Demon Assessment

Of course, these matters are currently irrelevant to Hodan. His plan now is to first undergo the Fiend assessment. After all, the status of a Fiend can provide Hodan with quite a bit of convenience, and a Fiend Badge can reduce the trouble Hodan encounters while traveling in Hell.

Coupled with the aura of a High-God from his Fate God Clone, it can serve as a significant deterrent.

Without wasting time, Hodan set off directly for the Fiend Castle!

On the wide Black Jade road, Hodan was walking slowly toward the Fiend Castle, with that rusty "Zhengdu" strapped to his back. This caused passersby to turn their heads repeatedly to look at Hodan, but he paid no attention to these gazes.

The Higher Planes are different from the Material Planes; Space Rings are rampant in the Higher Planes. Even the lowest-level Saint-level experts each have several Space Rings. Most people like to store their weapons in their Space Rings, and when they need to fight, a single thought is all it takes for the weapon to automatically appear in their hands, which is very convenient.

There is simply no need to expose one's weapon, as doing so only puts the enemy on guard. Although there are people who expose their weapons, they are few and far between.

Especially someone like Hodan, carrying a tattered long blade on his back while walking slowly down the street—this was truly a rare sight.

There was nothing to be done about it; Zhengdu was simply too heavy. As for Hodan now, let alone using it to fight, he felt incredibly strained even just carrying it. Hodan's goal now is to adapt to the weight of Zhengdu as quickly as possible, striving to wield it with ease as soon as he can.

This was only because, after being tempered in the Flame Mountain these past few days and nurtured with all his might, it had finally reached the level of a High-God artifact.

Even so, when Hodan carried it on his back, he had to circulate his divine power at all times to lighten his burden; otherwise, given the weight of Zhengdu, every step Hodan took would leave a footprint on the ground. By then, it wouldn't just be passersby watching him, but the City Guards coming over to discuss compensation.

However, there were benefits to this as well; while bearing the weight of Zhengdu, his body was also slowly strengthening. Furthermore, the constant circulation of divine power made Hodan's control over it much more refined. Gradually, the divine power consumption from carrying Zhengdu became equal to the speed at which he absorbed it from the ocean of divine power.

But as for wanting to use Zhengdu to fight with ease, that was out of the question. Just as Huoxie said, without the strength of a Seven-Star Fiend, one simply cannot support the use of Zhengdu in free combat. To even begin to unleash the power of Zhengdu, one must at least possess the strength of a Six-Star Fiend.

The ancient Fiend Castle was purple-black throughout, especially its iconic giant carving—that blurred face and that eerie red single eye, which one could never forget after seeing it once.

The number of people heading to the Fiend Castle was clearly far less than those heading to 'Heiyan Castle' and 'Black Sand Castle'.

However, although the people walking toward the Fiend Castle were few, they all carried a sense of confidence as they looked around while walking down the street. Most of them had Fiend Badges on their chests; clearly... they were all Fiends!

The elite crowd of Hell!

Hodan stepped onto the stairs and entered the first-floor hall of the Fiend Castle.

The first-floor hall of this Fiend Castle was very spacious, and there were very few people in it, only a few hundred. With only a few hundred people in such a vast hall, it gave one a sparse feeling. At a glance, Hodan saw the counter for 'Fiend Application'.

Several burly men in black armor with black hair picked up bottles of fine wine from the table, and seeing Hodan enter, they said while drinking, "Yo, someone else is here to take the assessment."

But upon sensing the aura of Hodan's Fate High-God, these few did not dare to say anything more. Because they were only Mid-Gods, and a High-God—even one who had refined a Godhead—would at least have the strength of a Three-Star Fiend. Moreover, the opponent practiced the even more mysterious Four Rules, which was not something they were qualified to discuss.

Hodan walked straight to the Fiend application counter and said to the beautiful woman in charge, "I want to take the Fiend assessment."

The beautiful woman in charge of the application nodded, "Alright, you know the rules: ten thousand Inkstones per person." After she finished speaking, she held out her hand, and Hodan flipped his hand to take out a strip of Azure Stone from his Space Ring.

After receiving the strip of Azure Stone, the beautiful woman in charge of the application took out a seal with an eerie single-eye pattern and handed it to Hodan.

"This is proof of your participation in the Fiend assessment," the beauty smiled. "By the way, tell me your address, and I will record it."

Hodan knew that the tasks for the Fiend assessment would only be known when one went to participate in the assessment; for now... no one knew. Even the time to go for the Fiend assessment could not be determined. Because, generally, they would wait until enough people had gathered before conducting a collective Fiend assessment.

Only when the number of people participating in the Fiend assessment reached a certain level would the mission begin.

Since it was impossible to determine who would sign up, it was naturally impossible to determine when the assessment would start.

In any case, no matter how long it took, it would not exceed a month, as almost every day people applied to participate in the Fiend assessment. Naturally, Hodan would not be foolish enough to just wait here for the Fiend mission to begin.

After signing up, Hodan once again strapped Zhengdu to his back and walked slowly toward his home. Hodan wanted to seize the time to cultivate before the Fiend mission began; time was tight, and Hodan did not want to miss any opportunity to become stronger.

Finally, half a month later, Hodan received notification from the Fiend Castle to gather outside the city tomorrow.

In the half month that had passed, Hodan didn't have much to show for it, other than the fact that his body had adapted to the weight of Zhengdu from long-term carrying. At the same time, his Fate Clone had absorbed enough Soul Golden Beads, and now Hodan's soul had become even stronger and clearer.

The next morning, Hodan went to the city gate early. When Hodan arrived at the city gate, he already saw a large Metal Lifeform hovering outside the city, and there was a Fiend emblem on the Metal Lifeform.

"It seems there are quite a few people." Through the transparent window of the Metal Lifeform, Hodan could see many figures inside.

Hodan immediately flew toward this Metal Lifeform. An old man in silver robes was standing at the entrance of the Metal Lifeform, and he looked at Hodan and said, "Are you here for the Fiend assessment?"

Hodan nodded.

"Please show your Fiend Seal." The silver-robed old man had no smile on his face; it was a completely mechanical, official expression.

Upon seeing the Fiend Seal in Hodan's hand, the silver-robed old man nodded slightly, "Go in."

When Hodan turned to board the Metal Lifeform, the sound of him landing heavily due to the weight of Zhengdu caused the Metal Lifeform to shake violently.

Hodan did not care about the gazes cast his way; he just looked around coldly. The people nearby also sensed that Hodan was a High-God and did not dare to say anything. The Metal Lifeform returned to calm.

After entering the interior of the Metal Lifeform, there was a wide corridor leading to the front and back sections. There were people in the corridor, and one of them saw Hodan and said, "Those participating in the Fiend assessment, enter the rear cabin."

Once he entered the rear cabin.

Looking at the hundreds of people around him, Hodan found a seat and sat down. In this rear cabin, there were twenty seats per row, and each row was separated by four aisles. Hodan looked around; it was much like the cabin of an airplane from his past life, the only difference being that he was sitting in the economy class.

Hodan looked outside through the transparent window; there were still many people coming up one after another, and among them, there were even people wearing Fiend Badges. And there were quite a few of them.

Hodan immediately knew that this was a large-scale mission, though he didn't know what star-level Fiend was leading the team. However, Hodan didn't care much about this, because even a large-scale mission would at most be of six-star intensity. Since Seven-Star Fiend assessments were conducted individually, with Hodan's current strength as a Five-Star Fiend and the equipment gifted by Huoxie, he would have no problem escaping even if he couldn't win.

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