The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 2949: Tainted Snow Country

The scorching sun beat down on the white snow-capped mountains, casting deep shadows, and within those shadows, a slaughter was taking place.

"Kill!"

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With a roar, Qu Di Lunzhu Cisong thrust his weapon at his opponent. He was a tall and powerful man, the son of a manor lord, his dark skin covered in bizarre tattoo symbols, his eyes constantly filled with murderous intent.

Qu Di Lunzhu was both his surname and the name of his family's territory. After conquering the Cinderlands, the Heart-Eater King lavishly rewarded his meritorious subjects, especially those cultists and mortal servants who had followed him. They were transformed into slave owners, though they were still slaves to the monks.

Cisong's father had performed many meritorious deeds and was thus granted a fertile river valley, along with hundreds of thousands of serfs and subjects of various types. When Cisong, the second son, grew up, he was granted the glorious qualification to participate in the Chaxin monks' election. This was not only because of his merits but also because Cisong's mother was a witch. He was born with witchcraft flowing in his blood, making him a natural psychic.

From the time he was sensible, his mother constantly used various methods to enhance his physique and strength, including sacrificing a slave to the gods every ten days. By the time Cisong was ten years old, he was already close to the size of an adult. However, thanks to his mother's superb witchcraft, his body did not undergo obvious mutations. Of course, such enhancement naturally had some side effects.

Although such atrocities earned him the nickname "Dire Wolf," it also allowed his flesh and psychic abilities to grow extremely rapidly. Due to his lack of mutation, he was favored by a "Master." At the age of twelve, he followed his father on expeditions to attack neighboring lords, single-handedly slaughtering dozens of their soldiers and plundering tens of thousands of slaves and a lush pasture.

By the time he was fourteen, he was a well-known butcher, having defeated dozens of famous experts and champions. He even ventured alone into the dangerous Black Mountains to hunt several man-eating demonic beasts. Along with the increase in strength came various rumors, even whispers of a bizarre relationship with his mother and sisters, but this did not affect his favor with the City of Evil Sea.

Today was the day he would ascend the cultivation ladder, making his way from the "Mouth of Life and Death" at the foot of the Holy Mountain up to the Gate of Chaxin.

Countless paths led to that place, randomly intersecting. It might be two paths, or it might be multiple paths. Once they met, it was immediately a bloody slaughter, because everyone carried a silver plate. The more silver plates one obtained, the higher the level of the master they could apprentice under. The Phantom Legion now employed a mentorship system. New recruits were apprentices and had to study under a monk. However, monks also varied in strength, and the Cuoran they followed also differed in power. Thus, powerful Cuoran had thousands of disciples, while weaker Cuoran had very few. Of course, monks could also be promoted to Cuoran, but that required the Heart-Eater King's personal promotion.

However, to test their ability to cooperate, these trial participants did not fight alone but traveled in groups of five.

If the five people could achieve basic unity, their chances of successfully ascending to the Gate of Chaxin would be much higher. If they fought each other, they might also determine the strongest one, who would kill his way up alone. After all, a companion's silver plate was still a plate. The rules did not say that one could not take the plates of their own group.

However, although Cisong was brutal, he was not stupid. He knew that those participating in the selection were all outstanding individuals no less capable than himself. Without cooperation, the success rate would be very low. After all, here, he was just one of thousands of candidates, but this did not make him angry.

His mother told him that he bore the Seal of Chaxin and would surely reach unprecedented heights in the future.

As he pulled the axe from his opponent's neck, this last resister died like the others. The man, whose body was twitching with thorny tentacles, let out a final roar of rage and collapsed, his body gradually softening.

Before he died, the opponent left a deep bloodstain on Cisong's neck. If his psychic power had not been inclined towards strong defense, he would probably have been poisoned to death by the venomous tentacles.

"We...need to...rest...a bit."

Another long-haired man in a white robe leaned against a rough rock, muttering to himself. His words echoed strangely, as if he were awkwardly manipulating his tongue.

But Cisong dared not underestimate this stutterer. His "incantations" were very powerful, possibly even more so than his mother's. The two charred corpses lying on the ground were the result of him fighting two opponents alone.

"That's the third team."

Another team member nearby grumbled in agreement. He looked as strong as Cisong, wearing rough armor and a human-skin cloak decorated with runic markings, his arms crossed.

"If we stop, our ranking will drop."

A deep voice sounded, coming from a face almost completely obscured by messy hair. He wore only a tattered robe, and his hands and feet still bore the remnants of shackles. He was barely strong, not as strong as the three beside him, and his height was less than two-thirds of Cisong's. As for the fifth person, he died in the second confrontation with another team. He died miserably, and his plate belonged to Cisong, because Cisong avenged him.

However, Cisong just snorted.

"Slave, shut your mouth. No one asked you."

His words were obviously supported by the other two, because this candidate was a slave, one of the thousands of slaves they had slaughtered during their growth.

In the Guge Dynasty, the status of slaves was even lower than in the Empire. Although serfs, miners, and various craftsmen had to endure extremely harsh taxes imposed by the lords, almost endless corvée labor, and usurious loans that could never be repaid even by their descendants, at least they were not considered the lowest class, but rather semi-free people.

According to the clear provisions of the Heart-Eater King's "Chaxin Code," mortals below the Astartes were divided into upper, middle, and lower classes, each class further divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. The upper-upper class included chieftains, technicians, and wizards, while serfs and others were lower-middle class, and slaves were lower-lower class.

However, if a semi-free person went bankrupt or committed a crime, they would either wander and beg or have to sell themselves completely into slavery, to be used at will for gambling, debt repayment, gifting, transfer, and buying and selling, and to be slaves for generations.

Taking Cisong's family's territory as an example, separated by a wall from the magnificent mansions and castles were countless low houses made of stacked stones and mud. These houses had only one low, narrow door, requiring one to bend over to enter. This was the dwelling place of the serfs.

Weekend extra update~