The setting sun sank at an angle, spilling blood-red light.
An eagle soaring on outstretched wings descended through the clouds, brilliant light washing over the edges of its feathers as though gilding them in reddish gold.
Its head dipped, its dark yellow pupils reflecting the endless mountain ranges below.
At the front of the crowd, a figure dressed in black stood with his hands behind his back.
He had a long, narrow face and thin brows and eyes. His gaze swept slowly over the young figures like a cold, venomous snake.
"When I call your name, step forward."
The black-clad man took out a register with an aged sheen. His eyelids lowered slightly as his gaze fell upon its pages:
"Fang Hai, Du Yunian, Shen Fan, Tang Shun..."
Name after name emerged in that utterly flat voice.
Each time a name was called, the corresponding young figure looked as though granted a pardon. Their tense body instantly relaxed, and they drew a deep breath before hurrying out of the oppressive ranks to stand on the other side, grateful to have survived disaster.
"Qi Yun."
Stepping out of the crowd at the sound of his name, Qi Yun slowly loosened the fists clenched inside his sleeves until his knuckles had turned white. He discreetly raised a hand to wipe the beads of sweat from his temple.
That was close. Thank goodness I broke through a month ago, or I would have been finished.
He was a transmigrator.
Two years ago, Qi Yun had inexplicably fallen into this cruel world.
Right at the start, his birth parents had sold him to a human trafficker for the princely sum of three taels of silver. After changing hands several times, he had finally been scooped up by the Limitless Devil Sect.
He had become a reserve recruit for this Devil Dao Sect.
"Those whose names were called may return now."
The black-clad man snapped the register shut, his voice indifferent, as though announcing something utterly trivial:
"As for the rest, someone will take you to... 'another place' to continue cultivating."
At these words, the young figures left standing there immediately panicked. Their lips trembled as they tried to plead and beg, but the moment they encountered the black-clad man's icy gaze, they forcibly swallowed all the words filling their bellies.
Speaking recklessly earned the punishment of having one's tongue pulled out!
In their two years struggling to survive in this den of devils, they had seen far too many bloody examples.
Those faces, twisted in agony after their tongues had been torn out, surfaced with terrible clarity in everyone's minds!
Qi Yun turned silently and followed those who had passed toward the low, oppressive dwellings halfway down the mountain.
Their footsteps struck the cold stone, giving off dull echoes.
He tilted his head slightly, casting one final glance from the corner of his eye at the companions left behind like lambs awaiting slaughter.
Those young, tender faces now held nothing but utter bewilderment and helplessness, as though their souls had been drawn out.
But... this was a devil sect.
With a faint inward sigh, Qi Yun turned back and quickened his steps, wanting only to leave the suffocating clifftop as soon as possible.
Click.
The wooden door closed with a crisp sound.
His taut nerves finally relaxed completely. As though drained of every ounce of strength, Qi Yun collapsed heavily onto the cold plank bed.
Then he let out a long, deep breath of stale air that had been pent up for far too long.
"Another... hurdle cleared..." His weary voice echoed softly through the empty stone room.
When he had been sent into the Limitless Devil Sect two years ago, there had been five hundred youths in his group.
Just six months after entering the sect, one hundred and thirty-five had been led away without expression because they could not comprehend that profoundly elusive "sense of Qi."
After a year, another one hundred and forty-nine had been dragged away for failing to draw Qi into their bodies and cultivate their first wisp of True Qi.
Six months ago, one hundred and seventeen had vanished from everyone's sight because their cultivation progressed too slowly to keep up with the brutal pace.
And now, today...
"The final hurdle is almost here."
With both hands tucked behind his head, Qi Yun stared quietly up at the mildew-spotted ceiling pieced together from rough wooden planks, his eyes clear black and white.
The Limitless Devil Sect's reserve recruits received two years of training.
An assessment took place every six months. Those who failed to meet the standard were "sent away," becoming "human material" for another purpose.
Only the outstanding students who successfully broke through to Qi Refining First Layer and mastered at least one spell within those two years qualified to take the final "initiation trial."
Passing the trial would make them true disciples of the Limitless Devil Sect.
"Five hundred people, two years, and only forty-three remain. A one-in-ten pass rate... no, survival rate."
Although he had scraped through this time, Qi Yun felt little joy.
Through two years of cultivation and observation, he had clearly recognized that while his aptitude for cultivation was not the worst among them, he could only be considered average.
He had made it into this final handful because his greater maturity had allowed him to recognize the danger early: once eliminated, he would become human material.
Thus, he had cultivated harder than anyone else.
For two years, he had scarcely dared slack off for a moment.
Only then had he barely crossed the passing line.
"At this rate, even if I pass the trial and become a disciple of the devil sect, I won't last long."
Gently rubbing between his brows, Qi Yun felt a weight on his heart.
He knew all too well.
A place like the Limitless Devil Sect would never grow merciful simply because his status had changed.
Competition and elimination might even become fiercer and crueler after he formally joined.
The assessments would probably be stricter too.
"This isn't joining a sect. It's entering a scam compound!"
An intense sense of absurdity and powerlessness surged through him. Qi Yun sat up, a gleam flashing through his eyes, then lightly brushed his right hand through the empty air.
The next instant!
A strange panel woven from flowing, ethereal cloud Qi and ink-dark ancient seal script appeared out of thin air before him:
[Spells mastered] [Clear Breeze Technique: auto-updating (current progress 82%)]
Looking at the two brief yet anxiety-inducing lines on the panel, Qi Yun knitted his brows tightly, his fingers unconsciously scratching the corner of one brow.
As things stood, there was not enough time.
This mysterious panel, which had accompanied him through his transmigration, was his only variable and source of support in this abyss of despair.
To verify what it did, he had immediately chosen the easiest spell to learn, [Clear Breeze Technique], and begun practicing it as soon as he possessed a meager amount of True Qi.
Ever since he had successfully mastered this basic spell a year ago.
The "auto-update" progress bar had quietly begun moving.
Yet the speed of that update... was so slow it made his teeth ache!
Over an entire year, it had crawled like a snail, laboriously advancing to just 82%.
By a conservative estimate, reaching 100% would require at least another month or so of bitter waiting.
But the final trial.
Would begin tomorrow...