Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Inner Disciple Test [3]

The booming voice of Elder Alder echoed across the grand arena, snapping the attention of tens of thousands of disciples back to the center stage. The Inner Disciple Promotion Test had officially begun.

For the first hour, the spars were a brutal display of the strict hierarchy within the Azure Dragon Sect.

Eligible outer disciples, trembling with a mixture of excitement and fear, stepped up to face seasoned inner disciples serving as their examiners.

The gap in foundation and combat experience was jarring. Many challengers were swept off the arena floor in a matter of exchanges, their dreams of promotion deferred for another year.

Damon stood quietly among the gathering of candidates; his arms crossed over his chest.

His luminous golden eyes analyzed every movement, every flaw in the combatants’ forms, but he quickly found himself bored.

It wasn’t until Elder Alder unrolled the next section of the heavily inked parchment that the atmosphere in the arena shifted once more.

"Ariel! Step forward!" Elder Alder’s voice rolled like thunder.

The murmurs that had somewhat died down instantly reignited. The name of the Yun Clan’s young lady had been on everyone’s lips since her shocking display at the entrance exams just weeks prior.

Ariel turned to Damon, a soft, incredibly warm smile gracing her adorable features.

"Show them what my woman can do, Ariel," Damon murmured, his voice laced with absolute confidence.

"I will not disappoint you, Damon," she whispered back.

With a fluid, graceful step that seemed to glide over the stone, Ariel walked toward the center of the vast arena.

Her dark blue, silk-like hair fluttered behind her, catching the morning light. Clad in the outer disciple robes, she exuded the unshakeable dignity of a noble-born lady.

Her examiner stepped onto the opposite side of the stage. He was a broad-shouldered, veteran inner disciple whose aura pulsed with the heavy, searing heat of the fire attribute.

"Inner Disciple James White. True Spirit Realm, Third Level," the burly man announced, cracking his knuckles. He looked at the petite, flawless beauty before him with a mixture of pity and arrogant dismissal.

"Junior Sister Ariel, your rapid advancement is a miracle, but foundation cannot be rushed. Do not blame me if my flames scorch your pretty skin."

Ariel halted, pressing her delicate hands together in a polite bow. "Junior Sister Ariel. True Spirit Realm, First Level. Please instruct me, Senior Brother Gao."

"Begin!" Elder Alder commanded, his hand dropping sharply.

James didn’t hold back. Roaring, he stomped his foot, shattering the marble beneath him as his body erupted in a tempest of crimson flames.

He drew a massive, jagged broadsword and launched himself forward like a blazing meteor, intending to crush her in a single, overwhelming strike.

Ariel’s vivid blue eyes remained perfectly calm.

Instead of retreating, she raised her white hand. A flicker of radiant golden light shimmered in the empty space beside her, coalescing rapidly into a weapon of immense, terrifying majesty.

The Trident.

The legendary artifact materialized in her grasp. Its surface was a swirling abyss of deep, ocean-blue metal that seemed to absorb the very light around it.

The three razor-sharp prongs hummed with an ancient, sovereign authority, completely defying the limits of standard mortal weaponry.

The moment The Trident appeared, the moisture in the ambient air condensed violently. A heavy pressure plummeted onto the arena, entirely suffocating Jame’s fiery aura.

Up on the obsidian platform, the previously relaxed Elders jerked forward in their seats.

"What in the heavens is that weapon?!" an old, weathered Elder gasped, nearly tearing a patch of hair from his beard.

"That profound aura... I cannot read its grade! Is it a Heaven Grade Artifact? No, perhaps even Saint Grade?!"

Elder Alder’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, his jaw going slack.

’The Aquaria Family does not possess such a terrifying treasure! Where did this girl get that?’

Even the perpetually frozen expression of Selene cracked by a fraction of a millimeter. Her icy eyes locked onto the deep-blue spear, recognizing the pure, unadulterated intent of a sovereign weapon.

Down in the arena, James realized his flames were being suppressed, but his momentum was already fully committed.

"Take this! Raging Meteor!" he roars, swinging his heavy broadsword downward with all his might.

Ariel didn’t flinch. She twirled The Trident effortlessly, despite the artifact’s immense weight.

With a movement as graceful as a dancer and as deadly as a tidal wave, she swept the butt of the spear upward to meet the flaming broadsword.

A shockwave of steam and pressurized water exploded outward. To the absolute horror of the thousands of observing disciples, Gao Meng’s broadsword groaned under the impact.

The raging flames were instantly extinguished by the water Qi that felt heavier than a mountain.

"How—?!" James choked, feeling his arms go entirely numb.

Ariel did not give him time to recover. Her movements were fluid, transitioning seamlessly from defense to absolute offense.

"Sea Sovereign’s Crescent," she whispered calmly.

She thrust The Trident forward. It wasn’t a mere physical strike; a crescent-shaped blade of highly pressurized water erupted from the three prongs.

The attack sliced through the air with a terrifying, high-pitched shriek, tearing through James’s hastily erected Qi barrier as if it were wet paper. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The heavy water crescent slammed squarely into James’s chest. The burly, Third Level True Spirit Realm disciple was lifted off his feet and blasted backward like a cannonball.

He flew over fifty meters through the air before finally crashing heavily into the arena’s outer boundary wall. He slumped to the ground, unconscious.

The grand arena plunged into a state of absolute, pin-drop silence. It had taken exactly two moves.

An eighteen-year-old girl at the First Stage had effortlessly beat an inner disciple at the Third Stage without breaking a single sweat or ruining the perfect pleats of her robes.

"Examiner James is incapacitated." Elder Alder’s voice finally broke the silence, though it carried a distinct tremor of disbelief.

"Ariel passes! She is hereby promoted to Inner Disciple!"

The crowd erupted into a chaotic frenzy of cheers and terrified whispers, officially crowning a new, monstrously talented goddess of the Azure Dragon Sect.

Ariel put back The Trident, allowing the legendary artifact to vanish back into her storage ring. She offered a modest bow to the unconscious James, then turned and bowed toward the elevated platform.