CHAPTER 316: WELCOME TO THE DEMONIC SECT

The girls leaned in as Zain paused to sip his tea.

Savra tilted her head. "So that deep hole... was that really the trial?"

Zain nodded slowly. "If you can call hell a trial."

Velra raised a brow. "That bad?"

Zain gave a cold smirk. "Worse. Let me continue."

---

Mo Tianheng and the other children landed hard at the bottom of the pit.

Some hit the ground with a thud.

Others cried out. A few didn’t move for a moment, winded and shaking.

The air was damp and cold. It smelled like blood, wet stone, and something rotten.

Groans and soft sobbing echoed off the walls.

As their eyes adjusted to the dim light, they looked around.

The pit was huge and deep, like a sunken prison.

All around them were rows and rows of small holes carved into the stone walls.

Not just a few.

Hundreds.

Each was barely the size of a crawl space.

A man in a dark robe stepped forward from above, standing on a ledge that overlooked the pit.

His face was shadowed, but his voice echoed clearly.

"These will be your homes now," he said.

Several children looked around, confused.

One boy near Tianheng muttered, "Homes? These are rat holes..."

Another girl whimpered, "I want to go home..."

A few tried climbing the wall back, but it was too steep and smooth.

They only scraped their hands and slid back down.

Then the guards jumped down, landing with loud stomps.

One of them barked, "Move!"

They began shoving the children toward the caves.

Tianheng was pushed toward one on the lower wall.

He stumbled into it, landing on his hands.

It was narrow, cold, and smelled of old sweat and dust.

There was no bed. No blanket.

Just two books stacked in the corner... and a dull, rusted blade.

A boy to his left was shoved into another cave and started to cry.

"Please... I don’t want to stay here..."

"Too bad," a guard snapped. "You want to live? Then fight."

Tianheng turned his head. In every cave, a child was being forced inside.

The guards moved fast. No one was spared.

He saw a girl with a broken arm curled up in her hole, hugging the corner like it would save her.

Another kid was kicking and screaming, trying to escape.

A guard struck him hard on the back.

The boy fell, stopped moving, and was dragged inside.

One guard sneered at the group.

"You all better get used to this. Only the strong survive. The rest... will feed the pit."

Tianheng could only sat quietly inside the cave.

He looked around the small space that would now be his home.

There were a few items on the ground.

First, a small blade. Old, but sharp enough to cut.

He held it in his hand for a moment, then set it aside.

Next to it were two books.

He picked up the first one. The title was burned into the rough black cover:

[Demonic Body Art]

The second book was thinner, but the writing on it was still clear:

[Demonic Qi Art]

Tianheng opened them slowly, flipping through the pages.

The Body Art was a painful way to train.

It taught how to flood muscles and bones with demonic qi.

It then broke and rebuilt the body to make it tougher, like iron.

The Qi Art focused on internal growth.

It explained how to draw dark qi from the pit itself, control it, and let it flow through the body to build power slowly.

Beside the books were a few old scrolls. He unrolled one.

They showed basic martial moves.

Claw strikes, low kicks, and simple blade forms. Nothing fancy. Just enough to kill.

He let out a slow breath.

"This is all I get?" he muttered.

Still, it was more than nothing.

And in this place... it might be all he needed to survive.

The next day, it was time for food.

A loud clang echoed through the pit as a metal chute opened near the center.

A few small bags dropped down.

Each one had just enough food for one person.

All the children turned to look.

Then they understood.

There wasn’t enough.

The air changed.

Some kids froze in shock.

Others didn’t wait.

The tough ones with sharper eyes and quicker feet rushed toward the food without hesitation.

They shoved, punched, and kicked their way to the front.

Fights broke out.

Screams echoed across the stone walls.

A boy grabbed two bags and ran, laughing while others chased him.

Another girl punched someone in the face just to take a bite of dry bread.

Meanwhile, the weaker ones.

Those who were still tired, still hurt, or too scared could only stand back and watch.

They knew they couldn’t win.

Tianheng was one of them.

He stepped forward once, but stopped when a taller boy elbowed another child to the ground.

His stomach growled.

He looked at the food, then at his own hands.

Too small. Too slow.

So he stayed back.

By the time the fighting was over, the food was gone.

Not even crumbs were left.

Tianheng leaned against the wall of his cave.

His body was weak and cold.

His stomach hurt from hunger.

But his eyes were sharp now.

His mind was no longer foggy.

This wasn’t his old life.

This place... was different.

It was real.

And it was cruel.

He looked at his shaking hands, then at the rough stone floor.

"This isn’t a trial," he whispered to himself. "This is hell."

And if he wanted to survive, he had to change. Fast.

---

Zain looked at the three girls in front of him and raised a brow.

"Have any of you ever fought someone... just for a piece of hard, dry bread?"

He paused, then added with a small smirk, "Not because it tasted good. Just to stop your stomach from hurting."

Velra crossed her arms. "No, but I’ve killed someone once over a poison antidote."

Savra laughed lightly. "I see. So you’ve had a rough start too."

Zelia leaned forward slightly. "Is that what life was like... in the pit?"

Zain nodded slowly. "Yeah. That was the welcome gift from the Demonic Sect."

He looked down for a moment, then took a breath.

"Let me tell you what came next."