Mars guarding the heart? Or

"Yinghuo guarding the heart... Yinghuo guarding the heart! Even among all the star fiend Fates, this can be called the most ominous and perilous!"

Thinking of this possibility, Manor Master Yao felt his heart skip a beat.

The ominous nature of this Fate is such that if a person encounters it, they die; if an army encounters it, they are defeated; if a nation encounters it, it falls. Once it is born into the world, it signifies the overturning of the state and chaos under the heavens!

The Fate is ominous, and the person is likewise ominous! For one who holds this Fate, if they wish to achieve success, the path they walk will inevitably be a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. It is truly a case of one general's success being built upon ten thousand withered bones!

It is destined, it is destined...

--It is destined to be the Heaven-Killing Divine General for their Tianyi Demonic Sect to conquer the world in the future!

At the same time.

"Fellow junior brothers and sisters, taking advantage of this opportunity, I want to tell you the truth."

An Jing, having completely awakened his Fate Grid and seized partial authority over the Grand Ritual of Imperial Heaven Star Fiend from within, took advantage of the moment the Devilish Qi was scattered and his soul was connected to all the young boys and girls in the ritual to send a message—a memory—to everyone.

He spoke without reservation: "Xuanming Manor is not what they claim to be, some hidden sect with an ancient heritage."

"Their true identity is the 'Tianyi Demonic Sect'."

"The other junior brothers and sisters we had before were not sent away from the manor because their aptitude was insufficient, forcing them to descend the mountain; rather, for various reasons, they became materials for the Demonic Sect's alchemy."

"They were 'eaten'."

An Jing's thoughts swept across the entire formation, his voice echoing in the hearts of all sixty-six survivors.

But at first, not everyone could react to what An Jing had said—they had just broken free from their inner demons and were still somewhat dazed and at a loss.

For a time, the interior of the ritual was filled with the noisy clamor of young boys and girls.

"I broke through my inner demons? No... wait, what happened?!"

"Haha... Hahahahaha! I survived! I succeeded! Mother! Father, did you see that?!!"

"Sister Liu?! Don't die, don't die! I beg you... don't leave me behind..."

"I, I think I had a dream... Did we successfully pass the trial? No, what is this memory... This is, this is..."

After breaking free from their inner demons, everyone's reactions were different.

Some were more perceptive; even without An Jing's help, they might have broken free from their inner demons, though they lacked the ability to awaken their Fate Grid. They immediately noticed the other failed children who had died beside them and were struck with immense shock.

Others had been on the verge of being swallowed by their inner demons and, after being saved by An Jing, were still reeling from the lingering fear; amidst their emotional turmoil, they had become somewhat hysterical.

Others realized the death of their friends and companions immediately; they were filled with such sorrow that even their souls emitted mournful cries.

But soon, everyone heard An Jing's words and received the many memories he transmitted.

A pitch-black rainy night, lightning tearing through the silence.

They felt as if they had truly experienced everything An Jing had gone through: running in the torrential rain, searching within the manor, holding hearts fearful of the truth, hearts weak with pleas for mercy from Cangtian and the Demonic Sect, and hearts already knowing the truth, using a courage bordering on despair to lift the stone lid.

They all saw that floating bone.

They saw the people who had vanished.

Then, they saw the dungeon, saw the slaughter within the dungeon, those suspended husks and corpses.

Silence.

The radiance of Chihuang shone upon the sea of their hearts, and An Jing's divine soul connected with everyone through the altar.

At this moment, he could sense the emotions in everyone's hearts: some were like raging waves, some were filled with immense sorrow, some were dead and silent as ice, and others were calm and indifferent, merely confused.

Then came the feedback, one by one.

"No, it's impossible..."

Some young boys and girls who firmly believed Xuanming Manor to be their second parents said almost incoherently: "They couldn't possibly treat us like this... The instructors and teachers were so good to us..."

"How could it be, Azhu..." There were others who saw familiar names in An Jing's memories, and their emotions instantly spiraled out of control: "It's impossible! Azhu isn't dead, we'll meet at the foot of the mountain! Senior Brother, are you lying to me!? You're lying, right?!"

These were the ones who reacted; their hearts had not yet been thoroughly permeated by the Demonic Sect. Subjected to such intense emotional stimulation, seeing friends they had spent the longest time with die by their sides, and knowing that friends they thought had simply left the mountain had long since turned into medicinal mud...

This shock certainly broke their defenses, revealing a side of them that was out of control and panicked, but it also shattered the masks they had used to cover their hearts all along.

But there were others who had already become incredibly indifferent due to the distortion of the Demonic Sect.

They felt no fluctuation at the death of anyone: although many companions were lost, everyone had been prepared for this, hadn't they? When everyone was selling their lives, had they not considered this possibility?

They were the successful ones, and those who died—even those who turned into medicinal mud—were the failures.

--Why should the successful empathize with the failures?

But An Jing had anticipated this.

He himself had almost been distorted by the methods of the Demonic Sect; how could he blame these 'indifferent' young boys and girls? Not to mention, the Demonic Sect had indeed 'bought their lives'. Even he could not deny that.

However, he would resist. Just like a rabbit that has been caught, or a crab that has been bought, he would bite back, he would pinch back.

Therefore, An Jing spoke directly.

"Open your eyes and look well."

An Jing raised the sword in his hand, pointing at those junior brothers and sisters who had died after failing to awaken their Fate Grid. Wisps of black-red aura overflowed from their corpses; this aura was blood energy. The pure life-blood energy of the young boys and girls gathered in mid-air, only to be collected by the massive ritual formation, intended to condense something in the distance.

Utilizing the power within the altar—which most likely originated from the 'Sword Spirit'—An Jing mobilized the formation, guiding the consciousness of all the young boys and girls to trace back along these wisps of blood energy. Almost in an instant, their vision returned to Xuanming Manor, arriving at the fifth floor of the Medicine Pavilion, in Manor Master Yao's study.

They saw a dark golden vessel.

Inside the vessel, those dark red auras condensed, eventually forming plump, rounded pills that emitted a bloody crimson light, clear and pure both inside and out.

[Blood Pill Great Medicine]

In the study, two remaining pharmacists stood guard over the vessel. Watching these pure blood auras condense into pills, they were not excited or greedy; instead, they were somewhat...

Somewhat dissatisfied.

"Why are there so few?"

The younger pharmacist frowned as he looked at the Blood Pills in the Life-Nurturing Vessel, saying with a hint of disdain: "So many people survived the trial this time?"

"The quality this time is indeed better than in the past." The older pharmacist looked toward the direction of Xuanming Valley, lost in thought: "I just saw two streaks of starlight connecting the earth to the heavens; I fear two people have awakened a [Strange Fate]!"

"You haven't been at Xuanming Manor long, so you don't know that the reason the Grand Ritual of Imperial Heaven Star Fiend divides one hundred and eight people into twelve groups is because if there are too few, one person's heart can hardly withstand the power of the Divine Sword and the Heavenly Demon, but if there are too many, they easily interfere with one another, making it impossible to define the 'self'."

"During the ritual, for every person who dies in a group, the chance of the others being invaded by Devilish Qi increases by a layer, and the possibility of realizing one's own Fate Grid also increases by a layer."

"However, if someone in the group has a mind that is too powerful, it can lead to two situations."

"One is that everyone else's spirit is seized by him, and thus they all die, becoming nutrients to achieve his own success."

At this point, the old pharmacist smacked his lips, saying with some regret: "The other is that his heart is like a giant tree, shading others, and thus they survive together."

"It seems that this time, our two Strange Fate masters are of the more affectionate type... Although the higher-ups will bestow many rewards, those all belong to the Manor Master and the Chief Instructor and the other lords."

"For us, it really isn't as practical as the Blood Pills that might be distributed."

"Indeed." The young pharmacist took the old pharmacist's words to heart, feeling quite the same: "Only by pruning branches can the trunk grow strong. There is no need for so many ordinary people to stay alive; leaving twenty or so, forty at most, is enough."

"As for the others, living is of no use. Not to mention those mortals without a Fate Grid, even those with a Miscellaneous Fate, is it really worth our manor putting in so much effort to cultivate them? In the end, they'll just be awkward and mediocre, not as useful as us pharmacists..."

Although this contained some self-aggrandizement, the fact remained: while a Fate Grid is a necessary factor for a martial artist to achieve Internal Strengthening, having a Fate Grid does not mean the person is skilled at martial arts or can achieve Internal Strengthening.

Especially since Miscellaneous Fate includes everything, even bizarre fates like 'Laundry Immortal', 'Roast Meat Immortal', or 'Cooking Immortal' that grant bonuses to washing clothes, roasting meat, or cooking rice. The latter two can at least work as a cook, but the former... does one really expect someone to wash clothes?

The pharmacists looked down on these types of Miscellaneous Fate, not to mention that the rewards from above were intangible, while the Blood Pills were benefits they could firmly grasp in their hands.

The blood aura dissipated, and the regression ended.

The corpses of the boys and girls whose blood aura had been drained began to rot rapidly, turning into skin-and-bone mummies—it would not be long before these bodies turned into pure white bones, just like the skeletons they had seen when they first arrived at the White Sand Plains.

An Jing looked at the souls who were all silent, suppressing their anger and fear, knowing they were nothing more than meat for the slaughter.

"Next."

He said: "I won't talk; I will act."

"After this, those who want to return to Xuanming Manor may return, and those who want to follow me may follow me."

No one dared to refute An Jing, who had issued such a proclamation; they obeyed him subconsciously.

Perhaps this was the bitter fruit Xuanming Manor had brewed itself—An Jing's performance was so outstanding that almost all the instructors and lecturers had grown lazy; there were too many lessons and training sessions that An Jing had explained, taught, and supervised in their stead.

He had walked the mountain ridges with them.

He had eaten and drank with them.

He had trained and fought with them.

He taught martial arts, he explained the scriptures, he listened to their troubles, and he comforted their hearts.

By now, the dignity and charisma of An Jing, the senior brother, and his control over all the boys and girls, had surpassed that of all the lecturers and instructors.

"Wake up, and then form ranks!"

When An Jing issued his command.

There was no logic, no explanation needed.

Everyone, subconsciously, followed An Jing's words.

In just an instant, all the boys and girls woke from the dream of inner demons; they were somewhat dazed, somewhat trance-like, and somewhat at a loss.

However, they saw the figure standing before them, the first to stand up and pick up a weapon.

So they all stood up.

So they all picked up their blades and swords.