Immediately, roughly a third of the group of tens of thousands of cultivators suddenly found themselves bathed in bright light. They looked shocked, astonished, as the other cultivators around them began to back up slowly.
Meng Hao noticed that there were two cultivators standing near him who were now bathed in light.
“Patriarch, this…. I’m not a fiendish Devil! I….”
“What’s going on!? Patriarch, I’m a disciple of the sect!”
They were so scared they were trembling, but at the same time, they were angry, as if they were being unjustly accused.
There was only a single response to their pleas.
“Kill them!”
Many among the crowd stood there silently. Although Meng Hao didn’t know any of these people, he did feel a sense of familiarity toward them. Other cultivators in the area were hesitating, and only a few of them chose to actually attack.
“I’m not a fiendish Devil! I’m a sect disciple!!” Miserable shrieks rang out, as many of the disciples fled, and even more began to weep.
“Elder Brother Zhang, I’m not a fiendish Devil!!”
“Elder Sister, I’m Fan Sheng! I’m your Junior Brother….”
As the slaughter began to unfold, Meng Hao frowned. He still wasn’t sure to make of this trial by fire.
All of a sudden, one of the disciples who was bathed in light, a middle-aged man, threw his head back and laughed loudly.
“I, Chen, am no fiendish Devil! I’m a sect disciple! I don’t mind dying this day to prove that! However, I don’t need anyone to spill my blood for me. If I’m going to die! I’ll die with honor!” With that, he smashed his hand down onto the top of his head. A popping sound could be heard, blood sprayed out, and he was dead.
Everyone looked on silently. Soon more anguished laughter rang out as shockingly, more than half of the accused disciples began to end their own lives.
“If I have to die, I won’t die at the hands of my fellow disciples!”
“I might die today, but before I die, I just have to say… that I am no Devil!” Booms rang out constantly, and corpses toppled to the ground. Soon, things began to grow quiet as all of the disciples who had been accused of being fiendish Devils… were dead.
All of the remaining disciples, regardless of whether or not they had attacked moments ago, looked on with complicated expressions. Then, they turned toward the three figures up front, and couldn’t prevent the suspicion from showing on their faces.
Meng Hao felt shaken. For some reason, this trial by fire seemed very strange.
“This isn’t a trial by fire about slaughter. Nor is it about Dao heart. There… is some other purpose to it!” Meng Hao took a deep breath as he realized that the realism of the things he was seeing had caused him to almost forget who he was, and to completely immerse himself in the feeling of being a disciple of this sect.
He realized this because he was also starting to feel suspicious regarding the three figures up in the front.