The Beginning of the Ritual

"Hmm. I agree as well. This time, we will certainly see a surprise."

Fully agreeing with Instructor Li, Vice Envoy Yao watched the sparring between the young boys and girls on the training ground, nodding with satisfaction: "At the very beginning, these little brats were still hesitant when striking each other, not daring to use any real force. After pumping so much beast meat and medicinal liquid into them, they finally show a hint of their true nature."

"Look, their methods are much more ruthless than before; they are all aiming to injure or maim. Only by nurturing a bit of malice does it become effective. You have to treat your opponent like an enemy to make rapid progress!"

It is impossible to practice martial arts without getting injured, and only by seriously attacking one another can they improve the fastest. Xuanming Manor does not lack medicine, and Vice Envoy Yao does not mind these children developing a bit of a temper.

Even if the price is that those children, who were once simple and kind-hearted, have now become little beasts with ruthless strikes and fierce glints in their eyes... No, how can this be called a price?

This is clearly what they wanted.

What the Divine Cult needs are those who will erupt with infinite motivation for their own desires, those who are willing to destroy everything and reshape everything for their own wishes—for that goal, they would rather destroy themselves, even if the Divine Cult itself were destroyed, it would not matter.

But so what?

In this world, only the Divine Cult will accept them, embrace all their vicious or beautiful dreams, and support their desire to destroy or reshape the world.

Because...

"This is [Heavenly Will]."

The old man turned his head to look at An Jing, who was calmly surveying the entire field, coordinating the sparring order of all the children, and stopping every overly aggressive practitioner in time.

His gaze was incredibly scorching, and a ghostly green fire flickered within: "Hehe, some people need medicine to transform. But some people are born to transcend the mundane."

"An Jing, oh An Jing... one of the best seedlings I have encountered in so many years."

Vice Envoy Yao stroked his beard, revealing a look of immense anticipation: "This time, I fear we might truly harvest some unexpected compatriots."

"By then, perhaps I can also leave these deep mountains and old forests and return to Da Chen."

"That day will surely come," Instructor Li said, cupping his hands.

"By the way, Little Li, I heard that recently, the imperial hounds have been biting quite hard, and there are even people from Jiankong Mountain taking action? The manor's supplies are running low; don't let our lads go hungry."

Satisfied, he shifted his gaze away from the training ground and said to Instructor Li beside him: "How is it? Where have they tracked us to?"

"They tracked us to Beiyu Swamp." The topic turned serious, and the One-Eyed Instructor immediately reported with a stern face: "Eight of our strongholds have been uprooted."

"The blessed lands where we used Blood Pills as bait to hunt demonic beasts have also been destroyed, wasting quite a lot of precious medicine."

Speaking of this, he felt a bit of regret: "Although they were medicines made from children with average aptitude, the efficacy was not low... How can these hounds of Da Chen be even less appreciative of the rarity of life than us, wasting the good medicine made from these children!"

"Then continue to use them as bait," Vice Envoy Yao said calmly: "But this time, we aren't fishing for fierce beasts, but for these red-skinned dogs."

"Tell the people at the surrounding altars to attack the counties that are not close to us, then buy people from those gangs to continue using as bait. Keep them hooked and see if we have more bait or if they have more men."

"They aren't the Child of Calamity; they are just ordinary lives. We can afford the attrition."

"Yes!"

Instructor Li received the order, then added cautiously: "However, it is said that a Divine Treasury master, [Liuyang Xuanjing], has arrived from Jiankong Mountain..."

At the mention of this name, even as an enemy, Instructor Li instinctively lowered his voice to show respect: "The two teams sent to scout did not send back any messages; they must have been wiped out. He should be tracking the Northern Patrol Envoy, and we were just caught in the crossfire."

"Master Xuanjing... how could a master from the Mingjing Sect of Jiankong Mountain intervene?" Vice Envoy Yao revealed a troubled expression. He pondered for a moment and shook his head: "No. We cannot harbor any luck; he might have already penetrated deep into the Western Wilderness."

"How is the progress in the manor? When can the trial begin?" he asked.

Instructor Li patted his chest confidently: "It is nearly complete! With the help of that kid An Jing, training these children is much easier than before, and the progress is much faster!"

"If I had to say, I think we could do it today!"

"Good, good. Then there is still time!"

Filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest, Vice Envoy Yao looked at the footwork and battle formations of the disciples on the training ground again, feeling that the timing was ripe: "Then let it be so. Tomorrow, at Qiming Valley, we open the sacrificial ceremony."

"The Divine Cult has been nurturing them for many days; it is time for these little ones to show their value."

The next day.

Without much explanation, under the leadership of the stewards and team leaders of Xuanming Manor, the group carried the knives, swords, sticks, and spears used for training, left Xuanming Mountain, and followed a forest path to a deep canyon located behind the mountain.

An Jing, who had long been prepared, quietly brought two pistols and hid them in his sleeves.

This valley was 'Xuanming Valley', from which a clear, large river surged, creating an alluvial fan made of white sand.

In the center of the alluvial land, on a fairly flat patch of white sand, twelve ancient jade altars formed a circle. Each altar was surrounded by nine positions—three inside and six outside—constructing an ancient and long-standing ritual array.

When An Jing first arrived, the first thing he saw was the canyon. His overly sensitive perception, combined with the influence of the Fuxie Sword Spirit, caused him to have a 'hallucination' for a moment. He felt that the canyon did not seem to be formed naturally, but was a...

A sword mark!

For a moment, An Jing even saw a god-like figure holding a sword, falling straight from the sky like a surging heavenly river, slashing a straight canyon through these endless mountains, suppressing something beneath the earth.

Countless years later, the streams converged, turning this into a river-like mountain range.

--Could it be the Fuxie Sword Spirit?!

[It is indeed me.] The Fuxie Sword Spirit also seemed to recall something, its tone solemn: [Another fragment of mine is in this 'Xuanming Valley'.]

[I have never found an opportunity to come here; it seems now is the final chance.]

"Understood." An Jing shook his head slightly, calmed his mind, and observed his surroundings.

This observation made him even more alarmed.

Because, on this patch of clean white sand, he saw many things that were equally white, yet filled one with dread.

Bones.

Human bones!

Across this expanse of white sandy ground lay a vast quantity of equally bleached skeletal remains; some were skulls, some were arms and palms, others were thigh bones and ribs... All of these bones were quite small, with not a single adult among them, and while some were shattered, others remained remarkably intact...

As expected, Bai Qinghan was right... Is it finally coming?

Have these people from the Demonic Cult finally grown 'hungry'?

In an instant, An Jing raised his internal vigilance to the highest level.

Sure enough, the Demonic Cult was finally about to reveal its true colors!

If he encountered danger, he would at least have some capacity to resist, and if no one blocked his path, he might even be able to lead the others in an escape into the mountains.

But the Demonic Cult did not give him any such opportunity.

An Jing swept his peripheral vision around and discovered that while the number of people escorting their group of children did not seem large, they had blocked every possible direction.

He might manage alone, but if he were carrying others, escape would be absolutely impossible.

At the very least, he had to protect the members of his own group...

"Brother An..."

At this moment, the other eight people following behind An Jing also discovered the bones scattered around. Gu Yeqi instinctively took a step back, then cautiously scanned his surroundings and asked, "What is going on here..."

"Don't be afraid."

An Jing lowered his voice to soothe them: "What follows is likely the formal trial to enter the manor... The inheritance of Xuanming Manor is arduous and surely extremely dangerous; these remains are likely left behind by disciples who failed the entrance trial previously."

"But don't worry, we are strong. We will all succeed in this initiation."

"Yes!" Gu Yeqi trusted An Jing one hundred percent, so he responded without hesitation, and the other group members also calmed down.

Next, it was time for Manor Master Yao to speak.

His words were long-winded, but the general meaning was simple: after more than a year of training and cultivation, they, as disciples of Xuanming Manor, should prepare to undergo the formal initiation ceremony.

The ceremony was dangerous; it required the use of ritual protocols to borrow the power of the Imperial Heaven Venerable God, stirring up the inner demons within everyone's hearts.

If one could slay their inner demons, they would awaken a Heavenly Mandate Fate and become a true disciple of Xuanming Manor. If they failed, there was a chance of death, but as long as they survived, even in failure, they could still become a member of Xuanming Manor.

Just like those riders and servants, Xuanming Manor would provide them with a bowl of rice to eat.

Of course, whether they wanted to participate or not was entirely up to their own choice.