An aged voice entered Blade's ears as in the corner of his eye, he caught the sight of a figure suddenly appearing next to him.

"Before you ask, I am the warden of the Outer Sect, and also the true guard of the Outer Sect's gates!"

THRUM!

Blade's expression turned serious upon hearing the identity of the old man, but the words that this figure first said worked well in easing Blade's worries. Blade then replied...

"And your reason for not letting me leave this place is...?"

Even though Blade didn't sense any hostility from the old man, the previous hostility of the two guards opened Blade's eyes and made him reflect on his previous naivety.

Even if the old man wasn't an enemy, Blade realized that in this world where killing is as easy as breathing, he should always trust no one...

"Hehe, I'm sure the reason you appeared in front of the gates of my sector in the first place, was to join my Heavenly Demon Sect. I am now offering you the chance and it is completely up to you to agree to join or not..."

THUMP!

Blade's heart almost blasted out of his chest as the old man's words rang in his head. A dazzling smile formed on his face as the steps leading up to his ultimate goal finally began being created.

Being located in this waste continent, and with the backing of the Heavenly Demon Sect, from the knowledge he received from Adrian, Blade knew his near future path had gotten a lot easier.

...

"Registration Hall!"

Blade mumbled the words written on a large piece of plank that hung over the massive metal doors that were the entrance of an ancient-looking building.

It had been some time since he had met the old man and followed him into the Heavenly Demon Sect.

Walking through an expansive dirt road that had many young people who seemed to be disciples going about their business.

On either side of the road were small cabins that seemed to be the residence of Outer sect disciples.

After a few minutes of casual interactions with each other, Blade, and the old man appeared in front of a tall building.

The duo had appeared in front of the registration hall of the outer sect since Blade needed to officially join the sect, to be considered a Heavenly Demon Sect disciple.

Entering the building, the lobby of the Registration Hall became visible to Blade.

There was a counter that separated the room and standing on the other side were many figures.

The old man gestured Blade to follow him as the duo approached a counter as the female figure behind the table seeing the old man asked unenthusiastically...

"Newbie?"

The old man shook his head as he replied.

"Yes, but he is a Meridian Opening cultivator...!"

Raising her eyebrow in surprise, the female gazed at Blade with interest, her eyes lit even more brightly with shock when Blade's dashing features entered her vision...

Even with ragged and blood-stained clothing, Blade was an incredibly attractive individual worthy of praise.

Yet, that was all he was...

The female once more focused on her job.

After all, attractiveness couldn't help one in this world when someone much stronger wants to kill them...!

Even ugly bastards attract beauty left and right because they have enough strength to survive in this godforsaken world...

...

Exiting the Registration Hall were Blade and the old man. On Blade's chest was an identification card with his name and age...

"I'm still surprised that you are only sixteen years of age...!" The old man stated while the two approached a seemingly random cabin.

"And I'm surprised that a Sect with the name of Demonic has such an orderly system..." Blade followed up as the duo appeared in front of his future home.

There wasn't much to it, there was a porch and wooden door that was used as the entrance...

"Well, I guess this is goodbye for now.

Don't forget the tournament for Outer disciples in a few days.

After all, as an Outer disciple who has already entered the Meridian Opening realm, you are qualified to enter the Inner Sect Qualification tournament and even have the chance to enter the top ten... to officially enter the Inner Sect!"

THRUM!

The mention of his ticket to the Inner sect brought a smile to Blade's lips as he shook his head in agreement and then approached the doors of his home while the warden of the Outer Sect gazed on with a calm expression.

...

Now alone, and sitting on top of a bed with a calm expression, Blade closed his eyes as he felt the energy running through his body.

He didn't say anything, but when re-awakening, Blade felt an immense amount of energy, way more than what he had when he fought Latin!

Focusing his senses on the inside of his body, a shocked expression appeared on Blade's face as he found the reason why he had a lot more strength compared to before...

"Three!"

WAA!

Blade realized that three of his Meridians had already been unclogged. The current limit of his physical strength was currently completely unknown to him as the only way he'll know was in the tournament taking place a few days from now!

But, before he could enter a state of euphoria...

'Hmm...'

A weird expression took over Blade's face when a certain scent assaulted his nose...

'It seems that I need a bath.'

Blade thought while the sight of his clothes and skin still bloodied entered his eyes.

Slightly disgusted by the fact that he didn't even think about bathing when he had entered the cabin, Blade then thought.

'It seems power is changing the way I think...'

Taking off his clothing, he entered the wooden bathtub already filled with water as he nodded his head in appreciation.

It was a surprise to him that in such a world filled with evil people were professional enough to have this created for mere Outer sect disciples.

The hot water contacted his skin as Blade slowly sank into the depths of the tub and fell into a peaceful sleep, for the first time in just over a month.

...

"Huh? Where are those two dumbos..?"

With annoyance and anger clear from her words, the fiery redhead mumbled in confusion when looking for her two senior brothers by the gate of the Heavenly Demon Sect that the middle-aged duo was tasked to protect.

Ever since she, along with her childhood friends were taken away from their hometown and into the Heavenly Demon Sect by force...

This pair of middle-aged men took care of her even when the rest of the members of this demonic Sect shunned her and her friends.

And even though most of her friends had long died because of the harsh training done by the Sect, because of these two middle-aged men, she was able to survive, just barely...

For this, she held deep gratefulness to the pair of kind-hearted men.

"If you're looking for those two, then you should give up."

The voice of an aged man entered the redheaded female's ears as she jumped in surprise.

Tsk!

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she then said.

"Frederick, how many times do I have to tell you to stop sneaking up on me like that!!" She berated.

But, his words were soon processed in her brain as the old warden of the Outer Sect named Frederick went on to say...

"Those two were killed by a rather handsome fellow yesterday. I'm sure you'll meet him in the Inner Sect Qualification Tournament the day after tomorrow..."

THRUM!!

His casually spoken words echoed in Athena's mind as her legs suddenly lost their strength causing her to drop to her knees, while Frederick's raised eyebrows showcased his confusion by Athena's overreaction.

"Even when your family from that town were killed in the sect's training, you didn't react like this...

Don't tell me you cared for those two idiots who planned to use you as protection when they would be kicked out of the sect?!"

THRUM!!!

Shocking words once more left Frederick's lips as we finally knew the reason why those two middle-aged men took care of her.

The 14-year-old Athena who was known as an up-and-coming genius was meant to be a tool that the two wastes had nurtured so that when they were eventually kicked out, they would have connections to someone inside of the widely proclaimed, number one sect in the continent!

"W-What are you talking about...?"

Athena's confused and still cracked voice echoed out as the words of the person who she could claim to be like a father figure she never had, ringed in her mind.

On the other hand, Frederick replied...

"You're a smart girl, I'm sure you understand that there wasn't and there would never be a free meal in this world. Why do you think that it was after a whole year of you being in this sect, that those brats showed an interest in you?

It was because it was at that time that they knew they may not have the necessary talent in cultivation to break through to the Meridian Opening realm in three years!"