Ian and Mia stepped through the gates of the steel fortress and were instantly shocked by what they saw before them. The scene inside the city was extremely prosperous, with wide and clean streets, modern and towering buildings, bustling pedestrians and lively commercial areas, and even small flying machines hovering in the sky could be seen faintly.
The buildings on both sides of the street are of different shapes, permeated with a strong modern technological flavor, and the glass curtain walls are glittering with eye-catching light under the sunlight. The roads were wide and smooth, with a wide variety of stores displaying rich materials that were only possible before the end of the world. In stark contrast to the rough and simple atmosphere of the City of Ashes and the City of Storms, this place appeared prosperous, stable and even somewhat luxurious.
Mia sighed softly, "Unbelievable! This is a sight I've never seen before at all! No wonder the people of the upper world would look down on us."
Ian nodded his head as well, "Indeed, compared to the cities we've experienced, this is simply another world." This was only the outer city of the Aurora Council, what would be the sight if they reached the core area?
They walked along the main road, Mia sighed as they walked, a pair of big eyes constantly scanning everything around them, unlike Ian who traveled through, Mia was born in the end times, she had only heard about how prosperous the world was before the end times in other people's words, and this was the only time that she was actually seeing it, everything seemed so new to Mia.
Soon they found the obvious sign that clearly labeled the direction of the trial grounds.
Upon entering the trial grounds, the two found themselves in the middle of a huge venue, where a number of participants from various cities had already gathered. They discreetly hid their own auras and observed the people around them in a low-key manner.
Ian carefully sensed the strength of the people around him, and found that most of the people on the scene were at Flare and Spark levels, with only a few of them having strengths that he could not detect at all. Just then, a slightly high-pitched voice suddenly entered his ears.
"Hahaha, let me tell you guys, with my Flare-class strength, I will definitely be able to easily pass this trial. You guys can come with me and I will protect you." The owner of the voice was a young man wearing gorgeous robes, with a handsome but conceited face. His voice was not small, clearly wanting to draw the attention of the crowd.
Several people around him chimed in, "Of course, with your strength, the district trial is no big deal at all."
The youth proudly continued, "I've already inquired ahead of time, this trial is said to be difficult, but to me, it's just a piece of cake."
Before his words fell, his eyes were drawn to Mia, who was standing quietly in the distance, and an excited gleam immediately flashed in his eyes. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and came straight to Mia, saying with a smile on his face, "This young lady, it seems that you are also here to participate in the trial, how about joining my team? With my strength, I can definitely bring you through with ease."
Mia frowned slightly, she keenly caught the vague unkindness in the other party's eyes, and politely but firmly refused, "Thank you for your kindness, but I already have a partner."
The youth was clearly unwilling to give up, the smile on his face tightened slightly, his tone carrying a few hints of forcefulness, "This young lady, I'd advise you to think it over, the opportunity is rare, and not everyone has the qualifications to team up with me."
Mia's face was cold, her tone was firm as she returned, "I've already made it clear, please respect yourself."
Seeing this, Ian at the side calmly spoke, "This friend, there's no point in forcing it, we've already made up our minds."
When the youth heard this, he immediately turned his spearhead towards Ian, with obvious contempt and mockery in his eyes, "What kind of thing are you that you dare to interrupt? Just a guy from the lower world, with a strength that I'm afraid isn't even Flare level, right? Still dare to act like a big tailed wolf here."
Ian's complexion remained unchanged, and he lightly retaliated, "How capable you are is not something you can say with your mouth, and people who are strong don't brag all day long."
The youth was instantly enraged, and the temperature around him seemed to have lowered a few points, "You seek death!"
Just as the two were at cross swords and about to make a move, a stern voice suddenly rang out, "All stop! The trial has not yet begun, and you are causing trouble here, do you want to be disqualified?"
When the crowd heard this, they immediately gathered their auras. Only to see a middle-aged man with a cold face and wearing a uniform slowly walk onto the field. He swept a circle and said sternly, "I don't care where you come from or how noble you think of yourselves, here, everything is based on strength. Those who want to make trouble can leave now!"
The youth reluctantly retreated back, glaring fiercely at Ian on his way out, his eyes full of resentment. Ian, on the other hand, didn't care, just calmly gazed at the person in charge of the selection in the venue, feeling the aura emanating from the middle-aged man, Ian's expression didn't change, but in his heart, he was very shocked, "Astral level! A person responsible for the selection of the lower world has this kind of strength, the upper world is truly unfathomable."
The middle-aged man's voice was loud and cold, "My name is Lance, I am the person in charge of this Aurora Council trial. I don't know you all well enough, first, you will be tested, your abilities and talent level will be tested, after the test is completed, you will be assigned to different trial locations based on your abilities, the content of the trial is to enter the relics to explore and leave alive from the relics, it's as simple as that. "
"By passing the trial, you will have the qualification to enter the upper world, I believe you all have felt it, my strength is Astral level, in the Aurora Council I am only a high level of the fringe city, the real power of the Aurora Council is unimaginable to you, as long as you join the Aurora Council, the achievements you will be able to achieve in the future will be unimaginable to you at the moment! "Those present were all young people, their blood boiled with Lance's words.
Immediately after, Lance's words turned, "However, wanting to join is not that simple, the first thing is to complete a relic exploration, about the relics, you guys may not understand, I'll make a brief explanation ...."
Ian had already had the experience of exploring the relics, so some of the basics Ian was aware of, but he still caught a key point from Lance's explanation, which was that Lance especially emphasized that the rules of the relics were all different and would not inform the participants of the rules, they needed to explore on their own.
Mia is also a smart person, and Ian looked at each other, and understood the purpose of the selection: there are many relics in the world, some have been developed, while most of them have not been developed, so the upper world controls the relics and wants to develop them, but is worried that without knowing the rules of the relics, it would be dangerous to enter them hastily, so there is this so-called selection, with the condition of entering the upper world, in fact, it is to let the people of the lower worlds to be cannon fodder, using human lives to explore the rules of the unknown relics.
So the criterion for passing was to leave the relic alive, and as long as they could leave the relic alive, they would definitely bring back some information about the interior of the relic, which was what they really wanted.
Lance's speech was also gradually nearing its end, "You will face an extremely harsh test, and only those who can pass will be qualified to truly step into the upper world. Now, everyone get ready, the trial will officially begin soon."