Five figures floated onto the grand podium like gods descending from the heavens.
The very earth seemed to bow beneath them as they walked with poise and silent majesty. They were the First Elders—living legends who had reached the peak of the Mid Realm of the Ascending Saint Realm. Their eyes burned like stars, and their presence commanded instinctive awe.
Clad in distinct robes of deep crimson, storm gray, forest jade, silver frost, and void black, each elder represented one of the Five Sacred Mountains—Emberflame, Stormridge, Verdantreach, Frostveil, and Abyssshade.
Their feet touched the podium in unison.
Behind them, fifty more elders emerged from within the inner sanctum. Ten instructors per mountain. All were Earthen Instructors, powerful cultivators who had stood as titans during the last Age of Turmoil.
Their presence filled the stadium like a rising tide of divine pressure. Every student felt the immense weight of being judged… measured.
