Volume One: "The Nature of the Devil Does Not Change"
Scarlet King and Lin Yuan entered the sect's ranking grounds. The moment they stepped inside, they were met by the sight of thousands of disciples and loud, passionate shouts echoing throughout the area. Disciples of different levels and ranks crowded around the combat arena.
At the front stood a massive board displaying the rankings of the top 111 strongest disciples in the sect. The top four names were listed clearly:
1. Long Wei
2. Li Zhao
3. Feng Jian
4. Xue Hua
Scarlet King stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the crowd. On the arena, two disciples were fighting fiercely—one of them already bleeding from the nose.
Meanwhile, Lin Yuan stared at the ranking board, thinking to himself:
(Xue Hua? That sounds like a woman's name… I hope she's beautiful. If she is, I'll train hard, climb the rankings, catch her attention, and finally get a wife.)
The thought of marriage made Lin Yuan's heart beat faster.
At that moment, Scarlet King addressed the disciple standing in front of him. The disciple snapped irritably:
"Who's this annoying bastard?!"
He turned around—and immediately stiffened when he saw Scarlet King and felt the dark aura radiating from him.
Scarlet King spoke in a deathly cold tone:
"Explain how the sect works. We are new disciples."
The disciple swallowed, took a deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.
"Oh… I thought you were from the Dragon Gang. My apologies, brother. Come, I'll explain. But first, let me tell you about the Bloody Combat Arena."
He continued:
"This arena is where disciples fight for rankings. The higher your rank, the more food and primordial stones you receive every two weeks. High-ranking disciples may also receive special rewards from the sect."
He pointed toward the board.
"These are the four strongest disciples in the sect."
"Long Wei, known as the Rising Dragon, possesses great talent and traces of a Dragon Bloodline. He leads the Dragon Gang."
"Xue Hua, called the Ice Queen due to her cold temperament and overwhelming strength, leads the Beautiful Ladies Gang, which accepts only women."
"Li Zhao, the Raging Flame, is extremely powerful, dangerous, and notoriously arrogant. He bullies new disciples and leads the second-strongest group, the Blazing Theft Gang."
"Feng Jian, known as the Lone Traveler, doesn't belong to any gang and is considered a fairly decent person."
Lin Yuan asked curiously:
"Why is food part of the monthly reward?"
The disciple gestured with his hand.
"Because disciples must hunt their own food. The sect doesn't provide it. That's why food is a reward—it saves high-ranking disciples from having to go out and hunt."
Scarlet King moved calmly through the crowd and stopped beside the arena, watching the fight. Moments later, one disciple was blasted off the platform and slammed into the ground. The other was declared the winner.
Scarlet King stepped onto the arena.
"I challenge the disciple who just won."
A referee appeared instantly. He was a junior elder of the sect.
"The opponent you'll face is ranked one hundred," the referee said. "Do you truly intend to kill him, newcomer?"
Scarlet King nodded.
The referee sighed and stepped aside.
Scarlet King walked to the center of the arena. His opponent sneered arrogantly:
"Hah? A newcomer wants to challenge me? I'm ranked one hundred—stronger than tens of thousands of disciples. Leave now before you lose your dignity, boy."
In the next instant, Scarlet King appeared in front of him.
A single strike.
His hand pierced straight through the disciple's chest and tore out his heart.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
The arena fell into absolute silence.
Scarlet King stood there holding the heart—it was still beating. Blood soaked his clothes. The opponent's mouth overflowed with blood as his open chest sprayed it like a fountain. Tears streamed down his face as he begged weakly:
"Please… mercy… I don't want to die…"
The referee shouted in panic:
"Stop!!"
Too late.
Scarlet King crushed the heart in his hand.
The corpse dropped to its knees—then collapsed lifelessly onto the arena floor.
Scarlet King looked at the crushed heart and spoke coldly:
"Oops… I killed him by accident. He was useless anyway. Better to get rid of him."
The elder roared in fury:
"You reckless idiot! Why did you kill him?! Don't you know killing is forbidden inside the sect?!"
"Power Stones + rating, please"