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Aric watched the fight unfold, his mind focused and calculating. Let them wear it down a little more, he thought. Once the timing is right, I\'ll step in and finish it.

After several minutes of intse fighting, it was clear that Jiro and Sera were holding their own against the injured griffin, but they were struggling to land a decisive blow.

The griffin\'s strgth, ev in its weaked state, was still overwhelming. Its talons swiped through the air, narrowly missing Jiro as he dodged to the side. Sera\'s arrows were keeping it at bay, but the creature was reltless.

Aric decided it was time to make his move.

With a smirk on his face, he activated his Nine Tails Illusion Art. Shadows swirled a him as he created a powerful illusion, clouding the griffin\'s mind.

The beast faltered for a momt, its movemts growing sluggish as it tried to comprehd the phantoms that now sured it. Its eyes darted a wildly, unable to distinguish reality from illusion.

"This is it," Aric muttered under his breath.

He leaped into the fray, his Eclipsing Shadow Blade appearing in his hand, its dark ergy humming with lethal intt. In one swift motion, he dashed toward the griffin, his body a blur as he slashed through the air. The blade cut deep into the beast\'s neck, and with a final, furious screech, the Wildhorn Griffin collapsed to the g, its massive body going limp.

Aric landed gracefully beside the fall creature, a smirk on his face as he looked down at the decapitated griffin. Its head rolled across the forest floor, the life in its eyes quickly fading.

Jiro and Sera stood nearby, panting heavily from the battle. They exchanged surprised glances before turning to Aric.

"That was... incredible," Jiro said, clearly impressed. "You saved us."

Aric gave a small, humble smile, though inside, he was anything but humble. This was just the beginning of his scheme. As they stood over the Wildhorn Griffin\'s massive body, Jiro began to carve out the core of the beast. Wh the gold core was finally revealed, it was pulsating with the ergy of the slain beast.

The core was a rare treasure, filled with immse ergy, and since Aric had delivered the finishing blow, Jiro and Sera respectfully handed it to him.

"You deserve this," Jiro said, admiration evidt in his voice. "Without you, we would\'ve be done for."

Aric accepted the core with a gracious nod. "Thank you," he said. "But we all worked hard for this. Here, take these healing pills to recover your strgth." He pulled out two red pills from his pouch, seemingly innocuous, and handed them to Jiro and Sera. They took them without hesitation, grateful for the healing effects after the battle.

Unbeknownst to them, the pills were infused with Aric\'s blood.

Soon, Aric started altering their memories, allowing him to gain control over their minds. It was subtle, nearly undetectable, but within momts, they were under his influce, their loyalty shifting toward him without realizing it.

Aric wasn\'t done there. He approached the group that had be battling the griffin earlier. Many of them were still nursing their wounds, looking defeated but relieved the beast had finally fall. Aric, ever the opportunist, extded his hand to them as well. "Here, take these healing pills. I have no need for them, and you all fought bravely."

The injured group accepted the pills gratefully, swallowing them down. Like Jiro and Sera, they too unknowingly became Aric\'s pawns. Their loyalty now belonged to him.

As their wounds healed, Aric quickly assessed the situation. With these people now under his control, he realized he had a unique opportunity. "If I control more people, I\'ll overwhelm the sect with my results," he thought. His lips curled into a sinister smile.

Over the next two hours, Aric\'s plan unfolded perfectly. His group, initially just himself, Jiro, and Sera, began to swell in numbers as more cultivators unknowingly fell under his mind control. Every person he saved or helped became his loyal pawn, and the group expanded rapidly.

The hunting party grew from 3 to 40 in no time, each person under Aric\'s influce, working tirelessly to gather more cores.

Aric, of course, took the lion\'s share of the spoils. His strategy of letting others do the hard work while he controlled the situation proved highly efficit.

By the d of the trial, Aric\'s group had accumulated a staggering 5 Wildhorn Griffin cores, far more than any individual or team in the competition\'s history.

With a smirk of satisfaction, he distributed sev of those cores to the most outstanding members of his group, suring they would pass the trial as well. He knew that having loyal followers within the sect would befit him in the long run.

Wh the exit portal oped, and the participants were transported back to the sect gs, Aric stepped through confidtly. His group of 40 followed close behind, every one of them loyal to him without ev realizing it.

As they returned to the sect gs, the sce was vastly differt from before. Of the several hundred participants who had tered the trial, only 55 were left. The test had be brutal, and the survivors were weary but determined.

The elders, who were overseeing the trials, raised their eyebrows in surprise as they counted the remaining participants. "This is… far fewer than we expected," one elder murmured to another. "This trial was harsh indeed."

As the survivors lined up to submit their cores, the elders watched inttly. The first few cultivators handed in their cores, and the numbers were low—one, two, maybe three cores at most.

Jiro stepped forward first. He bowed respectfully to the elder in charge and placed a single gold core on the table.

"One core," the elder acknowledged, marking it down on his scroll. "You pass."

Sera followed, also presting her core. "One core," she said softly.

"You pass," the elder repeated.

Th it was Aric\'s turn.

He stepped forward, his posture relaxed but confidt. The elders barely glanced at him at first, but wh he placed his collection of cores on the table—45 in total—their eyes wided in shock.

"Forty-five… cores?" one of the elders stammered, hardly believing what he was seeing. The other elder leaned forward, his gaze sharp with disbelief. "That\'s impossible! No one in the history of these trials has ever brought in more than 0 cores!"

The group of elders exchanged stunned looks, whispers circulating among them. They had overse these trials for decades, and the most outstanding participant in their records had only collected 0 cores. Aric\'s result was unheard of, and it left them momtarily speechless.

"This... this is extraordinary," the elder finally said, his voice laced with awe and confusion. "How did you manage this?"

Aric, ever the smooth talker, simply shrugged. "I just killed them," he said humbly, though he knew full well that he had orchestrated every move.

The elders nodded, still astounded by the sheer number of cores in front of them. "This performance is beyond exceptional," one elder said, clearly impressed. "You\'ve not only passed this , but you\'ve set a new record. This will be talked about for years to come."

he elders, still visibly impressed by his performance in the previous s, gathered at the front of the sect gs. One elder, dressed in deep purple robes, stepped forward and raised his hand to silce the murmuring crowd.

"The second has tested your strgth and survival capabilities," the elder began, his voice echoing through the gs. "But a true cultivator\'s strgth does not come from power alone. The mind, heart, and intt must be pure and unwavering if one wishes to ascd to the heights of cultivation."

The crowd remained silt, hanging on the elder\'s every word. Aric listed with mild interest.

The elder continued, "The third and final will test the deepest corners of your heart and mind. It will reveal your true self. Only those who can confront their inner demons and emerge victorious will succeed. This test is known as the \'Test of the Mind\'."

He gestured behind him, and from within the sect gs, several guards appeared, dragging along a massive object covered by a thick cloth. They set it down in the cter of the ara, and with a dramatic flourish, they pulled back the covering to reveal an ormous mirror.