Destiny is ashes

Chapter 32 The Beginning of the Ceremony
"Yeah. I think so too. This time, there will definitely be a surprise."

Agreeing with Instructor Li's words, Deputy Medicine Envoy looked at the fights between the boys and girls on the martial arts field and nodded with satisfaction: "At the beginning, these brats were hesitant to attack each other and didn't dare to use any heavy hands. After drinking so much monster meat and potions, they finally showed some signs of their true nature."

"You see, this method is much more cruel than before. It is aimed at injuring and maiming. It is effective only if you have some evil intentions. You have to treat the opponent as an enemy. Only then can you make progress quickly!"

It is impossible to practice martial arts without getting injured, and only by fighting each other seriously can one make progress the fastest. Xuanming Manor has no shortage of medicine, and the Deputy Medicine Envoy does not mind these kids developing a bit of temper.

Even if the price is that those originally innocent and well-intentioned children have now become ruthless little beasts with murderous eyes... No, how can this be called a price?
This is obviously what they want.

What the religion needs is the kind of people who will have endless motivation for their own desires, and are willing to destroy everything and reshape everything for their own wishes - for that goal, they would rather destroy themselves, even if it means the destruction of the religion.

But so what?

In this world, only the Religion of God will accept them, embrace all their evil or beautiful dreams, and support their desire to destroy or reshape the world.

because……

“This is God’s will.”

The old man turned his head and looked at An Jing, who was calmly observing the whole scene, coordinating the order of all the children's sparring, and stopping any excessive sparring in time.

His eyes were extremely blazing, and a faint green flame shone. “Hehe, some people can only transform after taking medicine. But some people are born to transcend the mundane world.”

"An Jing, An Jing... one of the best talents I have met in all these years."

Deputy Medicine Envoy stroked his beard and smiled with great anticipation: "This time, I'm afraid we will really gain some unexpected compatriots."

"By then, maybe I can leave this deep forest and return to Dachen."

"That day will surely come." Instructor Li bowed.

"By the way, Xiao Li, I heard that the Red Dog from the government has been biting hard recently. Some people from Jian Kongshan have even taken action? The supplies in the manor are running low. Don't let our guys starve."

Satisfied, he turned his eyes away from the martial arts arena and asked Instructor Li beside him, "How is it going? Where did they track them down?"

"We tracked them down to Beiyu Marsh." The topic became official, and the one-eyed instructor immediately reported in a serious tone: "Eight of our strongholds have been wiped out."

"We used blood pills as bait, and several blessed places for hunting monsters were destroyed, wasting a lot of medicine."

When he said this, he felt a little regretful: "Although these medicines are made by children with average qualifications, their effectiveness is not low... How can Dachen and his lackeys know how to cherish their lives even less than us and waste the good medicines made by these children!"

"Then continue making bait." The deputy medicine envoy said calmly: "But this time, we are not fishing for ferocious beasts, but these red-skinned dogs."

"Let the people from the surrounding altars attack the counties that are not close to us, and then buy people from those gangs to continue to use as bait and tangle them to see whether we have more bait or they have more people."

"He is not the son of disaster, he is just an ordinary life. We can afford to waste it."

"Yes!"

Instructor Li received the order, and then said cautiously: "However, it is said that a Shenzang Zhenren [Six Yang Mysterious Mirror] has come over to Jiankong Mountain..."

At this point, even though he was an enemy, Instructor Li subconsciously lowered his voice to show respect: "The two teams that went to investigate didn't send any messages back, so they must have been wiped out. He must have come to track down the Northern Tour Envoy, and we were affected."

"Master Xuan Jing... Meet the Empty Mountain Mingjing Sect, how could a master of Master Xuan Jing intervene?" Deputy Medicine Envoy showed a difficult expression. He pondered for a moment and shook his head, "No. Don't be lucky. He may have already gone deep into the Western Wasteland."

"How is the progress in Zhuangnei? When can we start the trial?" he asked.

Instructor Li patted his chest confidently and said, "We are almost there! With the help of An Jing, training these kids is much easier than before, and the progress is much faster!"

"If you have to say it, I think today is fine!"

"Okay, okay. Then we'll have time!"

With the joy of a good harvest, Deputy Medicine Envoy looked at the disciples' steps and battle formations on the martial arts field again. He felt that the time was right: "That's it. Tomorrow, we will hold a ceremony in Qiming Valley."

"The gods have been raising these little guys for many days, and it's time to let them show their worth."

the next day.

Without much explanation, the group, led by the steward and leader of Xuanming Manor, left Xuanming Mountain with swords, sticks and guns for martial arts performances, and followed the forest path to a deep canyon in the back mountain. An Jing, who had been prepared for a long time, quietly took two pistols and hid them in his sleeves.

This valley is the 'Hanging Life Valley', from which a clear river gushes, creating an alluvial fan made up of white sand.

In the center of the alluvial land, on a fairly flat piece of white sand, twelve ancient jade altars formed a circle. There were nine positions around each altar, three inside and six outside, forming an ancient and time-honored ritual formation.

When An Jing first arrived, the first thing he saw was the canyon. His overly sensitive perception, as well as the influence of the Fuxie Sword Spirit, caused him to have a "hallucination" for a moment. He felt that the canyon did not seem to be formed naturally, but rather a...

A sword mark!
For a moment, An Jing even saw a god holding a sword, falling from the sky like a surging river in the sky, cutting a straight canyon in the endless mountains and suppressing something under the earth.

After many years, the streams converged and turned into a dragon-like mountain river.

——Could it be the Fuxie Sword Spirit? !
[It is indeed me] Fuxie Sword Spirit also seemed to recall something, and said solemnly: [My other fragment is in this 'Suspended Life Valley']

[I have never found a chance to come here. It seems that now is the last chance]

"I understand." An Jing shook his head slightly, calmed his mind and looked around.

This observation frightened him even more.

Because, in this clean white sand, he saw many equally white, yet frightening things.

bone.

Human bones!

In the surrounding white sand, there are a large number of equally white remains of corpses, some are heads, some are arms and palms, some are thighs and ribs... All the bones are quite young, not a single one is that of an adult, and some of these bones are broken, while some are quite complete...

——Sure enough, Bai Qinghan was right... Is it coming?
——Are these people from the Demon Cult finally hungry?
In an instant, An Jing raised his alertness to the highest level.

As expected, the evil cult is finally revealing its true colors!
If he encounters danger, he still has some ability to resist, and if no one stops him, he can take his people and escape into the mountains.

But the cult did not give him any chance.

An Jing glanced around out of the corner of his eye and found that although there seemed to be not many people escorting their group of children, they were blocking every direction.

It might be okay if you are alone, but if you bring others with you, you will definitely not be able to escape.

At least you have to protect the people in your group...

"Brother An..."

At this moment, the other eight people following An Jing also discovered the bones around them. Gu Yeqi subconsciously took a step back, then looked around cautiously and asked, "What's going on..."

"Don't be afraid."

An Jing whispered to comfort him, "Next, it will probably be the formal entry test... Xuanming Manor's inheritance is difficult and must be extremely dangerous. These corpses are probably left behind by the disciples who failed to enter before."

"But don't worry, we are strong. We will succeed this time."

"Yes!" Gu Yeqi believed in An Jing 100%, so he responded without hesitation, and the other team members also felt relieved.

Next, the owner of the medicine shop spoke.

His speech was lengthy, but his general meaning was simple: after more than a year of training and cultivation, they, the disciples of Xuanming Manor, should prepare for the formal initiation ceremony.

The ceremony is very dangerous. It requires the use of rituals and the power of the Supreme God to stir up the inner demons in everyone's hearts.

If one can slay the inner demon, one can awaken the 'destiny' and become a true disciple of Xuanming Manor. If one fails, there is a chance that one will die, but as long as one survives, even if one fails, one can still become a member of Xuanming Manor.

Just like those riders and servants, Xuanming Manor would give them a bowl of rice.

Of course, they can choose whether to participate or not, it all depends on their own choice.

(End of this chapter)