Multi-Gene

The sharp mechanical nail elongated, turning into a spike piercing through the air with sinister intent as it headed for David's skull. 

Whoosh! 

Rumble! Rumble!! Rumble!!! 

Suddenly, there was a dim glow and then a reverberation. They originated from within David's fingers. It was his storage ring that was vibrating. 

Whoosh!

A shadow appeared abruptly! 

BANG! 

A dark and sharp claw instantly slammed into the spike, diverting its direction elsewhere. 

Vather staggered backwards three steps while the shadow skidded three meters backwards. It was obvious that despite the shadow's sneak attack, it was still a little weaker than its opponent. 

Vather frowned slightly and gazed at the figure before him. It was a beast, a pure dark beast that was almost three meters tall. It had the tail and paws of a dragon, the head of a panther, the body of a wolf, but red blood pupils that looked monstrous. 

"It does look like a dragon-panther. " Vather gazed at the beast with some slight solemnity in his eyes. 

"A mutation maybe?" The beast before him had red blood patterns that glowed softly. It stared at him with murderous intent. 

A well nurtured and matured dragon-panther is a Rank 5 or even rank 6 demonic beast. If such a beast were to appear here, it was enough to wreak havoc and no one would be able to stop it.

Even Vather wouldn't dare to offend such a beast and would have no choice but to retreat. But clearly, the beast before him wasn't a Rank 5 beast, but it seems ever closer to rank 5. 

He then gazed at David. The beast was protecting David, which meant that David was its master. 

"Hmph!" Vather snorted coldly, he didn't attack again but went to a different place to touch the bright light. Since David and three others were touching it, it meant that it was a really important treasure. 

And as for the old man having ulterior motives, Vather couldn't be really bothered. The old man already know who he was, so he was aware the old man dared not try anything stupid. 

Touching the bright light, he too fell in a daze. The beast saw this and its blood-red pupils flicker as it thought about sneaking an attack, but in the end, it gave up on the thought. It seems it was intelligent enough to know that Vather might only be faking it.

David's ring flashed a dim light and the beast disappeared into thin air. Vather's dazed eyes suddenly gazed sideways, he then snorted and fell into a daze. This time, for real 

The others continued attacking the bright star lights in a bid to break their barriers and obtained the treasures they hold. 

The old man continued to watch them with a smile. 'Take, take all you want, take everything! Hehehe, they will all be mine in the end, as well as your souls!'

* * * * * 

David's eyes suddenly snapped open. He inhaled abruptly, but he felt greatly dizzy. Staggering backwards, he quickly took hold of his body. 

He wasn't physically weakened, but he felt mentally exhausted. A pounding headache rampage about within his head. Having no choice, David activated his storage ring and grabbed a couple of mental energy replenishing pills, swallowing them all in a single gulp.

He then sat cross-legged on the floor and meditated. After a while, he opened his eyes. No longer did the surroundings feel blurry. 

He gazed around him and saw five people also sitting cross-legged, they had been meditating but the four of them seem to have recovered earlier than David, which meant they had higher mental strength than him. 

"Seems we were all being expelled together." David muttered silently. 

He noticed someone gazing at him. David turned and saw Vather looking at him thoughtfully. 

"Vather." David smiled sinisterly. If they were to ask him who he really wanted to kill right now, apart from the Wolf King, he would certainly choose Vather as number one. 

Vather saw the coldness in David's smile but he only turned to ignore David. He wasn't in a good mood since he had failed to comprehend even the slightest of the heaven grade technique. He wasn't even able to memorise one percent of the technique. 

It looks like the legend concerning heaven grade techniques are true. 

Out of the sixteen people that had ventured into the starry sky space, one had been killed by the others because he managed to find a treasure, but wasn't able to keep it since he was too weak to hold such an important treasure.

The others had smiles on their faces. They were incredibly happy since they had managed to grab some pretty interesting treasures. If they went back to the academy with such treasures, the academy would be pleased and they would certainly be heavily rewarded for their troubles. 

Clap! Clap! Clap! 

"I must say, you all are quite good. I am satisfied, very satisfied." The old man's voice boomed. 

The disciples were happy with his praise. They bowed and responded. "We are glad for forefather's praise. We thank you for thinking about us younger generations."

"Hohoho… is that so?" The old man's kind smile started to change. A twisted smile started to appear on his face and he gazed at the disciples like how one looked at food. 

David started to have a bad feeling about things. He had been wary of the old man and now, it seems like his weariness was starting to pay off. 

The others were also not slow. They had noticed the change in the old man's tone. 

"Old man, since the trial has ended, shouldn't you let us out of this place?" A disciple said with a frown on his face. 

Most of the disciples and long drawn their flying swords and blade, they could feel the threat emitted from the old man. 

"I am very happy today. I've waited thousands of years to gather enough heaven energy to bring you guys here and you want me to take you back.. That's not possible."