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

Inside the wall of light.

The sound of rain was shut out.

The world is eerily quiet.

The eunuch flicked his wrist, and the black, soft sword came to life. It wasn't a sword, but a venomous snake flicking its tongue. The tip pierced the air, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound. The sound was faint, yet it pierced the ears, sending chills down one's spine.

Zhou Yang stood still.

His chest heaved, his breathing rapid. The punch that shattered the array's core had drained most of his strength. Combined with the emptiness left by burning his lifespan earlier, he was like a string stretched to its limit, seemingly about to snap at any moment.

He has to look like that.

The eunuch had a sharp eye. He was observing, like an eagle circling, searching for the rabbit's most vulnerable spot by the neck.

Zhou Yang gave him this opportunity.

He lowered his hand, the tip of the knife leaving a shallow mark on the ground. His eyes were somewhat unfocused, as if he couldn't concentrate. This was a side effect of burning too much of his lifespan. Of course, it was also a disguise.

"Give up?" The eunuch's voice was very soft, as if he were talking to himself.

He started to move.

There was no warning.

He lunged forward like a ghost. His soft sword twirled into a flower, the stamen of which was Zhou Yang's throat. Fast, incredibly fast. The sword light left a trail of afterimages in the confined space.

Zhou Yang moved.

His movements were clumsy. He stumbled awkwardly to the side, barely dodging the fatal blow. The blade grazed his neck, the chill sending shivers down his spine.

clang!

He raised his knife to deflect the second thrust.

A tremendous force came from the blade. His hand went numb, and his arm swung wildly, leaving him vulnerable.

It's now!

A fierce glint flashed in the eunuch's eyes. He only had one chance. He thought of Fang Tian, ​​and the cult members who had died at Zhou Yang's hands. This man had to die. In the fastest, most humiliating way.

The soft sword changed its trajectory. It was no longer a thrust, but a lash aimed at Zhou Yang's face like a whip. This blow would at least disfigure him, if not kill him.

Zhou Yang seemed completely unprepared for this move. His knife hadn't even been retracted yet. A look of horror crossed his face. It wasn't feigned. In the face of death, fear is instinctive.

He wanted to back away.

But then my foot slipped.

He lost his balance. This opening was fatal. His entire chest and abdomen were exposed to the soft sword's attack range.

A cruel smile curled at the corner of the eunuch's mouth.

The fish has taken the bait.

The trajectory of the soft sword changed again. It drew a strange arc in the air, precisely aiming for Zhou Yang's right shoulder, exposed by his stagger. He didn't want to kill him instantly. He wanted to cripple the man's hand holding the sword first. To let him die in despair, like an ordinary person.

In Zhou Yang's eyes, the shock transformed into a strange light.

He was waiting for this sword strike.

It's now!

"system."

Zhou Yang issued the final command in his mind.

"Buy five years of lifespan in exchange for... a single, instantaneous strike!"

boom!

An overwhelming sense of emptiness instantly overwhelmed him. It was as if a piece of his soul had been ripped out. He felt his internal organs withering away. His life force was draining away at an unprecedented rate.

But at the same time, a powerful force, not his own, surged into his right arm.

It was a pure, extreme power, born solely for killing.

His pupils shrank to pinpoints in an instant.

Everything around him slowed down. Raindrops hovered in the air, and the dust that fell to the ground froze. He could see every smug wrinkle on the eunuch's face, the glint of cold light on the tip of the soft sword, and even the subtle vortex of airflow as the sword cut through the air.

The soft sword thrusts forward.

puff.

A dull, teeth-grinding sound.

The sword tip pierced his shoulder blade. The sound of flesh being torn apart. A burning pain shot through his shoulder, spreading to every part of his body.

But Zhou Yang didn't call out.

He didn't even frown.

He did not back down the moment the sword tip pierced his body.

He took a step forward.

He slammed his pierced shoulder into the air.

"Um?"

The eunuch's expression froze.

He felt the sword being held captive by a tremendous force. It was as if it were clamped in iron clamps, completely immovable. He tried to pull the sword out, but found he couldn't budge it at all.

Zhou Yang's shoulder gripped his soft sword tightly.

"You..." the eunuch began, his voice tinged with disbelief.

What he saw was Zhou's face, so close to his own. That face was utterly calm, eerily calm. There was no pain, no fear, only a deathly stillness.

Behind the deathly silence lies a volcano about to erupt.

Zhou Yang moved.

His right hand, the horizontal sword he had been dragging on the ground, moved.

There were no fancy moves.

It was just a simple, exquisite flick.

The blade flashed like a still autumn lake, clear and bright. It rose from below, its target not the eunuch's vitals, but his right wrist, the one gripping the sword.

My wrist felt cold.

The eunuch hadn't even realized what was happening.

He saw three of his fingers leave his hand. His index, middle, and ring fingers. They tumbled in the air, leaving a trail of blood droplets, before falling to the ground. The cuts were smooth as a mirror.

"what!"

A scream finally broke through her throat.

A piercing, excruciating pain shot through him. The eunuch instinctively tried to back away.

But his sword was still stuck in Zhou Yang's shoulder.

He wanted to let go.

It's too late.

That one cut did not end the matter.

After the initial upward movement, the blade continued its momentum. With a flick of the wrist, the blade pushed forward smoothly, forming a clean, straight line.

This time, the target is no longer the hand.

It was his lower abdomen.

That's where his dantian is located.

The eunuch's pupils contracted sharply. He tried to circulate his protective inner energy—the kind of extremely yin and cold inner energy he had cultivated diligently for many years.

But before that cold, sharp blade of light, his inner energy was as fragile as paper.

A thin halo enveloped her abdomen.

The blade flashed.

No sound was made.

That protective aura vanished silently, like a punctured soap bubble.

puff--

The blade pierced his lower abdomen.

It wasn't deep, but it was deadly enough.

Zhou Yang gripped the knife and flicked his wrist.

He could clearly feel the blade cutting through his skin and fascia. He could even hear the faint cracking sound as his dantian was torn open.

The eunuch's body trembled violently.

He lowered his head, looking at the deep, bone-revealing wound on his abdomen. His inner energy was leaking out of the wound like a burst dam. His once-proud cultivation was visibly diminishing.

He raised his head and stared intently at Zhou Yang. His eyes were filled with resentment, confusion, and...fear.

"You...were...prepared all along?"

Zhou Yang did not answer.

He suddenly straightened his shoulder, jolting the soft sword out of his body. Blood mixed with half of his clothes, instantly staining his chest red.

He drew his sword and stepped back.

Every step felt like walking on a knife's edge. The aftereffects of burning his lifespan, along with the excruciating pain in his shoulder, surged up together. His vision blurred, and he almost collapsed.

But he held on.

He looked at the eunuch who was kneeling on the ground, clutching his wrist and abdomen. His face was expressionless.

Five-year lifespan.

Replace him with a half-crippled expert from the Eastern Depot.

This deal was worthwhile.

Just then.

The wall of light that had isolated the entire courtyard suddenly flickered.

A crack appeared.

Then came the second and the third rounds.

Whoosh!

The wall of light shattered like glass broken by a heavy hammer, turning into countless specks of light that dissipated into the air.

The outside world is back.

The cold raindrops hit his face again, bringing him back to his senses.

The twenty-odd Imperial Guards remained in their encirclement, their faces filled with astonishment. They stared at the scene behind the wall of light, at the eunuch lying in a pool of blood, and at Zhou Yang, covered in blood and appearing like a madman.

silence.

A deathly silence.

next second.

"Kill him!"

I don't know who shouted.

Twenty-odd gazes instantly turned bloodshot, like a pack of wolves enraged. They had lost the eunuch's control and their awe of Zhou Yang. All that remained was the most primal desire to kill.

More than twenty steel knives were drawn simultaneously.

The blades flashed in unison, pressing down on Zhou Yang.

Zhou Yang stood still.

He could feel his strength rapidly draining away. He could feel his eyelids growing heavier and heavier. He could barely hold onto the knife.

Killing a eunuch was the limit of his power.

He had no chance against this pack of hungry wolves.

He lost.

but.

Just as that chilling despair was about to overwhelm him.

A strange sensation awakened within him from deep within his abdomen.

He smelled it.

The air was filled with the smell of cold rain and a strong stench of blood.

There's also a...sweet aroma.

That's... the smell of human blood.

Warm blood flowed down his chest, dripping onto the ground and mingling with the rain.

His stomach growled at an inopportune moment.

It wasn't because of hunger.

Rather, it's because of...desire.

Zhou Yang slowly raised his head.

A flash of crimson appeared briefly in those eyes that had been dull and lifeless.