Dual Cultivator with a cultivation system

Under everyone's gaze, the man reluctantly walked toward the massive palace. Before approaching, he rummaged through his space pouch and equipped an armor. The others didn't find this strange at all. His eyes kept darting around, searching for traps or ambushes—after all, treasures that appeared in such a way were often protected by deadly mechanisms meant to slaughter cultivators before they could even get close. That was exactly why most people preferred to wait for someone else to test it first—just as everyone was doing now.

"Looks like there are no traps…" the man muttered as he cautiously approached the palace doors. He sighed in relief but kept his guard up. Then, raising his hand, he pushed against the massive door. The instant his hand touched it, his instincts screamed of danger. He tried to withdraw, but before he could react, his spiritual energy was drained at an alarming rate. Within seconds, his body shriveled into a dry husk and collapsed lifelessly on the ground, without even the chance to scream.

The crowd watching from afar collectively froze, their expressions changing drastically at the horrifying scene. Even the man who had given him the technique frowned.

Wang Ming, who was watching from afar, also frowned when he saw this and asked the system.

'System, what happened to the man?'

[ System Message: The door has some kind of array which absorbs spiritual energy and after it absorbed enough it would stop,the man died due to having cultivation below the Core Formation Realm]

'So, only Core Formation Realm and above can enter, huh?' Wang Ming concluded after hearing the explanation.

"Heavens, how did he turn into a lifeless husk?" Jiang Yao exclaimed. This was the first time she had seen such a horrible way of dying. Unlike her, Wu Jing and Min Li remained calm—they were not as sheltered and had already witnessed gruesome deaths during their training and exploration.

"The door absorbed his spiritual energy," Wang Ming explained. The girls looked confused and were about to ask for clarification when the crowd started to stir again.

"Heavens, what the hell happened?" someone shouted.

"The way his body dried up, it looks like the door absorbed all of his spiritual energy," replied a scholarly-looking man.

"Hey, do you know what happened to him?" another person yelled at the masked man, who seemed lost in thought. The shout snapped him out of his daze. He looked at the crowd and spoke again.

"I understand now. Based on my analysis, his cultivation was too low, which is why all of his spiritual energy was sucked away. From my estimation, only cultivators at the Core Formation Realm and above can withstand it."

"Damn, if that's true, won't many of us miss this chance?" someone grumbled. His cultivation was lower than the Core Formation Realm, and many others wore the same dark expression.

"Does anyone want to volunteer?" the masked man asked again. This time, several people seemed tempted but still hesitated.

"I am willing to offer ten Sky Rank techniques. I'll give four immediately, and the other six if you successfully open the gate," the masked figure said calmly.

"!!!!!" Everyone who heard this widened their eyes, breathing heavily. Even some of the wealthier cultivators looked surprised.

"Who is he?" Wu Jing wondered with a frown. Even her family, the wealthiest in the kingdom, wouldn't casually hand out so many techniques, even if they had them in abundance.

"I will go," a female cultivator at the 1st stage of the Core Formation Realm stepped forward and walked toward the masked man.

"Damn, I was too slow," cursed one of the men who had been about to volunteer.

"Sigh, she sure is bold. What if the speculation is wrong?" another person said with concern.

"First, give me my techniques," the female cultivator demanded as she stopped in front of the man.

"Sure," the masked man replied. He extended his finger, and a beam of light shot into her forehead. When she opened her eyes, her expression lit up with excitement. Without hesitation, she calmed herself and walked forward, stopping right in front of the massive palace door.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly placed her hand on the door as the crowd leaned forward, eager to see what would happen.

Woooosh

The woman frowned as she sensed her spiritual energy draining at an alarming rate but had no intention of removing her hand.

"Huff… Huff… I thought I was going to die," she panted, breaking into a cold sweat. Her spiritual reserves were almost completely depleted—she had come dangerously close to death.

Ding…

Everyone's attention shifted to the door as glowing text appeared upon it:

[ First Test: Complete ]

[ Second Test: Push the door open with your physical strength ]

The crowd raised their eyebrows in surprise.

"Hah, that's much easier than the first," the woman said confidently. She placed one hand on the door and pushed, but it didn't budge. Her expression tightened. Using both hands, she mustered all her strength, yet the massive doors remained unmoved.

"Impossible! I can shatter mountains with my fists—I refuse to believe it won't open!" she cried out in disbelief. Gritting her teeth, she pushed again with everything she had, but no matter how hard she tried, the door did not move an inch.

"Hah, let me try. A delicate person like you doesn't have the strength for this," a burly, muscular man stepped forward. Ignoring the masked man, he walked directly up to the door.

He smirked as the door absorbed his spiritual energy—his cultivation being stronger, he fared better and lost only about half of his reserves. With a smug grin, he pressed his palms against the door and pushed.

But his smirk quickly vanished, replaced by a deep frown. Even with all his overwhelming strength, he managed to push the door only slightly open before collapsing to the ground, exhausted.

Woosh!

Suddenly, several beams of light shot out from the palace and flew directly toward a few people in the crowd.