The Deathly Square.

A massive open plaza stood between the servant district and the bustling marketplace.

Normally, the place was used to publicly execute servants who had broken the sect’s rules.

Today...

It had become the place where lives would either rise...

...or end.

More than three hundred servants stood in neat rows beneath the cold morning sky.

Some repeatedly adjusted their breathing.

Others silently clenched their fists.

A few lowered their heads, unable to hide the despair written across their faces.

Exactly one hour before the promised time...

Everyone had already arrived.

Everyone...

Except Shen Yuan.

High above them, a stone platform overlooked the entire square.

Three figures stood upon it.

Overseer Jiang stood in the middle with both hands folded behind his back.

Standing to his left was a short, plump middle-aged man whose round face constantly carried a smile that somehow made him look even less trustworthy.

To his right stood a graceful woman in her forties.

Her mature figure was wrapped inside elegant crimson robes that did little to hide her curves.

Every now and then, she would lean slightly toward the fat overseer and whisper something with a charming smile.

Unfortunately...

The fat man never once looked at her.

It was almost as if he had become completely immune to her charms.

The woman merely smiled harder.

Overseer Jiang watched the two of them for a moment before finally snorting.

"...Don’t the two of you have your own assessments to conduct?"

The fat overseer lazily scratched his chin.

"I do."

"So why are you standing here?"

"I’ll do mine later."

He yawned without the slightest bit of embarrassment.

"The disciples aren’t going anywhere."

Overseer Jiang’s lips twitched.

Then he looked toward the woman.

"And you?"

She smiled sweetly. "I already finished mine."

"So quickly?"

"There weren’t many who passed."

She tried to laugh in an alluring manner, showing off her skin, but failed to draw any reaction from the two of them, while the servants below could not stay indifferent.

"I had plenty of free time afterwards."

"Hmph."

Overseer Jiang looked away.

"What a coincidence."

"I suppose you sucked every last drop out of the men in your district before coming here."

The woman’s smile never changed.

"My, my..."

"You always know exactly what to say."

"But if you’re Jealous, you could always ask nicely."

The fat overseer suddenly burst into laughter.

"Hahaha!"

Overseer Jiang’s face darkened.

"Shameless." He no longer paid either of them any attention. Instead, his gaze drifted toward the square below.

Hundreds of servants waited quietly.

One glance was enough for him to separate them into two groups. He could easily identify two groups: those who had already stepped into the Qi Condensation Realm and those who had not.

The ones who failed looked especially miserable.

Their faces were filled with despair like they had already given up their will to live. But some of them still burn with unwillingness in their eyes.

"They only have themselves to blame," Overseer Jiang snorted. "If they couldn’t even break through after everything the sect provided, they deserve to die."

He never once considered another possibility. Such was the fate of those who had become a part of the Demonic Sect.

Either they live for the sect or they die for it.

There were many among such servants who had a damaged dantian because of the fake cultivation technique, and some had even already died from a broken dantian.

But overseer Jiang did not know about them; he did not even care to know.

Behind these servants, another group of new recruits was standing a meter away.

Young boys and girls who had only recently been "recruited" into the Blood Moon Sect.

Some lowered their heads, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes.

Some stood with trembling bodies, desperately trying to suppress their fear.

Others stared at the stage with unconcealed hatred.

There were even a handful whose eyes burned with excitement, believing they had finally entered a place where the strong ruled over the weak.

Overseer Jiang slowly swept his gaze across every one of them. A satisfied smile crept onto his face.

Every year, the people changed. But the expressions never did.

Only those who crawled through mountains of corpses deserved to call themselves cultivators.

His eyes slowly wandered across the square once more.

"...Hm?" His brows furrowed. ’Where is Shen Yuan?’

Overseer Jiang searched through the crowd, but there was no sign of him.

’Late? Did he fail to break through?’

’No, he already reached the peak of the body tempering realm from nothing within three months after learning The Sacred Scripture Of Bloody Moon by himself.’

’How could he fail to break through? Something else must be going on.’

Then, his eyes drifted to Shi Jin. ’Did that idiot do something?’

Given Shi Jin’s history, it was entirely possible that he had done something. He had already warned Shi Jin not to interfere before the assessment.

If Shen Yuan died now, months of preparation would go to waste.

A faint killing intent flickered within Overseer Jiang’s eyes before disappearing just as quickly.

Unfortunately, he could do nothing.

Although he held authority over the servant district, Shi Jin did not belong to him.

The young man answered directly to the sect.

More importantly, The two of them stood in exactly the same realm.

The Ninth Stage of Qi Condensation.

Neither possessed an overwhelming advantage over the other.

If they truly fought, Even Overseer Jiang could not guarantee victory.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance.

’Useless troublemaker.’

Just as he was about to withdraw his gaze, Shi Jin suddenly looked up.

Their eyes met across the entire Deathly Square.

Shi Jin merely smiled before returning to his conversation.

"Boss..." One of the servants standing beside Shi Jin scratched the back of his head. "Where’s Sister Shi Lui and the rest?"

"They should’ve returned by now."

"They only went to deal with one person."

Someone laughed.

"Don’t tell me Shen Yuan actually managed to run away."

Several servants burst into laughter.

"That brat?"

"He’s probably dead already."

"Or maybe Sister Shi Lui is taking her time torturing him."

Shi Jin simply smiled. He had only taken a portion of the servants with him to deal with Shen Yuan. They were not even the whole gang he had under his control.

"I’ll know soon enough." He didn’t sound worried.

Just then—

A ripple spread through the crowd.

It started from the very back where the newly recruited servants were standing.

The new recruits slowly turned towards the forest bordering the Deathly Square.

Some instinctively stepped backwards.

Others froze where they stood.

One girl covered her mouth with both hands.

"...W-What is that?"

"No..."

"It can’t be—"

"A Demon!" She could not hold back and screamed at the top of her lungs, attracting the attention of the rest.

The older servants frowned and turned around as well.

"What happened? What are they staring at?"

The whispers grew louder.

Even Overseer Jiang noticed the sudden change. His brows knitted together. "What now?"

Along with the other overseers, he followed their line of sight and slowly turned his head toward the forest.

Crunch.

A single footstep echoed from between the trees. A lone figure emerged from the shadows.

His robes were no longer white. They had turned almost completely crimson. Fresh blood dripped from his sleeves.

His hair was soaked and his face was stained red.

There were cuts all across his body.

Some were still bleeding.

Others had already begun healing before everyone’s eyes.

He was holding his own axe in one hand, which was stainless, and used his free hand to run it through his sticky hair. "What? Never seen a handsome young man?"