spreading his Soul Power. Sure enough, it could go much further than Spiritual Sense.

"I can see up to 15 meters. Nothing is blocking it. Unfortunately, my cultivation is just too low, so I can't see further than this by default."

Rean shook his head.

"Don't worry. It's already much better than mine or Roan's. Let's go. The only exit of this room is on the left side. Let us know if you see anything."

Frandin nodded while Rean and Roan took the lead. They finally exited the place where Rean first appeared. Still, everything was dark as always.

"Could it be that because we entered this trial without permission, it's not activated?"

Roan and Frandin nodded in response.

"We don't know how things work inside this place, so there's that possibility."

However, that situation didn't last long. Suddenly, all the walls around them lit up with a yellow light, illuminating the entire thing. Only then did they notice that they entered a big underground hall. Rean had both his Light and Spiritual Sense Bending skills active. Still, they didn't drop their guard as they looked at their surroundings.

'Did they find us out?'

They stayed stationary, not moving a muscle for a few moments. Suddenly, the door to the hall opened. From outside came a man who looked to be in his thirties. Frandin immediately recognized his clothes, so he warned Rean and Roan.

'Can you see his attire? This guy is definitely part of a very influential clan.'

Rean and Roan understood.

'He just so happened to be here for the trial, just like us.'

They could confirm it because the guy didn't seem to be looking in their direction at all. Besides, he was alone. As mentioned before, one could only enter the Trial Grounds alone, which was exactly the case for him. Rean and Roan didn't think that the Zasfins would send just a single person to capture them if they knew they were here.

Rean's group looked at the guy made his way forward. Now that everything was lit up, they could see an altar at the other end of the underground hall. Right behind it, there were a few other doors that they didn't know anything about.

Sure enough, the guy didn't know that Rean's group was there. In a certain way, Rean's group was really lucky.

They didn't know it, but they were right. The fact was that you really needed to activate the trial ground. Otherwise, keeping it working would constantly spend Spirit Stones, which wasn't that abundant on this planet to start with.

'Forget it. Just pay attention to what he's doing.'

Frandin and Rean nodded as they refrained from moving.

Finally, the man put his hands on the altar as he murmured.

"This time, I will definitely succeed. Bloodline Marks received because of your family aren't as good as one earned by yourself. I'm not that kind of trash. I was so close last time. Once I get a real one, my position in the clan will definitely skyrocket!"

Rean and Roan subconsciously looked at Frandin. He was a Zasfin Trash who didn't mind getting his Bloodline Mark because of his family instead of a Bloodline Trial.

Frandin wanted to cry already.

'Can you stop looking at me like that? You're making me want to kill myself already.'

Rean then asked something else.

'How come you didn't tell us Received Bloodline Marks are worse than Earned Bloodline Marks?'

Frandin suddenly dropped his head even more as he responded.

'I... didn't know that.'

Rean and Roan then shook their heads after that. The disappointment on their faces was so obvious that it hurt already. It was as if they had lost any hope in him already.

Poor Frandin's pride was nowhere to be seen anymore. All he wanted was a hole to throw himself into. He was probably the first Zasfin to feel so embarrassed in front of humans in a very, very long time.