Chapter 54: Demons in Human's Clothing

"This year exam is quite cruel, Senior Jia."

While Luo Cheng was watching the exam-takers struggling, he complained to the sect master. The dwarf didn't like how they killed off potential disciples and wasted human resources.

The sect master scoffed. Jia Shan didn't care if many young cultivators died in the test, "Cultivators are bound to be ruthless and flexible. Everyone should possess wits and survival skills. Luo Cheng, there is no law in this world. If we don't let them experience the cruel reality now, they will be taken advantage of and killed in the future. It's best that we teach them the hard way and ingrain their instinct right now."

Jia Shan was the one who had rigged the third round of the exam. Last year, it was much easier than this.

In the previous year, there was only one safe zone, and it was large enough for all examinees to camp inside. Also, a water source was nearby. All test takers could easily cooperate and survive, which encouraged the young cultivators to work as one to achieve their goals.

Unfortunately, Jia Shan didn't like how weak cultivators banded together to defeat the strong. He valued strong individuals over a unified group.

"But we don't need to kill them to teach the others!" Luo Cheng wasn't satisfied with Jia Shan's distorted logic.

"If they die, it's their own fault! Who asked them to join this exam? We even warned them that they might die, but they were the ones that chose to participate in our tests!"

"..."

Luo Cheng sighed. He didn't like how Jia Shan's sect took advantage of the weak and favored the strong. In his opinion, they should have nurtured the weak, so they could survive the cruel world, not to kill them and feed them to the stronger cultivators.

'This sect master is a power-hungry retard. He's too obsessed with power, and he forgets the time when he was weak. Does he think that everyone was born strong?'

The dwarf disliked Jia Shan. Yet, he still had to pretend to be loyal to the old man as Xu Xiuying had sent him here to work as her spy.

The goal of Xu Xiuying and Luo Cheng was simple. They wanted to weaken the Mountain Goose Sect and look for a chance to kill this old lunatic. Once Jia Shan was dead, the Silver Phoenix Sect would take over the city, becoming the only official sect in the province.

'Xu Xiuying might not be an ideal lord, but she's way better than this lunatic. One of these days, I'll kill you and reform the sect!'

Luo Cheng was determined to betray Jia Shan, but he couldn't do it alone. He kept the thoughts to himself, waiting for the right opportunity.

...

Wei Huang, the first elder of the Mountain Goose Sect, was also watching how his grandson and granddaughter fared in the realm.

When he noticed that Xu Miao had done something to Wei Yuan, he was infuriated. Fortunately, Xu Miao didn't harm her.

'What are they talking about? Why is Yuan'er so afraid of him?'

The live broadcast only showed their actions, but there was no audio. Nobody could hear the examinees' voice.

Wei Huang tried to read their lips, but he couldn't guess why Wei Yuan was so terrified of Xu Miao. Since he couldn't figure out the reason, the elder went to Xu Xiuying, who was monitoring the exam nearby.

"Xu Xiuying! What is your son doing? Why is he harassing my granddaughter?"

Xu Xiuying frowned and peered at the old man Wei Huang, "From what I see, your granddaughter interrupted my son's business, and she was let off with a slight warning. You should be thankful that he didn't do more than that."

"Didn't you see her face? She's petrified. Your son must have threatened her. No matter the reason, I must ask you to compensate for my granddaughter."

Xu Xiuying rolled her eyes. She turned to Wei Huang and whispered, "He must have discovered your family's real identities. Now, listen, you stupid oni. If you don't want me to expose your little secret, shut your shit taking mouth and mind your business."

While the Wei Clan had a secret, the Xu Clan also hid something from the public. It was their race.

Wei Huang, Wei Yuan, Wei Feng, and all Wei families were not humans. They were demons, the onis.

Onis were red ogres, who could disguise themselves as humans. These ogres were one of the remnant demon races that managed to build up their clan's strength to contest for human territories. They secured one-third of the Mountain Goose City, and they were planning to destroy a human sect, the Mountain Goose Sect, from the inside.

Wei Huang didn't back down. He also muttered in a low voice, "Look, you slut succubi are no different than us. We're doing fine blending in the human society up until now, but your moronic human pet is about to jeopardize our long-term goal. I'm fine with you kidnapping and killing humans left and right, but don't get us involved in your game."

Xu Xiuying wasn't clean either. In fact, she was a succubus, another demonic being in town. Long Meifang, who was working for her, was also one of the succubi.

Unlike the oni clan, succubi scattered throughout the continent, surviving on their own. Half of them worked as prostitutes as they could blend in society and obtain Yang Qi from their sex partners at the same time. As for the rest, they banded together and formed their association under the name of a peculiar sect, the Silver Phoenix Sect.

Many succubi disguised as one of their elders and lived in various cities, protecting the sect's branches and increasing their influence. Mountain Goose City also housed one of the branches, Poseidon Spa House, and Xu Xiuying was its director.

Both races were considered mankind's enemies. If someone were to find out about their true identities, a civil war would break out.

However, at the moment, the two demons were bluffing each other because of a trivial conflict.

"Do you think it's my fault? Do you think it's something that I can control? He was minding his own businesses, but your granddaughter provoked him!"

"Of course! You've allowed him to join this event, so he is currently under your jurisdiction. You will have to take responsibility if he did something to my granddaughter. Why did you allow him to join as your top disciple in the first place? And hell, didn't your son use a technique from an evil sect? Did you teach him that!?"

Xu Xiuying almost burst into laughter, "I didn't allow him or order him to join this event. He defeated my top disciple and earned the right. Whatever he did in there or whatever he has learned is none of my business."

"Oh? Really? Then, if he dies, you won't care at all?"

"If your stupid clansmen happen to be responsible for his death, you can expect my wrath. Go ahead and try me. I'll destroy your clan if you do!"

"Ha! So scary. Well, it's good that my granddaughter is unharmed. If your human pet does something like that again, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

While Xu Miao, Xie Tian, and everyone else was struggling in the alternate realm, masters like Xu Xiuying, Luo Cheng, Wei Huang, and Jia Shan had their own agendas.

Wei Huang and Xu Xiuying's rivalry was ongoing despite the need for cooperation to survive human society.

Luo Cheng wanted to overthrow Jia Shan's authority, but he didn't have the strength to do so.

On the other hand, Jia Shan kept strengthening his position and his sect while he killed off weak cultivators, weeding out incompetent people from the world.

Chaos was brewing behind the scenes.

.

.

.

= In the monster realm =

"Hoo!"

The forest fire in Xu Miao's area was doused after he had taken out a refined Yin stone and released its energy. The cold Yin Qi extinguished the fire like magic. However, several parts of the forest were still burning, and the fire was spreading at a rapid rate.

The score above Xu Miao's head rose to 2,500 after he burnt several acres of forest. He didn't know how many monster beasts, monster trees, or fellow test-takers that he had killed. Nonetheless, he had no F to give to those dead monsters and humans.

Xu Miao managed to catch his breath, but he didn't stay idly. He took out the giant dadao and dug through the burnt rubbles, searching for usable loot.

When Xu Miao butchered the monster wolf, he found a small red crystal inside its heart. Using his novel knowledge as a reference, he believed that this might be the infamous [Monster Core] from many stories. He still kept it in his pocket.

When he asked the system when he got the monster core, it gave him the usual obnoxious message.

[[Insufficient privilege. Please complete more quests to unlock more privileges to unlock more information.]]

Without a choice, Xu Miao couldn't use it. He kept collecting the cores for now, hoping to bring it back and appraise it when he had free time.

Xu Miao hummed as he chopped the charcoaled monsters. Sure enough, he found red crystals inside their bodies.

After digging through the corpses, he got 72 more cores richer. So many monsters were burnt to death, and precious monster cores were everywhere.

'Alright. Next.'

Xu Miao didn't rush to the lighted beacon. He took his time, scanning the surroundings and searching for a water source or dead monsters nearby. He kept heading further in the dead tree forest.

Xu Miao encountered more ents, but they were not a threat to him. Any fire conjurer could easily kill these moving trees.

Three hours later after defeating the first monster tree, Xu Miao finally encountered a roadblock.

*RUMBLE*

While Xu Miao was burning the forest to kill ents, one of the trees was immune to fire attack. A unique man-eating ent pulled its roots from the ground and started extinguishing the fire with its chilly breath.

This thing was a colossal monster with at least a kilometer in circumference. As for its height, it was twice taller than ordinary ents.

The new monster tree had glossy blue bark, barbed branches, and billions of blue leaves. Its giant eyes glared at Xu Miao as if he was its sworn enemy.

Xu Miao gazed at the boss monster in astonishment. He thought that he had encountered a living Yggdrasil.

"What in the world?"

*HUMM*

The Frost Ent finished conjuring its skill. A hail of ice lances rained upon Xu Miao.

"... Fuck."

Xu Miao's face turned into a smiling derp meme.

The spell and the power that this monster had displayed was stronger than Xu Xiuying's clone. Without thinking, Xu Miao ran for his life.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

It was a wise decision. The rain of ice lances leveled the ground as if they were hit by missiles.

Unfortunately, Xu Miao couldn't dodge all of them. One of the lances grazed his leg and destroyed the ground in front of him.

*BOOM*

The ground collapsed. As if the earth sunk into a hallowed underground level, Xu Miao fell into the abyss.