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

The swamp reeked of a fishy stench.

Zhou Yang's ankle was gripped tightly by more than a dozen pale arms. Those fingers were already rotten, revealing grayish-white knuckles, with most of their nails missing, yet they possessed immense strength. With each grip, they dragged him deeper into the mud.

He didn't move.

It's not that I don't want to move, it's that I'm waiting.

On the rooftop, the Holy Maiden and the Imperial Advisor stood locked in a stalemate. An invisible barrier separated them into two different worlds. The Holy Maiden held her dagger high, the blade reflecting the Imperial Advisor's twisted smile.

"You want to ruin my plans too?" The Grand Preceptor's voice seemed to be squeezed out of his chest, with a sticky echo.

He maintained the shape of the giant hand in the sky with one hand, palm down, remotely covering the center of the altar. His other hand, however, casually pointed at Zhou Yang.

He was doing two things, two different things.

This old guy's strength is even more terrifying than I expected.

Zhou Yang steadied his breathing in the mud. The muddy water was knee-deep, icy cold. The fingers of the dead men dug into his flesh, causing sharp pain. The stench of blood permeated the mud.

He was calculating.

The Grand Preceptor's attention was divided among three things: the Holy Maiden, the altar, and himself. But the altar was the core of the matter. The giant hand in the sky was drawing something out—from the ashes of the common people's corpses, strands of dark red light were converging, as if drawn by some force.

Those points of light were tiny, but their number was astonishing. Hundreds and thousands of lives transformed into a dark red river.

Divine blood.

Zhou Yang's gaze was fixed on the back of the Grand Preceptor's chest. The red light there grew brighter and brighter. That was the stored divine blood, his target for this trip.

"What a pity." The Imperial Advisor shook his head, as if lamenting something worthless. "If you had obediently hidden yourself, I might have spared your life. But now..."

He slightly hooked his finger.

The swamp was boiling.

Those pale arms suddenly tightened, pulling Zhou Yang deeper into the mud. Muddy water filled his mouth and nose, and a feeling of suffocation instantly overwhelmed him. The stench of decay filled his nostrils, as if countless insects were burrowing into his lungs.

Zhou Yang did not struggle.

He let those arms drag him deeper into the mud. Darkness enveloped him, and the smell of death filled every sense. The mud pressed against his chest, making it harder and harder to breathe.

The system panel flashed before my eyes.

[Consume 1 month of lifespan to exchange for Instant Lightning Step]

[Remaining life expectancy: 1 years, 2 months, and 7 days]

A glimmer of light exploded deep within the swamp.

Lightning.

Zhou Yang's figure transformed into a streak of lightning, bursting forth from the swamp. Those pale arms didn't even have a chance to react before being charred by the lightning, their broken bones scattered across the ground.

He appeared on the other side of the roof, only three zhang away from the Grand Preceptor.

"What—"

The Imperial Advisor's pupils suddenly contracted.

He hadn't expected this seemingly weak commander to be able to break free of the quagmire. Even more unexpected was the opponent's speed, which was so fast that even his divine sense couldn't keep up. The bolt of lightning seemed to appear out of thin air.

But the reaction time is still fast.

The Imperial Advisor raised his hand, and more than a dozen black talismans flew out from his sleeve. The talismans ignited with eerie green flames in the air, transforming into skulls with empty mouths, lunging towards Zhou Yang. Green light illuminated the night sky, and sinister howls rose and fell.

Zhou Yang advanced instead of retreating.

The Dragon Spine Sword was drawn.

The ancient patterns on the sword seemed to come alive, shimmering with a dark golden light. The blade sliced ​​through the air with a sharp whistling sound. This sword had been silent for too long, and now it finally revealed its fangs.

The first skull was split in two, and green flames splattered everywhere.

The second one.

The third one.

Zhou Yang's figure weaved through the flames, each sword strike precise and accurate. His sword wasn't the fastest or the most powerful, but it seemed to have calculated the trajectory of each skull beforehand. Wherever his sword passed, the green flames were extinguished.

This was earned at the cost of my lifespan.

[Consumes 15 days of lifespan to deduce the "Shattered Star" sword technique - Breaking Rune Style]

[Remaining life expectancy: 1 years, 1 months, and 22 days]

When the last skull was shattered, Zhou Yang was already standing in front of the Imperial Advisor.

The sword tip was aimed directly at the Grand Preceptor's throat.

"You..." The Imperial Advisor's smile froze, his wrinkles appearing as if frozen in time. "How did you—"

"Don't move." Zhou Yang's voice was soft, but every word was clear. "Move even once, and I'll shave your head off."

The Imperial Advisor truly stopped moving.

But a strange look appeared in his eyes. There was no fear in those eyes, only a cold mockery.

Zhou Yang sensed that something was wrong.

so easy.

How could someone who can simultaneously control the altar, suppress the saintess, and trap and kill himself in the mud be so easily approached? His strength is undeniable; he wouldn't make such a basic mistake.

unless--

"A fine blade." The Imperial Advisor suddenly spoke, his voice changing, becoming younger and colder, as if emanating from another person's throat. "Unfortunately, you can't wield it well."

A chill ran down Zhou Yang's spine.

The Imperial Advisor's body began to change. His once aged face cracked open like a mask, splitting in the middle to reveal pale bones and writhing flesh beneath. His skin peeled away like withered leaves, revealing twisted veins.

That's not a person.

That's a puppet.

"You think I'm on the altar?" the young voice came from behind.

Zhou Yang suddenly turned around.

The true imperial advisor stood in the center of the altar.

He had always been there. Standing on the rooftop, confronting him, was merely a puppet crafted from corpses and talismans. The shattered skeletons were simply parts of this puppet.

At that moment, the giant hand in the sky had completed its final extraction.

Countless dark red specks of light converged into a thin line, which pierced into the Grand Preceptor's palm. He opened his mouth and swallowed the ray of light. The dark red light flowed down his throat, illuminating his neck.

"No--"

The saintess's scream tore through the night sky, filled with despair.

She frantically rammed into the invisible barrier, her shoulders aching from the impact, but it was all in vain. The barrier remained unmoved, like an impenetrable fortress.

The Imperial Advisor turned his head and looked at Zhou Yang. His aged face was full of smugness, and his eyes flashed with an eerie red light.

"You brat from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I'll remember you." He licked his lips, his tongue also a dark red. "Once I've digested this divine blood, I'll come back for you."

He turned and walked deeper into the altar.

There was a pitch-black entrance, its destination unknown. The darkness writhed like a living thing, waiting to devour anything that entered.

Zhou Yang stood still, his knuckles white as he gripped the sword.

He lost.

He lost from the start. He thought he could be the one to reap the benefits, but he ended up being used as a distraction. The puppet consumed his precious lifespan, while the real target slipped away right under his nose.

Lifespan was wasted.

More than a month has passed, and all of it has come to nothing.

Do not--

Zhou Yang's eyes suddenly lit up.

He looked at the puppet's corpse. The Grand Preceptor's true form was gone, but this puppet... remained. The shattered talismans were still emitting wisps of smoke.

Something was glowing inside the puppet's chest cavity.

Zhou Yang walked over and used the Dragon Spine Sword to pry open the puppet's sternum. The bones cracked, revealing the churning flesh inside.

A blood-red crystal was embedded between the bones. The crystal was about the size of a fist, and it seemed to contain some kind of liquid that flowed slowly and emitted a warm light.

The residue of divine blood.

The blood used by the Imperial Advisor to power the puppets, though not as pure as the blood swallowed by the main body, is still divine blood.

Zhou Yang reached out and dug out the crystal. It was burning hot to the touch, like holding a beating heart. The heat spread upwards from his palm, dispelling the chill that had settled in the mud.

The system panel is twitching.

[Low-tier divine blood crystal detected. Absorb?]

[Absorption may increase lifespan by 3 months]

Zhou Yang did not hesitate.

"absorb."

The crystal transformed into a beam of red light and entered his palm. A scalding heat spread throughout his body via his meridians, and sweat seeped from every pore. His depleted energy rapidly recovered, even becoming more abundant than before.

[Life expectancy increased by 3 months]

Current remaining life expectancy: 1 year, 4 months, and 22 days

Not only was my lifespan restored, it was extended.

Zhou Yang stood up and looked at the black hole deep within the altar. The entrance was almost closing, and the darkness was writhing and shrinking.

The Grand Preceptor is gone. The Holy Maiden is still trapped inside the barrier. The people around the altar have all turned to ashes, not even leaving a bone behind.

But the night was not over yet.

He heard footsteps.

A dozen or so men dressed in black emerged from the shadows surrounding the altar. They wore bronze masks with ferocious animal patterns engraved on them, which gleamed with a cold, bluish light in the moonlight.

Tianlijiao.

Zhou Yang gripped the sword hilt tightly again.

These people were probably after the Imperial Advisor. But now the Imperial Advisor is gone, leaving only him. And the aura he emitted when he absorbed the divine blood.

"Commander Zhou," the leader of the men in black spoke, his voice like two grains of sand rubbing together, "Hand over the goods, and I'll spare your life."

Zhou Yang smiled.

He licked his chapped lips, his eyes filled with madness.

"Spare my life?"

He held the sword horizontally in front of him, its blade reflecting the moonlight.

"How about we put it another way?"

"Who will die first?"

The men in black didn't waste any more words. A dozen figures pounced simultaneously, their blades flashing in the moonlight, weaving a web of death. Each moved with perfect coordination, clearly a well-trained assassin.

Zhou Yang took a deep breath.

The system panel was flashing wildly.

[Consumes one month of lifespan to deduce the "Shattered Star" movement technique - Ghost Step]

[Consumes 1 month of lifespan to deduce the "Shattered Star" sword technique - Chaotic Star Style]

[Remaining life expectancy: 1 years, 2 months, and 22 days]

His figure suddenly became blurry.

It wasn't fast; it was as elusive as a ghost. The black-clad man's blade pierced through him, but only cut through the afterimage. The real Zhou Yang was no longer there.

The real Zhou Yang was already standing outside the encirclement.

The sword swept across.

The head of the man in black on the far right flew off. Blood spurted out and splattered on the face of his companion next to him.

"His movement technique is flawed!" someone shouted.

"Form ranks!"

The men in black quickly adjusted their formation. They stood back-to-back in two circles, blades facing outwards, blocking all angles of attack.

Zhou Yang stood three zhang away, blood dripping from the tip of his sword.

He did not rush to attack.

Some lingering insights from his previous deductions still swirl in his mind. The chaotic star pattern isn't just chaotic; it also contains some hidden patterns. He's waiting for those patterns to become clear.

"Attack together!"

The men in black attacked again.

This time, their coordination was even tighter. Every strike sealed off Zhou Yang's escape route, every strike aimed at a fatal spot.

Zhou Yang narrowed his eyes.

Right now.

His sword moved.

It wasn't a fast sword, nor a heavy sword. Instead, countless sword lights appeared simultaneously, like stars falling from the sky to earth. Each sword light pointed in a different direction, and each direction was a sure kill.

Chaos star style.

Wherever the sword flashed, the black-clad men's blades shattered, their bodies split open, and their heads flew off. No one could withstand even a single sword strike.

When the last sword light disappeared, the dozen or so men in black had already turned into corpses on the ground.

Zhou Yang stood in the middle of the pile of corpses, his sword supporting him on the ground, panting heavily.

This sword strike consumed too much of his energy.

But it was worth it.

He bent down and began searching the body. These members of the Heavenly Principle Cult always had something valuable on them.

Money pouches, elixirs, talismans...

There is also a token.

The token is made of bronze and has the character "理" (li) engraved on it. The back is engraved with a string of numbers, which looks like some kind of serial number.

Zhou Yang put the token into his pocket.

The system's voice rang in my mind.

[Defeat elite disciples of the Heavenly Principle Sect to gain 13 days of lifespan.]

Current remaining life expectancy: 1 year, 7 months, and 3 days

Lifespan has increased again.

Zhou Yang raised his head and looked at the hole that was about to close.

The imperial advisor has left, but he has left a way out.

Should he pursue her?

Chasing after them might mean death. But if we don't chase them, will we just let this go?

Zhou Yang touched the Dragon Spine Sword in his arms, and then touched the bronze token.

No.

Today's events won't end so easily.

He walked towards the cave entrance. Darkness opened its jaws wide before him, as if to swallow him whole.

Without hesitation, Zhou Yang stepped inside.