Behind the Cover

"Cult Elder."

"There are roughly a hundred survivors remaining." Hyang stood in a lit room and spoke in a low tone.

Unlike the other area, this place is confined, the stone is clearly chiseled, and facing him is a man who sat on a wooden chair.

He looked near his thirties, yet gray hair was abundant through a brief glance.

"Only a hundred left? Is this year's batch that weak?" Hyang saw the perplexity in his eyes. He hurriedly explained.

"That's not true. To have a hundred survivors so far is considered a fortune enough. Especially

since our method has become increasingly demanding."

"For example, basic exercise like fifty push-ups are relatively simple, but coupled with forty extra pounds of weight, even an average adult would find it difficult to move around let alone doing a hundred fifty push-ups a day."

"Not only that, most of them are still young, 12 year-old at most. We limit ration as well in order to arouse their conflict. This further lowered the numbe—.

"Alright-alright I get it. How many are capable of reaching basic mastery?" He turned his head upward with his leg resting on the table.

Clearly, he did not want an earful from Hyang.

Beneath his nonchalant and indifferent exterior seems to exist a hint of coldness and ruthlessness.

Hyang nodded, then replied.

"From what I can see, there are about thirty who have reached the realm of basic mastery. This includes numbers 11, 7, 33…"

"As far as I can tell, numbers 7, 12, and 18 have shown the capability to easily survive the Trial."

After he finished concluding the list, Hyang's face did a brief pause, then returned to his usual smile.

"Oh? What could happen that could possibly catch the attention of the infamous Crazy Demon, Hyang?" The elder placed down the paper report that was in his hand, then bemusedly asked.

Instructor Hyang's behavior in front of the Elder indicates that even Instructor Hyang cannot disobey this man. Clearly, the status of this Elder was a rank above his.

Hyang sighed. "It is about number 333."

"Number 333? By now, there should no longer be any number above 200, not to mention above 300. How could someone numbered in the 300th be capable of lasting even longer than those of the hundred?" Just as he expected, the elder was just as perplexed as he was.

The number that every cadet wore on their chest is not by chance.

According to the procedures, numbers are placed on the cadets based on their talents, physique, and more precisely, their chance of survival.

Though these numbers are arbitrary, it gives the instructor and elder a base line of who would and would not survive.

Only they knew that months have passed since the start of the Demon Cave. As time gradually passed, the number of cadets also passed by.

Each year, orphans and children from outside the cult are thrown into the Demon Cave with the sole purpose of raising the most accomplished warrior.

Instructor Hyang had read the file regarding number 333. He was an ordinary orphan that the cult picked up near the Huashan mountain.

His origin and status are ordinary.

Hyang suddenly remembered a familiar face and mentioned. "Actually, now that you say that, there was indeed an incident recently."

"Number 333, Muyong, was assaulted by a bunch of brats because he was unwilling to give up his ration. He was beaten until he couldn't move. When the instructor checked his condition, he declared him as dead."

"Dead? Then how is a dead child walking around fine?" The elder's ear perked closer toward Hyang. As someone who had to skim through the boring reports and file each day, this newfound story intrigued him greatly.

"That… Before the instructor could dispose of his body, he felt a faint hint of vitality burning in his body. Because of that, he examined the child's body again and found that he was still alive — albeit in an extremely dire state." Instructor Hyang shook his head as he continued.

"Since he was alive, our fellow men put his body back in his room. What is more vexing is that a couple of days ago, I was patrolling, my presence was exposed by a child who doesn't even have an ounce of internal energy. Hell, even if he has thirty-year worth of internal energy, I'm damn confident he still can't detect my presence!" it was like someone took his breath away. Hyang had to let out a chuckle.

Rather than showing disdain and scorn, Hyang is rather delighted.

"An ordinary brat detecting your presence? That's impossible!" The elder is left in a difficult position as he recounts his fellow man's words.

If news of a child who hasn't reached the Novice Warrior being able to detect someone like Hyang, a Peak Master, spreads outside the Demon Cave… There will be those who wish to befriend him, and those who can't will look to kill him.

His palm was sweating underneath the desk. It took him some time to collect his wild thoughts.

"Our demon cave's sole purpose is to raise powerful warriors for the cult regardless of our method! Because of our duty, we are granted with a special authority that even the upper family and clan can afford to offend the demon cave without a justifiable reason."

"The fact is that we have yet to produce anything worthy over the past years. Not only that, because our leader is currently missing, the pressure we faced from the outside vultures looking to control our side is just as great."

The demon cave has declined over the years. Its power is not as great as it used to be. The reason they are given additional resources this batch around is due to the threat of invasion from the outside.

"Can a near-death experience truly change someone so drastically?" Due to these reasons, the elder truly wanted to produce a capable warrior who can bring fame to the demon cave. For that reason, he is willing to shelter some pressure from the outside for these younglings within the cave.

However, what Hyang and the elder did not grasp is that Muyong didn't have a near-death experience.

He had died!

In his previous life, it was Muyong from earth who had taken over the body.

Now, the current Muyong is an old demon who lived a lifetime on earth and more than a hundred year in Jianghu.

You could even say that he once reigned as the strongest of all the Heavenly Demon in the history book of the Divine Demonic Cult!