The barren crimson mountain was called "Seven Mysteries." Its jagged rocks resembled the fangs of a monstrous beast, piercing the thin morning mist. At its foot, a dark mass of people crowded together, the stench of sweat mingling with dust and a faint trace of blood until the air felt suffocating.
Today was the day the Seven Mysteries Sect threw open its gates to recruit disciples. Thousands upon thousands of youths, carrying dreams of the martial world or simply a desire to survive, poured in from every direction to fight for a mere few dozen places.
At the edge of the crowd, a youth dressed in heavily patched, coarse cloth slowly opened his eyes. At first, a little confusion lingered in them, but it vanished in an instant, replaced by a bottomless, icy chill and a hint of indescribable world-weariness and sharpness.
Han Li lowered his head and spread his hands. They were rather thin, yet their joints were clearly defined. These were not the hands with which he had dominated the immortal realm and governed the birth and death of destiny. They belonged to a country youth who had just traveled a long way to seek admission to the sect.
The Seven Mysteries Sect... Mo Juren... he murmured inwardly. An almost imperceptible curve touched his lips, cold as a blade's edge. I've actually returned here.
Scenes from his previous life flitted through his mind like light upon water and passing shadows. His thousand-year path of cultivation, cautious at every turn, each step carefully secured, had indeed taken him to the summit. Yet it had also left far too many regrets and swallowed grievances. In this life, since heaven had given him a chance to begin again...
An entirely different resolve roared in the depths of his soul like a savage beast awakening.
Endure in silence? Yield? Scrape by just to survive?
No!
In this life, I'll kill without hesitation and settle every debt of gratitude and vengeance to my heart's content! I'll make all nine heavens and ten lands tremble at the name of Han Li! I'll bring every immortal maiden and goddess under my banner and compose a song of a demon lord's unfettered freedom!
The instant that resolve crystallized, a cold, utterly emotionless mechanical voice abruptly sounded in his mind:
[Ding! Host's killing intent detected piercing the heavens. Dao heart reversed. Binding conditions met.] [Slaughter and Plunder System officially activated!] [This system is designed to assist the host in attaining the Dao through killing. Slay enemies to plunder their cultivation, cultivation arts, vital essence, and souls, forging an unrivaled demonic foundation!]
Han Li's gaze flickered, but he felt little surprise. Something as heaven-defying as rebirth had already happened; another so-called "system" was merely flowers added to fine brocade. With a slight movement of his thoughts, he tried communicating with it. What counts as slaying an enemy? What restrictions are there?
[Enemy classification: living beings who harbor malice toward the host and act upon it. Slay mortals to plunder their meager vital essence; slay cultivators to seize their cultivation foundations. The greater the slaughter, the richer the plunder! May the host press onward with all his strength and soon reach the pinnacle of the Dao of Slaughter!]
Excellent. Han Li sneered inwardly. These rules suited him perfectly.
"Silence!"
A furious shout infused with internal energy exploded like thunder over the noisy mountainside. A stern-faced young man dressed in the robes of a Seven Mysteries Sect core disciple stood on high ground, his lightning-sharp gaze sweeping over the crowd.
"The first trial of the entrance examination: climb the Sword-Grinding Path!" The young disciple pointed at the narrow mountain trail winding upward behind him, strewn with sharp stones and concealed traps. "Only those who reach the summit platform by their own strength before sunset may enter the next round. Fighting is permitted along the way, but deliberately killing anyone is forbidden. Violators will be disqualified!"
"Begin!"
Before his voice had faded, the crowd erupted, surging madly toward the sole passage like floodwaters bursting through an opened sluice. Shoving, curses, and the sounds of covert trips and dirty tricks broke out at once. For that faint chance at an immortal destiny, the ugliest side of human nature lay exposed.
Han Li moved with the crowd, neither hurried nor slow. His frame seemed frail, but his steps were extraordinarily steady. Time and again, he slipped past the crowd's hidden surges and the traps underfoot by a hair's breadth, like a slippery fish.
Yet trouble always came knocking of its own accord.
"Get the hell out of my way, brat! You think a pauper like you deserves to walk this path?" A broad-shouldered, thick-waisted brute with a fleshy face, clearly trained for several years in external martial arts, reached straight for Han Li's neck. His palm, broad as a palm-leaf fan, whipped through the air as he tried to throw Han Li off the trail.
Several equally vicious youths nearby not only made no move to stop him, but grinned in delight at Han Li's misfortune. They were plainly his accomplices.
Han Li stopped and raised his head to look at the brute. His eyes were calm and utterly still, yet an inexplicable chill struck the brute's heart, as though some savage beast from primordial times had fixed its gaze on him.
"You harbor malice toward me," Han Li said mildly, as though stating a fact.
The brute froze, then flew into a humiliated rage. "Fuck you and your spooky act! You're asking to die!"
His five fingers hooked like claws, and he put still more force into his attack.
Just as his palm was about to touch Han Li's clothes-
Crack!
A crisp, teeth-grating sound of breaking bone abruptly rang out.
Though Han Li moved second, he struck first. His right hand darted out like lightning, caught the brute's wrist with unerring precision, and gave it a gentle bend! Before the brute could even make out the movement, an irresistible force struck him, shattering his wrist bones in an instant!
"Aaargh-!" His piercing scream had barely begun before it cut off.
Han Li held two fingers of his left hand together like a sword. A barely perceptible wisp of pale blue-green energy flashed at their tips and vanished as he struck the brute's Adam's apple with pinpoint accuracy.
The brute's eyes bulged, his face filled with disbelieving terror. His massive body stiffened, then collapsed limply, kicking up a cloud of dust. He was dead.
[Ding! One malicious mortal slain. A small amount of vital essence plundered. Physical body slightly strengthened.]
As the system notification sounded, a faint warm current flowed into Han Li's limbs and every part of his body.
Silence!
Deathly silence!
The previously clamorous mountain path seemed to have been muted in that instant. Everyone who had witnessed the scene stopped in horror, staring at the ragged youth as though he were a monster.
He had killed someone!
He had actually killed someone outright during the entrance examination! And so cleanly, so ruthlessly!
The brute's young accomplices turned deathly pale. Their legs shook like chaff in a sieve as they backed away again and again, wishing their parents had given them another pair of legs.
Han Li did not even glance at the corpse. His gaze swept over the terrified accomplices, his voice still mild, yet carrying a bone-piercing chill. "Anyone else want to block my way?"
No one dared answer.
Only then did he resume his climb. Wherever he went, the crowd parted like a tide, making a passage for him of its own accord. Every gaze upon him was filled with fear and awe.
The Sword-Grinding Path, which should have demanded a grueling climb and constant vigilance, was like level ground to Han Li. No one dared come within thirty feet of him again.
On the platform above, several Seven Mysteries Sect stewards and core disciples supervising the examination had already noticed the commotion below and that brief scream.
"What happened? Who dared strike to kill?" an elderly man with a stern, rigid face demanded with a frown.
The cold-faced young disciple who had announced the rules was now visibly shocked as well. Watching from afar as the youth ascended as leisurely as if strolling through a courtyard, he took a deep breath and cupped his hands. "Reporting to Steward Zhang, it was... an examinee. He counterattacked and killed his opponent with a single blow."
"Killed him with a single blow?" A sharp glint flashed in Steward Zhang's eyes. "Did you see what technique he used?"
Confusion and disbelief appeared on the young disciple's face. "It seemed... to be no more than ordinary grappling and pressure-point strikes, but his speed was astonishing, and his control of force was... inconceivable. I... I couldn't make it out completely."
Steward Zhang and the other stewards grew solemn at his words. For this youth's strike to elude even seasoned veterans like them, he could be no ordinary boy!
"What is this boy's background?" another middle-aged steward asked gravely.
"His name is Han Li. He comes from a small mountain village near Rosy Cloud Mountain in Mirror Province. His background is clean, with nothing unusual." The young disciple had evidently already memorized the details of every promising candidate and anyone who had displayed anything out of the ordinary.
"Han Li..." Steward Zhang repeated the name under his breath. An unusual gleam crossed his clouded old eyes. "Interesting. It seems this entrance examination won't be dull."
Deep within the Seven Mysteries Sect, in a quiet room suffused with the faint scent of medicinal herbs.
A middle-aged man with refined features and eyes as deep as an abyss sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. He was Mo Juren, a guest elder of the Seven Mysteries Sect.
A trusted disciple stood respectfully before him, quietly reporting on the examination outside the sect gates.
When he heard the name "Han Li" and the account of his ruthless decisiveness, a faint change came over Mo Juren's face, which had remained as still as an ancient well.
He slowly opened his eyes. Deep within them, a trace of irrepressible greed and wild joy flashed and vanished, only to be replaced by still deeper misgivings.
"Killed his opponent with a single blow? Even the stewards couldn't fully see it?" Mo Juren murmured, unconsciously rubbing his fingertips together. "How could a country boy with mediocre innate aptitude possess such skill and temperament?"
His original plan had been to find a bodily vessel with passable aptitude who would be easy to control. Han Li's appearance, however, seemed to have exceeded his expectations.
Was this an unexpected blessing? Or... an uncontrollable variable?
Mo Juren pondered for a moment. A meaningful smile gradually curved his lips, mingling anticipation, caution, and a trace of cold calculation.
"Regardless, let this old man see for himself whether you're a piece of uncut jade, boy, or a sharp blade... that turns on its wielder."
At that moment, Han Li had already become the first to step onto the summit platform. Facing the gusting mountain wind, he stood tall and straight as a pine despite his ragged clothes. His indifferent gaze looked down upon the crowd still struggling to climb below.
[Ding! Intense malicious scrutiny detected. Source: Mo Juren. Hidden quest triggered: Rebounding Blade. Objective: crush Mo Juren's body-possession scheme and plunder everything he possesses in turn. Quest reward: generous rewards based on completion level.]
Han Li's inward sneer deepened.
Old fox, you've set your sights on me already?
In this life, who will be whose prey remains to be seen!
His gaze seemed to pierce the layers of halls and fall upon that secluded medicinal chamber.
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