Tang Yun'er was still crying about her predicament to the point that she forgot she hadn't eaten anything for the whole day and had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
She woke up from the intense hunger, as she tried to move her body, only to be suddenly overcome by intense weakness caused by hunger. She searched around the room as she couldn't see due to the darkness; she had to rely on her sense of touch to search around the room.
She found out that the room was roughly around 7 steps long and 5 steps wide walls were covered with moss.
"Is it edible?"
As soon as she put a piece of moss in her she spit it out due to the horrible taste of Tang Yuner in her previous life was extremely rich and never ate anything that wasn't made by a five-star chef. To her, the taste of moss was the most horrible thing she had eaten on since she came to this world.
Her stomach started gurgling again, and she knew if she ate the moss, she might die from the bad taste, but if she didn't eat it, she would definitely die from hunger, so she bit her lips and swallowed the small part of the moss. Eating bit by bit, she was able to fill her stomach.
The horrible taste of the moss almost made her cry, but her desire to stay alive was even stronger
"I will live no matter what"
On the third day small passage opened in the door, and they slid something in. It was a bowl of soup made from dirty water, rotten vegetables, mouldy bread and rotten meat. It also tasted horrible, but it was not as horrible as the Moss she had eaten before she ate all the soup.
<1 Month>
During the entire month, they only gave a bowl of soup once a day rest of the time she either ate moss or spent most of the time thinking about how to get out of the situation she was in. This also helped her keep her state of mind in check, in a place where there is no light or sound allowed, for her to recollect her thoughts and think better.
<4 Month>
Tang Yun'er started doing exercise to increase her stamina. It wasn't very effective, but it kept her busy with something she knew. In a situation like this, she couldn't become lazy. After being trapped in the room for a long time, her survival instinct always kept her tense, so she had to keep doing something to keep her mind and body preoccupied; otherwise, she would go insane.
As soon as she stopped doing her exercise and woke up to collect her daily bowl of soup, a snake coiled around her leg and bit her, and she fell to the ground. Poison started spreading from her leg, and her entire body started burning, and she started screaming in pain, and she lay down, thinking that this is it, she is going to die and closed her eyes's
But the death never came; in fact, her eyes started adapting to the darkness, she could now vagely see the entire room, and her body was also filled with energy. It was gross, filled with various insects, and she looked at the snake again.
It was black in colour with pink eyes. She picked up the let the snake bite her again, she knew this was a gamble, but she had to take this gamble, this was the only way she was able to improve herself.
<8 Months>
Her body no longer benefited from the snake poison, but she had improved enough to see clearly in the dark and had stamina so great that she never felt exhausted, no matter the exercise. However, her body wasn't strong enough for long periods of exertion, as her muscles and bones hadn't developed enough to support extended physical activity.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a strong ray of light burst out, nearly blinding her before she could properly adapt. She was tied in chains, dragged out of the room and forced to stay in a line with the other chained children in an open area outside the cave.
Demonic-Human of the Martial King Realm appeared above in the air and released the pressure and covered the entire area in demonic energy. Those whose bodies couldn't handle demonic energy exploded. Tang Yun'er herself wasn't in a better condition herself she threw up a huge amount of blood.
Demonic-Human retracted his demonic energy and looked down at the bloody mess of the exploded corpse, like an evil deity looking down on the group of ants.
"1,000 people? Huh? A lot more than I expected"
This Demonic-Human was here to see if these people have an affinity to cultivate demonic energy, or not those who didn't have the affinity exploded or died.
Those who survived can cultivate the demonic energy. This was the cruellest method to test the affinity for cultivation.
In fact, there is no need to even test the affinity for cultivation in the first place; everyone can build their own affinity for cultivation with time and resources using a proper cultivation technique. The only reason they did not want to waste resources and time on people with no affinity for demonic cultivation
Tang Yun'er barely survived such a strong influx of Demonic energy. She would have died if it weren't for the training she did using the snake's poison.
The group of demonic people burned down the corpse of the dead and started making a list of those who were alive, while treating the injuries of those who were near death and ranking them based on their condition. The better your condition higher the ranking you will have, and the ranking determines your affinity with the demonic energy.
The person who looked at Tang Yun'er wasn't sure if she was alive or dead, but seeing Tang Yun'er breathing, he started treating her injuries.
"What is your name?"
"...*Chough* *Chough* Tang *Chough* *Chough* Tang Yun'er"
"Tang Yun'er, huh? Okay?"
"Have your eyes always been Pink?"
"..."
Tang Yun'er was startled by this question and thought to herself, 'Did it turn pink due to the Snake's poison?'
Tang Yun'er had black eyes, but due to repeated poisoning, her eyes started taking on the characteristics of the snake and turned pink in colour.
Tang Yun'er was ranked in 969th place.
After carrying all the survivors to the new location, the second part of the demonic cave training started.
During this time, they provided everyone with new clothes, proper food and proper living arrangements. One can enjoy this living arrangement as long as they can keep up with the training
During the training, they only forgive mistakes up to 3 times exceed the limit and you die
<4 Years>
It's been 4 years since Tang Yun'er was caught by the Demonic-Humans and was forced to undergo trials of the Demonic cave. During the second part of the training, Tang Yun'er was required to wear Leg weights and Wrist weights along with other children.
Training covers the basic CQC martial arts that every martial artist practices daily, but unlike most martial artists who train for just 1 to 4 hours, in the demonic cave, we were pushed to practice for 6 hours straight during the day. At night, they taught us the Holy Scripture of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
The [Holy Scripture of the Heavenly Demon Cult] wasn't a cultivation technique but rather a religious book written by the [First Heavenly Demon], intended to brainwash Demonic Cultivators and ensure their loyalty to the [Heavenly Demon Cult]. It was mostly filled with rules and regulations on how a demonic cultivator should act, why they should remain loyal to the Demonic Cult, and treat the Heavenly Demon as a god.
In short, it was centred around the 9 tenets:
1. The Heavenly Demon is God, who blesses those who are loyal.
2. One must accept all their inner desire, both evil and good, to become a True Demon.
3. One must always obey the demon who is stronger than you.
4. As long as you live and die for the Heavenly Demon, all your sins are forgiven.
5. As long as you are chosen by the Heavenly Demon, you can become the next Heavenly Demon by passing the Trial of Inheritance.
6. As long as the Heavenly Demon desires something, one must do everything in their power to make it possible, at any cost.
7. The self is meaningless; only through sacrifice to the will of the Cult does one achieve purpose in the worship of the Heavenly Demon.
8. No matter how painful the Path of Demons is, one should walk the path to the end so that they can serve the Heavenly Demon better.
9. Demons are the ultimate existence, the final truth, the dominators and destroyers of the world—live like one.
Their brainwashing really worked, as most of the surviving children were manipulated to the point of becoming completely loyal to the Demonic Cult, forgetting that they had lost their homes and families because of the Demonic Cultivator. This indoctrination turned every single child into a religious fanatic who sought only to serve the Heavenly Demon through death and destruction.
As every child were training diligently, to avoid death and wanted to become a demonic cultivator in the future, a group of demonic cultivators gathered to discuss the number of casualties, identify those who demonstrated the greatest talent, and determine how to proceed with the final year of training.
"Sir, the number of people is already reduced to 400"
"400, huh? That's more than last time. In the previous demonic cave, only 200 survived by this point. This time, we really got some good blood."
"Sir, among all the candidates, numbers 1 & number 17 outperformed everyone in terms of talent"
"Well, it's expected of number 1 and number 17, her talent even surpassed the number 1 only reason she got ranked this low was due to her unique circumstance"
"Are there any other special individuals aside from numbers 1 & 17?"
"Sir, there are is a number 108, who have shown great talent and a number 969, who managed to survive until now"
"OH! Number 108 suddenly showing sudden talent was not that strange, but those who are ranked 500 & above should have been weeded out by now"
"..."
"Tell me more about Number 969"
"Yes, Sir, her name is Tang Yun'er. She at first showed great potential, but eventually lagged behind all her peers due to her poor physique"
"She possesses incredible stamina, but her physical growth didn't match the growth rate of her peers"
"In fact, after every exercise physical body was pushed to its extreme limit's which made her condition worse every day"
"There are even people who made bets on whether she will die from elimination or Exhaustion"
"She possesses an extremely strong will and stamina, but with that weak body of her, she won't be able to survive the final year trial"
"Hmm.... let's see what choice she makes"
All 400 children have gathered around over the years, all of them have grown up, and each of their ages varies from 8 to 10 in front of the Demonic cultivator. It was the same demonic cultivator that first appeared in the air and released the influx of demonic energy.
This time, he used a voice amplification technique to announce the final stage of the demonic training, giving candidates the choice of whether or not they wanted to proceed with the final trial.
Those who choose to give up the final trial can join the demonic sect as a [Meanial Demon] and work their way up with strength and contribution
Those who choose to take the final trial can get the chance to enter the [Demonic Academy].
Every single child here memorised the [Holy Scripture of the Heavenly Demon Cult] and knew that Demons are given status based on their strength and contribution:
[Meanial Demon] ---> [Demonic Soldier] ---> [Demonic Captain] ---> [Demonic General] ---> [Great Demon] ---> [Demonic King] ---> [Demonic Elder] ---> [Hevanly Demon]
Those who get the chance to enter [Demonic Academy] can directly increase their Status based on their performance, and they can achieve the Status anywhere from [Demonic Soldier] to [Demonic Elder]
The final Trial was to survive in a closed room with a group of Demonic beasts, which is basically a death sentence. Everyone knows that an unawakened person is no match for an ordinary beast/monster, let alone a Demonic Beast.
After the announcement, only 169 candidates decided to take the final trial, including Tang Yun'er. She knew the keyword here was to survive, not kill the Demonic Beast, which meant this trail was designed to test one's survival skills.
Demonic cultivator, looking at the Tang Yun'er, sighed, "Some people really don't know how to value their own life"
Everyone who chose to undergo the final trial has been given the option to select the beast cave they think they can survive in, and Tang Yun'er selected the most difficult demonic cave out of all of them [Sanke Demon Cave].
The [Sanke Demon Cave] is a place filled with countless poisonous snakes of various types. Under no circumstances would one choose this cave, but for Tang Yun'er, this was the opportunity for growth.
"Tang Yun'er, are you sure you want to take this cave? Don't throw your life away"
"I have already decided"
"*Sigh* Once the trial starts, no one can open the cave until it ends"
"I know"
"Take the token and go over there *Sigh* It will be very troublesome to clean the cave"
"I don't worry, I won't die until I achieve my dream"
When Tang Yun'er first came to this world, her dream was to live a long life, but after getting captured by the demonic cultivator and reading the [Holy Scripture of the Heavenly Demon Cult], she now desires to become the next [Heavenly Demon] of the [Heavenly Demon cult]. Demonic Cave training altered her personality from timid and weak to someone who will do anything to survive and dominate the world.