David's team sat in front of the entrance of the labyrinth to rest.
The attackers of the team weren't that tired, they had only attacked about five times each, their cultivation level could sustain that expenditure of "Breath" easily.
Yet, those appointed to the defense were worse off.
They had to constantly activate their defensive spells against the reckless assault of thirty rank 4 dragons, even if their dantians still had some reserves, the expenditure of mental energy wasn't little.
Also, the first three trials were the most dangerous ones, teams couldn't exit the separate dimension without surpassing the third test and obtaining the token needed for their escape.
That's why it was better to recover after each trial, facing a test without being at peak form was simply too reckless.
"You did good, we might even pass the eighth trial this time."
David complimented Noah, he was completely satisfied by his performance.
'It will take a while for us to reach that point, the rewards of the eighth trial will probably be gone by that time.'
Noah thought in his mind.
The separate dimension gave rewards only to the first team that surpassed a trial, all the other groups had to fight and risk their lives for nothing unless they managed to become the first to pass the still unbeaten tests.
That meant that David's team would obtain nothing until it passed the eighth trial and only if they were the first to pass it!
However, teams of various organizations were already inside the separate dimension, it was unlikely for David's team to reach the eighth trial and pass it before the groups that were already inside.
'Our team isn't even the best that the sect could offer, there are three teams stronger than us at least.'
The Chasing demon sect had more than two hundred cultivators in the third rank, it could form many exploration teams.
Even if there had been many casualties and many cultivators had chosen to remain in the sect, there was still a large number of captains willing to attempt in the exploration.
Currently, the Chasing demon sect had five teams actively exploring the Inheritance ground.
Joel's team was considered the strongest, it featured many peak rank 3 cultivators that were attracted by the rank 4 techniques contained in the separate dimension.
Also, Joel was Edgar's right-hand man, his faction was in charge of the army of the sect, he felt that it was in his duties to secure as many resources as possible for the sect.
Alison's team came right after Joel's one when it came to battle prowess, the thieves' faction was specialized in raids, it was normal that its most powerful cultivators would group up to raid the seemingly richest place in the archipelago.
Roy's team was the third, he didn't join the exploration but the heroic cultivators in the sect had still assigned him to form a team made of the cultivators that didn't belong to any faction, the higher-ups couldn't allow for cultivators that didn't perform any service to the sect to simply watch from the sidelines.
Truth to be told, the team formed in that way wasn't weak, the cultivation level of each of its members was high, the only thing they lacked was battle experience due to the large periods of seclusion that they had spent to cultivate.
Under David's team, there was a group formed by the newly advanced rank 3 cultivators.
Many of them didn't have any affiliation to the factions but they still wanted to gather battle experience and, maybe, some glory from the exploration of the dimension, it was needless to say that they weren't performing well but their careful attitude led them to suffer no losses.
All in all, half of the most powerful assets in the human ranks of the sect were engaged with the exploration of the Inheritance ground, if the casualties were to be summed, the power that the sect had on the archipelago was more than halved.
Yet, every organization had the same behavior, more than half of their assets were deployed in the separate dimension, leaving the balance of the archipelago untouched.
The islands were only territories, the separate dimension contained resources so valuable that giving them up to focus on the archipelago didn't seem worth at all!
Another team appeared on the other side of the bridge while David's group was resting.
Noah's attention went on them, only half of them were rank 3 cultivators, the others were only in the solid stage of the second rank.
"Greed sure leads men to death."
Noah loudly thought at their sight.
"Just reckless people from some minor organization, they will regret this action."
David sighed after he commented on Noah's words, they both began to watch as the newly arrived team engaged in the first trial.
Thirty blue dragons flew from below the bridge and charged at the new group, Noah was watching them from the other side that time, he couldn't help but marvel again at their might.
The new team seemed experienced but disorganized, they probably didn't study detailed reports like those of the Chasing demon sect did, the backing of a powerful organization could be seen even from those details.
They reacted quickly, the rank 2 cultivators focused on defending while those in the third rank attacked, it was a battle formation similar to that used by Noah and his team.
The formation seemed to work in the beginning, the dragons were blocked and the rank 3 cultivators managed to kill a good number of them.
Yet, the might of so many rank 4 creatures couldn't be underestimated.
The weaker between the rank 2 cultivators felt their mental energy being drained, not even thirty seconds had passed but their defensive spells broke, allowing the dragons to rampage on them.
It was a slaughter, those in the second rank could only watch as the tide of rank 4 creatures swept them, attacks were launched but they had little effect.
Instead, they only fueled the Sea dragons' innate ability.
Sound attacks began to resound on the bridge, killing even more cultivators.
Then, thirty more seconds passed and more dragons came out from below the bridge to refill the ranks of the first trial, it was with a desperate expression that the cultivators stared at the again thirty beasts charging at them.