The Veilmasters, the group of six who had just confronted Simon, the clan members who acted as guards, and the trial candidates who approached the stone bridges late.
Every single one of them looked at Simon and wondered what the hell he was doing.
Couldn’t he see that time was going?
"Lowly mixed breed." The group leader spat with a disgusted expression, then he turned and gestured at his companions.
"Let’s go. We have a trial to pass."
His companions took one last look at Simon before turning and running across the narrow and swaying stone bridge.
The other trial candidates also decided to move into the cliffs of the valley after seeing that Simon was truly just waiting with his legs crossed and his eyes closed.
Meanwhile, the Veilmasters and other clan members stared at Simon with different thoughts and expressions.
As for Simon?
He just sat in a meditative pose, but he didn’t cultivate.
Time went by, and after ten minutes, there was movement on a stone bridge that was not too far away from Simon.
Simon opened his eyes and looked to his right.
He saw a trial candidate running toward the stone bridge with excitement and pride in his eyes.
He waved his right hand which held the condensed shadow essence, then he shouted with an excited tone.
"I did it! I did it! And I’m the first to arrive!"
Puchi!
Just as the candidate was about to step on the bridge, a dagger pierced through his neck, and the candidate’s eyes were wide open in disbelief.
"Gurgh Gurgle."
Swish!
The dagger was removed from the demon’s neck, and another candidate walked past him and picked up the condensed shadow essence on the floor.
"Thank you, fool."
Thud
The foolish candidate died, and the new candidate with the condensed shadow essence looked around and quickly ran on the bridge with a bright smile.
"Trial? More like child’s play." The candidate laughed, but a few seconds later, his smile was wiped off his face when he saw a handsome demon with white hair and a horn on the right side of his hair standing at the end of the bridge.
His eyes flashed as he used an ocular technique, but when he saw the pitiful amount of demonic energy this demon possessed, he smirked.
"Another fool."
Bang!
He picked up the pace, then in a few seconds, he got at arm’s length to Simon.
"Die, fool!"
Woosh!
The demon swung his dagger at Simon’s neck, but Simon calmly followed the trajectory of the dagger and moved his head to the back a little, effectively dodging the blade of the dagger.
"Huh?"
The demon was stunned, but Simon did not give him time to react, he held the demon’s arm and with his other hand, he slapped the demon’s elbow from below.
Snap!
Crack!
"Arrrgggghhhh!!!"
Simon snapped the demon’s elbow, and the demon screamed in pain.
"You’re screaming from so little pain?" Simon commented indifferently as he let go of the demon’s arm.
"Huff. Huff. Huff."
The demon looked at Simon with trembling but cold eyes filled with anger as he held his broken arm.
In his other hand was the condensed shadow essence. Despite breaking his arm, the demon had not let go of the condensed shadow essence.
"Give it to me and you might live to get another one." Simon said indifferently while stretching out his hand.
The demon gritted his teeth, and though he had the urge to kill Simon, his instincts were telling him otherwise.
Because of the little demonic energy he sensed at first, he had ignored his instincts which had been warning him about Simon from the get go.
But after what Simon just did, he understood that Simon was out of his league.
As he stared into Simon’s indifferent sky-blue slit pupils, he knew that the demon standing before him was not prey but a predator.
However, despite realizing all of these things, he still did not want to give up his condensed shadow essence.
Even if he said he should do what he did and ambush another candidate, the chances of him failing the ambush was very high with his broken arm.
’No. I can’t give up. I won’t.’
Determination flashed in the demon’s eyes, then to the disbelief of Simon and those who were watching, he threw the condensed shadow essence inside his mouth.
His eyes flashed with a malicious light as he looked at Simon and his lips curled up into a grin.
Sigh
Simon sighed, then his left hand shot forward at a speed the demon could not react to.
The demon gasped for air as his throat was being held tightly by Simon. The condensed shadow essence was stuck in his throat, and Simon prevented him from swallowing it.
"Don’t make this difficult for me." Simon said indifferently, then he raised his right hand and his nails turned to claws.
"Hmm! Hmm! Hmm!"
The demon’s eyes widened in fear as he shook and tried to remove Simon’s hand from his throat, but he failed.
He was just a Minor Fiend with a Greater Common Bloodline. How could he defeat Simon who could battle and survive against Archfiends?
RIP!
PUCHI!
Simon’s claws dug deep into the demon’s neck, then he calmly and indifferently removed his claws and brought out a blood soaked condensed shadow essence.
Thud
He let go of the demon who was now a corpse, then he approached the Veilmasters with blood on his hands, clothes, and face.
"Here is my condensed shadow essence."
He stretched out his hand, showing the condensed shadow essence to the female Veilmaster.
The female Veilmaster and all the other Veilmasters looked at him with a myriad of thoughts and emotions going through their mind.
She shifted her gaze to the corpse on the floor before shifting her gaze back to Simon.
"You pass." She said with a tinge of recognition and respect in her voice.
And Simon’s lips curled into a soft and small smile.
"Thank you."