He was disheveled, clad in golden armor wreathed in coiling, golden flame-serpents, gripping a blazing-gold longsword. Blood stained his armor, giving him the appearance of one who had just crawled from a hellish field of slaughter; dried blood caked his face and hands, stark against eyes burning with chilling killing intent—a truly terrifying sight.
“Ah…” The man from the psychic civilization gasped. Despite his powerful mental fortitude, he couldn't help but lose some composure upon witnessing such a dreadful spectacle.
This was, after all, one of the Four Great Demon Beast Caves!
The most powerful demon beasts on the entire C-0986 star fragment were gathered here! Before arriving, he had met the demigod captains of every trial team, yet the man before him was clearly not one of them!
“Someone is in the Demon Beast Cave?” The burly man’s face trembled slightly. “Could it be some hidden, reclusive powerhouse on this star fragment?”
The delicate woman shook her head. “During routine testing, the Scarlet Meteor Sect always sends pseudo-god experts to sweep the area, ejecting any teams adventuring here and then encircling the entire star fragment. Not a single fish escapes. Besides, this person hardly qualifies as a reclusive powerhouse. True peerless experts would have long since departed for the Ancient Continent!”
The man from the psychic civilization nodded. “That’s true, but who exactly is this person?”
The three exchanged glances, falling into a heavy silence.
The indifferent man at the cave entrance swept a gaze, seemingly intentional, in their direction, then flickered out of sight, speeding off into the distance.
The trio hidden in the undergrowth slowly rose, exchanged a look, leaped from their cover, and cautiously crept toward the Demon Beast Cave, their demeanor tense and guarded. Near the cave, leader-level demon beasts were numerous, each possessing demigod cultivation; any single one was far beyond their ability to resist easily.
Using the thermal sensor on his long-range scope, the man from the psychic civilization detected no life signs at the entrance. He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and carefully led the burly man and the other individual forward.
Upon reaching the mouth of the Demon Beast Cave, the psychic man flicked his finger, sending out a spark that brightly illuminated the interior. Instantly, his pupils constricted, and his mouth fell open in shock.
The two behind him, the burly man and the other, also changed expression, their bodies trembling slightly.
Before them lay a mountain of rotting flesh, emitting waves of fetid stench. The mound was immense, clearly piled from the corpses of countless demon beasts.
However, these bodies held no trace of life essence; they had completely decomposed.
Time flowed. Five days later.
High above the entire star fragment, a white-gold spacecraft tore through the void from afar, coming to a halt overhead. It stretched nearly 30 kilometers long, propelled by two massive thrusters at its rear.
In the jungle.
On a tree trunk, Youyue and Nantian sat cross-legged. The white-robed woman was nowhere in sight; in fact, when Bai Yijun had fallen unconscious, her avatar had quickly conveyed some instructions before dissolving.
“The month is up!” Nantian felt the stirrings of many examinees emerging from tree hollows and rocks on his detector, smiling faintly as he recalled his own assessment days.
“Send them a message. If they don’t arrive within 30 minutes, we won’t wait!” Nantian told Youyue.
Youyue smiled faintly, tapping his arm-mounted optical computer to input a message and broadcasting it to everyone. He fiddled with the device a couple more times and chuckled, “The quality of this batch of examinees is quite good; 38 out of 100 survived. Excellent!”
Nantian nodded, then suddenly his eyes flashed as a thought struck him. He looked at Youyue, “You gave that kid an elementary demigod realm talisman for protection. If he dies, you’ll lose a huge asset!”
Youyue chuckled lightly, “I noted down that person’s optical computer number, and it’s still in its full state.”
Nantian let out a cold laugh and said no more.
As the message went out, many individuals immediately rushed toward the designated tree trunk gathering point. After a month of ordeal, most looked battered: armor was broken, some had severed limbs, and others were crisscrossed with scars of varying sizes.
“Huh? Captain?” A strong youth questioned in surprise.
Nantian glanced at him. “The Captain had matters to attend to and left early.”
Everyone understood, though a trace of disappointment flickered across their faces.
Youyue coughed lightly and tallied the count. There were only Wu people gathered on the tree trunk. Ye Chen’s figure was absent among them.
He couldn't help feeling a secret worry.
Just then—
Boom!
A muffled explosion echoed from the dense trees in the distance, immediately followed by a figure with flowing, disheveled hair, encased in golden armor wreathed in coiling golden flame-serpents, charging directly toward them.
As he moved, the miasma and branches between the trees were automatically struck aside and incinerated by the golden flame-serpents covering his armor.
Seeing this figure, everyone’s expression shifted. They felt as if the entire sky had turned blood-red, enveloped by an intensely thick scent of gore emanating from the figure—like an Asura rising from a sea of blood!
Youyue’s eyes lit up upon seeing the figure, tinged with an expectant glimmer.
Nantian next to him focused his gaze, his expression slowly darkening, a flash of cold killing intent crossing his eyes.
Ye Chen landed smoothly on the tree trunk. The overwhelming, sky-reaching bloody malevolence radiating from his body caused everyone else to instinctively give way. Ye Chen lifted his head, his emotionless eyes sweeping over Nantian and Youyue, but he said nothing. He simply turned aside and stood silently.
Under the scrutiny of their gaze, Youyue and Nantian were inwardly startled. They hadn't expected that after only a month, not only had Ye Chen survived, but his entire aura was significantly stronger. Though still only in the Ghost God Realm, he was likely at an exceedingly potent level!
Soon, 30 minutes passed. Only 36 people had arrived in total; two were still missing.
Nantian waved his hand. “We won’t wait any longer. If they’ve been delayed this long, they are probably trapped somewhere and unable to leave immediately.”
Youyue looked over the assembled group. “Everyone, follow me onto the spacecraft.”
“Yes!” The crowd responded in unison.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The group followed Youyue and Nantian, soaring over the star fragment continent. In the distance, an enormous violet mass could be seen, anchored on the northwest course of the landmass.
Countless small black dots sped toward that spacecraft.
“Alliance Leader!” Chairman Yuènán flew from the crowd to Ye Chen’s side, glancing at the familiar yet unfamiliar Ye Chen with alarm. “What happened to you?”
Ye Chen glanced back at him, his voice low. “Nothing.” Chairman Yuènán’s heart jolted. The voice was laced with a cold indifference that made him feel as if he’d been plunged into an ice cellar, sending shivers down his spine. He asked no further questions, silently following Ye Chen at a respectful distance.
Not long after, everyone boarded the spacecraft. The middle-aged, red-robed supervisor from the Human Resources department sat on a metal-backed chair, looking quite relaxed.
As they boarded, Ye Chen had already retrieved his Divine Flame Set. This armor could diminish attacks even from pseudo-god realm experts, making it priceless and a magnet for covetous eyes.
After Ye Chen and the others had landed on the ship, more figures continued to arrive from the sky in the distance, scattered dots rushing over like hornets, finally descending onto the deck through the ship’s protective shielding.
When everyone was assembled, the middle-aged, red-robed man rose, stretched lazily, and looked down at the crowd with a slight smile. “Congratulations to all of you for successfully passing the assessment and officially becoming outer disciples of the Scarlet Meteor Sect. Upon returning to the main sect, assignments will be distributed!”
A wave of excitement rippled through the crowd in the cabin, discussing the news animatedly.
Ye Chen quickly observed: out of the initial 100,000 arrivals, only about 20,000 were now on the ship; 80,000 had permanently perished on this star continent.
Swish!
The spacecraft sliced through the void, leaving behind the star continent saturated with viral gases.
Bishui City spanned approximately 190 million square kilometers. To the northeast rose a great mountain, soaring into the clouds.
Whoosh!
In the distant sky, a white-gold spacecraft sped in and anchored itself halfway up the mountain.
“Everyone disembark,” the middle-aged, red-robed man announced, standing up.
Everyone quickly moved, leaping down from the ship to form a perfectly aligned square on the white jade plaza below, as if imprinted there.
From a palace adjoining the white jade plaza, a man in purple robes emerged and approached the group. He surveyed them with a slight nod. “I am the Deputy Head responsible for outer disciples. Welcome to the Scarlet Meteor Sect. From this moment on, you are all outer disciples of the Scarlet Meteor Sect!”
The crowd listened quietly.
“In a moment, you will proceed to the Internal Affairs Department to collect your sect clothing, issued weaponry, Ghost Stones, and various auxiliary supplies. Someone will also escort you to your living quarters.”
The purple-robed man continued calmly, “In about an hour, you will receive news; each of you will be assigned to a different hall for practical training!”
“Our Scarlet Meteor Sect is one of the two major sects in Bishui City. The duties of an outer disciple are straightforward: managing affairs in various halls. Furthermore, the sect organizes monthly sessions at the Cultivation Platform to enhance strength.”
“The outer sect halls are generally divided into departments such as the Mining Department, Medicinal Materials Department, and Spirit Beast Department. The better you perform your tasks, the higher your monthly stipend!”
The purple-robed man smiled faintly at the slightly stunned expressions of the crowd. “Do not assume these tasks are simple; once you begin, you will realize their difficulty. Moreover, within three years, everyone present here will become a demigod martial artist!”
Seeing his absolute confidence, the crowd abandoned their doubts, their eyes beginning to burn with aspiration.
After the purple-robed man departed, the group followed a male attendant resembling a book boy to the Internal Affairs Department located halfway up the mountain. This mountain was immense, its area roughly equivalent to the total land area of Earth. The mountainside was vast, housing hundreds of expansive plazas and countless scattered buildings.