Kenneth: Good lord.

SilverFang: Don't judge. This is our destiny now. Fight to the death until one of us remains standing. Have you asked your representative about how strong those other races are?

Kenneth: No...

SilverFang: Well, you should. Survival is close to impossible dear Kenneth, and we need to grab every advantage along the way. Every. Single. One.

Kenneth: Why are you telling me this?

SilverFang: I don't know... Maybe because I still feel guilty about killing that stupid guy, and you're the first human from our world I spoke to. It helps that we're very distant from one another I suppose.

A silence stretched out as the both of them were going through a myriad of emotions.

SilverFang: Let me ask you this, what will you do the next time you find a player?

Kenneth: I don't know...

SilverFang: Well, you should. You need to prepare yourself, Kenneth, so that when the time comes, you won't hesitate. Don't try to bring morality into this, if you don't have the capabilities to overpower the whole game, then playing is inevitable. Unless, you want to just lay there, awaiting death. If you're going to do that then broaden your kindness even more and let's schedule a meet, I might use the extra Game Coins.

Jing opened his eyes and waved all of the menus away. His expression indiscernible as he blankly gazed at the wooden walls before him, and the wide door in the middle. The moment he woke up in this new world he had been running, and running, and it was only now that he got a bit of respite to comprehend his situation.

Most of the players are as innocent as he is, and yet killing them was necessary for his survival. He always approached the concept of killing as something very distant, something that he would do only to defend himself, or to punish someone who was irredeemably bad. Yet, now he found himself in a situation where the killing of other innocent people was necessary for his survival.

There were only two options in front of him, two and that's it. He could either steel his heart and kill them to save himself. Or he could decide to give up and wait for someone to kill him.

Without even thinking about it Jing knew that the second option was something he would never dream of doing. Not only was his desire to live at an all-time high, but he would never let himself be killed by another just because. The remaining option was equally difficult to stomach, and yet it was the only way forward.

As he continued thinking about it more and more, he realized how unfit he was, mentally speaking. Though the path was already laid out in front of him, his heart was filled with resistance, rendering the journey unnecessarily complicated, more than it already was. Slowly but surely, his face began to turn cold, and his gaze hardened.

Kenneth: We'll talk later, I need to sleep now.

After he sent one final message, he rested to the side on his comfortable warm bed, put his head on the pillow, and continued looking at the hard wooden walls with a complicated look.

...

A day ago...

After midnight, the cobblestone streets of Golden Veil were desolated, and only the guards and those without homes roamed the narrow alleys at that point. Being the city of a sect, most of its residents were deeply infatuated with anything related to cultivation, much less the sect. That was precisely why the fact that the entrance test would be held tomorrow was no secret to anyone. Thus, sleeping early was a must.

Though they were all fairly aware of their inability to get in either from age or lack of talents, it didn't stop them from yearning to just get close to the Golden Mountain, witness the loft Grand Elders, and of course, see this year's seedlings.

A lone blue-robed man with a white sash encircling his waist and a sizeable leather pouch hanging around his left shoulder walked amongst the empty street. His steady steps echoed in the dark silence, and his face was dimly lit by the nearby faint street ember lights. This was the man who was questioning Jing about the incident involving a demonic cultivator.

There was something very peculiar about that particular case, and that was why as he went to sleep a while before, he was unable to do so. His mind's gears turned and turned, and sleep became more and more elusive, prompting him to stand up and head for the City Lord's office.

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At the end of the path where he walked stood a colossal Black Pagoda, its towering form reaching toward the heavens, higher than even the city walls. Adorned with intricate golden embellishments, the pagoda exuded an aura of mystique and grandeur, and it was the single most distinguishable building in the whole city.

Long Wei arrived at the foot of the pagoda and gazed up at its immensity with an awed expression. Just as he was about to set foot on the very first step leading to its wide entrance, a sturdy tall old man emerged.

The old man in black robes commanded a formidable presence, standing tall with an imposing stature that belied his age. His medium-length black hair, streaked with silver, framed a weathered face adorned with a mustache and light stubble. Piercing grey eyes, sharp and discerning, peered out from beneath furrowed brows. His tanned skin spoke of days well-spent and a vast reserve of experience, while his well-built physique bespoke of strength and resilience. Despite the years etched upon his visage, there was an undeniable air of vitality and authority about him.

"City Lord..." Long Wei, mumbled with a mouth ajar. Never in his wildest imaginations did he expect to find the distinguished City Lord himself, and he had merely wanted to relay his recent findings to someone higher than his Chief Captain.

The old man glanced down at him from the bottom of the stairs and spoke with a deep voice, "You are?"

Long Wei swiftly composed himself and chided himself for his lack of manner. With incredible strength and vigor, he bowed in the old man's direction while cupping his fists together. "I am a Guard Captain, City Lord!" He said with a loud voice that was mostly driven by his nerves.

"I see," Spoke the old man very slowly as his unfathomable gaze moved past him to the incredibly sturdy walls at the end of the city. "What brought you here?"

"I..." Long Wei slightly hesitated, and he didn't know whether he'd be overstepping any line if he relied on his news to the City Lord directly. "I came here to report something I found."

The old man glanced down at him once again with an intrigued expression as one of his eyebrows subtly quirked up, "What is it?"

"I am sure the City Lord is familiar with that demonic group we call The Clawed Abyss," Long Wei slightly rose to an upright position as he began his explanation.

"Indeed, what of it?" The City Lord continued his line of questioning.

"One of them was killed yesterday," Long Wei said. "And it was in such a bizarre manner."

"Oh?" The City Lord murmured, this time there was an evident surprise in his grey eyes. "Bizarre... Why do you use that word?"

"Well," Long Wei said slightly scratching his head as a multitude of thoughts crowded his mind. "You know how cautious they are, and every time some of them died it was because of some particular incident they were planning. This time, one of them died simply because he was trying to kill a Body Tempering kid and he was killed by one of the Wang family's cultivators."

"Hmm...." The old man mumbled as if to himself as he gazed up at the sky, a deep pondering expression clouding his visage. After a while, he asked, "Who is this kid, and what was the Wang family doing here? I wasn't informed."

"That's the surprising part," Long Wei replied with a deep frown. "The kid claimed to be just some villager from Muddy Goat near Sweet Blossom City, and Elder Zheng from the Wang Family came here to escort one of their juniors."

The City Lord's powerful legs moved and he sat down on one of the steps before the Pagoda as he deeply looked at Guard Captain, "It is indeed strange, or as you put it, bizarre." He said with a frown of his own.

Long Wei felt his heart flutter as he found himself having such a genuine and serious conversation with such an imposing figure, and so he began to recount his recent findings. "The most shocking part was," He said with a shake of his head. "I went and asked around all of the guards at the four gates and I learned that Xu Fufu, the demonic cultivator killed, and Xie Jing the boy who he wanted to kill had actually came to the city together!"

"Together?!" The old man asked with a dumbfounded voice. "How is that possible?"

"I don't know, City Lord." Long Wei continued. "But, Xu Fufu and Xie Jing knew one another, and now that kid is going to take the entrance test."

Noticing how The City Lord got quiet and didn't say anything as he stared ahead, Long Wei interjected, "Should I go arrest him?"

"No," Swiftly rejected the old man. "This situation indeed has something else to it. Unfortunately, things have been hectic with the main families in the city and some ominous undercurrents seem to have been triggered, and thus I cannot be wasting time on this."

However, before Long Wei could even process the implications of his words, the city lord continued, "There is someone who is better suited for it though. Elder Shi had just finished one of his expeditions outside the sect and had paid me a little visit just a while ago."

"Elder Shi?" Long Wei interjected with a stupefied expression. "The Legendary Disciplinary Elder over all the sect?"

"Indeed," The city lord said with a cool voice. "Here's what you'd be doing. Go to the sect, and ask for Mo Li, he's one of his subordinates. Tell him that the City Lord had sent you, and he will rearrange for you to meet Elder Shi directly."

Without wasting any more time, the old man stood up with a whoosh. He gave the still-flabbergasted one last faint smile before he disappeared into the darkness within the black pagoda, leaving Long Wei with a shocked expression.

"Elder Shi? Sect?" He repeated once again with a stupefied tone. He had just wanted to inform someone in the City Lord's office about his suspicions, and now he would be going to the Golden Mountain Sect and speaking with such a legendary character. After the initial shock, a wide smile was plastered on his face as he made way for the stables to rent a horse.