Xia Xuefeng sat in a pool of viscera and corpses, a vortex of blood swirling around her. Her entire body pulsed with the burning of Karmic Merit from killing so many demonic cultivators. As her Mistress Bing Meilu had advised her, she had yet to use a drop of it, despite the temptation.

'Well, it's not I like I even need it!'

Cultivating the Blood Moon Spectral God's Anthem of the Crucified, and already at the tenth stage of Qi Condensation, she was virtually untouchable in the Shadow Pit.

'Now if only these idiots would understand that,' the noirette sighed as the blood flowed into her. 'This must be the third attack this month. No wonders Orthodox Sects dominate the world. Demonic cultivators just have no sense of self-preservation!'

Xia Xuefeng sighed as she suppressed the breakthrough coming on. At this point, she had accumulated more than enough blood Qi to break through to Foundation Establishment whenever she wanted. of course, until she was out of the Shadow Pit, doing so was probably a poor idea.

In her months in the Shadow Pit, Blood Demon Xia Xuefeng had quickly become a local hegemon, founding her own society, which she called the Safe Zone. As the name implied, she was basically trying to build a society with at least a modicum of sanity and normalcy in a pit filled by demonic cultivators and their descendants. A place where one could not just randomly kill others and use them as a cultivation resource.

"Empress, the Night City Confederacy has sent another wave of attackers! Some of the Flavoured Tongues are there as well!" one of her administrators shouted.

"Uhh, already? I haven't even finished eating the last wave of demonic cultivators! At this point, I think I need to pay Night City a visit. Do they really think they can just toy with me like that?"

The established powers of the Shadow Pit did not appreciate a young upstart cultivator shattering the balance of power. Especially since her territory was growing daily and the majority of the Shadow's Pit's population either had or wanted to move into it.

Demonic cultivation required humans as a resource, so no one would be happy to lose a large amount. Meanwhile, the so-called 'resources', mortals and low-level cultivators, loved the idea of living in a place that actually had laws and protections for the weak.

As she strode forward, a golden chain suddenly shot down from above, wrapping around her ankle. Before she could react, the teen girl was dragged, screaming, through the dank, musty caverns of the Pit. She could see dozens of other chains firing out, grabbing people at random.

'What the hell is going on?'

The chains pulled her through the caverns, smacking her agasint rocks and pillars, until she found herself pulled into a large open-air crevice, the open sky sealed off by a blue array. Hundreds of demonic cultivators ranging from the first to eighth rank of Qi condensation were dangling from the chains. Xia Xuefeng was by far the strongest here.

---

Tang Dongyi sat, eyes closed, with the other cultivators, in a large building, his ninth-stage Qi Condensation cultivation base ciruclating slowly. They were all here for a single purpose. To pass the exams of the Bird Talon Continent's mightiest sect and ascend to heaven in a single step. They were of all different backgrounds. From those from clans and minor sects, rogue cultivators and mercenaries all. A mighty voice rang out.

"The first task of the trials awaits. Climb to the top of that staircase! Those who fail to reach the top shall not become members of the sect."

The doors of the building opened and the cultivators all ran out. In an open field before them was an absolutely massive stone staircase, reaching up into the heavens far beyond what the eye could see. Each 'step' was almost half the height of Dongyi and made of completely smooth white marble.

He gingerly stepped onto the first, watching interest as a subtle Qi began to pressure his mind.

'A spiritual attack array? The true test to show endurance in the face of pressure that grows with each step - Luckily for me I have the Treasured Pagoda!'

A miniature pagoda appeared beside him, a gentle stream of Qi pouring from it into him. The pressure on his mind decreased, and he began to race up the stairs, leaping and bounding up dozens with his Qi-enhanced jumps.

Even with the enhancement of the pagoda, the pressure grew exponentially, and he was forced to stop leaping, running up the steps one by one, gritting his teeth as the pressure slammed down into him, making even one step painful.

'No! I can't give up here. I have to make it!' Dongyi forced himself to push forward slowly, rising up step by step.

Just when he thought his resolve would break, he suddenly found himself in another building. Of the five or six hundred that had originally signed up, there were only around two hundred in the room with him. At the end of the building stood a massive series of doors, each ranked from one to one hundred.

A sect elder appeared, floating in the air.

"Behind each door is a demonic cultivator you must defeat to progress. The stronger the cultivator you defeat, the more points you will receive. One is the lowest and one hundred is the strongest."

Dongyi and several other cultivators all immediately burst forward, running towards the door marked one hundred.

'Pagoda!'

The floating building thrummed and Dongyi suddenly shot forward, outpacing the rest and leaping into the One Hundred Door.

---

High in the sky, an invisible platform overlooked the sect trials, within which six of the highest-ranking members of the Armada sat, overlooking the trials.

"The prospects this year are weaker than ordinary," Commodore Rampage-Sword complained.

"You say that every year," rebuked Captain Tian of the Medicine Hall.

"And what about you, Commodore Liyang? See anyone that catches your eye?" the sword cultivator continued.

"That boy with the Pagoda seems interesting."

"Those who rely on magical treasures instead of their own strength will never amount to anything," Rampage Sword waved his hand in dismissal, taking a snipe at Liyang, who himself relied on artifacts and formations heavily.

"I agree," interjected Commodore Black Heartflame. "Just as weapons cultivators become like mewling babies when forced to fight anything strong against their one trick."

"As if you'd know anything about weapon cultivation. You didn't even last a week studying the sword!" Rampage-sword spat.

"I simply switched to a path more suited for me," the Daoist replied, eyes sparking with a black fire. "You're free to try it out and see how it stacks up to weapon cultivation!"

The air grew tense. Rampage-Sword growled, reaching for his sheathed sword.

"Can you fools really not pause your infighting for a single meeting? I assure you, my father will not select his successor based on who is most disruptive at the Sect Entrance Trials," Captain Ji Longyi interjected dryly, frowning.

"Hmpph, watch your tone when speaking to your superiors, Captain!" Commodore Rampage-Sword replied, his Nascent Soul glimmering with an inner light.

"If I ever meet one, I'll keep that in mind," Ji Longyi smirked.

All the cultivators in the room suddenly turned towards room one hundred, their spiritual senses firing out to investigate.

---

The chains dragged them upwards, past the blue seal, and suddenly Xia Xuefeng found herself alone in a black room. She could not see anything, not the wall floor or ceiling.

"Greeting Demonic Cultivator. You are now partaking in the Sect Entrance Trials. You will be forced to face a disciple who will be trying to kill you. If you manage to kill them, you will be allowed to live. Fight to survive, if you wish." A voice rang out.

"Hey! There's been a mistake! I'm not a demonic cultivator!" she shouted out.

There was no response.

"Fine!" Xia Xuefeng growled, crossing her arms.

'Bing Meilu better get me out of here soon!'

---

Dongyi pushed through the door, blinking as he found himself in what seemed to be a completely black void. Standing in the center of it was what appeared to be a young child, no older than thirteen. She had long black hair stained red with blood, and her smooth flawless jade-like skin was covered in dried bodily fluids. A powerful bloody aura emanated from her, more potent than any butcher shop he'd been to. It seemed to lack some of the nefarious chill he normally felt fighting demonic cultivators.

Dongyi grimaced. He did not know if she was an actual child, or if her appearance was the result of some kind of demonic cultivation method, but either way, he could tell he would be uncomfortable killing the cute kid.

'Keep in mind she's probably some sixty-year-old grandma. Not to mention she is a demonic cultivator! Don't let her appearance fool you, this girl is a bonafide killer!'

"What a shame, someone as cute as you chose such a bloody path. Perhaps in your next life, you won't choose to be a demonic cultiv-"

"First of all, I am not a demonic cultivator!" the girl interrupted growling.

"Miss, you're covered in human blood. I don't think you can trick me." he raised his fists into an offensive stance.

"All of this blood comes from self-defence!" she assured him, a nail of blood forming in her hands. "If you'd just let me ex-"

"I'm sure!"

Gongyi exploded forward, slamming his fists toward her. She turned to dodge.

"Pagoda!"

The miniature treasure appeared, a powerful aura surging out and crashing into the small woman's form. She gasped and froze as the paralyzing effect took hold. His fist smashed into her mouth.

---

'I can't move!' Xia Xufeng gasped as powerful energy flooded out from the pagoda, invading her meridians and forcefully freezing her. Unable to enhance her body with Qi, her mind went white with pain as a fist slammed into her face, shattering her jaw. She could feel blood and bits of teeth falling down her paralyzed throat.

The so-called righteous cultivator leapt at her again, fists raised to slam. She sat helplessly as the energy locked her down tightly.

An idea suddenly occurred to her. She reached out with all the force she could muster, grabbing a strand of the paralyzing force and guiding it through her meridians all the way to her Dantian. It flooded out and she gasped as the most intimate place of her cultivation was penetrated by the paralyzing energy.

Tendrils of it reached out, wrapping around her blood-crosses to freeze her entire cultivation base. If she could, she would have smiled, as she watched one of the tendrils try to grab the Blood-Moon Spectral God's, Sealing Mark.

She felt every drop of Qi in her entire body flood towards the Sealing Mark. An incredible prestige exploded forward, ripping through the air. The man attacking her flew backwards. Cracks began to appear on the Pagoda, and with incredible ripping noise, the treasure exploded, and the world went white. An incredible shockwave slammed into her, shattering bones and pulping flesh.

Blood spilled from her mouth as she blinked, taking in her surrounding. She found herself lying in the middle of a massive room filled with doors. The man who'd attacked her was there as well, but somehow not nearly as injured. He stood, face completely red with fury.

"My Pagoda!" he screamed in utter rage, jumping at her, eyes red with fury. "Do you know what you've done?"

Xia Xuefeng tried to conjure Qi to defend herself but was completely unable. Whatever the Blood-Moon Spectral God's Sealing Mark had done to save her had used up every drop of Qi in her body. She had only one choice. Her entire body began to glow with golden light as she drew on the burning energy that suffused every part of her being.

'Karmic merit! Save me!'

The golden light she had built up over months of slaughtering countless demonic cultivators and beings of every flavour burst out of her. The golden light formed into a single floating symbol of gold light.

'Heaven'

The martial artist slammed forward into a barrier of light. He slammed forward wildly with martial arts, punches and kicks, but the barrier did not budge. With each attack, she could feel the karmic merit drain slightly.

The man suddenly froze, gasping and falling to his knees. The pressure of a much stronger cultivator crashed through the air, freezing both of them, though Xia Xufeng was already laying stationary on the floor, in a pool of her own blood.

"How intriguing... a demonic cultivator using Karmic Merit?" she heard a voice ring out.

Six cultivators appeared in the sky above her. Blinking she recognized one of them as the very man who'd originally locked her up, whom she remembered being called Captain Ji Longyi! The cultivators flew down, inspecting the scene.

"It shouldn't have been possible for anything these two could do to destroy the spatial array," one of them commented, stroking his long, white beard. "They're only in Qi Condensation..."

"Finally something interesting happens in a Sect Trial!" one of the cultivators, a swordsman in a red robe heartily laughed, looking over the crater from the Pagoda.

As the man in red's eyes passed over her, she felt like something sharp was pressing against her, only for the feeling to fade as the man looked away. Another of the cultivators, a handsome young man whose eyes burned with black fire, walked over to her, staring intently.

"It shouldn't be possible at all for a demonic cultivator to use Karmic Merit... Such a thing would violate the Dao of Heaven."

A rainbow of fluorescent poured from around the young man, strands of it running over her. She gasped as she felt his Spiritual Sense inspect her Dantian.

"As I thought, You aren't a demonic cultivator at all...How did you end up in the Shadow Pit?"

Xia Xufeng tried to speak up in agreement, only to gurgle blood instead.

A pill appeared in the man's hands and flew into her mouth. She swallowed and instantly gasped in relief as a powerful vitality poured through her body, her wounds rapidly knitting themselves back together.

"What do you mean she isn't a demonic cultivator?" Captain Ji Longyi, asked, perplexed, as he recognized the girl.

"Hah, once you reach the Nascent Soul Realm, your spiritual sense will evolve and you'll be able to understand things on a far deeper level. While she cultivates blood Qi, which is unorthodox, there is no Karmic sin or her, no resentment or ghostly Qi. The fact she can use Karmic merit is further proof. To us in the Nascent Soul Realm, it's fairly obvious!" the man in red bragged to Captain Ji Longyi, who frowned.

'Obvious my ass! Your entire judicial system didn't even bother to confirm my innocence!' Xia Xuefeng was smart enough to not say this out loud.

Ji Longyi burrowed his brows deep in thought.

"This matter will require a full investigation," the man with the white beard sighed. "Let's question these two first."

The man with the black flame replacing his eyes waved his hand, and she found herself sitting beside the former pagoda wielder in what appeared to be a courtroom.

The six cultivators flew into the courtroom.

"I think I should preside over this," the young man with the fiery eyes said.

None of the other cultivators disputed it, so he flew over to the judge's seat and sat down.

"First of all, who are you and where are you from?" he questioned the man who'd fought Xia Xuefeng.

"Senior, this little one is known as Tang Dongyi. I am a rogue cultivator originally from Bluewing Prefecture."

"I see. Now, describe what happened in the trial!" he asked the man with the Pagoda.

"O-of course Senior. I went into the trial and found myself facing this demonic cultivator. I used my Treasured Pagoda to restrain her and began to attack-"

"What a complete coward! Not only freezing an enemy to dodge a real fight, but using a magical treasure to do it!" the man in red interrupted, sneering at Dongyi.

"Please don't interrupt, Rampage-Sword," the young judge said in exasperation. "Continue, Dongyi."

"All of a sudden, there was a strange pressure in the air, and my Pagoda began to shatter. It exploded, and I think Senior witnessed everything that happened after."

"No normal treasure's explosion could destroy my spatial array," one of the cultivators snorted.

"Are you sure, Liyang? Maybe you're just a lot worse at creating formations than you claim," the red-robed swordsman interrupted.

"Where exactly did you get that magical treasure?" Liyang continued, ignoring the swordsman.

"Senior, I hope you'll understand that I have my secrets," Dongyi replied hesitantly.

"Answer the question," the young judge ordered, the black fire in his eyes flaring with a crackle.

"I'm afraid I can't-"

"Can I just soul search him?" Rampage-Sword interrupted.

"I'll give you one more chance to answer me before I let Rampage-Sword have his way with your soul." The young judge turned to glare at Dongyi.

"I-I found it in a secret realm," Dongyi whispered.

"And what do you know about it?" the burning-eyed man pressed.

"I believe it is called the Nine Martial Truth Treasured Pagoda," Dongyi eventually replied.

"You found the legacy of Senior Nine Martial Truth?" the one named Liyang's eyes widened. "I'll have to have you take me there once this investigation is over."

Xia Xuefeng smirked at the expression of concealed rage of Dongyi's face. Normally she wouldn't be so happy about an older cultivator taking advantage of someone using their power, but if anyone deserved it, the trigger-happy bastard who'd broken her jaw did.

"Now, your turn." the judge turned to her. "Who are you and where are you from?"

She could feel a strange pressure push its way into her. Instinctually, she knew if she lied the pressure would burn her soul to a crisp in dreadful black fire.

"I am-i'm called Xia Xuefeng!" she replied. "I'm from Copper Egg Prefecture."

That earned her multiple looks of surprise.

"How the hell did you get all the way to the southern tip of the continent?" Rampage-sword asked in disbelief.

"This junior came through the Flesh Mountains."

Several eyebrows raised, and Rampage Sword whistled in appreciation. There were nine well-known special methods of travel in the Bird Talon Continent. The Malignant Road, the Xiaomi Jin, the Folded Seas, the Gates of Marrow, the Peela Baadal Secret Realms, Meng's Hollowed Veins and the Flesh Mountains. Collectively, they were called the Nine Roads. Trading companies like the one she'd worked for before meeting Bing Meilu used them to ferry goods at much faster speeds. However, they tended to be incredibly dangerous. Even with a full caravan, they'd nearly died after all.

"And how did you end up in the Shadow Pit?"

"I originally came to the sect as the servant of Bing Meilu, who was a survivor of the Moon-Crying Swan Palace who transferred into this sect. I planned to take the sect entrance exams. While cultivating, I was seen by Captain Ji Longyi, who falsely accused me of being a demonic cultivator and had me imprisoned in the shadow pit."

"Oooh! I guess even the so-called 'Chosen Son of Heaven' can make mistakes then?" Rampage Sword chuckled. "How are you going to compensate this poor young girl for all the damages caused by your incompetence? If only you had a superior cultivator in the Nascent Soul Realm confirm she really was one first!"

The red-robed swordsman was clearly enjoying rubbing this in the Captain's face. Ji Longyi inhaled deeply, then to Xia Xuefeng's complete surprise, he bowed deeply in apology.

"I offer my full apologies. All this happened because of my own incompetence. No matter what, I will ensure to fully pay you back as much as I can. I hope to one day earn your forgiveness."

Xia Xuefeng blinked in confusion as she felt the Karmic Merit inside her stir and wobble as if in happiness. It seemed to be reacting to the presence of Ji Longyi.

'Is he also a karmic merit cultivator?'

"That still leaves the matter of how the Pagoda was destroyed." the fire-eyed judge stared at her in deep thought. "If shouldn't have been possible for you, being only in Qi Condensation, to destroy such a treasure."

She would have to pick her wording very carefully.

"Senior, this little one does not know how the Pagoda was destroyed."

She did not know the exact process the Sealing mark had used to destroy it, after all. It seemed her wordplay was a bit too obvious, as the judge immediately pressed forward with another question.

"Do you know what caused the destruction?"

How did she answer this without revealing anything? Xia Xuefeng couldn't think of anything. Perhaps someone more skilled in deception, but she'd spent most of her life as a baker, not a lawyer.

"I-it was destroyed by a Sealing Mark left inside me by a Senior from a higher world."

Every person in the room turned to look at her in shock.