Infinite Slaughter System: I Kill, Therefore I Ascend!-Chapter 186: The Preliminaries! 3

The competitors stood up from their seated positions, glancing toward the orb in the center of the pedestal with a look of familiarity.

That orb was one of the few tools in the known cultivation world that could measure the talent of one’s soul, the Pure Soul Orb!

Li Ling’s gaze slid over it lazily, but his mind wasn’t idle.

This was the same Pure Soul Orb that great sects used across the continent, at least those at the middle rank and above where it mattered.

Obviously, a mere lower sect with a cap at the third realm wouldn’t be able to worry about this.

The orb didn’t work by inserting one’s spirit sense or power, but rather by simply laying one’s hand upon it and allowing it to delve into one’s very being.

It would ignore the existence of cultivation base and spirit root, reaching directly for the quality and density of the soul, then reveal one’s prowess using the colors of the rainbow.

Violet stood at the very bottom, then came indigo, then blue, to green, to yellow, then to orange, and finally red at the pinnacle.

Most so-called ’geniuses’ only ever managed indigo in most middle-ranked sects, with a few lucky ones lighting up blue.

The ones who made elders even in the top five sects sit up straight and put down their teacups were green- or yellow-rated talents.

As for orange and red, they were the sort of grades that got sect masters and old ancestors personally involved, the sort of soul potential that, once they touched Nascent Soul, could pass through the entire Spirit Path while lazing about and putting in minimal effort.

And this was why every eye on the stage and in the stands sharpened as soon as the orb appeared.

Spirit roots, age, cultivation base... those things mattered up to Core Formation peak.

With enough resources, any rich sect could shovel pills and techniques into a talented body until it stood at the threshold of the third realm.

But from Nascent Soul upward, raw roots meant less and less. What truly decided how far a cultivator could walk was the strength of the soul and the sharpness of their comprehension.

A fellow with Heavenly Roots but a muddy, weak soul might shoot up to Core Formation quickly, then spend centuries crawling one half-step at a time in the Spirit Path.

By contrast, a nobody with trash roots but a blazing soul might be slow at the start, yet leap realms like stepping stones once they broke into Nascent Soul.

From a middle or top sect’s point of view, the latter was a better investment every time.

That was why the Pure Soul Orb was placed here after the earlier tests, and why the Test of Soul even existed in the first place.

This was the test that could quietly yet indirectly overturn every assessment made so far, force elders to swallow their pride, and make powers and clans completely restructure their plans toward a certain disciple.

Now, it was important to state that soul talent wasn’t everything, especially not for a demonic sect.

Unlike righteous sects, where they directly tested soul upon entry and used it to decide one’s treatment from the start, it could be placed as a minor, ’inconsequential’ preliminary test by the Six Paths Demon Sect because it had less importance to demonic factions.

The first reason was because demonic techniques had side methods of practice for those with less talent that often involved cruel or inhumane actions, so one could mostly bypass this need unless cultivating a normal technique.

The second was because talent didn’t cap potential, it only denoted efficiency. A cultivator with violet-level soul talent could still climb from Nascent Soul to Dao Integration and beyond, but they would struggle terribly.

Not to mention that, for the same amount of overall consumed resources and time spent cultivating, someone with red talent could pass through the entire Spirit Path more than fifty times faster than someone with violet talent.

"In random order, each of you will be called up to measure your soul talent and be awarded points based on your quality, which can even decide some level of your treatment in the middle sect," the Divine Deva Overseer explained after the stage finished forming.

"First person, Jia Long!" the Divine Deva Overseer called out, signaling one of the random middle-ranked competitors to step forward and press his hand against the orb with a solemn expression.

The orb didn’t take more than a second to evaluate his talent and presented the world with an indigo color. Jia Long showed an expression that was seven parts relief and three parts disappointment.

Indigo was a stable rank, far better than violet.

He stepped down from the podium as another competitor was called up, this time possessing a blue talent that caused some interest among the crowd, but not that much. The third came and was indigo once more, showing that even though demonic disciples didn’t need it, they still had relatively strong souls.

Then again, such was necessary, as they had to resist the negative effects of their demonic cultivation techniques all the time.

Yet when looking up at the faces of those in the Middle Layer and above, none reacted at all, not even looking remotely pleased by the lack of violet talent even as the hundredth person was called who had indigo and above talent.

Li Ling was actually aware of why this was, as he had spent time researching the various cultivation realms and their basic common sense in the Six Paths Demon Sect’s forum within the Asura Token even long before he joined the Black Heaven Sect war, and also during it, when he was refining the spirit soul for the Earth Nurturing Technique.

It was simply because the Six Paths Demon Sect was special, especially in its cultivation techniques. So far, two peculiarities had been revealed about this sect during Li Ling’s journey. The first was that the sect freely distributed the first level of its main cultivation methods and forced even righteous sects to sell them, and the second was that in the Middle Layer, they almost basically compelled disciples to form teams, having one chosen person from one of the other paths to complete their cycle.

There were many more peculiarities that had deeper reasons, and one Li Ling knew was that cultivating any one of the Six Paths Demon Sect’s main techniques had the effect of enhancing a person’s soul talent by one level. This was one of the many reasons why the Six Paths Demon Sect was rated as the number one demonic sect, even though the Seven Sins Demon Sect almost had the same exact power.

So those who had indigo talent were basically the same as violet talents, or rather, they had originally been at that level and were boosted. Even though they would now have better progress in the Spirit Path compared to before, that didn’t impress those who were in the Spirit Path or above it, knowing the trickery and intricacies of those realms intimately. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Soon, a familiar name was called, in the form of Cao Xian, who walked over with a calm smile on her face. For her, there was no suspense about this test, because a clan with a background like hers could afford to purchase a Pure Soul Orb and measure the talent of their youths when they hit twelve, so she already knew her talent before cultivating the True Human Way.

After placing her hands on the Pure Soul Orb, it soon flashed with a deep orange light, making those in the Lower Sect gasp with shock while those in the middle levels clapped slightly. Even the elders in the Upper Sect and the True Inheritors nodded with satisfaction, feeling that this was a junior sister who could soon join them.

"Not bad, you have done well, Cao Xian," Sect Master Ming Yue even made a casual comment of praise, which Cao Ling hurriedly stood up to receive with a humble bow.

Cao Xian came down, glancing at Li Ling from the corner of her eyes to see his reaction, finding that the fellow was casually glancing into the distance with a calm smile, as if daydreaming about something or other. This made Cao Xian purse her lips and wonder what his soul talent was and whether it would even match up to hers, because great comprehension had nothing to do with soul quality.

Even if he had violet talent, none would be able to beat his first-place spot, but Cao Xian couldn’t stand the casual disregard he gave to the entire tournament and especially to her performance.

She couldn’t help but find herself hoping that this test would somehow trip Li Ling up, even just a little.

Meanwhile, another familiar name was called forth in the form of Shi Gaolin, who walked onto the platform with calm and measured steps of a martial champion, his well-built physique stretching his white and gold robes.

With a casual movement, he placed his hand upon the Pure Soul Orb, his eyes glinting with interest to know what color he would manifest.