178: Cold Magic

Xiao Shi's decisive and ruthless actions, coupled with his arrogant and domineering demeanor, made these City Guard members realize that this person from Zhuogu City was not simple.

He had fully displayed the characteristics of a strong individual.

This caused the leading City Guard captain, after a deep look at Xiao Shi, to turn and walk into the city, deciding to report the matter to a higher-ranking official for a decision.

Xiao Shi, meanwhile, arrived at the city gate, maintaining a cold and aloof posture that kept others at a distance, quietly waiting.

Even before arriving, he had carefully considered the conduct of the Demonic Path forces.

He knew that even if no one recognized him in Lieyin City, he would still need to make some changes to his behavior.

If he acted in his usual manner, even if no one recognized him, they would know he was an impostor.

In terms of disguise, it wasn't just about matching his physique, appearance, and temperament; his inherent principles of conduct couldn't differ too much either.

Otherwise, it would be obvious he was fake.

Xiao Shi naturally wouldn't make any mistakes in this regard.

His shift in behavior was perfectly executed.

At the same time, his gaze subtly glanced at the body of the City Guard in the distance.

He walked directly to the corpse.

He squatted down.

His palm quickly swept over the body.

At this moment, the many City Guard members nearby were all focused on Xiao Shi.

Every one of Xiao Shi's actions was observed by them.

They were initially puzzled by Xiao Shi's actions.

But as Xiao Shi's palm swept over, they suddenly saw the entire City Guard's body directly burn and decay.

In an instant, it turned into ashes.

"I, Pang, have never had the habit of leaving a complete corpse."

A gloomy and domineering voice emanated faintly from Xiao Shi's mouth.

This immediately caused the gazes of the many City Guard members to contract.

They felt that this strong individual from Zhuogu City was extremely ruthless.

After killing someone, he didn't even leave a complete corpse.

Even among their Demonic Path forces, this was the mark of a truly ruthless person.

However, what they didn't know was the purpose of Xiao Shi's actions.

Besides reinforcing his ruthless persona, the most important reason was actually to conceal his retrieval of the item dropped after killing this City Guard.

The moment his palm swept over, he had already silently taken the dropped item.

Although this City Guard was only a Qi Martial Realm, the item he dropped was merely a Qi Warrior Grade item.

But Xiao Shi wouldn't be so foolish as to not pick it up.

And after he had done all this, the gazes of these surrounding City Guard members all held a touch of reverence.

Soon, the previous City Guard captain arrived with a tall figure wearing a dark black cloak.

This was clearly a muscular man over two meters tall.

The moment he arrived, his gaze was fixed intently on Xiao Shi.

Xiao Shi also looked at him simultaneously.

Through the Scarlet Blood Demon Eye on the Crimson Tiger Totem, Xiao Shi saw at a glance that the Natal Martial Blood within this strong man was a deep black flame, emitting a chilling aura.

This immediately made him realize that this person held a very high status in Lieyin City.

Even before arriving, he had already learned that Lieyin City, like Zhuogu City, also had some powerful and extraordinary nobles within its walls.

However, in Lieyin City, there was also a class of people whose status and position far surpassed these nobles.

These were the Flame Bearers of Lieyin City.

They were like the bureaucrats within Lieyin City, managing all affairs of Lieyin City.

The biggest characteristic of these Flame Bearers was that they all possessed the power of Yin Flame.

Xiao Shi didn't know much about Flame Bearers of other realms.

But he knew that Blood Martial Realm Flame Bearers all used Yin Flame as their Natal Martial Blood.

The strong man now appearing before him was clearly a Blood Martial Realm Flame Bearer.

His cold gaze continuously scrutinized Xiao Shi.

He also saw that Xiao Shi's cultivation was also Blood Martial Realm.

Typically, while Blood Martial Realm individuals were not the top combat power for their three cities of the Demonic Alliance, they attached immense importance to every Blood Martial Realm individual.

Therefore, upon discovering that this person from Zhuogu City was actually a Blood Martial Realm, this tall Flame Bearer had to become cautious.

"Give me a reason to take you in," he said faintly.

The more importance placed, the stricter the recruitment process often became.

Especially for those from other cities, who required multiple rounds of assessment.

They couldn't just be allowed to join casually.

Xiao Shi had long anticipated this.

The moment the other party's voice fell, he raised his hand and waved.

Whoosh!

Several corpses immediately appeared before him.

Everyone focused their attention and clearly saw characteristics belonging to Zhuogu City on these corpses.

They all realized that these corpses were all Blood Martial Realm martial artists from Zhuogu City.

Clearly, the other party had come with sincerity.

However, after the tall Flame Bearer scanned these corpses, he shook his head.

"Not enough."

Xiao Shi said nothing, merely waved his hand again.

Whoosh!

An arm immediately appeared before him.

This was a black arm only the size of a palm, covered in dark scales and strange demonic patterns.

The moment he saw this arm, even the tall Flame Bearer could no longer remain calm, his expression changing drastically as he exclaimed in horror, "Demon Hand!!"

He hadn't expected the other party to not only kill these several Blood Martial Realm individuals from Zhuogu City but also dare to kill a member of the Demon Hand Clan within Zhuogu City!

Given the status of the Demon Hand Clan in Zhuogu City, killing a member of the Demon Hand Clan would inevitably make it impossible to gain a foothold in Zhuogu City.

He would directly become a mortal enemy of Zhuogu City!

If the several corpses Xiao Shi had shown earlier weren't enough, then the Demon Hand he now presented was not only sufficient but also far exceeded expectations!

This caused the tall Flame Bearer, after taking a deep breath, to look at Xiao Shi with greatly different eyes.

"If this member of the Demon Hand Clan was indeed killed by this person, then this person truly possesses the qualifications to join our Lieyin City..."

Thinking this, the tall Flame Bearer immediately flipped his hand and took out a mirror.

When he held the mirror high, an aura from the corpses on the ground and the Demon Hand was captured by the mirror.

Then he aimed the mirror at Xiao Shi and began to discern.

This mirror could extract the final lingering aura from a corpse, thereby achieving the effect of identifying the killer.

If the aura from Xiao Shi did not match the final lingering aura from the corpses, then it would indicate that these people were not killed by Xiao Shi!

This was also a measure by Lieyin City to prevent some people from using acquired corpses as their own kills to join them.

Similar situations had occurred before, and even other cities would use this method to plant moles.

However, through this mirror, it could now be confirmed that these people were indeed killed by the other party.

It also ruled out the possibility of the other party being a mole from Zhuogu City.

Even if Zhuogu City wanted to plant a mole, they wouldn't sacrifice the lives of the Demon Hand Clan to pave the way.

Such a price was simply too great.

Zhuogu City would not do something so penny-wise and pound-foolish.

Therefore, after this mirror confirmed that these people were all killed by the other party, Xiao Shi basically met the qualifications to join Lieyin City.

This also greatly reduced the vigilance in the Flame Bearer's eyes.

The other party's ability to kill a Blood Martial Realm Demon Hand Clan member and travel all the way from Zhuogu City to here already demonstrated his extraordinary strength.

Such a strong individual joining them was absolutely what they desired.

As for why the other party killed a member of the Demon Hand Clan and why he betrayed Zhuogu City, he didn't care.

With the modus operandi of their Demonic Path forces, killing was an extremely common occurrence.

There was no one in the world whom they could not kill.

In the process of recruiting people, they never considered the issue of loyalty.

For them, these Demonic Path martial artists, loyalty itself was a very ridiculous quality.

Only self-interest was most important to them.

When one faction could not provide them with sufficient benefits, they naturally would not continue to stay and fight for that faction.

At the same time, they would not develop any emotional attachment to their own faction, and thus would not fight desperately for it.

The reason they gathered together to form a faction was entirely due to mutual benefit.

When benefits were no longer present, no one would have any lingering attachment or reluctance.

Therefore, no faction would care about loyalty.

Within the Demonic Path forces, the word 'loyalty' did not exist.

Everything depended solely on benefits!

Whoosh!

The tall Flame Bearer waved his hand, directly taking out a black robe and tossing it to Xiao Shi, saying, "From now on, you are a person of Lieyin City."

Xiao Shi caught it.

This was not an ordinary garment, but a special black robe forged with a casting method Xiao Shi had never seen before.

The entire black robe was covered with many strange demonic patterns that he couldn't understand.

As long as one wore the black robe, they would no longer be affected by the Yin Flame of this place.

The black robe contained the array fluctuations of Lieyin City, just like a part of the array.

However, to wear the black robe, one first had to brand a unique personal mark upon it.

This mark was unique.

The mark left by each person would not be the same.

This way, even if the black robe was obtained by others after death, others would not be able to wear it.

And besides being immune to the effects of Yin Flame, the black robe could also gain enhancements from the Yin Flame.

After all, the black robe itself was part of the local array.

And the entire array within Lieyin City was built upon the foundation of Yin Flame.

It could be said that this black robe was both a symbol of identity and a benefit after joining Lieyin City.

"The first step of the plan was successful!" Xiao Shi's eyes flickered.

Everything was as he had expected.

When he took out the Demon Hand, everything became smooth.

As long as he successfully infiltrated Lieyin City, he could then slowly find a way to obtain the Secret refining method of the Demonic Path forces from within the city.

Immediately, Xiao Shi quickly left his unique mark on the black robe, and then successfully put it on.

In fact, this black robe was merely an external form.

With a thought from Xiao Shi, the entire black robe directly merged into his body.

It wasn't necessary to display it.

And after giving the black robe to Xiao Shi, the tall Flame Bearer did not linger, turning and leaving.

Although he was very optimistic about Xiao Shi's joining, their Demonic Path martial artists were always indifferent.

Unlike the Orthodox Faction, where when joining a sect, someone would often introduce them and remind them of relevant matters to pay attention to.

The Demonic Path forces wouldn't say an extra word to Xiao Shi.

Even those City Guard members who were full of reverence for Xiao Shi dispersed after he joined.

Xiao Shi could only slowly explore everything here on his own.

He first passed through the city gate and entered the city.

He immediately saw that the interior of the entire Lieyin City was even larger than it appeared from the outside.

However, the buildings here all had a ferocious feel.

These buildings, like the city itself, were covered with many sharp spikes on the outside.

Many of the spikes on the buildings also had dried bloodstains.

The colors were also predominantly black.

Coupled with the perpetually gloomy sky here, the entire city was filled with an extremely oppressive atmosphere.

The vegetation within the city was also bare, with no branches or leaves visible.

Besides that, the moment he stepped into the city, Xiao Shi felt a strong scent of blood.

This was a scent of blood that had accumulated over many years.

This kind of bloody smell usually only appeared in slaughterhouses and battlefields.

Now it appeared in this city, which made Xiao Shi realize that the slaughter that occurred in this city was no less than those slaughterhouses and battlefields.

Only then could such a strong bloody smell form!

Even though Xiao Shi had long known the cruelty of the Demonic Path forces, he didn't expect such astonishing slaughter even within the city.

In his perception, a city was often a symbol of a safe zone.

Although this safe zone was not entirely free of slaughter, there were rules and order!

But in the Demonic Path forces, the concept of a safe zone seemed not to exist.

Even within the city, the slaughter continued without any restraint.

There was no pure land here!

Slaughter was the eternal and unchanging theme here.

At the same time, Xiao Shi also noticed the people in the city.

Most of the pedestrians he saw were rushing, their expressions indifferent, keeping a long distance from each other, always in a state of vigilance.

They also did not engage in any conversation with each other.

This made the vast city, despite having many people, seem extremely quiet.

This was a strange atmosphere completely unfelt within the Orthodox Faction.

Cold, cruel.

Even though this was the Flame Land with extremely high temperatures, Xiao Shi felt no warmth whatsoever.

"This is... the Demonic Path?!"