Death... and me

Blansin then talked a bit more with Erla and the others before finally crushing his badge. Obviously, he got teleported outside of the test straight away. "Sigh... I hope you can pass the twelve exams, Erla. At the very least, you have a strong ally to help you do so." With that dealt with, Blansin exited the Jhiod Sect's building.

'Blansin, come over.' As soon as he did that, he received a Divine Sense message from one of his elders.

Blansin looked in a certain direction and saw his elders across the street through a window, leisurely waiting inside a restaurant. Blansin quickly headed over before entering the restaurant and sitting at the same table. "Elders, I'm back."

The one who seemed to be the leader nodded in response to his words. "How was it? Did you get the item?"

Blansin shook his head, saying, "Elder Tilte, I have failed your expectations. Erla already knew what was happening in the White Scaled Carp race, so she didn't let me get close at all. She didn't allow me to enter her group either. I tried to enter the Pressure Realm test to look for her, but the environment was too dangerous to travel alone. Also, as you know, you can't attack anyone in the building. We have to come up with some other plan."

Tilte narrowed his eyes in response, replying, "You're one of the greatest talents of your generation. If you can't do it, then no one else we know can. We also can't get in there ourselves. I can feel it. The Divine Senses of the protectors of the Jhiod Sect in that building looked at us. It was as if they were observing us from the moment we appeared in this city."

The other elder shook his head, saying, "It's fine. As long as we don't do anything with the participants while they're inside, those guys won't do anything to us either."

Tilte agreed with him. However, his expression didn't turn any better. "The problem is the risks. The tests there are too dangerous. So far, she's still alive. But if she dies there, we'll never be able to recover her heart. It will simply rot somewhere."

"Indeed," Blansin pretended to agree. "However, what can we do? She definitely won't come out of there. Also, I tried to threaten her with the lives of the White Scaled Carp race, but it seems like she already had a conversation with her dad before she headed out. Everything that was happening was within her and her dad's expectations in case things went south. She won't come out even if you bring her dad as a hostage right in front of the Jhiod Sect's building. At the very least, that's the feeling I got from her."

Tilte found the description Blansin gave about her a bit different from what he had heard. But then again, Erla had been kept as a secret for so long, so what he knew might have all been a lie as well. "Don't worry. We predicted that such a thing would happen, so we called for extra help."

"Extra help?" Blansin was taken aback to hear that. "What does elder mean?"

"We recruited mercenaries in the Mercenary Guild to do this job for us, and they will join you in the tests," Tilte explained. Soon after, he looked in another table's direction, where nine customers were eating.

When Blansin checked their cultivation, he immediately noticed that they were all at the Initial Stage of the Void Tempering Realm or above. Two of them were even at the Peak Stage. "Are they going to enter the tests of the Jhiod Sect?"

Tilte nodded in response. "Correct. The one in the middle is called Hume. He will be the leader of this group. Naturally, you will be there as well to harvest Erla's heart."

Blansin found it strange, though. "That doesn't make sense. Everyone knows how dangerous the tests are. If those guys could take part in the tests to start with, why would they be outside?"

"You're wrong," another elder added. "They're not going to try to pass the tests. The tests are obviously dangerous, but the majority of deaths come from people who refuse to give up. After all, they would need to start everything again. These guys are different. They know how dangerous it is and aren't willing to risk their lives to pass the tests. If they see they'll die, they will immediately crush their badges and get out of the tests."

Tilte nodded, continuing, "That's the agreement we had with them. Of course, the tests can still have you killed if you don't pay attention all the time. You might not even have the chance to crush the badges. With that said, Blansin, you must be careful as well. You and the others are the future of our race, after all."

"I'll definitely take care, elder. However, can I trust them?" Blansin asked in doubt.

"You can," Tilte confirmed with a nod. "All you need to know is that as long as they aren't at imminent risk of death, they won't crush their badges and will help you get Erla. You already have the tools and know-how to harvest her heart. The agreement, payment, and everything else related to those mercenaries is something for us to care about."

Blansin nodded after hearing that. "If elder says so, this Blansin shall carry your orders."

Tilte couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the Jhiod Sect building. "I just hope Erla doesn't die in the Pressure Realm test."

Blansin then asked something else. "Elder, isn't it possible to ask for the cooperation of the elders of the Jhiod Sect?" Of course, Blansin knew it wouldn't work, but he had to keep pretending he wanted to have Erla's heart as well. That's why he asked this question.

Tilte shook his head, saying, "It won't work. First of all, they won't be convinced by some random excuse to get Erla's heart. If we really show this much interest in her, they will know something is up. We can't risk losing Erla's heart to Jhiod Sect. Our Terces Continent might be nothing compared to Jhiod, but it's still an entire continent. The Jhiod Sect would definitely love to have an item that could have the entire continent walking on the palm of their hands."

"Very well." Blansin stopped asking questions there.