One in a Hundred

Xiaoya and Sherry's reactions posed a dilemma for Yehan, as the smell emanating from the auction house was indeed unbearable, even for Lans.

"Go back first; Ya, follow me," Yehan instructed Xiaoya and the Lans siblings.

"Alright, sorry to leave you with this," Lans quickly said with a wry smile as he hurriedly moved to his sister Sherry's side.

"It's fine, this place is indeed a bit..." Yehan said before turning to Penelope, "Go now, gather the people I want. I have another request for your help later."

Lans and Sherry quickly left the area, clearly overwhelmed by the stench. Xiaoya stood still, looking pitifully at Yehan.

"Go back to the end of the world for now; I'll be there shortly." Waving his hand, Yehan covered Xiaoya with his soul power and sent her back.

Yehan descended alone, the smell growing stronger. He nearly felt nauseous and quickly released energy to dispel the foul odor. He couldn't help but admire the merchant's love for money; Penelope seemed unaffected.

"Little brother, here are the people you asked for," Penelope said as Yehan approached, pointing to a dense crowd of people exuding killing intent. They showed no reaction to Yehan's arrival.

Yehan frowned slightly. While these people were indifferent to life, their bloodlust didn't meet his standards. "How many are there?" he asked, seeing far more than the number he paid for.

"There are over thirty thousand here, all recently discharged from the army," Penelope informed Yehan.

"I'll take them all. Do you have more?" Yehan's statement stunned Penelope. That was three billion gold coins, and he wanted even more.

"Yes, more come every day, but we haven't sold any."

"Here are two saint-level and three ninth-level magic cores; is that enough for these people?" Yehan took out five magic cores from his ring.

"That's more than enough," Penelope said, eyes gleaming with gold at the sight of the magic cores. Two saint-level cores were a significant haul, not to mention the three ninth-level ones. He swallowed hard.

"Listen up, from today, he is your new master," Penelope announced loudly to the crowd, selling them to Yehan as if they were livestock. However, the crowd remained unresponsive.

To them, it made no difference who their master was. But then, a man in tattered soldier's uniform stepped forward. "We have no issue with you, but we have one condition, a condition for all of us," he said to Yehan, pointing at Penelope.

"Speak."

"We can't do anything else, as he must have told you when you decided to buy us," the soldier gestured towards Penelope.

Yehan nodded silently, acknowledging his awareness. "Then don't expect us to do anything for you. We only know how to kill."

"That's exactly what I need from you," Yehan said calmly, his voice clearly reaching every ear. This stirred emotions among the thirty thousand people. Their years in the army and constant warfare had deeply ingrained fighting and killing into their psyche.

"But the premise is that you must withstand my test." Yehan, without paying further attention to the crowd, handed the five magic cores to Penelope. "Add the excess to the number of people until it's enough. I will come to purchase more later."

Penelope eagerly accepted the magic cores, inspecting them closely and even pinching himself to ensure he wasn't dreaming. Yehan couldn't help but smile at this action.

"By the way, little brother, you mentioned another request. Tell me, as long as it's within my capability, I'll definitely help," Penelope assured Yehan eagerly. As a businessman, he knew the importance of pleasing such a significant client.

"Take them, in groups of a thousand every half-hour, to the eastern forest outside the city. Make it discreet; I don't want others to know they are for me," Yehan instructed before walking out, leaving Penelope standing there, dumbfounded.

Yehan had acted this way to avoid exposing the Half-Life Domain. Thus, he had also sent Lans and Sherry away. The moment he conceived this plan, Yehan had decided to cultivate his own force within the Domain of Doom.

Walking alone, Yehan vanished into thin air when he found himself unobserved. Half an hour later, he reappeared in the forest east of Miyat City.

When he had slaughtered the people of the Light Church a few days ago, Yehan had left a marker there. To avoid being linked to it, he had to transition directly from the Domain of Doom.

After arriving, Yehan sat down to meditate. Connecting to the Domain of Doom thrice in a short time had significantly drained his soul power. He opened his eyes again after fifteen minutes.

"Sigh, my soul power is still too weak. Every use requires at least three breaths of preparation time," Yehan lamented, shaking his head. Three breaths were meaningless in a battle between strong opponents, where every second counted. Three breaths could lead to death several times over.

"Haha, little brother, you're here early," Penelope's voice reached Yehan from afar. In a merchant's eyes, there were no strong or weak individuals, only customers who could bring profit. So, despite his initial shock at Yehan's identity, Penelope quickly recovered and continued to address Yehan informally, which Yehan didn't mind.

"Why only so few people?" Yehan asked coldly, seeing only about a hundred people following Penelope, his expression turning cold.

"Little brother, let me explain. Bringing out too many people at once, no matter how discreetly, would draw attention. So, I thought to divide the thousand into smaller groups," Penelope explained, smiling apologetically. As he finished speaking, more groups emerged from the surrounding woods. After everyone assembled before Yehan, there were exactly one thousand people.

"Good, you can take your men and leave now. Remember, bring a group every half hour."

"Understood." After Penelope left with his men, Yehan extended his spiritual power until they were three li away before withdrawing it. He then turned to the thousand men before him.

"From today, you will be my weapons for killing. Don't move now. I'm going to transport you to another place. Whether you pass my test or not depends on you." After speaking, Yehan released his soul power to its fullest, covering the thousand men, along with the blood-red crystals within his body.

Fifteen minutes later, the thousand men vanished from the forest, leaving only a panting, exhausted Yehan. "Transporting so many people at once takes too much energy," he muttered before he too disappeared.

In the Domain of Doom, before the Blood Fog.

The thousand men, suddenly transported to a completely unfamiliar place, were initially shocked. They looked around in panic but did not lose the vigilance they had as soldiers. Not a single one of them took a step without orders.

"Good, you have passed my first test," Yehan announced, standing above a pool of blood. The crowd showed surprise at the sight of the blood pool but remained silent, their years of military discipline evident. "Curtis, come to the Blood Fog," Yehan communicated with Curtis through the soul imprint, another function of the Zombie Blood Mark.

With a sweep of his sleeve, the blood pool churned violently. Yehan's hands vibrated with potent energy, enveloping a ball of dark red blood that slowly rose into the air. Simultaneously, strands of blood were absorbed into his body from beneath his feet. The corpse pill within him rapidly processed the absorbed blood into blood energy, and a drop of dark red essence blood floated out from his chest and merged into the blood orb in front of him.

Yehan covered the blood orb with his soul power, and with a tremor, it separated into a thousand tiny droplets, flying towards the thousand people outside the Blood Fog.

"Swallow it. This is your second test," Yehan commanded without further explanation. The thousand men, without hesitation, reached out and swallowed the dark red blood droplets.

"Very well, very well," Curtis arrived at the edge of the Blood Fog, respectfully looking up at Yehan above the blood pool. Over time, under the influence of the soul imprint, the thoughts of the three in the Domain of Doom had been completely altered, their respect and sometimes even fear towards Yehan growing.

The Zombie Blood Mark is domineering. If a being is marked and chooses not to die immediately, over time, they lose even the right to choose death, their soul completely dominated by the will of their master.

"Master," Curtis greeted Yehan with respect. Yehan, however, paid no heed and instead focused on the thousand who had ingested the blood.

"The final test begins now. I need not only your indifference to life but also your extreme bloodthirst. Form groups of a hundred, and use whatever means necessary. In each group, only one must survive. I will only take those who live."

To Curtis, he instructed, "Create ten specific spaces, a hundred people in each. Whoever doesn't fight, or if the battle in any space doesn't end within half an hour, kill them all."

"Understood," Curtis, being a god-level strong man with thousands of years of experience, easily manipulated the space, creating ten separate areas each fifty zhang in radius, containing a hundred people each.

"Begin," Yehan's faint voice drifted out. The people, still in confusion, heard him add, "You only have half an hour." After reminding the still dazed crowd, Yehan disappeared from above the blood pool.