At the gravity test.
The five elders stationed there were in a circle formation, waiting patiently for the next candidate while conversing with each other.
The elder who was seated while facing in the direction of the strength test has just so happened to focus his vision on it when the current test taker was attempting the test.
When the boulder collapsed on itself, he couldn't believe his eyes. When the rest of the elders turned towards the sound to see what happened but could not figure it out, they took notice of their shocked colleague.
When they asked him what he saw, he answered:
"Something unbelievable..."
When they pressed him to elaborate on that vague answer, he went on to describe the whole sequence of what he had witnessed.
After hearing him out, no one could believe such feat was possible for a candidate.
"He is coming over!" said in a hurry the shocked elder.
The others immediately looked over, and they saw him following the guide while heading over to them.
By the time the test taker was in front of them, they still weren't willing to believe that he had managed to accomplish such a thing.
Following his movements, they watched him sit down in the center of the formation as he was instructed by the guide.
Leaving the question of whether what their colleague told them was true or not, the test needed to proceed as usual.
After silently communicating with eye contact alone, the five elders began executing the required hand signs and movements necessary for the execution of the technique "Great Gravity Changes" - a technique capable of altering the gravity in a specified space.
A few moments later, the required hand signs and gestures were completed, and the effects of the technique were active; the gravity in the small area at their center was thus changed.
There was no longer a need for other gestures. They only had to focus their energies on the technique's nucleus between their palms to control the gravity.
When the new gravity had reached the standard of passing for the test, the five elders decided to take a look at the test taker, out of curiosity.
They were immediately surprised finding the test taker sitting relaxed as if the gravity never changed.
Where most of the disciple candidates would have already failed by now, others would put considerable effort just to not drop flat on the ground. The one in front of them, though, was the personification of indifference.
No matter if the unbelievable feat of the candidate at the strength test was true or not, he had already passed their test, and with a relaxed expression too. They had to acknowledge he showed promise, but they still needed to test his limits for the records.
Silently communicating again between them, they agreed to increase the gravity and see how long he could endure.
The more of their energy they put into the nucleus, the more the gravity inside the circle increased.
Steadily, it rose to many times the normal amount. The increasingly strong pressure from the altered gravity bore down on the test taker.
Normally, even if someone passes the required passing threshold, they would for sure show some signs of strain by now. But the candidate stayed relaxed as before.
Shock started to brew in their hearts as they continued to increase the gravity, and no kind of strain could be observed on his face.
After ten minutes, they were bewildered to find him still relaxed as he so far was, as over the last decades, the longest a candidate endured in this test was seven minutes.
That candidate was considered a genius for lasting such a long time. And if they remembered correctly, he was already at his limits of passing out when the seven minutes were reached and he yielded.
This test taker now in front of them on the other hand, had already endured ten minutes of the increased gravity, and there were no signs of him being strained or wavering what's so ever.
There was even one moment they could have sworn to have seen the corner of his eyes constrict and his closed mouth clenching, as if he was trying to suppress a yawn!
They didn't know if their old eyes were playing tricks on them or not, but one thing was for sure. As ridiculous as it seemed to them, the candidate seemed unfaced by the continually increased gravity.
At that point in time, the circumstances of the test in their minds had changed. It was no longer about the official candidate screening but about their pride as elders.
They couldn't stop now when they didn't even manage to unravel his limits. Now, it was a matter of must, to push the technique the furthest they could and produce at least some kind of reaction from him.
So, they pushed and pushed. They inserted more energy into the technique's nucleus, as much as they could.
But even as the elders they were, the amount of energy they could use from their body was not infinite.
They eventually used almost their whole energy reserves in their attempt and still came out empty.
They got to the point where their faces were beet red from extracting the remaining energy left in their reserves. They were nearing a dangerous situation if they extracted more, but yet nothing faced the candidate.
During their strenuous effort to extract the little energy they had left, they were beginning to feel shocked by his continuously nonchalant attitude, replacing their prideful attitude with pure bewilderment.
No matter how talented a person could be, no one could remain this relaxed under the mighty pressure the combined technique produced.
Infuriating as it may be to yield themselves instead of the candidate, the danger from continuing any further wasn't worth it.
The moment they stopped the "Great Gravity Changes" technique, they dabbled over where they sat and gasped for air.
Glancing at the simple looking, disciple candidate in their center, they were confused and speechless.
They could only look at each other, hoping to find answers for their questions or relief for their frustration. But alas, what they found were only the same problems that troubled them.
They were dejected, feeling like they had failed their own position and themselves. In a manner of speaking, they were the ones who failed instead of a candidate and were totally defeated at the end.
By the time they regained both their steady breath and state of mind, the candidate who had been up until then, sitting in their center unmoving, was now standing up and looking at the disciple who guided him there.
Inner disciple Tang saw everything that transpired. Both the indifference of the candidate when under the immense gravity but also the gargantuan effort the elders put to get a reaction from him, yet still proved to be insufficient, were incredible in his eyes.
This was the second - out of the ordinary - performance he saw this candidate perform but he was still stupefied by it; he could only stare in silence in their direction.
He only awoke when the candidate's gaze met his. The situation was familiar to him, as he was reliving the same sequence of events as with the first test.
Although he was starting to feel confused and puzzled by this candidate's mysterious and unfathomable strength, not understanding how he could even accomplish such feats, he still followed on with his duty.
He quickly unfolded his held paper sheets and wrote down the results for this test as he understood them.
Disciple Candidate #197
Strength Test: Passed
Size of damage caused: Testing Boulder pulverized
Time taken: Instant (with two seconds of delay after the impact)
Gravity Test: Passed
Level of difficulty for the test taker: None
Time endured: Until the end.