337: Chapter 337: The Curtain Falls

The entire venue fell silent for a moment, and that Loose Cultivator's face turned deathly pale.

The moment Man Shan stepped into the Blood Hell, the stone door slammed shut behind him, completely blocking any retreat.

The sight before them made everyone gasp.

The Blood Hell was a vast, boundless dark red swamp, filled with withered black trees whose canopies hung with clusters of eye-like things.

The ground was soft and muddy, sinking underfoot, and the air was thick with a pungent stench of rot and blood.

Xue Wuhen of the first team was the first to move.

Without a word, he walked deep into the swamp with extremely fast steps, like a beast on the hunt.

Wherever he passed, the venomous insects in the swamp avoided him one after another, as if even the bugs could feel the killing intent emanating from him.

Someone in the crowd whispered, "That's Xue Wuhen, who defected from the Blood Fiend Sect. I heard he practices an evil technique, relying on consuming others' essence blood to Cultivate."

"Ten years ago he was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but ten years later, he is already at the Peak of the Nascent Soul Stage."

Someone asked, "Then why did he still come to participate in the Demon Refining Conference?"

The person lowered their voice, "Because he offended the Sect Master of the Blood Fiend Sect and could no longer stay in the desolate wildlands, so he could only come to seek asylum under the Alliance Leader."

Ye Wuyin of the fifth team was in no hurry to leave. She stood in place, her gaze sweeping across the swamp as if observing something.

After half a quarter of an hour, she chose a direction and quietly disappeared into the withered trees.

Her movements were very light, making almost no sound, like a feather melting into the darkness.

Man Shan chose a relatively safe route, bypassing along the edge of the swamp.

He saw that the people from the second and fourth teams had already clashed, fighting fiercely over a spiritual fruit on a withered tree.

Shouts of slaughter, screams, and the clashing of Magic Treasures interweaved, and soon several people fell in pools of blood.

No one went to save them. In the Blood Hell, the living would only climb up by stepping on corpses.

On the second day, Man Shan encountered a pack of venomous lizards.

These venomous lizards were two zhang long, their bodies covered in dark green scales, with corrosive venom dripping from their mouths.

He charged forward alone. He had no weapon, but his fingers were long and powerful, with fine scales on the tips.

While Man Shan was locked in battle with the venomous lizards in the swamp, he also noticed several gazes from afar. Xue Wuhen stood on a withered tree, looking in his direction with a playful smile on his lips.

Ye Wuyin was on the other side, her eyes beneath her half-ghost mask cold as frost.

The figure of Fuyou flashed past even further away.

Man Shan didn't care about these gazes; he focused on the battle before him.

With one palm strike, he crushed the skull of a venomous lizard, and with his other hand, he grabbed the tail of a second venomous lizard, slamming it fiercely into the swamp.

On the third day, the fog in the Blood Hell suddenly thickened, reducing visibility to less than ten zhang.

Man Shan heard the sound of fighting ahead. Following the noise, he saw Fuyou being besieged by three Yao Beasts of the Early Stage of Spirit Severing.

Fuyou was clearly outmatched; he was injured in multiple places, with a wound on his left arm deep enough to expose the bone.

Man Shan hesitated for a moment, then rushed forward.

He slapped away one Yao Beast with a palm and forced back the second with a punch, allowing Fuyou to seize the opportunity to break free from the entanglement of the third Yao Beast.

Working together, the two of them killed the three Yao Beasts.

Leaning against a withered tree, Fuyou panted heavily and looked at Man Shan, "Why did you save me?"

Man Shan thought for a moment, "Because you have Demonic Qi on you."

Fuyou fell silent for a moment; he indeed possessed the bloodline of the Yao Race.

He hadn't expected to meet someone here who shared a similar plight.

From each other's eyes, both of them could see their former selves.

Three days later, the stone door opened again.

Less than a third of those who entered came out alive.

Xue Wuhen of the first team was covered in blood, looking like an evil ghost crawling out of Hell, but his eyes were filled with excitement.

Ye Wuyin of the fifth team had neat clothes, with almost no trace of battle, as if she had merely gone on an outing.

Man Shan of the third team and Fuyou of the seventh team walked out side-by-side. Both bore wounds, but they were alive.

Soon, they arrived at the second stage.

Stage Two: The Life-and-Death Arena.

A massive arena rose in the center of the square, its surroundings covered in Restrictions.

Xiao Ran stood on the altar, "Stage Two: The Life-and-Death Arena."

"The rules are very simple: head-to-head duels. The winner advances, and the loser is eliminated."

"You can surrender, but surrendering means withdrawing. If you don't surrender, you fight to the death."

The first arena duel was Xue Wuhen against a Loose Cultivator of the Late Nascent Soul Stage.

Xue Wuhen ended the battle in only three moves.

The first move shattered the opponent's protective spiritual light, the second move crushed the opponent's Lifebound Treasure, and the third move crushed the opponent's skull.

The entire venue was quiet for a moment, and then scattered applause rang out.

The people of the Demonic Path loved this kind of bloodiness.

In the second match, Ye Wuyin faced a bladesman at the Early Stage of Spirit Severing.

Ye Wuyin did not draw her blade. She stood in place, and when the bladesman rushed in front of her, her figure suddenly vanished.

The bladesman froze for a moment, then realized a gash had appeared on his chest, with blood gushing out.

He looked down at his wound, not understanding what had happened.

He collapsed. Ye Wuyin stood behind him, a short blade having appeared in her hand at some point, its edge without a single drop of blood.

In the third match, Fuyou faced a poison cultivator of the Late Nascent Soul Stage.

That poison cultivator, shrouded in a green poison mist, laughed weirdly, "Kid, if you dare to come within three zhang of me, you will surely die!"

Fuyou did not approach him. Standing in place, he extended a finger and pointed at the poison cultivator.

The air suddenly distorted, and the poison cultivator's body stiffened abruptly before exploding into a sky full of poison mist, without even having time to scream.

The venue fell silent once more. No one could see clearly what Fuyou had done; everyone only saw a faint trace of black light flash and vanish from his fingertip.

On the high platform, Sect Master You Ming Zi narrowed his eyes, "A space talent? Interesting."

In the fourth match, Man Shan faced a bald man, a demonic cultivator who cultivated body refining techniques.

The burly man laughed loudly, "Half-yao, I can crush your bones with a single slap!"

He strode forward, each step shaking the ground.

Man Shan did not move. When the burly man rushed in front of him, he raised his hand and grabbed his fist in one go.

The burly man was stunned. He tried to pull his hand back, only to find his fist clamped as if by iron pincers.

Man Shan squeezed hard, and the burly man's fist made a cracking sound of fracturing bones.

He screamed in pain and fell to his knees.

Man Shan's other hand slapped the back of his head, and the burly man lay prone on the ground, motionless.

Just like that, the matches were incredibly bloody.

No one conceded, turning the fights into literal battles to the death.

Soon, those who passed the second stage arrived at the final stage.

Stage Three: The Heart-Devouring Illusion.

The illusion formation of this stage was personally set up by Xiao Ran, using the Heart-Devouring Formation obtained from Venerable Huangquan's Legacy.

Those who entered the illusion formation would see their deepest fears and desires.

What Xue Wuhen saw was his painful memories of his youth in the Blood Fiend Sect, seeing his past of being hunted down by his fellow Disciples.

When he walked out of the illusion, he was trembling all over and breathing heavily.

What Ye Wuyin saw was her sister, who had been missing for many years.

She saw her sister standing in the illusion, calling her "Sister".

She stood there, watching for a very long time, and then turned to leave.

As she walked out, a single tear slipped down from beneath her half-ghost mask.

What Fuyou saw was the truth of the night before he was expelled from his family.

He saw his family members kneeling on the ground, begging him not to Cultivate that forbidden Cultivation Technique, but he did not listen.

When he walked out of the illusion, his face was calm, but his knuckles were white.

What Man Shan saw was the scene of his mother lying in a pool of blood.

Standing there, he watched the members of the Monster Hunting Team walk toward him. He did not close his eyes; instead, he walked over and shattered those illusions with a punch.

When he walked out, his eyes were slightly red, but his gaze was resolute.

After the three stages of trials ended, in the end, only thirty-seven people passed the Demon Refining Conference.

Man Shan was one of them, and he ranked at the top of the list.

Xiao Ran stood on the altar, looking at the thirty-seven people, "From this day forth, you are members of the Demonic Path Alliance."

"The top ranker—Man Shan, is bestowed with one yellow springs puppet and one Heaven-Grade Cultivation Technique."

Man Shan stepped forward and knelt on one knee, "Thank you, Alliance Leader."

Xiao Ran looked at him, "I heard you have never had a Master?"

Man Shan lowered his head, "Yes."

Xiao Ran glanced at Blood Butcher beside him, "Blood Butcher, take him as your Disciple."

Blood Butcher was startled, "Alliance Leader, he..."

Xiao Ran asked, "What? Unwilling?"

Blood Butcher hurriedly shook his head and walked in front of Man Shan, "From today on, you are my Disciple."

Man Shan raised his head, his eyes slightly red, "Yes, Master."

The thirty-seven new Disciples were assigned to various sects.

Xue Wuhen was personally named by Xiao Ran and admitted into the headquarters of the Eternal Night Demon Sect.

Ye Wuyin was favored by Fairy Hehuan and brought back to the Hehuan Sect.

Fuyou was taken away by Sect Master You Ming Zi, who said he wanted to study the space talent in him.

The Demon Refining Conference concluded in blood. The night of the Demonic Path was deeper and heavier than that of the Righteous Path.

But those newcomers knew that they had found their place here.