Fierce light poured down from the setting sun only to shatter against the blood mist barrier that surrounded the sovereign state of Yin1. There were few, even amongst the bravest of the living, that would not have trembled at the perverse sight.

Above the horizon, a black-and-blue parrot2 flapped its wings and looked down upon the earth to observe a host, ten-thousand strong, advance to the gates of the city.

The winged creature was like a dark devil. Cold, proud, emotionless eyes watched dozens of blood leopards pull a vanguard of six flying cars ahead of a long line of men, women, and children who were bound together by weighted ropes of hemp.

The advance team"s sudden movement forced the disciplined formation of knights, riding single-horned blood beasts, to push forward to guard the flanks. A column of twelve flying cars fell back to defend the rear.

As the flurry of activity kicked up a swirling cloud of dust, the blood parrot shifted to a different area of the sky with a loud screech.

Those who heard it from the gates of the city understood its cry.

The hunting team was closing in.
. . .

The entrance to Yin was protected behind a solid barrier, a perimeter wall made of metal that extended several hundred meters in both directions. A single pyramid, as high as five hundred meters, guarded each end.

At this moment, patrol squads of three to four soldiers were posted on each level of the two pyramids in antic.i.p.ation of the hunting team"s arrival.

The low-ranking blood slave soldiers were covered from head to toe in dark-red combat armor and armed to the teeth with magic items made from various kinds of crystal stones.

The high-ranking Yin officers wore simple, flowing red robes that gave off an extremely demonic aura. A few of them, those who weren"t expecting any trouble, crossed their hands behind their backs and began to leisurely watch the procession of captives draw ever closer to the city gates.

"A rare harvest!" said a seemingly thirteen-year-old boy who sneered down from the top of one of the pyramids.

When no one responded, the youth gathered a wisp of evil strength into his eyes and began to examine the crowd of young-faced girls that were still a few great distances away.

His vision shone with great intensity as his gaze shifted from face to face.

"As soon as the one in the black windbreaker and the one in the red skirt arrive, I want them cleaned up and sent to my room!" the youth said in the next breath, laughing with great joy, satisfied by the prey he"d found.

The grey-haired old man standing behind the young man grinned viciously and bowed in acknowledgement of the command just as a great horn blew.

The hunting team had finally arrived.

Flying cars landed with a whoosh. Doors slid open and several troops dressed in dark-red armor stepped out onto the ground.

Immediately, a soldier, a captain with a countenance that said he was in charge, wasted no time in yelling out his commands: "Alright, listen up you lowly outcasts. Your good fortune has arrived because, as of today, the blessings of Yin shall be bestowed upon you…"

"…But be warned. Anyone who tries to stir up trouble will be executed."

The captain paused a long, heavy silence in order to give some time for the weight of his words to sink in.

"Now, after you"ve been untied and have found your families, you are to line up over there in a neat formation."

With that, chaos ensued.

Ropes were cut. Mothers called out to their daughters and fathers yelled for their sons.

It was a wall of shouts, flushed faces, and raised arms until a thin old man in a tattered black robe, suddenly barreled out of the bustling sea.

Everyone looked to the ragged old man out of reflex as he began waving a palm-sized silver cross around in the air and shouting: "My children, do not believe the lies of these devils! They are bloodthirsty demons tempting you with sweet and poisonous fruits! If you believe them, you will become their food and their sacrifices! Never…ever believe-"

The dirty old man was cut short as a nearby Yin soldier quickly drew his black long sword and stabbed the old man in the chest.

The soldier refused to remove his weapon until the old man had become nothing more than a withered corpse beneath his blade. When it was done, the soldier removed his long sword with a quick jerk and pried the silver cross from the old man"s lifeless fingers.

It was a beautiful yet ancient thing that weighed perfectly in his hands.

After studying it for several heartbeats, the soldier moved towards the entrance of the city-state and joined the rest of his brothers who were lined up in a column in front of a long table.

Yin Xuege, who had been sitting at that long table, felt cold.

Even though he"d seen countless others be executed in a similar fashion, he could not stop his body from trembling. It didn"t help that the despair-filled eyes of that dead old man were currently looking in his direction.

But, if he had been aware of the presence of Yin Xuejiao, the youth who had just been standing at the top of the pyramid, he would"ve done a better job at hiding his true emotions.

But, it was too late now.

Yin Xuejiao grabbed a whip, covered in the scales of a three-headed blue python, from the hand of a fellow clan member and began lashing him hard across his shoulder.

Yin Xuejiao did not stop whipping him until long after his blood-colored robe had been torn open, and a thick piece of flesh about two feet long had flown from his shoulder.

The pain shuddering through him now was torturous. He could not speak for the muscles in his face spasmed and his skin had grown as pale as a malicious spirit.

Blood streamed from his large wound. But as he drew in a deep breath, he began healing exceptionally fast.

When he could no longer feel any injury a few breaths later, he stood up and turned around.

Hatred burst from his eyes. He recognized the youth that had struck him. "Yin Xuejiao!" he spat with undisguised venom.

A strange smile hung upon Yin Xuejiao"s lips as he looked at Yin Xuege"s pale, trembling body with disdain.

They confronted each other in silence. Then, Yin Xuejiao drew close and leaned over to whisper in his ear: "Are you pitying those cheap people, half-breed? Em, I guess it can"t be helped since, technically, you are one of them!"

Yin Xuege felt a second surge of anger, but he made it subside. He didn"t want to worsen his situation.

Surprised that Yin Xuege had refused to respond to his first and second provocation, Yin Xuejiao decided to try something else. He dug his finger into the middle of Yin Xuege"s chest, saying: "Well, I"d love to stay and torture you more, but as I"ve just settled on two beautiful young girls, it would be a crime if I didn"t go back now and enjoy these heavenly blessings!"

Yin Xuege"s face turned red and a wisp of blood light faintly rippled in his pupils.

Immediately, Yin Xuejiao"s form retreated two steps and several tall Yin clansmen jumped in front of Yin Xuege, weapons raised.

But the smell of blood and iron did not get a chance to fill the air.

A middle-aged man, whose body radiated Yin Evil Qi, placed a hand over Yin Xuege"s still tender shoulder and said: "You would do well to remember your status, Young Master Xuege. Do not make us do something we"ll regret! Ha!"

The middle-aged man sneered and squeezed Yin Xuege"s shoulder until the bones underneath cracked.

"Yes, that"s right! Remember your status!" Yin Xuejiao chimed in, arrogance and pretense overcoming the deep dread he"d just felt. "It doesn"t matter if you are the son of the first wife, you are still only a mixed breed!"

Yin Xuege shook with speechless anger.

He railed against the middle-aged man"s grasp. He wanted to kill Yin Xuejiao, but the man was too strong.

Annoyed by Yin Xuege"s attempts to break free, the middle-aged man squeezed his shoulder even harder.

His shoulder blade cracked once more.

When he was sure that Yin Xuege could not move, Yin Xuejiao put a hand out and patted his face as if were some naughty child.

Then he turned to leave but not without saying a few more insolent taunts.

"Do your low-grade work well, otherwise there will be h.e.l.l to pay in tomorrow"s cla.s.s…"

"Yeah, such is the cruel fate of an inferior species. While I get to enjoy these lovable, tender blood slaves, you can only stay here, eat sand, and help these cheap people register to enter the city…"

Yin Xuege"s eyes ran red with blood as he watched Yin Xuejiao swagger away.

When Yin Xuejiao had finally gone, the middle-aged man holding Yin Xuege finally let him go.

"Young Master Xuege, please don"t blame me for being impolite! The last time you went crazy you bit the neck of Young Master Xue"Ao. So, I had no alternative but to guard against you, right?" he said in an almost apologetic tone.

Even though the middle-aged man"s voice rang false to Yin Xuege"s ear, he continued to listen to the man prattle on in silence.

"…Young Master Xuege, you must clearly recognize your status! Although you are recognized as the son of the first wife, it"s still dangerous to go against the will of the other young masters. I don"t know why you don"t just save yourself a lifetime of pain and kneel to them in acquiescence."

Not waiting for Yin Xuege to respond, the middle-aged man suddenly faced upward and laughed wildly: "Hahahaha!"

Then, head held high and arms crossed behind his back, the man a.s.sumed an air of self-importance and walked away.

Every place he pa.s.sed, the fully-armed Yin Clan soldiers would bow down to salute, their signs of reverent respect serving as a stark contrast to the man"s proud, domineering manner.

Yin Xuege stood in-situ in the wake of the man"s departure and panted for breath. That is until the Yin soldier who"d killed that skinny old man a moment ago suddenly slammed his fist down onto the table and yelled: "Young Master Xuege, please stop wasting my time! I need you to note that I killed a follower of the heretic church today, and seized a heretic magic item that was made from bright light silver. That counts as two contributions!"

Yin Xuege was stunned for a moment. Then, rubbing his newly injured shoulder, he slowly returned to his seat.

Once he had restrained the blood light shining in his pupils, he raised his head.

"Name, serial number, subordinate, established merit. Struck to kill a follower of the heretic church — ten points; seized a low-rank heretic magic item made from bright light silver — ten points!" he said, looking at the Yin soldier with cold indifference.

The rays of the setting sun gradually dissipated, and the light of the full moon quietly appeared.

The blood parrot, which had finished its work for the day, cruised the skies. Its whole body emitted a blood light as it quietly pa.s.sed under the surface of the moon.

Against the silvery moonlight, it appeared even more ferocious.

The clansmen of Yin would often raised their heads to study that secret treasure, which contained great destructive power, as it absorbed countless silk-like traces of moonlight.

It was like them in that respect. Moonlight increased its destructive power a hundred-fold just as it enhanced their fighting strength and the cultivation speed ten-fold.

The moon was an indispensable source of energy.

Time pa.s.sed quickly. The full moon reached its zenith and the blood mist barrier, which had been covering the city, dispersed to reveal giant paG.o.das and magnificent skysc.r.a.pers.

At the summit of many of these great buildings, groups of children sat in meditation, extracting the moonlight essence and absorbing it into their bodies.

Atop a separate 300-meter-high paG.o.da, Yin Xuejiao was also practicing. Except, he was all alone, surrounded by a formation law that was composed of dozens of fist-sized treasure blood pearls. The formation law was causing moonlight essence to condense into a rich mist around him.

As the mysterious and strange innate moon Qi poured into his body along with the moonlight essence, his face seemed to flush with arrogance and hostility. With every minute that pa.s.sed, his blood Qi became ever more vigorous and his soul ever more powerful.

Meanwhile, outside of Yin, at the entrance to the city gates, twenty extremely long tables were lined up end to end. Crimson-clad foreign affairs deacons sat behind nineteen of them and attended to the long lines of men, women, and children who trembled in fear as they waited to be called forward.

Right now, 11-year-old Yin Xuege was the only child on duty!

He had been temporarily loaned out to help the currently shorthanded Foreign Affairs Palace register the blood slaves that had recently been captured.

Using a slender brush and red ink, he transcribed the names, statuses, and bloodlines of the new blood slaves into a thick black book.

He wrote at an insane speed. But like countless other nights, when the full moon hung above the sky, the number of blood slaves that had been caught was especially large.

As Yin Xuege"s wrists were finally beginning to numb, another haggard-looking girl was dragged, kicking and screaming, through the small door that lay next to the city gate.

Once inside, several soldiers stripped the girl bare and washed her with a highly pressurized water hose before covering her in a white medicinal powder.

The girl"s screams went hoa.r.s.e after a small amount of the disinfectant fell into her eyes.

When the cleansing process was over, the girl, like a lamb being led to the slaughter, was given a coa.r.s.e white robe and thrown into the line leading into the dark depths of the city.

Yin Xuege raised his head and looked at the full moon as it gradually turned west. Then his gaze drifted down to the long line ahead.

He sighed softly. It was a sigh that seemed to carry a deep sadness and the dismal weight of someone who had already seen and heard too much.

If someone nearby were to carefully observe his face, they would see a blood light like blazing lava flash across his pupils. And if they were to see the green blood vessels and the meridians bulging from underneath his tightly clenched left hand, hidden within the folds of his sleeve, they would be shocked.

How could someone so young be filled with so much hatred and anger?

The first wisp of dawn arrived and Yin"s blood mist barrier filled the air once more.

Yin Xuege, who had been working diligently through the night, was surprised when a foreign affairs manager quietly tapped his shoulder.

"I know you"re tired Young Master Xuege, but you have to hurry and get washed up," the manager said with a malicious smiling face. "Don"t worry, though! Since you"ve worked all night, you will be awarded two merit points! Now, run along. You don"t want to be late for today"s lecture!"

At the manager"s words, Yin Xuege immediately shot up and began shutting the thick black book when suddenly the voice of a different foreign affairs manager drifted into his ear.

"Hey, I heard that Young Master Xuejiao broke through yesterday, so the elders will be teaching the children combat today!"

Yin Xuege"s hand went stiff, and a deep scarlet flooded his pupils once more.

*[1] From here on out, I will usually refer to the Yin City-State as just Yin.

 *[2] A secret patrolling Heaven treasure of the Monster Race which had been created using some kind of immortal technique.