Chapter 1834 — Chapter 1834 Massacre in the Bamboo Garden(2)

When Senior Zhou arrived at the scene, he was immediately struck by an overwhelming sense of fear, unlike anything he had ever experienced. The sight of the piled corpses and the thick, metallic stench of blood in the air hit him like a wave. His stomach churned violently, and he fell to his knees, vomiting everything he had eaten as the grisly reality of the massacre set in.

"They ganged up and threatened me, so I killed them in self-defense. Is that an issue?" Yuan asked in a nonchalant voice, acting like he'd only killed a few insects.

"I expected some casualties from infighting," Senior Zhou said with a heavy sigh, his voice tinged with frustration and disbelief. "But you… you killed nearly everyone in Group 8."

He rubbed his temples in a stressed manner, as though trying to process the sheer scale of the slaughter that had unfolded before him.

"Whatever. It's not against the rules to kill other participants, and it's not like I can punish you, who is already qualified to be a disciple. So, when will you enter the Immortal Monastery?"

"Once I take care of those that got away," Yuan calmly responded.

A few individuals had gotten away due to the sheer amount of people he had to fight, but he'd already made up his mind to kill everyone who ganged up on him. "You're still going to kill more?" Senior Zhou was speechless, but there was truly nothing he could do.

Once a servant qualified to be a disciple—even if they hadn't become a disciple yet— they were automatically above his authority, so Yuan could kill everyone in the Bamboo Garden and nothing would happen to him.

Yuan left the scene shortly after, determined to hunt down those who had managed to escape.

Those who had backed out of the fight early let out sighs of relief as they realized Yuan was ignoring them. However, the terror he had instilled in them was overwhelming; none of them dared to even glance in his direction, afraid that the slightest provocation might make him change his mind and turn his blade toward them.

Meanwhile, Lan Yingying and her group had been cultivating inside their room this entire time, so they were unaware of the massacre that had taken place—that their competition had decreased by over 90 percent in just a single day.

After eliminating the remaining threats—at least those who weren't hiding inside their homes—Yuan calmly returned to the forest and resumed chopping bamboo, as if the earlier carnage had been nothing more than a passing inconvenience.

By the time Yuan returned, all traces of the massacre had vanished. The corpses were gone, and even the blood-soaked soil appeared completely untouched, as if it had never been disturbed. At dinner, Lan Yingying looked around with raised eyebrows.

"Did something happen? There's hardly anyone here," Lan Yingying asked Yuan.

"I killed most of them," Yuan calmly answered.

"Huh?" Lan Yingying's eyes widened.

Yuan explained the situation, leaving her speechless.

"I anticipated there would be some trouble, but to think it'd involve almost everyone in our group… Are you okay?"

"Honestly, it was a tough fight. If it weren't for the recovery pills and my Spirit-grade swords, I would've probably died today," he chuckled.

Lan Yingying's jaw dropped. She couldn't fathom how he could laugh about almost dying.

"What about those who died? Will they be forced out of the Hidden Domain in their real bodies, or…?" Lan Yingying asked.

"Who knows? But we should assume dying in this trial means dying for real," Yuan said.

Meanwhile, Yan Yiling and Bi Ziyan from Lan Yingying's group were bewildered after learning of the situation.

"Heavens! He killed everyone?!" Yan Yiling almost couldn't believe her ears.

"He even chased after those who fled? How brutal! I'm glad I wasn't there!" Bi Ziyan sighed in relief.

In fact, the events that transpired in Group 8 were so shocking and ruthless that news of the massacre quickly spread to the other groups. Everyone who heard about it was left stunned, unable to comprehend the scale of what had occurred or the ruthless strength of the one responsible.

"Group 8… Isn't that Yuan and Lan Yingying's group? I hope they're fine…" Xi Meili muttered to herself after hearing about it. "No… knowing Yuan, he's probably the one who did the massacre…"

In the days that followed, the atmosphere within Group 8 was eerily quiet and peaceful. The survivors of Yuan's massacre avoided him with absolute dread, treating him as if he were the plague itself.

Those who had managed to survive by hiding in their living quarters found themselves paralyzed with fear. Many chose to fail their quotas rather than risk stepping outside and potentially crossing paths with Yuan again, their terror overshadowing any sense of duty or consequence.

At the end of the week, Senior Zhou summoned everyone for the usual gathering to announce those who had failed to meet their quotas. This time, there were five names on the list—all individuals absent from the gathering.

"Regardless of your circumstances, failure to fulfill your quotas will result in punishment. Those on this list will have their quotas doubled for one month, and they will also be restricted from cultivating for one month."

Senior Zhou dismissed everyone once he finished his announcement, but he stayed behind to speak with Yuan this time.

"When are you going to leave?" he asked Yuan.

"I'll leave soon."

"You said that last week. At this rate, you'll lose your advantage and 10,000 points."

"So someone is close to becoming a cultivator, huh?"

"I'm not supposed to reveal any information on the other groups, but since you're basically a disciple already, I will tell you that someone from Group 3 is close to becoming a cultivator."

'Group 3? That's Ji Ran's group,' Yuan thought to himself.

Yuan was certain this individual was Ji Ran. As the Immortal Monastery's Sect Leader, he would have also memorized the cultivation technique before entering the Hidden Domain.