Dawn arrived with oppressive weight that showed the assembled spiritual energy practitioners were focusing tremendous power on the examination proceedings.
Hundreds of applicants gathered in a massive courtyard where sect administrators had erected testing stations for different examination components.
Most appeared to be merchant family children or minor noble house offspring; well-fed, properly equipped, accompanied by family members who'd invested resources in their preparation.
Rey's group of five ragged survivors attracted immediate attention and poorly concealed disdain.
One administrator, a middle-aged cultivator whose spiritual pressure suggested the Core Formation stage equivalent to True Realm Platinum-rank, approached them with expression mixing professional assessment and obvious skepticism.
