If I, a death row inmate, am not to become a demon, am I to become a member of the Imperial Guard?

The bronze door slammed shut.

The last ray of light was swallowed up.

Zhou Yang stood in the pure darkness, yet felt incredibly at ease. There were no stars, no chessboard, only himself.

The astrolabe in front of him, that huge bronze ring, emitted a tooth-grinding groan.

Creak... Snap!

It was like a colossal beast that had slumbered for millennia stretching its limbs. A crack spread out from the center, not just one, but countless cracks. They crisscrossed and rapidly covered the entire surface of the plate.

No light shone through. Only bottomless darkness remained.

Immediately afterwards, the shattered bronze pieces began to slowly sink, whistling as they rubbed against each other, and receded to the sides. A circular opening appeared beneath Zhou Yang's feet. Inside the opening were spiraling stone steps leading downwards.

The stone steps were ancient, their edges worn smooth and covered with slippery moss. A dry wind, carrying the scent of dust and decay, blew up from below, brushing against Zhou Yang's face.

He was about to step down.

A voice rang in his ear.

This time, the voice was no longer ethereal, nor did it carry a scrutinizing pressure. It was very close, as if someone was standing behind him, speaking close to his ear.

"Your friend outside is in some trouble."

He is the supervisor.

His tone carried a hint of amusement, as if he were watching a lively show.

"My other 'guest beast' has gone disobedient. It's gone mad." The supervisor chuckled. "It's not in a good mood. Here's a piece of advice: don't waste your lifespan on this. What's next is your real business."

The voice just fell.

The air in front of Zhou Yang began to ripple, like a road surface scorched by the summer sun. Water vapor condensed out of thin air, quickly transforming into a smooth, mirror-like curtain of water.

The mirror reflects the courtyard below the observatory.

Flames shot into the sky.

Qin Shuang was dressed in a flying fish robe, stained with blood. The shattered moon blade in her hand was chipped, and each swing was accompanied by heavy breathing. Her face was as pale as paper, her lips were tightly pressed together, but her eyes still looked like icy blades.

Opposite her stood a "person".

He's a madman.

But he could no longer be called human. His clothes had long since burst open, revealing bluish-purple skin where blood vessels writhed wildly like earthworms, bulging with terrifying ridges of flesh. His body had swelled up to nine feet tall, becoming a deformed giant.

His eyes had no whites, only bloodshot veins and a crimson madness.

"roar!"

Zhang the Madman let out a superhuman roar, his fists flailing, creating a vicious wind that tore through the air. Ordinary Imperial Guard captains couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes; if they were hit by his fists, their bones would break instantly, and they would be sent flying backward, spitting blood.

There were already seven or eight corpses lying on the ground.

Qin Shuang's men were almost all gone. They formed a barely hold-up formation, all wounded and filled with fear in their eyes.

"Commander! This monster... we can't stop him! He's not human!" a young captain roared, his voice trembling.

Qin Shuang didn't answer. She just stared intently at Zhang Fengzi.

She realized. This wasn't martial arts. It was some kind of forbidden technique, a poisonous, self-destructive method. Zhang the Madman was burning his own life force to gain this brief moment of power.

Once he gets close, death is certain.

But her internal energy was almost exhausted.

"kill!"

Qin Shuang shouted, her body moving with her sword. Her swordsmanship was no longer as graceful as before, but simple and unadorned, with each move a desperate attempt to save her life.

The gleaming light of the Shattered Moon Blade traced a ruthless arc in the firelight, aiming straight for Zhang Fengzi's neck.

"roar!"

Zhang the Madman did not dodge or evade, letting the blade slash at his neck.

"Clang!"

A piercing clang of metal clashing.

Qin Shuang's hand trembled violently, and the knife nearly slipped from her grasp. Only a white mark remained on Zhang Fengzi's neck, without even breaking the skin.

His body was as hard as steel.

Zhang the Madman grinned, revealing a terrifying smile. His massive, fan-like hand slammed down towards Qin Shuang's crown!

This palm strike was faster than anyone could react to.

Qin Shuang's pupils suddenly contracted.

Just then, a figure rushed in from the side and shoved her away violently.

It was that young captain who had roared earlier.

"puff!"

The captain's body was smashed as if by a battering ram, instantly turning into a bloody mess and embedding itself into the distant wall.

Qin Shuang, having been pushed aside, stumbled and fell to the ground, thus avoiding the fatal blow.

But the defenses behind her completely collapsed.

Zhang the Madman's bloodshot eyes turned to Qin Shuang on the ground. He took long strides, each step causing the ground to tremble slightly.

He raised his hand high, ready to deliver the final blow to his beautiful prey lying on the ground.

The scene in the water curtain ends here.

With a "crack," the mirror shattered into countless points of light, dissipating into the air.

Zhou Yang stood still, motionless.

In the darkness, his breathing sounded somewhat heavy.

He could feel his heart pounding against his chest, one beat after another. It wasn't fear, but a provoked, chilling rage.

The warden was using this to tell him: Look, without you, your woman is dying. Your companions are dying like dogs. Your so-called plan is a joke in the face of absolute power.

Come on, trade your life for hers. Just like you've always done.

"Don't waste your lifespan unnecessarily..." The words of the supervisor still seemed to echo in my ears.

What a vicious scheme!

Zhou Yang slowly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, all the emotions in his eyes had subsided, leaving only a deep, abyss-like calmness.

He turned around and took one last look at the spot where the water curtain had disappeared.

There was nothing there.

He knew that Qin Shuang would not die.

With her pride and ruthlessness, she would bite off a piece of her enemy's flesh even if it meant death. Moreover, he was betting that she would find her own way to survive.

Because there was a tacit understanding between him and Qin Shuang that didn't need words.

He believed her.

Just like she believed in him countless times.

Go up and rescue them?

madness.

Zhang the Madman is a pawn of the Supervisor. Even if you get rid of him, there will be Li the Madman, Wang the Madman. As long as the Supervisor wants, "out-of-control beasts" can keep appearing outside.

Wasting your lifespan on these consumables is the real waste.

source.

The root of everything lies below.

Deep within this observatory, at the base of this enormous chessboard laid out by the supervisor.

Once the root cause is addressed, the chessboard is overturned. The pieces are no longer just pieces.

Zhou Yang's lips even twitched slightly upwards.

That smile held no warmth, only the excitement of a hunter discovering his prey.

He did not hesitate at all.

He turned to face the bottomless hole and leaped in.

His body plummeted, and a feeling of weightlessness enveloped him instantly. The wind whistled past his ears, and the dark stone steps flashed by.

He did not commit suicide.

He was heading to the battlefield.

After falling about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), he lightly touched the ground with his feet and used the edge of a stone step for leverage, which abruptly slowed his descent. Like a gecko, he slid along the wall, making a few leaps, and landed steadily at the bottom of the passage.

There was not a sound.

This was a vast space. The air was thick with the stench of blood, mixed with the pungent smell of formaldehyde. Beneath the feet were not stone slabs, but a slippery, elastic substance, like some kind of giant biological cuticle.

Zhou Yang frowned.

He looked up and saw that the entrance he had come from had become a distant point of light.

He took out a tinderbox and blew on it.

The faint light illuminated the surroundings.

He gasped.

This is neither an underground palace nor a secret room.

This is... a nest of bones that is larger than you can imagine.

Beneath his feet lay the spine of some unknown behemoth. All around him stood rows of grayish-white ribs, each like a towering pillar supporting a dome that stretched to its endless height.

In the distance, deep in the darkness, scattered were more skulls, leg bones, arm bones... They piled up together, forming small mountains of white bones.

This place resembles a graveyard of ancient behemoths.

But what alarmed Zhou Yang the most was not these things.

It's the scent in the air.

Countless powerful, violent, and long-extinct life imprints remain here. They intertwine to form an invisible force field, oppressing his soul.

His bronze dragon bones were slightly warm, as if responding to something.

"The last guardian..."

Zhou Yang muttered to himself.

The supervisor said that there were the last guards below.

He initially thought it was some kind of mechanism or a master. Now it seems he was wrong.

This entire space is "guarded".

Or rather, the remains of something that is sleeping here.

He began to walk carefully across the massive bone back. The firelight illuminated only a few feet in radius. Beyond that lay a darkness that could devour everything.

It took about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

He stopped in his tracks.

Ahead, in the center of the pile of bones, there was a small clearing. In the clearing stood an altar carved from a single piece of animal bone.

There were no treasures or secret manuals on the altar.

Only three fist-sized, jet-black, they resembled the teeth of some kind of dragon. Arranged in a triangular formation, they exuded an aura of deathly stillness.

Behind the altar, there is a stone seat.

On the stone seat sat a skeleton.

The skeleton wasn't tall; in fact, it was rather thin. Its posture was peculiar: one hand propped up its chin, the other rested on its knee, as if it were deep in thought.

It had been dead for countless millennia, but Zhou Yang could tell at a glance that the owner of this skeleton must have been an exceptional master in life.

Even though it was just bones, its aura still transcended time, making Zhou Yang feel a slight unease.

This is the end.

Zhou Yang's gaze fell on the three jet-black dragon teeth.

He knew that was his goal for this trip.

He slowly extended his hand.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch one of the dragon teeth.

"roar……"

A deep, guttural roar, seemingly from the depths of hell, rang out without warning.

The entire bone nest began to tremble violently!

"Boom!"

The bone beneath Zhou Yang's feet cracked. One by one, the massive ribs, as if coming to life, began to swing and collide!

In the surrounding darkness, pairs of scarlet eyes lit up.

Those eyes, densely packed, numbering in the hundreds and thousands, were filled with primal, bloodthirsty violence.

That is the remnant soul of an unknown behemoth that sleeps here.

They were awakened by...

Zhou Yang instantly withdrew his hand and gripped the hilt of the knife.

He saw that the mountain of white bones in the distance began to writhe and recombine. One monster after another, pieced together from the skeletons, rose from the pile of bones.

They come in all shapes and sizes; some resemble giant wolves, some resemble fierce tigers, and some are simply indescribable monsters made up of countless skulls and arms.

They have only one goal.

Zhou Yang.

"Interesting." Zhou Yang smiled.

He drew his embroidered spring knife, the blade reflecting a cold light in the firelight.

He liked this feeling.

All the troubles are out in the open.

All enemies are clearly visible.

No schemes or tests are needed.

All you need to do is chop.

He glanced at the dragon teeth on the altar, then at the bone monsters that were closing in from all directions.

He licked his slightly chapped lips.

"This admission fee is definitely not cheap."