The Three-Trace Shadow Step, a simple speed technique now enhanced by the Zenith Blood Transformation essence, felt more like a manifestation of will than a physical movement.

  He moved across the peaks and valleys, carrying the tranquil Mei Hua in his arms. His presence was shrouded by a cold, suppressed aura, almost blending with the thick spiritual mist.

  He traversed the two-mile distance in less than a hundred breaths, reaching the foot of Cloud Heaven Mountain—an expanse filled with turbulent energy.

  Suddenly, he stopped. Before him, a sea of Blood Transformation cultivators, each at least in the Organ Transformation phase and some nearly touching Consciousness Transformation, jostled in an arrogant crowd.

  They all exuded the prideful aura of their respective sects and clans. Zhi Xuan, having just reached Blood Transformation Zenith, was nominally below the majority of them in terms of realm.

  As he stepped to the edge of the crowd, the air around him felt tense. The surrounding cultivators, busy showing off their robes and artifacts, suddenly felt a sharp coldness. They turned their heads, searching for the source of the disturbance.

  All they found was a young man with long black hair, wearing a slightly torn and worn robe, radiating an aura as cold as frozen jade essence.

  However, the strangest sight was in his arms: a small girl, about five years old, sitting quietly in his hold, clutching a cloth doll, and a tiny moth with rainbow wings on the man's shoulder.

  A young man wearing an expensive brocade robe, with the Flying Sword emblem on his chest, snorted. He was an early-phase Organ Transformation cultivator, and his aura was clearly oppressive.

  "A guide? Or is he misplaced?" the youth muttered, his sneer clearly audible. "This place is a heavenly selection arena, not a childcare center, lowly cultivator. Do not taint the name of the Thousand Heavens Sect."

  The words attracted the attention of the surrounding cultivators. Scoffs and low laughter whispered through the crowd. They saw Zhi Xuan, who did not emanate a powerful aura, and the little girl in his arms, as an insult to the seriousness of the Heavenly Selection.

  "Look, does he not look like a beggar who is in the wrong place? This is no place to beg, beggar!"

  "Yes! And look at that little girl, is she not the one rumored to be a curse? She never grows up and brings misfortune!"

  "You are right, why did that man come here? With his height, he had better go to a brothel to entertain the elderly!"

  The mockery grew louder, testing the limits of Zhi Xuan's patience. In the Southern Mountain Range, he had torn through his realm limits via self-destruction; here, he was confronted with arrogance and ignorance.

  Zhi Xuan ignored the sneers directed at him. His expression remained calm and cold, as if he were an ancient stone unmoved by mortal winds. He did not waste essence reacting to these arrogant, low-realm beings.

  However, Mei Hua in his arms, usually cheerful, now felt uncomfortable. Her clear eyes looked at the sneering cultivators. She tightened her grip on Lulu.

  "Big Brother Zhi Xuan," Mei Hua whispered, her voice small and full of worry. "They are mean. They do not like Lulu."

  Mei Hua's touch of worry activated a cold reaction within Zhi Xuan. For Zhi Xuan, mockery toward his own Dao was tolerable, but disturbing Mei Hua's peace and comfort was an unforgivable offense.

  In his Sea of Consciousness, the Ancient Devil Monument whizzed with a raspy laugh. "Alas, Monkey. They test your patience. Quick, give them a gift of the Sky Destroyer Footprint, and let us watch as their mockery turns into screams of pain!"

  Zhi Xuan ignored the advice of the Ancient Devil Monument. He would not waste his newly forged Zenith essence on a swarm of noisy flies. Yet, he could not let Mei Hua be disturbed either. He stepped forward, turning his head toward the crowd for a moment and staring coldly, his long black hair flowing over his shoulder like a devil amidst the flapping wings of a swan.

  "I came here to go through the selection," Zhi Xuan said curtly with a penetrating flat tone. "Not to be a beggar holding out my hand."

  He shifted his gaze forward again, stepping to enter the registration queue. His body, slightly taller than most adult men, loomed like a sturdy and cold ancient pillar.

  Suddenly, as Zhi Xuan stepped, the youth from the Flying Sword Sect who first sneered laughed loudly. The laughter contained a deliberately released wave of essence pressure—a hidden realm test.

  "Ha! Did you hear that? He said he is joining the selection!" the youth roared, provoking louder laughter from the crowd. He stepped forward, blocking Zhi Xuan's path. "A lowly Blood Transformation cultivator who cannot even hide the stench of karma, carrying a child and an insect. Move aside, beggar. You will delay our registration."

  Zhi Xuan stopped. He did not waste a breath; he merely raised his sapphire eyes, staring coldly at the youth. The gaze did not emit an explosive force, but an unexpected depth—like staring directly into a bottomless ice abyss.

  The youth from the Flying Sword Sect suddenly flinched. Although Zhi Xuan was only Blood Transformation Zenith, his gaze carried an immense weight, a coldness that pierced straight into his Sea of Consciousness, overwhelming the Organ Transformation realm pressure he possessed.

  "I have said, I will register for the selection," Zhi Xuan said calmly, his sapphire eyes briefly ringed with red before disappearing, their depth immeasurable. "If you have a complaint, we can meet in the heavenly selection."

  Zhi Xuan ended his sentence, his calm voice carrying a weight it should not. In the fraction of a second when the red ring flashed in his sapphire eyes, the youth from the Flying Sword Sect felt not only pressure, but a purified killing intent—an aura only forged by blood and experience between life and death.

  It was the result of his fusion with the devil seed, an acceptance of his soul being tainted by the devil's will. And, the tempering from the Devil Bite Chain Arena, which gave him a powerful yet controlled killing aura.

  The youth, whose realm was higher but whose experience was shallow, suddenly felt as if he were standing at the edge of an abyss cliff, his feet shackled by ice chains. Cold sweat drenched his back. He instinctively took a step back. His Organ Transformation realm pressure, which had been used to oppress, now felt like a toy in the face of Zhi Xuan's more primitive and brutal aura.

  Zhi Xuan turned his face away, returning to the end of the line of cultivators queueing to register for the heavenly selection. However, low whispers from the corner of the cultivators originating from the lower district and clans in Green Cloud City began to faintly resonate.

  "He, The Herald of Devil! I have heard his title, he who harvested twenty-two Blood Crystals from the Arena!"

  "Yes, is that not The Herald of Devil? His title he earned when he killed twenty arena slaves without hesitation. Saying his motive was to fulfill his promise to get Blood Crystals!"

  "Even Blood Reaver and Deathbringer were defeated by him, he truly is The Herald of Devil!"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "I heard he came from the southern end, the same place as Star Wilderness. He must be from the same place as Su Baolian."

  "Look at his appearance, my uncle saw his fight directly! That is really him. The Black-Haired Devil, The Herald of Devil."

  The whispers, initially just murmurs, now spread like spiritual wildfire. The crowd, which had been full of ridicule, suddenly fell silent, replaced by a wave of shock and disbelief.

  The Organ Transformation and even higher realm geniuses, who considered themselves the elite, now realized they had just mocked a dirty legend newly emerged from the Lower District. The face of the youth from the Flying Sword Sect turned ashen. His hand trembled, no longer from anger, but from cold fear.

  He, a cultivator pampered by his sect, had just blocked the path of the Herald of Devil—a cold-blooded killer whose title was forged in blood. Comparing his shallow killing aura with Zhi Xuan's felt like comparing a drop of water to a stormy ocean.

  Zhi Xuan, as if not hearing the commotion, calmly stepped to the end of the queue, the tranquil body of Mei Hua and the gently trembling Xiao Die on his shoulder being the only things unaffected by the wave of fear he had released.

  A deadly silence enveloped the area that had been filled with jeers. The crowd was now divided. On one side, there was the shock of the high-realm geniuses; on the other, there were increasingly detailed whispers from those who had witnessed the rise of the Black-Haired Devil in the Devil Bite Chain Arena.

  They had heard the rumors, but seeing the Devil directly, standing among them with an innocent little girl in his arms and a Heavenly Moth radiating an ancient aura on his shoulder, was an unimaginable sight. The contrast was too sharp, too disturbing.

  The pale youth from the Flying Sword Sect hurriedly backed away, his face flushed with shame and terror. He had underestimated one whose Dao was forged by blood and destruction.

  Zhi Xuan stopped behind a young man holding a spiritual jade fan. This youth's aura, although contained, emitted a complex Law of Wind, indicating he was an early-phase Consciousness Transformation cultivator.

  "The Herald of Devil," the youth said suddenly, a slight smile twitching at the corner of his lips. "Seen up close, brother certainly looks interesting."

  The youth turned around, his height nearly the same as Zhi Xuan's. His eyes were as clear as black jade crystal, radiating a thick aura of pure blood, a cultivator of the heavenly path who tempered his life no less strongly than Zhi Xuan.

  "I am Fei Sheng," the youth, now known to be surnamed Fei, said. "I have heard rumors about you several times."

  Zhi Xuan did not turn his body, he only moved his neck slightly to the side, his icy gaze meeting Fei Sheng's crystal eyes. There was no mockery, no pressure. Only cold tranquility.

  "Zhi Xuan," Zhi Xuan replied, his voice flat, allowing the aura of his name, now shrouded in dirty legend, to hang in the air. He offered no further details, or even asked back. Just a name, an entity.

  Fei Sheng chuckled softly, a clean and unforced laugh, unlike the arrogant laughter that dominated the crowd. He fanned himself with his jade fan, even though the morning air was cold.

  "Zhi Xuan. A name fitting the Dao you have carved," Fei Sheng praised. He pointed to Mei Hua nestled comfortably in Zhi Xuan's arms. "And this, must be the little girl rumored to be Heavenly Karma, the harbor of your will?"

  Zhi Xuan felt a subtle tug from Fei Sheng's Divine Sense. This youth was clever; he did not try to oppress, but to probe, and he immediately touched Zhi Xuan's most sensitive point—Mei Hua.

  "She is not Karma. She is a sister," Zhi Xuan countered, his voice slightly lower, containing a barely audible warning. His cold sapphire gaze locked onto Fei Sheng, warning against any further intrusive spiritual probing.

  Fei Sheng, who had indeed touched the boundary of his spiritual investigation, smiled and withdrew his Divine Sense. He nodded with understanding. "Of course. Forgive my impoliteness. Lower district rumors often exaggerate the grand things."

  Fei Sheng then shifted his focus, staring toward the crowd that was now silent and keeping their distance from the two of them. He spun his fan, emitting a gentle Law of Wind, as if clearing the air of awkwardness.

  "They," Fei Sheng said, his voice now a whispering tone of amusement, "are spoiled children who have just seen a shadow forged from Heaven's Fire. The title 'Herald of Devil' is indeed terrifying, especially for those who have never smelled real blood."

  Zhi Xuan remained silent, letting Fei Sheng speak. He scanned the youth before him. Fei Sheng was a Consciousness Transformation cultivator, a higher realm. He radiated an aura of pure Dao, a contrast to Zhi Xuan whose aura was forged by cruelty. However, there was the same aura of perseverance in his jade crystal eyes.

  "I see from your blood aura," Fei Sheng continued, he looked at Zhi Xuan seriously. "You have just broken through to Zenith. And, it is a very dense Zenith. Not a Zenith achieved with Spiritual Pills, but with a heavy sacrifice."

  Fei Sheng paused for a moment, admiring Zhi Xuan's foundation. "A Blood Transformation Zenith, capable of suppressing Organ Transformation with just a gaze. You are a candidate to pass, Zhi Xuan."

  Fei Sheng's praise was sincere, his tone free from the deadly jealousy or arrogance that plagued the crowd. He saw the value of Dao, not just the realm.

  Zhi Xuan let out a cold breath. He did not thank him or show any emotion. He merely let the silence speak, a cold acknowledgment.

  "True Heaven path cultivators," Fei Sheng continued, directing his gaze to the registration line which was starting to move. "Always know that realm is just a line, while foundation is an abyss. I hope we can exchange pointers inside the Thousand Heavens Sect, Brother Zhi Xuan."

  Fei Sheng, without waiting for a reply, turned gracefully and stepped forward. As he advanced, the Law of Wind surrounding him whizzed softly, as if clearing the way. He entered the area where two Thousand Heavens Sect disciples were on registration duty, one was a young man and the other was a woman.

  On the white jade platform floating in the air, one of the female Elders, who had earlier announced the Heavenly Selection, glanced briefly at the registration line. Her gaze, as cold as an ice blade, swept over Zhi Xuan and then shifted to Fei Sheng who was now before the sect disciples.

  Zhi Xuan felt the essence energy around Fei Sheng move, resonating with the Law of Wind emitted by Fei Sheng. The youth smoothly handed over his identity jade, which was then scanned by the sect disciple.

  Turn after turn passed. Every cultivator who stepped forward radiated an aura of arrogance, as if the selection was merely a formality before they received God status. The crowd that had been sneering now remained silent, their eyes, although filled with reluctance, remained fixed on Zhi Xuan.

  They watched every move of the Black-Haired Devil: how he calmly waited, how Mei Hua snuggled comfortably, and how the Heavenly Moth, Xiao Die, trembled gently, emitting an invisible rainbow pollen dust that oddly calmed the tense atmosphere.

  Finally, Fei Sheng finished. He received a small registration jade and stepped out of the line. Before leaving, he turned to Zhi Xuan, giving him a smile that contained anticipation and respect.

  "May the Dao be with you, Brother Zhi Xuan," Fei Sheng whispered, before he shot away with a nimble Wind Step, disappearing toward the area of registered cultivators.

  Zhi Xuan nodded in his mind, ignoring the greeting. His focus was now on the two Thousand Heavens Sect disciples on registration duty.

  They were a young man and a girl, both in the Five Element realm, a realm far surpassing the Lower District—their aura felt clean, pure, and full of majesty.

  In Zhi Xuan's left arm, Mei Hua began to fall asleep soundly, exhausted after the journey that exceeded the speed limit. Xiao Die on his shoulder emitted a brighter rainbow light, shielding Mei Hua from the surrounding high-realm fluctuations.

  Zhi Xuan stepped forward.

  The last cultivator in front of him, an Organ Transformation cultivator whose face was full of fear at having to stand before the Herald of Devil, rushed to complete his registration and fled without looking back.

  Zhi Xuan was now at the registration table.

  The sect disciple youth on duty looked at Zhi Xuan with a calm yet sharp gaze. He sensed the dense Zenith aura, but also the hidden Devil's will. His Divine Sense trembled faintly when he saw the little girl in Zhi Xuan's arms and the Heavenly Moth on his shoulder.

  "Name and realm," the youth said, his voice calm and authoritative.

  "Zhi Xuan. Blood Transformation Zenith," Zhi Xuan answered, his voice flat. He did not put Mei Hua down; he let the girl be an inseparable part of his presence.

  The sect disciple youth recorded it with a spiritual jade and then held out an identity jade to Zhi Xuan. "Which sect's identity jade?"

  Zhi Xuan held out his right hand, and on his cold palm, the Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron shrunk from its jade-gold bead, spinning slowly.

  "I am from the Lower District. I do not possess any sect's identity jade," Zhi Xuan said.

  DING! WHUSHH!

  The sudden fluctuation from the Divine Cauldron, a Heaven Grade Artifact that whizzed before the low-realm disciple, caused the sect disciple youth to flinch.

  "Soul... Artifact?" the sect disciple muttered, startled. His realm allowed him to see that the Cauldron was not an ordinary soul artifact, but one with a higher origin. He immediately regained his composure.

  The sect disciple youth shifted his gaze from the spinning Divine Cauldron and looked back at Zhi Xuan. His eyes, which had initially only radiated authority, were now filled with a deep layer of respect.

  He was a Five Element realm cultivator, he knew the value of such an artifact, and he knew that a cultivator who could control such a majestic Artifact, even in a lower realm, was not someone to be taken lightly.

  "Lower District, without sect identity," the youth repeated, recording it with his spiritual jade. "We will create a temporary registration jade. However, for cultivators from the Lower District, strong proof is required—an artifact or inheritance that proves your qualification. Your Blood Transformation Zenith realm standard is already accepted, but we must ensure the integrity of your Dao."