175: Even a demon needs to take a civil service exam? This first question completely baffled him!

Light and shadow twisted and reshaped.

Wang Teng opened his eyes and found himself standing in a vast, boundless grey Void Realm.

There was nothing here; it was as deathly silent as a tomb.

Only ahead of him, a colossal stone stele that reached from the heavens to the earth stood silently.

On the stele, a line of blood-colored demonic script radiated an ominous aura.

[Ten Thousand Demons Heart Tempering First Trial: Demonic Nature]

Immediately after, new writing emerged below, sounding like the cold voice of an examiner posing a question.

[Question: A hundred miles ahead lies a Mortal village. At the village entrance, a young boy picks up a piece of candy by the roadside and is about to eat it. Question: As a maverick and unconventional Demonic Cultivator, how should you handle this?]

Wang Teng looked at the question, and his entire body froze.

What on earth is this?

This is the "Ten Thousand Demons Heart Tempering" that makes countless Demonic Cultivators tremble with fear?

Shouldn't it be a mountain of blades and a sea of blood, towering Heart Demons, and the ultimate test of will and power?

How did it turn into... answering questions?

[Hmph, just playing tricks.]

Wang Teng snorted coldly in his heart, the disdain between his brows almost overflowing.

[However, this question is somewhat interesting.]

[A little brat who picked up a piece of candy... how should he be dealt with?]

The first thought that flashed through his mind was what most Demonic Cultivators would do.

Rush forward and crush the boy along with the candy in one bite, using the most direct bloodshed to prove one's "Demonic Nature."

[Vulgar! Boring! It's practically an insult to the word "Demon"!]

Wang Teng discarded the idea almost instantly.

He, Wang Teng, was destined to ascend to the peak of cultivation and look down upon eternity as the Night King!

How could his actions be the same as those low-level demonic creatures that only knew how to eat raw flesh and drink blood?

What he wanted was style! To be unique! To have an overbearing kingly Qi that would make heaven and earth take notice!

While Wang Teng was deep in thought, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed.

One by one, blurry figures of Demonic Cultivators emerged before him like marionettes, beginning their "answers."

This formation was actually displaying the answers of other candidates in real-time.

The first to appear was a burly man with a fierce, fleshy face.

He grinned savagely and rushed toward the virtual boy, snatching the candy and stuffing it into his mouth. Then, with a single slap, the boy's figure exploded into a brilliant mist of blood.

On the stone stele, a line of cold evaluation lit up.

[Evaluation: Cruel methods, consistent with the basics of the Demonic Path. However, the technique is cliché and lacks innovation, belonging to the level of a third-rate Devil Head. Failed!]

The burly man's figure let out an unwilling roar and instantly turned to ash.

The second to appear was a Demonic Cultivator with a feminine aura.

He didn't use force but instead conjured more and more exquisite candies, luring the boy step by step.

Eventually, he abducted the boy, seemingly intending to refine him into a Demonic Servant.

[Evaluation: Somewhat resourceful, knows how to exploit human greed. However, it still hasn't escaped the rut of "child abduction." The scope is too small to achieve greatness. Failed!]

The second figure also screamed and dissipated.

Immediately following, the third, the fourth... scene after scene of "Demonic Path performance art" played out one after another.

Some tortured and killed the boy for amusement.

Some extracted his Soul to refine a Soul Banner.

Some even conjured the boy's entire family and tortured them to death one by one in front of him, just to enjoy his expression of despair.

Each method was bloodier than the last, and each scene was more perverted than the one before.

But the evaluations given by the stone stele were, without exception, all bright red "Failed."

The reasons for the negative reviews were even more varied and full of mockery.

"Too much imitation, lacks original spirit. Suggest reading more Demonic Path Forbidden Classics to improve artistic cultivation."

"Knows only slaughter, does not understand how to manipulate hearts; the actions of a Low Grade Devil Head."

"Trying too hard, exaggerated expressions, emotions not in place. Suggest going to the Mortal world to sign up for an opera class before returning."

Wang Teng watched these "mentor comments" that could be described as sharp-tongued, and the corners of his mouth twitched violently.

[This examiner... what kind of taste is this?]

[Are they sure they're selecting Devil Heads and not... perverts?]

He felt more and more that this "Ten Thousand Demons Heart Tempering" formation was weird from the inside out.

Just then, a flash of light and shadow appeared nearby, and Qin Feng's figure also emerged.

He had clearly seen this absurd scene as well; the brows beneath his bronze mask were tightly furrowed, and he was also contemplating a way to break through the situation.

Wang Teng glanced at him, his heart full of cold laughter.

[Qin Feng, you hypocrite who hides his head and shows his tail, I'd like to see what "unconventional" Demonic Path methods you can come up with!]

He withdrew his gaze and focused his entire mind on that eerie exam question.

Maverick... unconventional... what exactly must be done to please that examiner with such perverted and picky tastes?

Countless thoughts collided and exploded in Wang Teng's mind, only to be rejected one by one.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration—or rather, demonic light—split the Chaos in his mind.

The fanatical flame in his eyes suddenly leaped.

A plan that he believed would stun eternity and have a style that would Breakthrough the heavens took shape in his heart.

He was going to show this damn examiner!

What it truly meant to be a "Demon"!

What it meant to have his own unique "Kingly Way"!

Wang Teng no longer hesitated for a moment; he suddenly lifted his foot and strode toward that virtual village.

He was going to personally enter the field to "answer the question"!

In the distance, Qin Feng's eyes narrowed slightly as he saw Wang Teng's movements, like a lurking venomous snake locking onto its prey.

[This fool, he can't hold back so soon?]

[I'd like to see what kind of tricks that head of yours, burned by hatred and anger, can come up with.]

Qin Feng remained motionless.

He decided to watch first.

He wanted to precisely analyze the true "scoring points" of this bizarre trial from Wang Teng's success or failure.

He, Qin Feng, never made any gamble he wasn't sure of.

It was for the best to let a conceited fool like Wang Teng be the stone that tests the path.