In another one of the openings, a group of three walked in practiced formation. They were covered in blood, human blood. So much so that it was difficult to tell which parts of their clothing were originally what color.

The three of them looked haggard and exhausted, their eyes carrying the haunted look of people who had been through a lot.

The moment they saw the green light coming through the exit from a distance, their eyes lit up. Instead of pacing up and rushing out of the cave, they slowed down instead.

"Finally," gasped the taller of the two men, a lean youth with sharp features and calculating eyes. His name was Feng Wei, and he leaned against the cave wall for support, breathing hard. "We’re out. We’re actually out of that hell." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The second man, shorter but broader in the shoulders, nodded vigorously. His face was round and his eyes were sly slits, like that of a snake.

"Brother Feng is right. That was... that was beyond anything I could have imagined."

He looked at the young woman who stood slightly apart from them, her expression unreadable behind a pleasant smile. "Sister Yue, we made it."

"We should not be happy; we have no right to be." Feng Wei Spoke righteously; a hint of grief and regret flashed through his face. "It was all thanks to the noble sacrifices of our fallen comrades that we managed to make it out of that place alive."

"Indeed, brother Feng is wise." The second man nodded with the same smile while trying to look a little sad but failed miserably.

Despite what he spoke, Feng Wei was the same. He may have looked righteous, but he could not hide the wild grin that threatened to spill on his face.

He had to cover his face with his hand just to hide it.

The woman—Liu Yue—maintained her smile, saying nothing. Her robes were less blood-soaked than the men’s, somehow, despite having been through the same ordeal. Her delicate features and large eyes gave her an appearance of fragility that both men seemed eager to protect.

"I’ll never forget the sacrifice Brother Zhao made," Feng Wei continued, his voice taking on a reverent tone that might have been convincing if not for the calculating gleam in his eyes. "Throwing himself at those snakes to create an opening for us... such courage. Such nobility."

"And Brother Chen," the shorter man added quickly, not to be outdone. "Facing that beast alone so we could escape. His heroism will be remembered."

Liu Yue’s smile never wavered. She watched the two men perform their little show, saw how they were trying so hard to paint themselves as the hero of their escape, and saw how they wanted to impress her in their own ways.

No matter how saintly they tried to look, she knew the demon hidden inside them. She knew what truly happened, after all she was there...

And she made it happen.

It all happened when six months ago they decided to move on to the next trial right after reaching just moderate proficiency in the technique of the Demon Cult.

It was after that all the hell started.

Their group of ten had chosen one of the cave openings at random, desperate to get away from the main chamber and the sea of spiders that awaited to devour them just like the tens of participants that entered before them.

The moment they crossed the threshold, someone had stepped on a trap. Liu Yue remembered it clearly, how she had cursed every member of that person’s family in her heart, but she could not say it out in the open because she had to maintain her ladylike image.

The ground under their feet had split open, and they were thrown in a room full of snakes.

First everyone tried to act like a comrade, but soon they started to show their real faces.

Brother Zhao had been the first to die.

Not through some heroic sacrifice, but because Feng Wei had literally pushed him into a nest of the serpents while everyone else ran for a side tunnel.

Brother Chen had been next. This time it was the shorter man, Mu Tao, who made it happen by sticking his foot in his way.

After two deaths, the fourth member of the team, which was also a woman, started to suspect something.

She tried to warn others, but her words were dismissed.

She grew distant from the group after they somehow managed to escape the room full of snakes, but as if lady death had started courting them, the group encountered another danger.

It was in the form of a Rank 2 Spirit Beast this time.

Rank 2 spirit beast with power equivalent to a Qi Condensation realm expert. It had been massive, scaled, and horned, with eyes that burned with... hunger!

When the other woman thought they would fight together to run away from the beast, Feng Wei and Mu Tao stepped back, trying to protect Liu Yue.

The rest of the group ran away from the beast in fear and broke the formation.

It was then she realized that she had been thrown away as a ’bait’ because she had become wary of the rest.

The beast killed the woman and ate her up in one swoop. Just as the group had hoped to catch the creature off guard and kill it, their attempt failed... miserably.

They had no choice but to retreat.

That’s when Feng Wei and Mu Tao had realized their mistake.

They had rushed through the first trial, barely grasping the surface-level understanding of the Nine-Slaughter Blood Meridian Technique before charging ahead.

They were weak and unprepared.

And now they were so close to dying because of their mistake. So they decided to take time and train before killing the beast and advancing.

After several trials and training, Feng Wei and Mu Tao noticed a hidden nature of the Nine-Slaughter Blood Meridian Technique.

That was when the true hell started.