Explaining the Past

Yaan stared at the elder with wide eyes, whose entire demeanour underwent a dramatic shift as soon as he mentioned the nine Northern factions. He was a bit startled, but quickly calmed himself down as he thought about why the elder was being so confrontational. He quickly realised that it was just a misunderstanding.

Yaan nodded slowly, confirming that he did indeed have a connection to the Northern factions, but showing that he had no issue with admitting this. He forced himself to relax, since he really did have nothing to hide from the Ghu Clan regarding his past.

Seeing his calm agreement, Elder Jishi paused for a moment. He retracted his aura and decided to first allow Yaan to explain himself.

"Before I start, elder, could you tell me how your Ghu Clan's relationship is with the Northern factions?" Yaan asked with a tired sigh.

"We have a strong business relationship with the Undead Coffin Sect, but the rest are just shields to us. My Ghu Clan allows them to exist within that mountain range because they provide a defensive barrier against the beasts in the Northern wildness. So long as they know their place and stay within the mountain range then it's fine, but if they tried to expand South, we would crush them without mercy." A cold glint flashed through the elder's eyes as he spoke. This was the chillingly ruthless gaze of a Demon Core Realm powerhouse, this gaze was so freezing that the air temperature around him began to drop with each word. Even so, Yaan remained calm and collected.

From start to finish, the elder hadn't stopped watching Yaan. He was trying to see through him, to work out what link he had with the Northern factions. In the past, Yaan might have felt pressured by the gaze of a Demon Core Realm elder. Now though, things were different. He had become accustomed to dealing with such people after working in the corpse trade business. He knew how to avoid trouble by choosing his words carefully.

Well, there really was no need to lie. The elder's concern was that Yaan might actually be a valued member of one of those groups, which would essentially make him an enemy of the Ghu Clan due to his high potential for growth. However, Yaan no longer had a good relationship with the Heavenly Path Sect; he cut his ties with the sect when he fled back then.

"I was originally from a mortal village at the foot of Heavenly Path Mountain. A cultivator from the Heavenly Path Sect killed my family, then took me away to become a disciple…"

Yaan started by clearly expressing his lack of good feelings towards the sect. He paused briefly as he thought back to that day, but then sighed, shook his head, and continued.

"As you know, I became a fiend due to a stroke of luck. Things happened, I ended up in the core sect, where my teacher hid my identity from the Sect Lord. I cultivated diligently so that I could become strong enough to obtain revenge, only…the sect was all but destroyed by a beast horde, and the elder whom I hated so much was killed. My teacher also died, and without him hiding my identity, I was forced to flee, or else they would most likely have killed me for being a member of the demonic races. After that, I ended up here."

Elder Jishi fell silent for a while. The cold light disappeared from his eyes. After studying Yaan's facial expression, mannerisms and tone of voice, he determined that Yaan was telling the truth.

"So, you feel nothing towards the Heavenly Path Sect or the Northern factions?" The elder asked seriously once more, just to confirm this matter.

"No. I no longer hate the Heavenly Path Sect, but I don't care about it either." Yaan shook his head slowly.

In all honesty…even Yaan wasn't sure if he believed his own words…

"So you would feel nothing if the Heavenly Path Sect was massacred without a single survivor?"

Yaan looked up at the elder oddly.

"Are you planning on wiping out the Heavenly Path Sect…?"

"No, not for now." He chuckled. "But I can feel in you aura that something in that sect remains dear in your heart."

"There is…one person in the sect whom I care for…" Yaan finally said after a long pause. He would prefer not to mention this, but the elder was still eyeing him with suspicion in his gaze. It seemed like Elder Jishi wouldn't drop the subject until he understood the full picture, so Yaan reluctantly revealed this.

"I see…this person-"

"I won't describe them to you." Yaan cut in firmly. His gaze was resolute, he absolutely wouldn't back down on this point. He felt like he had already put Elia through enough. Making her known to the infamous Ghu Clan was just a step too far, he refused to stoop this low.

In fact, he was aware that even revealing this much to the Ghu Clan wasn't exactly a good thing. This demonic clan would have no problem using this weakness against him in the future if they felt the need to do so.

Honestly, Yaan revealed all of this only because he had no other choice. Whilst he was able to maintain his calm before the older man, he knew that Elder Jishi wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he genuinely believed that Yaan was going to grow up to become a supporting pillar of the Heavenly Path Sect. Besides, the Ghu Clan would learn of his past in time anyway; their information network was quite terrifying.

"Fine, fine, I just wanted to make sure that you had no ulterior motives regarding my clan. Well, that last bit was just my own curiosity though." The old man's demeanour changed in an instant as he laughed in a carefree manner.

Yaan rolled his eyes, not trusting him at all. Demonic cultivators could be your 'friend' one day, then using your loved ones to blackmail you the following day.

Even if the elder really was invested in creating a cordial relationship with a Yaan, a potential future powerhouse…for many followers of the demonic path, gathering useful information about everyone they met was only natural to them, it was something they did without even thinking twice. Building up their understanding of a person would help them to develop a method of easily dealing with said person, should they ever need to do so. The elder did not intend to use this information against Yaan right now, but there was no harm in learning about his weaknesses in case they ever crossed swords in the future.

Well, Yaan had no plans of making an enemy of the Ghu Clan either. The Ghu Clan had actually treated him quite well, especially Nadda. Yaan had no reason to destroy such a powerful connection.

Actually, if possible, Yaan would prefer to get along with people. This might not sound like something a demon would say, but he just didn't see the need to create conflict if there was any other possible resolution.

Of course, oftentimes, fighting and killing was necessary. Yaan had killed so many people just to increase his cultivation, but that was only because his lacking talent made it impossible for him to ever achieve anything using orthodox methods.

After clearing up his background, Elder Jishi continued with his explanation regarding the inheritance. Honestly, since Yaan knew so little, every detail surrounding this inheritance left him feeling shocked.

The North Ghu Inheritance's entrance, a mysterious stone archway, opened once every ten years and remained open for a single day. The exit would appear separately as a giant red vortex above the lands.

Perhaps the most shocking part of this inheritance, was that the passage of time within that place was accelerated by a factor of ten! This meant that you could actually spend five years within the inheritance, whilst only six months would pass in the outside world! This was an extremely mysterious phenomena that nobody was able to explain, even after studying nearly 200 openings over the past 1,800 years.

Usually, around 5-10,000 cultivators would enter at each opening. The Ghu Clan only sent 100-200 of their own clansmen, but also up to 100 clan guests.

The Ghu Clan also gathered thousands of unsuspecting cultivators who didn't fully appreciate the dangers within. When these people were approached by the Ghu Clan and asked if they would like to join the 'Ghu Clan scouting group' or the 'Ghu Clan clearing group', they felt overjoyed and believed that they would definitely be able to keep their lives by joining forces with the all-powerful Ghu Clan!

Naturally, these people were used as trap detectors, bait and human meat shields, resulting in a casualty rate above 90% with every opening. The Qi Gathering Realm and Innate Qi Realm cultivators fell for it every decade though, probably because the Ghu Clan 'silenced' anyone who slandered their name within their 'peaceful' cities.

The Ghu Clan's cities were peaceful so long as you stuck to their rules. Naturally, spreading internal information and speaking badly of the Ghu Clan broke their rules.

These pawns made up at least two thirds of the participants every year. There were also other big factions from across the province, as well as faction-less cultivators who entered alone to try their luck.

The Ghu Clan was the undisputed overlord of the Ghu Province, but there were still many other groups led by Spirit Core Realm and Origin Soul Realm powerhouses. These factions obviously didn't lack lower realm cultivators to send in.

The nine Northern factions were significant contenders, as was the Aque Clan. The Aque Clan was a clan situated on the Western coast, just Southwest of North Ghu City. In fact, this clan occupied an archipelago of 19 small islands located close to the Ghu Province mainland. However, the Aque Clan only attended once every two or three openings.

There were many other groups which Yaan tried his best to memorise, but the Ghu Clan, the nine Northern factions and the Aque Clan were the biggest participants. Occasionally a larger group would make the journey from further South to attend, but travelling thousands of miles was no casual trip, so they would usually only visit once each century.

In the end, there were so many groups that Yaan stopped caring about the majority of them.

He more or less expected this already, but the second strongest group after the Ghu Clan, was the Yuso Clan. The other three mountain clans were also bigger players than the Northern sects and schools, since they were led by Origin Soul Realm powerhouses. Likewise, the Aque Clan was led by an Origin Soul Realm ancestor, as were another five factions across the province, but they were further away and unlikely to make an appearance.

When the Ghu Clansmen talked about other factions 'across the province', what they really meant was 'along the borders'. Aside from the Ghu Clan, all groups led by Origin Soul Realm cultivators were situated at the provincial border, where they were stationed to deter the neighbouring provinces or beasts. The Ghu Clan did not allow powerful organisations to set up base within the Ghu Province, unless they were willing to accept their role as a defensive shield at the border.

"All we know for sure is that demonic race cultivators, particularly demonic body temperers, are heavily favoured throughout the inheritance. The Spiritual Energy in the inheritance is extremely weak, meaning that within the trial lands, Qi refiners' spells are weakened, as is their rate of recovery. We can more or less confirm that the inheritance is some sort of body tempering inheritance, but the specifics are unknown. There are also demonic transformation techniques scattered throughout the trial…they're difficult to find, but one is discovered with every few openings. This is a bit strange though, why does the inheritance provide Qi refining demonic transformation techniques, if this is a body temperer's inheritance…?"

Yaan now understood why the Ghu Clan had access to multiple demonic transformation techniques, they were probably all discovered within this inheritance! He also now understood why this esteemed elder of the Ghu Clan was eager to rope him in to their side.

Yaan possessed an Early 3-Star Realm demonic body, he would be favoured by the inheritance's conditions. Combined with his exquisite sword arts and extensive combat experience, he could definitely become one of the top contenders within the trial lands!

After Elder Jishi departed, Yaan felt like he had developed a much better picture of this mysterious inheritance site.

The only guarantee was that it would be an absolute blood bath.

Whilst almost every trial changed with each opening, the 1st trial was always the same. The entrants, a maximum of 10,000 people, were locked inside a giant cavern. It was large enough to feel spacious even with 10,000 people present, but small enough that hiding was basically impossible. At least, hiding from Qi Temple Realm cultivators was certainly impossible due to their detection abilities.

The greatest secret amongst all of the factions involved with this inheritance, was regarding the contents of the 1st trial. Nobody wanted this information to leak, because not only would it make them look like demons for knowingly sending flocks of people to their deaths every decade, but it would also scare people away from the inheritance.

To pass the 1st trial, 1,000 of the entrants needed to die. No matter how many entered, 1,000 needed to die in order to move onto the 2nd trial.

This was why the Ghu Clan never tried to stop others from sending people in. They needed more people, or else their own clansmen would fall in the 1st trial.

If only 2,000 were sent in, then half everyone to enter needed to die in the 1st trial! If 10,000 entered, only 10% of them would be removed. It was the same number of deaths, but it gave those who entered a better chance of survival.

After the 1st trial, it was anyone's guess what might happen. Sometimes, the survivors from the 1st trial were split into large or small groups. Sometimes, everyone was separated and they were sent to tackle separate trials alone. Sometimes, there was no separation at all.

Yaan knew of a few examples of what the following trials might entail.

For example, 70 years ago, the 2nd trial transported the 7,800 survivors to the base of a giant mountain. The trial was simple, but also horrifying.

Firstly, everyone's cultivation was suppressed to that of a mortal. Even body temperers had their Vital Energy thoroughly suppressed. That said, their physical flesh was unaffected, giving them an extreme advantage over everyone else.

The contenders earned one point for every person they killed before reaching the summit, and another one hundred points for reaching the summit. After 250 people reached the summit, the top 500 scoring participants were sent to the next trial.

Everyone else was executed, or rather, they were refined into energy, which was then absorbed into the inheritance site for some unknown purpose. This was also thought to be the fate of those who died in the 1st trial.

This was a fairly extreme trial that encouraged mindless slaughter for the sake of survival. Such trials weren't common, but they also weren't unheard of in this inheritance. For 7,300 people to be executed by the trial itself, just for failing the trial, was a terrifying thought indeed.

Usually, there would be hundreds of deaths in each round. After passing the 3rd trial, it was possible to either continue on to the 4th trial, or to leave. There were also known to be secret hidden exits that appeared all throughout the 3rd trial, otherwise the death rate would be much higher.

To this day, nobody had ever returned after entering the 4th trial!

However, this fact only further enticed the leaders of the Ghu Province factions. Since nobody had ever returned from the 4th trial, it must still be filled to the brim with treasures!

When they initially explored the 1st three trials, the treasures found within were shocking. So shocking in fact, that the Ghu Clan's monopoly over the 3rd trial treasures, was largely responsible for their current power and status!

Prizes still appeared in each round, but only for those who achieved exceptional feats. In the past, simply entering each trial would be like walking into a treasure trove, with treasures, techniques historical artefacts and other such priceless things scattered across the ground. Now, pretty much every trial had been raided and looted at some point in the past 1,800 years, leaving far fewer treasures to be found in the earlier stages.

It was speculated that these countless treasures were placed throughout the trials in the inheritance's early days, only to entice more people to enter later on.

That said, Elder Jishi mentioned something that filled Yaan's heart with hope and desire. Apparently, body temperers were typically granted superior rewards compared to Qi refiners! Clearly, this was another reason that the elder wanted Yaan to be prepared for this inheritance, since Yaan would be exploring with the old man's disciple. If it was possible to do so, they would try to help Yaan accumulate as many rewards as possible, as this would be more profitable for everyone when they shared the loot afterwards.

After filling his mind with this knowledge, Yaan felt more confident in his chances going forwards.

Now, it was time to begin training properly.