The Hehuan Sect is located in the northwest of Jizhou, at the junction of three major countries. Due to being in a constant state of war, the people here are extremely fierce.
Orphans who are displaced and have nowhere to go will participate in the Hehuan Sect's initiation ceremony every so often.
Not only these orphans, but also some villagers send their children here to help them survive.
In addition, there are also some rogue cultivators or daughters of fallen kingdoms who, admiring the Hehuan Sect's reputation, wish to become its disciples to gain protection.
Although the Hehuan Sect has a very bad reputation outside, it has the most disciples, numbering one hundred thousand, with female disciples accounting for more than eighty percent.
Male disciples are not well-regarded within the sect; most of them become sex slaves, serving as cauldrons for female disciples' cultivation.
Of course, if a male disciple has good cultivation talent, he is a hot commodity within the sect. It is normal for one person to date several female disciples at the same time, as long as he has enough energy.
As a first-grade demonic sect, the Hehuan Sect implements an elimination system in its management.
Disciples at the bottom of the rankings are either refined into elixirs or sent to the Demonic God Palace or other demonic sects to have their blood and tendons extracted, providing cultivation nutrients for those so-called demonic geniuses.
Under this high-pressure environment, Hehuan Sect disciples go to extreme lengths to climb higher.
Are you a genius?
You'll be the object of countless disciples' fawning.
Are you trash?
Sorry, people will kick you wherever you go.
It's just that realistic!
This is also why demonic geniuses are stronger than orthodox geniuses; the former are demons who have fought their way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, while the latter are benevolent individuals who progress gradually with the world in their hearts, not on the same level at all.
Fang Yuan and Qin Hao were completely unaware of this information. If it weren't for Feng Qingyang's appearance, the two would not have set off so quickly.
Along the way, the two crossed mountains and deserts, and traversed bustling cities. The journey was fraught with danger, but they skillfully avoided it all.
The most dangerous time was when they both underwent tribulation simultaneously, attracting many rogue cultivators to observe.
At that time, six Foundation Establishment Stage rogue cultivators wanted to kill them and seize their treasures while they were severely injured.
Fang Yuan and Qin Hao fought desperately to break through, and finally succeeded in a counterattack on a plain, killing the six rogue cultivators.
And Fang Yuan's Ten Thousand Souls Banner gained six more vengeful spirits from then on.
Having entered the Foundation Establishment Stage, the two could finally fly with their swords, and their laughter never stopped throughout the journey.
On the tenth day, they finally arrived at the foot of the Hehuan Sect mountain.
Fang Yuan and Qin Hao originally intended to fly directly up, but with their keen eyes, they noticed a few ragged children surrounded by a pack of demonic wolves on a small path.
Among them, a boy with messy hair and covered in dirt was pounced on by a demonic wolf, leaving a gash on his arm.
Behind him was a girl who looked only eight years old, crying while randomly hitting the demonic wolf on the boy with a wooden stick in her hand.
Just then, another demonic wolf sprang from the side and pinned the girl down.
In the nick of time, the boy struggled free from the demonic wolf, raised his wooden stick, and fiercely stabbed the demonic wolf on the girl.
Meanwhile, he himself was bitten by several demonic wolves and, with a tearing sound, the boy was dismembered by the demonic wolves, his blood spilling everywhere.
"Brother!!" The little girl stared blankly, kneeling on the ground and screaming heartbreakingly.
The other children either died or fled. An older boy grabbed the girl by the back of her collar, threw her into the pack of demonic wolves, and then turned and ran.
The little girl screamed repeatedly in fright, despair and helplessness instantly enveloping her. Finally, she simply sat on the ground and wailed.
The pack of demonic wolves swarmed forward.
Just as the little girl was about to lose her life, Fang Yuan and Qin Hao descended rapidly, shielding the little girl in front of them and pummeling the demonic wolves with their fists.
About ten seconds later, the ground around them was covered with demonic wolf corpses. The other demonic wolves, seeing this, scattered and disappeared without a trace in a short while.
Fang Yuan clapped his hands proudly, then squatted down and looked at the little girl, "Hey, stop crying, or I'll throw you to the wolves."
The little girl opened her eyes, her mouth curved downwards, holding back her tears.
She looked at the corpses around her, then ran to the boy's incomplete body, picking up the pieces one by one, large tears streaming down her face.
She truly didn't make a sound.
Qin Hao glared fiercely at Fang Yuan, then quickly walked over to the little girl and said softly, "Do you need help?"
The little girl was covered in dirt, her messy hair covering her dark face.
She hung her head, her body twitching, and didn't respond to Qin Hao, only silently piecing together the boy's body.
But the boy's body had been torn beyond recognition; no matter how she tried, she couldn't put it back together. Finally, the little girl helplessly covered her mouth, as if crying silently.
Fang Yuan couldn't bear to watch. He took off his own clothes, put the body inside, and carried it away.
This action immediately made the little girl furious. She rushed forward, punching and kicking, crying out, "Give me back my brother, give him back!"
Fang Yuan ignored her and walked into the secret forest on his own, chose a cool spot, then dug a pit and buried the body.
Qin Hao tacitly threw over a wooden board.
Fang Yuan reached out and caught it, then squatted down and said expressionlessly to the little girl, "What was your brother's name?"
The little girl's eyes were red from crying, her face smudged with black and white. She timidly glanced at Fang Yuan, then spoke with a sniffle, "Brother was called Fan Xiaoer."
Fang Yuan's mouth twitched, "Then what's your name?"
"I'm Fan Xiaomei," the little girl replied weakly.
"What kind of terrible names are these?"
Fang Yuan muttered under his breath, wiped off the blood on the little girl, and wrote Fan Xiaoer's name on the wooden board.
"All right, from now on, this is where your brother sleeps." Fang Yuan inserted the wooden board in front of the mound and stood up, patting the little girl's head.
Qin Hao looked at the little girl and asked, "What about her?"
"How would I know? Just give her some spirit stones and send her away," Fang Yuan said with an indifferent attitude.
"That works, it's not suitable for her to stay with us anyway." Qin Hao nodded, took out a high-grade spirit stone from his pocket, and put it into the little girl's hand.
"Take this, and then go make a living in a nearby town."
The little girl took the spirit stone, her head bowed in silence.
"If you let her go back like this, aren't you harming her?" Fang Yuan pushed Qin Hao away, showing disdain.
"Then what do you suggest?" Qin Hao glared back.
"We definitely need to give her weapons for self-defense!" Fang Yuan replied without hesitation, exchanging two large cleavers from the shop and putting them into the little girl's hands.
Looking at the two gleaming large cleavers, Qin Hao's mouth twitched. It certainly matched Fang Yuan's thought process.
It's just that the knives were almost taller than the little girl, looking very awkward.
Fang Yuan nodded in satisfaction, signaled to Qin Hao, and turned to leave.
After a while, Fang Yuan turned back curiously.
He saw the little girl silently following behind them, holding the two cleavers in her hands.
"Why are you following us?"
The little girl didn't speak, standing timidly with her head down.
Fang Yuan and Qin Hao exchanged glances, then both took off running.
The little girl behind them froze, then hugged the two cleavers and struggled to catch up.
Seeing Fang Yuan and Qin Hao getting further and further away, the little girl panicked and fell directly to the ground.
She quickly raised her head, only to find that Fang Yuan and Qin Hao had long since disappeared.
"Woo woo..."
She silently got up, curled up, and cried softly.
Her cries were long, filled with helplessness and desolation.