In a remote region, there were two enormous mountains forming a natural gate. Additionally, an artificial gate was at the bottom, where tens of thousands of people were gathered. It seemed like some kind of assembly.
An evil cultivator looked coldly at the people before them. Most of these people were composed of youths in the early stages of the Qi Gathering Realm. They all had expressions of despair, and some were even trembling.
Suddenly, one of the youths broke free from the crowd and fled away.
The corrupt cultivator snorted, and a black spear flew, piercing the youth and then dragging him back with a QI rope.
"Hmph, those who are disloyal to the Infernal God will receive fifty years of soul refinement as punishment," declared the cultivator with disdain.
The cultivator crushed the person's body and extracted his soul from his head. Although each person had a soul, its strength varied. Next, he took a circular object and tossed the soul of that person into it. A sound like a drop of water falling into hot iron echoed.
Accompanying this sound, a terrified and pained spiritual fluctuation spread. Everyone felt the pain of that spiritual fluctuation and paled.
"To serve the Infernal God, you must surrender body and soul. Those cowards will be the fuel to be used. I have only one recruitment token. Draw your blades. The last one alive will be qualified!" declared the evil cultivator, with his sharp gaze passing over those young individuals.
They shivered and quivered. All of them were youths abandoned by their clans for being considered too weak. Their future would be to become slaves or die at the hands of cultivators who cared little for their lives. They all accepted the evil in exchange for the chance to become someone.
However, upon arrival, they discovered that their lives had become a hell even worse than before. Nine out of ten died brutally during the training. Now, all the survivors were facing the final confrontation. Tens of thousands would die, and only one would survive. Everything there was cruel and brutal.
No one tried to flee in despair anymore. Everyone drew their weapons and focused, aware that it was kill or be killed. It didn't take long for a river of blood to flow through those dark lands.
The corrupt cultivator watched silently, a bit bored at the scene ahead. Until he sighed disinterestedly. "This batch is so weak that it would be better to refine them all. None will pass the test."
Out of nowhere, another voice suddenly responded slowly. "Indeed. Even a ten-year-old girl could effortlessly kill them all."
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"Master, I'm eleven," the girl complained.
The man was startled by those voices and tried to turn around, but his vision darkened before any muscle could move.
Zane and Gael were prepared, and Mira was the one who used a technique from Zane to knock out the cultivator. He was at the ninth level of the Qi Gathering Realm, and Mira only needed something to surprise or scare a cultivator of this level to directly attack his soul. Of course, their QI also had to be supplied to her.
"Well, reading memories is out of the question, so let's interrogate him alive. All these youths gave up on the right path, and if they're alive here, it's because they've already killed hundreds of innocents. Wait until they finish themselves off and take care of those who remain. Remember, letting the survivors live will only cause more situations like that village we saved. Show them no mercy. We'll talk to this one." Gael said, pushing Mira away.
She drew her dagger and walked away silently. What she saw back in the village was enough for Mira to steel her resolve.
'It would have been better for her to stay and learn how to torture. It will be good for her.' Zane commented.
'No, she must keep her Karma clean and pure. Killing these scums who have already burned several villages is good training and will instead generate good Karma. Torturing, on the other hand, might have a negative effect.' Gael replied firmly.
Two hours later, Zane, Gael, and Mira were walking towards the towers. They had been inside this world for a week, almost without rest, but it was gigantic and seemed endless.
Gael took the opportunity to explain to Mira what he had learned about this world. "It seems there are three major evil sects that dominate this world. We are in the northern region where the Sect of the Infernal God rules; they have control of these two towers closest to us."
Mira looked closely at the towers that seemed to pierce the skies, and she understood. They had already seen many followers of this sect. They seemed to worship a god with incomprehensible faith. Still, they once saw a cultivator flying in the skies pass by them. It was someone with cultivation even above the patriarch of the Divinestone clan. Even though such faith looked exaggerated, it was obvious it had its benefits.
"Another sect is called 'Bloodthirsty Light Sect'; the people we killed in that small village before came from this sect. They dominate two towers to the east."
"But the main sect that dominates the other three towers is the 'Vital Yin Sect.' Our target." Gael concluded. Mira clenched her fist in excitement; it had been a long journey to reach that dangerous and brutal place.
"We're lucky. It seems that in a month, the recruitment for the three major sects will take place. And the previous scene was to choose a young cultivator who would be sent for recruitment," Gael said in a light tone. "Well, it didn't matter much for them since they all had the symbol of the Infernal God in them. Because of that, even if the survivor passed the recruitment test of the Three Major Sects, he could only choose the Sect of the Infernal God to enter."
A strange growl echoed as they walked, and Mira stopped suddenly. Gael looked at her strangely and said, "We can take it easy, train well, and rest until then."
Mira then looked at them anxiously. They had eaten very little since they arrived. "Master must be very hungry."
***
The sky was as dark as ever within that separate world. But on that day, a great commotion of people was happening in the largest city. It was recruitment day within the Celestial Abyss City.
The Celestial Abyss City was built on a vertical cliff that rose from 10 to 18 thousand meters in height. This cliff seemed to have been formed by a god, as if a divine being had used a celestial sword to cut through the earth, forming a square piece of land on top of that terrifying cliff.
On the edges of the abyss, hundreds of powerful cultivators looked coldly down, dense Qi emanating from them and falling below the cliff. Below, the first recruitment test was already beginning.
To reach the towering city, many cultivators were climbing and scaling with their bare hands, step by step. They were like lone climbers, slowly, stubbornly, and persistently conquering their way, even knowing that failure would mean falling to their death.
There were hundreds of humanoid races, from small to gigantic, climbing. Yet, their cultivation was being suppressed by the evil cultivators above. They could only honestly climb one step at a time.
Everyone living in the city had excited eyes watching those young people climb, and a trace of malice emanated from them. Some more malicious ones attacked stealthily and killed a few, then smiled with amusement.
At a point far from everyone's sight, a gigantic figure blended among the other giant races and climbed calmly. No one noticed, but on his shoulders sat a little girl.