"Our body is the greatest proof of our devotion!
"For our blood is a symbol of our unwavering pursuit of her love. The pale lustre we seek is to affine ourselves to her ethereal lustre. Our life, which we walk till we rise into blazing glory, is dedicated solely to her!
"To our beloved maiden, to her Hallowed Visage!"
A single fanatical roar resounded through the air.
Dressed in black and red robes, a tall man with grey skin let out an oppressive air towards the crowd of youths before him; his ferocity akin to that of a mad dog.
He was a sickly, pale man, with a grey tone tinting his skin.
Each youth before him was of warmer, livelier skin tones, each sharing the same black and red clothing, too.
They stood within a large circular courtyard, the ornate walls were adorned with small statues of horse-drawn carriages, and a tall tower stood on the northern side.
This grey-skinned man stretched out his fingers to the crowd, then closed his hand into a fist, tightening his grip further, until...
"This will be the first proof of your initiation..."
The slow, sickening cracking of his skin filled the otherwise silent air, sending shivers down the youth's spines.
It was a sound that no one would expect to come from skin.
Droplets of blood splashed outwards, before dribbling down the cracks in his palm and onto the ground.
Uncurling his fingers to reveal the shattered expanse of his palm and the blood filling his palm lines, he declared,
"If you can't present to me a bloody palm, then don't even think about meeting her Hallowed Visage!"
He roared across the youths.
Some looked grim and hesitant, fearful and unwilling to harm themselves.
Some tightened their grips, digging their nails into the delicate veil of skin covering their palms, some even scratching their palm with their other hand.
There were those who wished to prove themselves, and those who lacked the willpower to do so.
For one particular youth, however, the veins in his hand burst, rupturing the skin of his hand and fingers.
Obviously, his palm lines were torn and drenched in blood, so, too, was the back of his hand; even his fingernails were dirtied with foul crimson.
Hearing such violent sounds, the youths whipped their heads to see this particular youth.
Shock and fear filled their eyes as they saw his ruptured hand, but it was his blood that terrified them more, forcing them to retreat from even the mere droplets of blood.
"Wu Xue Yue..." The grey-skinned man mumbled as he looked at this particular youth, a stunned expression lit in his eyes.
But it was not the cruel act against himself that surprised the grey-skinned man.
"You... You do not need to be here, Young Master... and the act of spilling your blood here is much too dangerous...!"
Wu Xue Yue had a sickly pale skin complexion, but not of the same grey tone as this other man. Unlike the rest of the people around him, his clothing was predominantly red, accented with black embroidery and adorned with white ornaments.
His hair was a uniquely dull grey colour, a few shades darker than silver, falling in spiked tufts, and a braid on each side of his head, which fell beneath the tufts and reached his collarbone.
"I am only here to prove myself. What do I care for these other youths? I wish to pass the initiation, and I refuse to halt myself because of these fools."
"This initiation is mostly meant for the youths of the lesser-pure bloodline... A pure blood such as you does not need to attempt this..."
There was weariness in his voice as he looked at the youth.
He tried to dissuade this 'Young Master' from attempting the initiation further.
"I do not want to follow the custom of the 'pure bloodline', I wish to see her Hallowed Visage through my devotion, I want to prove myself to her through my own means, not the way of the Branch!"
Wu Xue Yue declared his unrelenting ambition.
The grey-skinned man sighed, "Please, just... wait by my side for now."
He had a conflicted tone when talking to Wu Xue Yue, but his tone remained cautious and impartial, inviting the boy to stand beside him, albeit reluctantly.
He was extraordinary among his peers. Not only showing talent, but also a unique fervour that separated him from the others.
As he heeded, Wu Xue Yue walked to stand by the grey-skinned man, looking down on the other youths in the crowd.
They also spared a glance back at him, some with surprise and lingering fear, others with respect or even contempt.
After the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the youths were finally separated into two groups: those who failed or lacked the willpower to complete the first proof of their initiation, and those who had proven themselves.
A metallic stench wafted through the air, splatters of blood strewn across the floor of the courtyard.
Those who did not prove themselves were kneeling on the ground, kowtowing, knocking their foreheads against the bloody ground.
The youths who have proven themselves stood behind the grey-skinned man, their bleeding stemmed by the man's mystical method.
The grey-skinned man chanted something under his breath.
"The Proven of tonight's generation stand before you. As they have shed their blood, please, weep for them in their stead, so that they may never weep again.
"The dregs of tonight's generation kowtow before you, begging forgiveness. They touch their heads to the floor, soaked by the blood of the Proven, guilty and full of sorrow. Please give them a second chance, and wash away their guilt, their sorrow, and end their repenting..."
As he said this, small wisps of grey smoke flowed out of his nostrils and mouth.
With a heavy, solemn exhale, he breathed out a cloud that quickly grew in the air above the kowtowing youths, and began raining onto the blood-stained ground and kowtowing youths.
The pale droplets further soaked the ground, washing the blood into the cracks of the tiles, and cleansing the youths with it.
Leaving the kowtowing youths in the rain, the grey-skinned man led the Proven youths into the building.
He cast a glare to the side, towards Wu Xue Yue, who walked slightly behind him.
"Young Master, you really don't have to do this... The Initiation is dangerous and potentially fatal. Should you die, then the Clan would be without a true leader. You have already been recognised. These are perilous hours for our Clan.
"When Clan Leader Wu Xue Congzhe died, we were still warring with the other Branches. Even with your aid, we could barely scrape together some sort of order using your name and unique status as our foundation.
"Not only that, but you bear the name Yue! We can't possibly lose you."
The grey-skinned man remarked with a grim tone, but the youth beside him did not waver, instead looking at the man with his pale eyes.
His pupils were devoid of light and colour, just a few shades from pure white.
"I was never properly initiated. How could I stand before her if I'm not officially a Proven? How could I stand before my people with only my status behind me? How could I appear before Her with merely my status?"
The youth retorted, not yielding his stubbornness,
"I will see this initiation through to the end, no matter what anyone says or thinks about me, regardless of what happens to me. I will present 'Me' before Her Hallowed Visage. Not the Sanguine Branch's 'Young Master', not as one of the four bearing 'Yue', but 'Me', just Me."
A wave of thoughts violently turned in the grey-skinned man's mind.
'He has already been 'recognised' and attained mystical methods similar to my own... Not only that, but he's burdened with the responsibility of being our Sanguine Branch's Clan Leader at such a young age...!
'But despite it all, he's risking his life to meet Her Hallowed Visage. If this were any other youth, I could simply turn them away, but Wu Xue Yue...'
Just thinking about that name brought a lot of stress to the grey-skinned man. He exhaled a breath of turbid air.
"Young Master... I must state this one last time. The Initiation is dangerous, and the risk of losing your life could be very high...! Please, think for the Sanguine Branch and reconsider your decision."
Wu Xue Yue did not spare the man another glance, nor another word. He silently carried himself through this hallway.
He listened not to others' reasons nor their worries, but only to his own heart.
'This is what I want!' 'I want to see her!' 'I will prove myself!'
Those were the words that rose in Wu Xue Yue's heart; those were his desires.
They were desires that were born in his earlier youth.
"..." With yet another sigh, the grey-skinned man shook his head, "Very well then... Young Master, you must succeed...!"
Eventually, they reached the centre of the first floor of this circular building. There was a spiral staircase that led to a second floor, which was several hundred meters high.
The floor had grooves in it, as if to filter water, or another liquid...
"Here will be the second proof of your initiation."
With a wave of his hand, parts of the floor rose and revealed cabinets full of pills.
Red, dull red, dark red, and so on; there were a myriad different red-coloured pills, each stored in separate glass jars; there were infant-shaped vats lining the bottom row of the cabinets, each full of a mysterious orange liquid.
The grey-skinned man seized the air, grabbing at a few jars and a vat.
Bringing them before him, he crushed the pills within the jars and mixed them with the contents in the vats.
The different reds mixed with the liquid, creating a powdery slurry, and the grey-skinned man gestured to one particular youth.
"Wu Xue Yue, come forth and be the first to receive the mark."