Death… And Me

Roan continued.

"Of course, we're just making speculations here. We might be wrong about many things. For example, perhaps the regions like the Decadence Region are really aimed to do what they say. Maybe no humans are taken from there. The Unity Celestial Land might really be inviting humans without thinking about using them for the Bloodline Trials. Simply put, we don't know if it's the truth yet."

Qia agreed with him.

"That's true. Nevertheless, I wonder how the souls are selected. You do remember that we had several doors to choose from before, right? We selected our door, thinking that it would be the highest level one. If we're right, what about the humans in the other paths?"

Calina pondered over the question for a bit before saying.

"I think I know what it is."

Everyone immediately looked at Calina before she continued.

"In total, there were seven doors, right? It just so happens that there are seven different aptitude colors. I might be wrong, but the doors are probably separated by aptitudes."

Rean narrowed his eyes as he voiced his opinions.

"Wait, that would be quite ridiculous. If we are in the best door, all the people on these walls have Purple-Color Aptitude. It doesn't matter how I look at it. Such a thing such be impossible. There are way too many of them."

Roan pondered over it for a bit when an idea appeared in his mind.

"Calina isn't totally wrong. All these people are definitely separated by their Aptitude Colors. However, we aren't talking about their Spiritual Energy Cultivation Aptitude, but their Soul Aptitude. Most likely, it isn't as hard to find high-level Soul Aptitudes as it is for cultivation. No, to be more precise, it should be easier for higher-level Soul Aptitudes to appear on this planet."

Everyone looked at Roan, with one of them asking.

"Why do you say that?"

Roan then explained.

"Did you forget? We're certain that the Zasfins are an evolution that separated themselves from humans at some point. Rean had already confirmed it with his Light Element."

Rean confirmed.

"Yes. It's very easy to identify this fact with my Light Element when I ran it through the Zasfins' bodies. It was the same thing for the Lakures, who evolved to use Spiritual Energy more efficiently. They are, after all, humans as well. Besides, we did see hybrids of humans and Zasfins before. If the races weren't related, no procreation should be possible."

Roan nodded as he continued.

"That said, this planet has favorable conditions to those who use Soul Power. Perhaps the planet's lack of Spiritual Energy is what forced them to evolve their Soul Powers. Naturally, it also affected the Soul of humans even though they didn't become Zasfins."

Roan continued.

"That said, the Zasfins came up with their own Soul Aptitude test for the humans. The better the aptitude of the Soul, the better the Bloodline Marks that would be condensed. The Zasfins use it to determine which chamber the humans should be placed into."

Malaka couldn't help but ask.

"Still, isn't it way too overpowered to have this many Purple Soul Aptitudes?"

However, Rean understood what Roan meant.

"That's not the issue, Agis. They separated the Soul Aptitudes into colors. However, we don't know how high the human's aptitude has to be for it to be considered purple. Most likely, it isn't as strict as it is for us to find Purple Color Cultivation Aptitudes. That's why you can see this many here."

Roan nodded.

"Exactly. Of course, this is another speculation. We might be somewhat wrong about it. However, I do believe we are very close to it. Maybe they don't use colors but numbers or whatever. Also, we just presumed that the chamber we chose was the highest-quality one. Maybe we're wrong, and the opposite side door was the real deal. Well, considering the door Frandin opened, it most likely means we are right that this chamber is the best one."

Qia couldn't help but say.

"The more I think about all of this, the more disgusted I feel. Still, I don't understand. Why would they use humans for the trials? If Soul Aptitudes are what matters for Bloodline Marks, wouldn't it be better to use other Zasfins?"

Rean shrugged his shoulders as he responded.

"Most likely, the issue relies on Soul Power. The Zasfins' Soul Power Points are already above 20 when they're born. I believe both the trial taker and the sacrifice's Soul Powers would conflict. Otherwise, I don't doubt that Zasfins would be used instead. Not to mention that Zasfins would definitely prefer to sacrifice humans than their own race."

Everyone had to admit that Rean was right on that point.

Roan then looked at the exit before saying.

"Alright, that's all for now. We shouldn't waste more time in this place. Don't forget that we destroyed the altar, so we don't know how long it will take for the Zasfins outside to notice something off. Perhaps they've already noticed but can't come inside because of the guy who is in the middle of his test."

Calina looked at all the people locked on the walls.

"We really must leave them all here, right?"

Roan nodded.

"Unless you want to kill them straight away, you will have to leave them. There's nothing we can do about it. Also, what would we do with this many people when we already have so many problems just by ourselves?"

Calina nodded and didn't say anything else. Following that, they looked at the other side of the room. As mentioned before, the door they used to enter this chamber was locked, so they couldn't go back. They could only use the exit ahead and see where it would take them.

Of course, Rean and Roan could simply use the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm's Circuitry Teleport Formation to leave straight away. Still, they wanted to see if there wasn't anything else for them further away. Besides, Frandin was still in this place, so they might be able to meet him at some point.

To make things easier to deal with, the twins sent Qia, Calina, Agis, Malaka, and Kentucky back to the Soul Gem Dimensional Realm. At the same time, Rean made the 'walls' of the Soul Gem Dimensional 'transparent' so that they could see what was happening outside.

"Let's go."

The two brothers quickly made their way out, where they saw the yellow-lit tunnel continuing forward. As one could imagine, the chamber's door behind them closed right after, too, not allowing them to go back. At some point, they noticed that they started to go up again. As always, Rean kept his Spiritual Sense and Light Bending Skills active to keep them hidden.

Eventually, they arrived at what seemed to be another hall with one more altar in the front. It's just that instead of seven doors behind it, there was only one.

"This is most likely the exit."

Rean nodded.

"Most likely. After all, we already got the Bloodline Marks. Although we haven't tried to use it yet."

Roan then pointed at the altar.

"That's not a problem. If this is the exit, then we just need to use Soul Power on that altar. It will open to the door for us regardless of how much Soul Power we use on it... or so I think."

The twins then looked around and noticed that there were six paths other than the one they came from. Without a doubt, those were the paths connected to the other trials, including Frandin's and that Zasfin they don't know about.

"I wonder if Frandin has completed his trial already."

Roan immediately shook his head.

"No. Look at the dust on the ground. All the footsteps here are quite old. No one has passed by this place for a week or two at the very least."

Rean nodded. If Roan was saying so, then it should be true.

"Should we wait or see what is behind the altar's door?"

Roan pondered for a bit before saying.

"Let's wait. We've already accomplished our objective anyway. Besides, we can use that other guy to see what's behind the altar's door if he appears first. Who knows, it might be connected to a place full of Zasfins, waiting to see his result. It would be a terrible idea to be spotted by them."

Rean agreed with Roan, and the two began to wait close to their own path.

According to Sister Orb, they spent just an hour to an hour and a half inside their illusions. That showed that the time inside the illusion was much longer than the outside world. Nevertheless, they didn't know how long Frandin and the other guy would take since they would probably fail many times.

However, something surprising happened a few moments later. Suddenly, Rean and Roan heard someone whispering from another passage on the other side. 

'Rean, Roan, are you there?'

The twins were taken aback by that. The voice was none other than Frandin's!

'What?!'

Immediately, they ran to the passage where Frandin should be coming from and finally noticed Frandin there, hidden behind a large rock of the tunnel. Of course, Rean kept his camouflage skills activated.

'Frandin, it really is you!'

Frandin sighed in relief when he saw the two of them.

'I'm glad I wasn't wrong.'

Rean couldn't help but ask.

'How did you finish your test so quickly? We thought you would fail many times before coming out.'

Frandin was also puzzled.

'That goes for you two as well. How come you two appeared here? I thought you were blocked back then.'

Rean shook his head as he replied.

'We were lucky to find another way. Anyway, before you talk about your test, how did you know we were there?'

Frandin nodded.

'I didn't. I simply sent the same whisper to all passages except the one used by that guy before. To my surprise, you were really inside one of them.'

The twins nodded in response. That was a smart way of confirming it.

'Alright, tell us about your trial. Did you pass?'