The Demon Monarch System

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"Hmm? Kayn, what happened?" Apollo answered, exiting his stupor. Truthfully, he was still stuck in a rut over what he just saw. Just a glimpse of that magnificent cross between a palace, mausoleum, and coliseum left him in awe.

"I'm just here to remind you to register with haste! For some reason, the desk is closing early this year. Don't miss your chance," Kayn urged, pointing at the base of the tower. Located on the surface, the desks which initially numbered less than 10 multiplied to over 20 of them; each stationed by people of both varying ages and statuses.

However, upon closer examination, Apollo noticed Sapphyr was nowhere to be seen, 'I thought she was an Administrator, shouldn't she take part in the registration process? Nevertheless, this isn't my matter, I need to claim a spot,' Apollo thought but didn't dwell on the matter for longer than a moment.

"Ah, thanks for the reminder, I'll go get an identification spot now," Apollo nodded, taking place in line. Although the process was fast and quite simple, the sheer volume of participants turned this event into a lengthy wait. 

To occupy himself, Apollo stood there gathering Natural Essence to refill his depleted reserves. The superficial state he was in now, after his earlier defensive straits, was a facade. While it appeared his injuries had healed thoroughly on the surface, in truth, he exhausted more resources than the signs showed. 

As he did so, Apollo spared half of his attention to observe the fluid movement of the registration line. The other half was used to inspect the interaction of his internal structures. While examining them, he marveled at the fact he was able to tweak the absorption rate of his own accord.

It wasn't as simple as increasing or decreasing the momentum of the absorption; he could now shift the orientation of the absorption site. In other words, he could allow the energy to gather directly inside a wound, virtually increasing the healing process by folds! The more he learned about the Tainted Temple, the more he was impressed by it.

Furthermore, he came to understand why some people never advanced into Spirit Cultivation. After opening the Tainted Temple, he was able to sense a second set of meridians in his body. However, unlike the vibrant physical ones, these seemed dead. 

In fact, he had a feeling the only reason he was able to sense them was due to his sacrificing over half the Tainted Demonic Shards in his possession to complete the process. In exchange, the excess energy most likely flowed through these channels, enabling the current situation.

While fascinated with his internal state, his consciousness attempted to delve deeper but it was useless. No matter what he tried, he was unable to influence those seemingly dead meridians. 

After ample tries, it was soon his turn. 

"Place your hand on the desk please. I'll determine whether or not your bone age is less than 20, minimum body cultivation requirement, and if you have participated in this test once before. Should you fail to meet any of the criteria, you'll be immediately disqualified," spoke the person manning the desk Apollo approached.

Upon receiving direction, Apollo raised his hand, placing it on an inscription on the desk. Low noises could be heard from the table as it attempted to affirm his information. However, the attendee's face soon dropped when he noticed the inscription still undergoing the process.

Usually, this process took no longer than 3 seconds to take place, but at this point, 30 seconds had elapsed without results. This leads the attendee to believe one of two things; either this youth before him was hiding his state or he wasn't a human but a Terror in disguise.

Of course, the latter choice was extreme in his eyes leading him to discard the idea. As for the former, he dismissed this as well. Naturally, this was because the inscription finally generated Apollo's results.

[Bone Age: 14 years, 11 months, 3 days.]

[Meridian State: Top Tier Heaven Meridians.]

[Cultivation Realms: Estimated Rank 7 Zul Warrior | Irregular Spirit Apprentice.]

[Prior Participations: 0.]

[Participant #1112666]

When the information appeared, the attendant was taken aback. This youth before him was only 14 yet the inscription had found traces of him being a Spirit Apprentice. If the inscription was correct then that meant he just discovered someone on the level of Glories!

"Do you possess a cultivation realm in the way of Spirit Cultivation?" the attendee inquired, his eyes inspecting Apollo closely.

Due to that gaze, Apollo felt something was amiss. While glancing at his result, he weighed his choices, 'This person seems too excited with me potentially possessing that type of cultivation. Perhaps I should play dumb for a short while.'

"Uhm…what exactly is Spirit Cultivation?" Apollo answered with a question of his own, faking extreme puzzlement.

"The advancing of the mind to reach new heights. Have you experienced anything similar to this recently," the attendee continued to pry deeper.

It went without saying, Apollo wasn't going to disclose the matters unique to him, "No, but it sounds like it'll be fun to attempt."

"Mmm...I see, perhaps the inscription picked up on your talent. Perhaps that is a reason for the irregular ranking. Very well, take this card and wait until registration is done. Afterward, all participants will head inside there for further testing,' the attendee instructed, pushing the matters of Apollo's state to the back of his mind.

Not to mention, when he saw Apollo didn't possess Saint Meridians, his elation diminished. Now, with Apollo denying the fact, his interest in the situation decreased further. What the attendee sought was a distinct talent to claim his bonus but unfortunately, Apollo wasn't one to let people ride his coattails. 

Nevertheless, after returning to Kayn and the others, Apollo heard numerous people fail the registrations due to multiple reasons. Some tried to mask their age, others tried to deny ever participating while the rest failed to reach the minimum requirement but none were able to fool the inscriptions.

"There are over one million participations and there seems to be an additional influx still on the way," Apollo stated, peering at the approaching crowd of people. Based on his estimations, at least 3 million people would participate in the trial.

"Yeah, but less than 1 percent will pass, obtaining a seat in an academy. Not only are the spots in each successive academy sparse, but even the weakest academy can only accept up to 4,000 people. Moreover, you must keep in mind, the top academies only accept apprentices based on scores," Kayn disclosed, rubbing his chin.

As he heard this, Apollo's eyebrows rose, "Hmm, does that mean the top colleges never fulfill their quota of people?" 

"Essentially. What's more, is they never exceed one-tenth of the allotted spots. But, the surprising part is...just one of the chosen few can contest all of the students of the lowest college. This is how large the disparity between the two worlds are," Kayn responded with a hint of veneration present.

"So, they travel the elite route. Fewer numbers, more capability. I wonder though…" Apollo muttered in response, speculating over the conditions of the 9 Famed Academies.

While pensive, a resounding bell tolled, signifying the beginning of the trials. However, when the bells tolled, murmurs began. A college of 30 youths appeared walking towards the base of the tower with evident indifference.

Amongst the crowd were the Glories but they're the focus of the masses. Located before them were 5 other youths with demeanors belonging to those who felt themselves to be inviolable. This was especially true for the leading two. Their indifference towards all knew no bounds, not even sparing their surroundings a glance.

Meanwhile, a voice entered Apollo's ears causing him to turn, "The Paragons, Scions, Glories and the Elites."

"Hmm? Who are you?" Apollo tilted his head with uncertainty. He felt he knew this person, but then again, he didn't.

"Do you not remember me? That's bad because I remember you," the newcomer continued. Until the person's identity hit him, Apollo remained silent.

"Ragnvald..?" Apollo answered, half unsure. To achieve this answer required him to scour his mind for similarities.

"Correct. I guess 4 years is enough to change the appearance greatly," Ragnvald chuckled but in truth, he looked nearly the same. The only apparent difference was his height and the masculine facial features he possessed.

Unlike before, his grey hair was tied into a loose ponytail flowing down his back. The prior gentleness he possessed was now replaced with a mature calm. 

"I see. Are the others here as well?" Apollo questioned, recalling the faces of 4 other youth each with their own personalities.

"Yes, although, I'm not sure of their location. But, we'll undoubtedly meet up later. After all, I'm confident in your ability, as for theirs, well that goes without saying. Enough of that talk though, let's enter the Sky Appraisal Tower," Ragnvald urged Apollo to follow along, to which he did.

In addition, behind Apollo, his family members followed in tow. Now that he received the items from Kayn, he didn't fret over this matter. Actually, he welcomed it because something told him he would need to possess numbers in an upcoming event.