The group quickly walked to the treasure chests after some more talking. Finally, they could get their just reward for surviving this trial! Everyone went up to one treasure chest and opened them at the same time. When they saw what was in there, their eyes widened in excitement.
"Are these the pills that only the Heaven Sect has? You know which ones I mean, right?" Joyce asked, unsure. If that were true, she would be able to barely believe it. Those pills were what every cultivator yearned for in their dreams.
Manuel picked one up, looked at it closely, and smirked. "Yep. Sure enough, these are the Ascension Pills," he said with an excited voice. "Only the Heaven Sect knows the recipe for these pills, and they don't sell them!"
Nero and Gravis had no idea what those two were talking about. "What do they do?" Gravis asked.
Joyce shoved the pills from her treasure chest into her Spirit Space with excitement. "They are the only pills in the world that can help a cultivator temper their Spirits!" Joyce said and then ate one. After some seconds, her smile intensified. "They're awesome!" she shouted.
Gravis remembered that the spies from the Heaven Sect that he had fought back when he entered the Core-Continent had eaten some pills to reach the Seed Stage. Were these those pills?
Nero smiled helplessly. "Don't bait us into asking. Just tell us how much one pill gives you," he said.
Joyce pouted and looked at Nero. "Way to destroy my fun," she commented and then turned to Manuel. "One pill increased the Magic in my mind by about one month of tempering!" she said.
Manuel's eyes widened. "One month?" Then, he turned back to the pills in his treasure chest. After some calculating, he spoke again. "So, these pills can allow us to reach the halfway mark to the Tree Stage?" he asked, incredulously.
One couldn't fault Manuel for his disbelief. They were not even halfway through the initial Stage, yet they were about to advance two Stages? This would save them a little bit more than 20 years of bitter cultivation!
When Gravis heard all this, he rolled his eyes. 'Of course, Heaven gave us a reward that was basically useless to me. After all, I am already at the Self Stage,' Gravis thought and looked at his own pills. 'But Heaven has made a major miscalculation with these rewards,' Gravis thought with shining eyes.
He wanted to smirk in triumph, but Heaven might realize that he actually had a use for these pills. 'My plan just became way easier.'
Everyone pocketed their pills and stood up. No one asked Gravis for his pills, even though all of them knew that Gravis didn't need them.
"I would suggest not taking these pills, for the time being, Nero," Gravis said as he turned to Nero.
Nero nodded. "I know. I still need to temper my will, and the stronger I am, the harder it will be. I will wait until I have a level two Unity Will. I'm planning on only taking enough to reach the Seed Stage."
Gravis furrowed his brows. "Why? At that time, you can only temper yourself against Sapling Stage cultivators and middle-grade Spirit Beasts."
Nero smiled a bit. "Because I need strength to reform the Darkness Sect," he said, surprising Gravis.
"Reform the Darkness Sect?" Gravis asked.
Nero nodded. "You know of my belief. Why is it that only so few people have my outlook? That's because the disciples learn from their teachers. You have killed the Darkness Sect's upper echelon, so it's the perfect time to reform it. The group from the Darkness Sect has died in the trial, and there are probably less than three elders in our Sect now, including the new breakthroughs."
Gravis also smiled. "And with you at the Seed Stage, you will be able to beat every elder one-on-one, huh?" he asked.
Nero nodded again. "Yes. I will take up the mantle of the Sect Master, and I will change the Darkness Sect."
Manuel patted Nero's shoulder. "That's a noble goal, and I wish you all the best in that endeavor. When you succeed, contact me. I will inform the Wind Sect of the new Darkness Sect, and we might be able to bury the enmity between our two Sects. After all, Byron is already dead."
Nero also smiled at Manuel, and wordlessly nodded. Nero was a man of few words, but his expressions showed everyone that he wasn't emotionless.
After they finished talking, they all looked at a door behind the treasure chests. The door was open, and above it was an inscription that just read 'EXIT'. They walked to it but turned around at the last second to throw one last glance at the room.
They had lived in this Heaven's Trial for about three years. Manuel had entered as an Ascender's Talent. Joyce and Nero had entered as average cultivators. Yet, everyone was leaving as monsters. Their Will-Auras and Battle-Strength couldn't be classified as Ascender's Talents anymore. This Heaven's Trial had utterly changed them.
Gravis had entered as a monster, and he would exit as a fully grown monster. He was the third most powerful being in this world, and when he decided to reach the Unity Realm, he would be able to contest with Heaven as the most powerful being.
After some seconds of silent watching, the group turned around and left. Gravis was the last to leave because he had been watching the Formation Core for a bit. It just intrigued him. After about two minutes, he realized that everyone had already left. Gravis scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and went after the group.
-----
"As if," sneered one elder in red robes. "Your Darkness Sect winning the inheritance? You couldn't even defeat someone at the Seed Stage. What makes you so confident?"
A skinny elder in black robes only huffed. "You know exactly that you can't judge that monster with normal logic. Also, as for the inheritance, not everything is a straight-up fight. On top of that, when there is a fight, it's not against many enemies at once. With one powerful sneak-attack each, our group can take out most challenges without any issue."
"Now everyone," one elder in white robes said, waving his arms to calm the present elders. "We've been over this many times. We can't predict who will win, and the teams we are rooting for might've already died. After all, the inheritance doesn't allow for a Spirit's death to transmit outside."
Both elders turned to the speaker with a sneer. "Oh, shut up," the red elder said. "You only say that because you know that your Light Sect has no chance whatsoever. Don't infect us with your defeatist attitude."
The white elder's face changed from a calming smile to a hard look, like he was looking down at the brute from the Fire Sect. "We can do more than just heal. If you underestimate my Light Sect, you will only die. Yet, what could I expect from a brainless, battle-hungry beast like you?" the white elder asked tragically while shaking his head.
The red elder's anger started boiling like a volcano. He really hated these holier-than-thou light cultivators. They always acted like they were the mediator for every conflict, but as soon as something went against their interests, they would be the first to betray everyone else. After all, they believed that the light shone down from the Heavens, and everything was beneath them.
"Oh, you wanna have another go?" The red elder shouted while taking out a halberd.
"Tch," the black elder spat from the side. "You haven't been able to touch him for the last ten times. What will be different now?" he taunted.
Now, the gaze of the red elder concentrated on the black elder. "So? He was unable to injure me. If we draw this fight out long enough, I will outlast him!"
"Oh, shut up," a woman in blue robes groaned from the side. "You get bored so fast that you never go through with it. Also, aren't your Sects supposed to be allies?" she asked.
Instead of shooting back, the red elder looked away. If one looked closely, they would see that his face got a little redder. Not thanks to anger, though. "Well, such a fight is boring," he said. Then, he turned and looked the blue elder in the eyes. "So, about that marriage…"
The blue elder groaned again. "You wish. I rejected you multiple times already. When will you learn that you're not my type? I am more into wind cultivators," she said.
"Oh, rejected again. That's gotta sting," an elder in green robes commented from the side. He had an arrogant smirk on his face. After all, the elder from the Water Sect just said that she liked wind cultivators, and he just so happened to be a wind cultivator.
"Alright!" the fire elder shouted as he pointed to the wind elder. "Today is the day you die!"
"Shhh, shut up for a second," the water elder said as she looked at the door before them. The exit for the Heaven's Trial was always at the same place, so every elder waited for their disciples to return at the exit. "I think I hear something."
Everything went silent, and all the elders looked at the door. Their Spirits couldn't penetrate the door, so they could only listen with their ears. Sure enough, they heard some faint footsteps coming from beyond the door.
CRK!
The door opened, and all the elders looked with bated breaths at the exit.
Which group survived the inheritance?