BOOM!
The heavy bronze horn sounded once more from the highest peak of the outpost, its deep resonance echoing across the blood-slicked cobblestones and instantly halting the chaotic slaughter.
"The two hours have expired!" said a powerful outer elder. He floated down from the central platform, his long grey robes billowing in the wind as his suffocating spiritual pressure blanketed the remaining applicants. "Everyone cease your actions immediately. We will now begin the tally and evaluation of your collected talismans."
One by one, the surviving cultivators marched forward to present their spoils to the counting disciples. The gap between the participants was staggering.
"Young Master Chen of the Iron Wood Clan: one hundred and twelve talismans!" said the counting disciple, his voice amplifying across the plaza.
"Young Mistress Liu of the Flying Feather Sect: eighty-four talismans!"
