Way of the Devil

“Nothing. It’s just that I’ve never used a sword before, so I’m not used to it yet.” Lu Sheng let out a warm smile.

“Then let’s begin.” The proctor was clearly in a good mood. Because of Wang Yunlong’s performance, he even changed his attitude toward Lu Sheng, who was from the same county.

“Alright.” Lu Sheng spun his sword a little, and swung it forward.

The blade appeared to be moving slowly, but was in reality extremely fast. It landed on the amber rock lightly, then nothing happened.

“What….” The proctor was confused. He looked at the amber rock, then at Lu Sheng. There was no mark on the rock, which had never happened before. At the very least, he hadn’t heard of it ever happening before.

‘ Did he miss…? ‘ The proctor didn’t speak, but suddenly felt unbalanced.

“Boom!!”

The ground around the amber rock started to shake. At the same time, the rock slate all around it shattered as well.

The amber rock was also instantly filled with cracks with just the snap of a finger.

“Snap.” The sword that Lu Sheng held in his hand finally cracked as well, crumbling into a million pieces.

All slates within a 20 meters radius around Lu Sheng were also filled with spider web-like cracks in an instant.

“!!!” The proctors all stood up from their chairs, staring at the amber rock and Lu Sheng with awestruck expressions.

“Is this… Jade tier!!??” one of the senior apprentice sisters shouted involuntarily.

“The amber rock’s testing limit is Scarlet Jade tier… but he somehow shattered it…” Everyone was dumbstruck, staring at Lu Sheng with stunned expressions. They blanked out, not knowing how to react.

Not only the proctors, but even the other candidates watching were quiet at first, only to explode into chatter a while later. The whole place instantly turned into a flea market, filled with all kinds of shouts and exclamations.

Lu Sheng casually handed the broken sword hilt to a proctor. He then walked to the speed test with a smile on his face.

The speed test was also very easy. Lu Sheng didn’t even put on the weights properly. Instead, he held the weights in one hand, and tapped his feet, lightly crossing the distance between the two towers in two breaths.

“Jade tier…. White Jade tier….!” The proctors all cheered.

The last test was conducted by a senior apprentice brother with the strongest True Qi level through simulating certain pressure points in order to test Lu Sheng’s potential talents.

His finger shakily pressed on Lu Sheng’s wrist with complex and excited emotions.

A Jade tier prodigy! He was bound to become a high-ranking member of the sect in the future—a totally different place compared to normal disciples like him. Maybe this would be the last time he could be so close to someone so powerful.

“Hisss.”

A sliver of True Qi wiggled inside Lu Sheng’s wrist, and into his empty veins.

He was instantly surprised by the unimaginably tough veins. The True Qi he’d injected didn’t even go through one-third of the expected distance before Lu Sheng completely absorbed it.

“Jade tier…. Scarlet Jade tier!” The senior apprentice brother almost gasped out Lu Sheng’s potential talent rating with how he said it.

With that, the record keeping senior apprentice sister’s whole body shook, while Yun Xiufei, who was at the back of the line, started trembling. The chubby guy next to him muttered incoherently as if he had gone mad.

Everyone else fell into a strange silence after the initial commotion.

“When the difference between two people isn’t so severe, there will be jealousy and envy. But when the distance is stretched to an unreachable length, people will classify him as a totally different species. A species incomparable to their own.”

“Bang!”

The tea cup on the proctors’ table was knocked onto the ground and shattered.

“Hurry! Hurry and inform the manager within the sect!”

“Department of Internal Affairs! Go get Manager Cheng from the Department of Internal Affairs! Elder Xu as well, he’s there too!”

“It’s us, the White Jade Hall, who are in charge of this test!”

“This is a test for all the sects as a whole! Who gives a damn!!”

A crowd of senior apprentice brothers and sisters descended into chaos, all trying to inform their respective sects or groups as fast as possible.

“Jade tier prodigy…. hasn’t been seen in years… A prodigy among prodigies, with a Scarlet Jade rating in two tests at that.” Wang Yunlong stared calmly at Lu Sheng. He seemed to be the only one who wasn’t surprised. Despite the envy and shock on his face, there were no emotions present in his eyes. It was as if they were two stagnant ponds.

He silently brought Cheng Ling into a corner.

“Did you see that? Your potential is everything. It is your hope, your talent, and your future,” he said calmly as he stared at the chaotic testing field from afar.

“Can you… really help me?” Cheng Ling asked in a low voice.

“I might not be able to get you to be as talented as that, but I could help you pass the test,” Wang Yunlong said flatly.

Cheng Ling thought about it, and questioned in return, “How… how do you know you could?”

“Because I’m A tier in two tests. I could teach you some special tricks.” Wang Yunlong smiled.

Cheng Ling was silent for a little bit before she asked again, “And what will that cost me?”

Wang Yunlong again stared in Lu Sheng’s direction.

“All you need to do is try to improve yourself. I don’t want to use this favor yet. We will talk about this when you are stronger.”

Cheng Ling had her doubts, but as Wang Yunlong freely told her about his “tricks”, the doubt in her eyes started to disappear.

She just needed a little more, and she could break through her bottleneck and pass the test.

Lu Sheng, surrounded by a crowd, also vaguely looked in their direction.

Wang Yunlong’s demeanor at the moment was extremely similar to Ancient Devil Carfe’s. Even though he didn’t sense any Devil Qi, but the air about him…. was basically a simplified version of an Ancient Devil.

Lu Sheng stopped looking there, and was soon surrounded by a crowd of senior apprentice brothers and sisters, who led him to the largest building within the Thousand Sun Sect. As for the other candidates, only a few proctors were left to deal with them.

Most of the other proctors followed Lu Sheng to the headquarters at the Autumn Moon County Capital Branch of the Thousand Sun Sect.

He immediately saw that there were a few groups of elderly people standing in the lobby as he stepped through the door.

A white-haired elder on the left stepped up, and asked in a clear voice, “Another Scarlet Jade tier from this side? Are you sure?”

“Positively sure! The inspectors of the test also saw the entire thing,” the senior apprentice brother who tested Lu Sheng on strength said.

The elder’s eyes flashed in anticipation; he then inspected Lu Sheng in detail from head to toe.

“Truly remarkable bone and muscle structures! Bring him to the secret area!” He waved his hand.

Instantly, two men dressed in black walked to Lu Sheng’s two sides.

With a smile, the elder explained, “Don’t be nervous, young man. You just need to pass the last selection process, and you will become a true direct disciple of the Thousand Sun Sect.”

Lu Sheng nodded. He was sure that this last “selection process” had something to do with his background. He didn’t know if he could pass it or not. But he was pure human, and not a devil. Even if they dug into his past, he shouldn’t be in any danger.

He also didn’t think that a mere branch of Thousand Sun Sect posed any threat to him. Although the Thousand Sun Sects was one of the three major sects, and definitely had Devil Master level personnel, a mere branch of a county capital was definitely not enough to deal with him. At most, they could have a Devil King level or Divine Weapon Master on site.

Above county capitals were prefecture capitals, and above those were provincial capitals, where the headquarters of the three major sect were located.

Lu Sheng wasn’t worried about potential trouble at all. After cultivating True Qi for so long, he could vaguely sense that the Ultimate Eight-Headed Devil Way underwent some changes even without pure Devil Essence.

At the same time, the Inner Qi liquid inside of him also continued to concentrate. His previous power had reached the limit his body could handle. Now, as his body was nourished by True Qi and improved even further, the amount of liquid Inner Qi his body could store finally increased, and he could distill more liquid Inner Qi at any time.

Lu Sheng’s strongest form, the Annihilator form that combined both Yin and Yang, was powered by the burning of liquid Inner Qi and Devil Essence and supported by the horrifying strength of the Ultimate Eight-Headed Devil Way.

The nourishment of True Qi was basically improving his body and liquid Inner Qi at the same time. This, in turn, meant that all of his power was being improved at once.

A thousand years of strength was enough to infinitely approach the level of a Devil Master when supported by his body; what if more liquid Inner Qi was burnt at the same time? True Qi could nourish his body, expand its capacity, and distill more liquid Inner Qi.

“Let’s go, this is the last test. You must enter a secret area of the sect. Be prepared, and don’t be nervous or panic. Just act normally.” The elder led Lu Sheng forward, occasionally greeting others. The rest of the elders all looked at him, but didn’t move, probably waiting for other prodigies to show up.

“Remember, the secret area is filled with ancestors and masters of the sect that chose to live in seclusion. You must be respectful to everyone you see there. If someone there takes notice of you and accepts you as a disciple, you will be elevated to a position far above everyone else. You will not have a single worry in your future,” the elder exhorted Lu Sheng in a serious tone.

“I understand.” Lu Sheng nodded. Another goal of properly joining a sect of the Great Yin was to systematically find a way to reach the level of Devil Master and even higher.

***

Fei Family Mansion, Autumn Moon County Capital

Fei Bailin sat beside a pond, lightly stirring the water in front of her with a willow branch.

The mansion was empty, and the courtyards were left unattended. She knew that most of the family members were inspecting the recruitment of various sects.

The Fei Family not only had members across many sects, they were also in charge of giving out the testing assignment for the candidates.

This was also the time when the test began.

Fei Bailing watched the red carps swimming in the pond, and let out a long sigh.

A girl with long hair in a white dress slowly walked beside Fei Bailin, and whispered, “Sister, what are you doing? Do you want to play?”

“Qingqing, your sister is thinking right now. Can you play by yourself?” Fei Bailing said wearily.

“Is it because of cousin’s disappearance?” Qingqing whispered.

“Maybe…” Fei Bailing didn’t know how to explain, either. If the sky fell, the mysterious adults of the family would take care of it—a talentless girl who knew nothing about martial arts couldn’t do anything, anyway.

“Sister, play with me, pleaaaaaase.” Qingqing pushed Fei Bailing’s shoulder. “If you play with me, I’ll tell you about Inspector Xu.”

Inspector Xu?

Fei Bailing’s face reddened. The inspector that investigated her family was an outrageously handsome man.

She heard that he was among the top inspectors in the Yamen faction. Aside from his general indifference toward people, this Inspector Xu was the most perfect man in many girls’ hearts.

“Pleaaaase, Sister.” Qingqing continued to rock her back and forth.

“Fine, fine, fine… you go hide first, your sister will come find you soon,” Fei Bailing finally agreed.

“Then, Sister, Qingqing will go hide now,” Fei Qingqing answered earnestly.

Fei Bailing let out her breath. She threw away her willow branch casually, and turned around.

“Huh? Qingiqng?” Fei Qingqing, who was just behind her a moment ago, suddenly disappeared.