"I Huang Fang shall claim my victory." the outlier from earlier spoke up, clearly unable to see the confusion in everyone's eyes.
"Imbecile." another shadow spoke while crossing its arms, completely unconcerned about Huang Fang overhearing it.
The conversation quickly ended after the blazing red shadow glanced at them, extinguishing any thought of bickering or arguing.
"As some of you may have figured out, this entire group is composed of demonic cultivators."
Some of the shadows were surprised, but most didn't react. They had been conversing before the red shadow descended and had come to a similar conclusion.
"If you all have attachments to your past world, you may as well forget about them for now."
The red shadow descended completely and was now standing on the stage, not a sliver of guilt present in his voice.
"I'm sure most of you are familiar with the method for creating the Gu poison."
The method of making Gu poison involved dropping the most poisonous creatures into an enclosed space and having them poison each other to death until one emerged victorious. This winner would be declared the Gu poison.
The Gu poison was considered the most potent of those poisons.
"In this case, the goal of this assembly is to produce a Gu Demon."
"YOU DARE, MY FATHER IS A DAO LORD H-."
The shadow that had interrupted was crushed into paste at a speed that seemed to escape Feng Zhiming's perception.
The shadow that had been crushed was replaced by another shadow almost instantly.
The entire assembly was visibly surprised, some people even instinctually retreated from the crushed shadow.
"This person has to be above the Dao Lord Realm." Feng Zhiming thought to himself, he had never met a Dao Lord before, but today he had seen an existence that exceeded that peak he had imagined. It didn't even flinch at the thought of offending a Dao Lord.
"Speaking out of turn means you die, my apologies for not specifying. The worlds you originate from are like marbles in the hands of the truly powerful, curb your arrogance."
The figure lowered his hands and put them behind its back.
"An existence beyond your comprehension has arranged for this, all of you were handpicked for different reasons to join the Assembly of Absolution"
The figure waved his hand and a list of rules appeared before everyone.
RULES OF THE ASSEMBLY OF ABSOLUTION
Speaking of the assembly to anyone or thing not a member of the assembly will result in death
Disrespect to the administrator will result in death
Conspiracy against the assembly will result in death
Dao Lords directly attacking others below their level will result in death (unless only two people remain)
Trying to run from the testing ground will result in death
Forcing a member of the assembly to expose the assembly will result in death
If a member of the assembly within the testing ground is found to be idle for too long, it will result in death
The test will continue till one member of the assembly remains, there is no time limit.
Shaking the hand of someone while neither party is exhibiting killing intent will let you discern if they are a participant within the game
Ignorance of any future rule does not exempt you from death
"Since you have all read the rules now is the time to ask questions."
Feng Zhiming raised his hand.
"Rule number 4 implies that there is a variety of cultivation levels here, why not just the Dao Lords?"
"The purpose of the assembly isn't to find the strongest cultivator, as some of you may misunderstand. The existence behind this wants to create the Gu demon, that is all."
The assembly fell into a state of discussion.
"Do they seriously believe someone other than the Dao Lords can emerge victorious."
"Isn't it just a matter of time till we die."
The administrator raised his hand, causing everyone to quiet down.
"There are exactly 4 Dao Lords here, it is very possible they may kill each other."
He shook his head.
"Demonic cultivators are supposed to be resilient and find a way out in any situation. In addition the rules protect you, so have some backbone"
A tone of disappointment was present in his voice, specifically targeted towards the few people who lost their composure at the mention of Dao Lords.
The Serpentess raised her hand and asked a question.
"What does death of all other participants mean exactly, does it mean their soul must be destroyed or just their physical body, can someone use necromancy to revive them or mental enslavement."
"Death means death of the physical body and the soul that emerges within the spiritual awakening realm, this means that those methods you mentioned cannot be used. In addition the range of cultivators within this test spans from the Ethereal Core realm to the Dao Lord realm."
This meant that cultivators in the Ethereal Core, Spiritual Awakening, Heavenly Eye and Dao Lord realm would participate in the test.
Feng Zhiming sighed internally, somehow he ended up at the bottom of the totem pole, the last time he felt like this was when he was a still a mortal.
A scene of nostalgia flashed by his eyes.
"It might be an interesting challange I guess." he spoke to himself.
"It's unlike a cultivator to not fear death." The Serpentess chimed in from beside him.
When they used code names they made sure that no other members of the assembly heard them.
"In that case, I guess I must not be a cultivator "
The Serpentess giggled again.
"Distinct sense of humor another telling trait, you're becoming sloppy."
Feng Zhiming clicked his tongue and shifted his focus back to the administrator before waiting his turn to ask him another question.
Although he was a careful person he wasn't a paranoid recluse so what if she learned some of his traits, to him it just made the challenge more exciting.
"What exactly is the testing ground we'll be dropped into."
"The world you will all be dropped into is similar to one that you originated from, a world within the many mortal realms, there are no rules against the residents there so do what needs to be done."
The administrator took flight once again and pulled out 100 small shadows.
"These shadows will be your observers as well as executioners. Their realm is irrelevant, as soon it is observed that you have broken a rule they will kill you, body, soul and origin."
The shadows flew down and assimilated into the shadow of all the participants.
"These shadows will also inform you of updates to rules, the death of participants and other key information if needed."
The administrator swung his hand once again.
At the end of the courtyard space seemed to tear at its very seams, beyond the tear a void appeared.
"Walk through the tear and arrive at the testing ground, the time for questions is over."
Feng Zhiming began to walk over to the tear before stopping and looking at the administrator with a sharp expression.
"If I feel like I must erase the assembly for ripping me from my life?" he said out of seemingly nowhere, a declaration from the depths of his heart.
The blazing shadow looked at him, not a visible expression on it's face.
"If you have the ability, how could we resist." it spoke in an unfeeling tone.
Feng Zhiming locked gazes with the blazing shadow and waved his hand dismissively before walking over to the tear. Naturally his day would come but it was not today, it would inevitably arrive nonetheless, this he swore.
"Once you enter the realm your identity will be karmically incorporated within the realm, and you will arrive at a random place within the realm, maybe a king, a farmer or even someone's wife or husband." The blazing shadow announced as people began to enter the void.
Feng Zhiming paused for a moment before continuing.
The person behind this game was clearly someone who could govern the very laws of the mortal realm, tampering with karma and causality. Making it seem as if the participants were actually native residents of the realm.
An enemy he felt was worth having.