At the moments when the trio was descending the marble steps of the Merchants Union Holy Blood Branch, the middle-aged woman inside the second floor was walking back and forth with quick steps.
"You are saying that three kids came and bought half of the weapons and cultivation methods on the floor. As if this wasn't enough, one of them made the payment with these!"
The salesgirl was trembling with fear; although she didn't know what happened on the lower floor while she was dealing with customers, she was clearly aware of who the woman in front of her was.
"Yes, my lady!"
Two words would come out of her mouth at the end of five attempts.
"What did you say the symbols on the other one's ring were?"
"My lady, one was a blood-colored crescent moon, but I don't know which power it belongs to. The other was the symbol belonging to the Holy Blood Sect!"
The middle-aged woman stopped walking; coming quickly to the edge of the glass, she searched for the trio who hadn't disappeared from sight yet. The front of the building was crowded as always, but the woman had found her target within ten seconds; however, there was something very strange.
A young girl tossing her blood-red hair was looking at her right now too; she had found her target, but her target had found her too.
"After all these years, exactly at this time!"
She didn't continue; turning her back, she called out to the girl who was about to breathe her last.
"No one will know what happened today, if you let anything slip..."
At that moment the woman disappeared; the three large blood crystals had gone with her too, in their places there was a pouch full of low-quality blood stones.
"My lady, could revealing the crystals create a problem?"
Jashua waited for them to walk far away from the Merchants Union Holy Blood Branch to direct the question he kept inside.
"I am sure that low-status official will run and call her supervisor; actually, what happens after that is a complete question mark. Let's see, we will either gain a friend or an enemy, but ultimately we will have gotten rid of a big variable here!"
When evening came, life was flowing by maintaining its calmness for the trio retreating to their rooms in the inn; unlike them, some people were in big trouble.
"You moronic bastards, do you think you are still in the clan?"
The person shouting without minding the intensity of his voice was the Third Elder; hail was raining down on the duo kicked out of the Merchants Union Holy Blood Branch by getting beaten today and the girl right next to them.
"After the uncouthness you did in the line yesterday, today you went and tried to cause a scene in the last place you could cause a scene!"
"Listen to me, you miserable dogs, since the Sect Sheikh entered a one-month retreat with his favorites, I covered these up comfortably, but tomorrow he will go out for the selections, don't you dare do something stupid. Although he is fond of pleasure and entertainment, it is not possible to predict what he will do when!"
The Third Elder slammed the door and left; he knew very well that the only reason for him coming to this level was the Sheikh's unstable behaviors. Although the Sheikh of the Holy Blood Sect was over a hundred years old, he was someone vigorous-looking, loving to have fun, and entering the bed with at least three concubines every night.
From time to time there would be retreat periods; at these times he would shut himself in the Secret Room and wouldn't go out for a few months. The Second Elder was responsible for defending the Sect against external threats, and the Third Elder for organizing internal affairs.
When the third day arrived, the scorching rays of the crimson sun began to fall on the giant registration area; this place was determined as the place where the selections would be held.
Like everyone else, Nafız, Alis, and Jashua had arrived right on time; looking at the registration numbers in their hands, they were wondering what awaited them.
Then a dark shape appeared over the square; the shape of this darkness approaching slowly was gradually turning into a human.
"What a lively atmosphere, I hope there are a few beautiful girls!"
While everyone watched this person in awe, the man from whose mouth relaxed up to his ears these words spilled disappeared and sat on the armchair at the very top of the platform set up on the right side of the square.
When he tossed the cape on his shoulders, his black sleeveless top with bright red blood flower embroideries catching the eye was revealed. This flower, formed by six leaves lined up around the blood stone found in its middle, growing on the banks of blood rivers, was the symbol of the Holy Blood Sect.
The Sheikh had hair cut in the shape of short bangs in front, while the back parts ended on his nape. Finger-thick red stripes dividing its dark black color extended like two roads on his right and left sides.
The appearance of the man fond of women and entertainment was as if the most important proof to confirm that he deserved these to the end. Regardless of the gender of the person seeing him, it was impossible not to be impressed; this was why thousands of spectators who received the news that he would come today flocked to the selection area.
"Look, here he came, Sheikh Atractivo!"
The woman squeezing the arm of the woman near her had succumbed to her excitement and bruised her friend's flesh. As for her husband right next to her, he was not in a good mood at all.
"What is so perfect about him? All Sheikhs before him developed techniques related to war, but look at this one, while the Sect is in this state, he is only concerned with his own appearance."
Although all men in the area envied him, this was their common view; they were full of anger due to the path Atractivo chose. How could they not be; the most important rule the Founding Sheikh put was that the person who would replace him had to develop a technique completely unique to himself, this was applied without exception in all Sheikh changes.
The techniques of all leaders up to the last Sheikh were things containing great destructive power, shaking battlefields, but Atractivo had become a completely different story.
His technique was the technique named Blood Satisfaction granting eternal youth and lust. No one had seen the war power contained in this technique belonging only to him, and most people didn't even believe he had such power.
"My Lord!"
"My Lord!"
While the crowd drowned in the low voices spread by rumors, two harsh roars tore apart all other sounds.
There were two people who put one knee on the ground in front of the man playing with three women he took on his lap, and everyone without exception knew who they were.
The Second Elder, known for his harsh temperament and love of war, was on the right, the Third Elder, to whom all internal affairs of the Sect were bound, was on the left.
"Go take your seats, there is no need for so much formality!"
The Sheikh, pulling his mouth from the lips of the woman he was kissing, could construct a single sentence before cutting it short and returning to his business.
The Second Elder was fuming with anger; on the other side, the Third Elder was praising his Sheikh with words full of praise, along with admiring looks coming out of his eyes.
"This year's selections of the Holy Blood Sect begin, let all participants pass in front of the Blood Stones!"
After the Sect's Sheikh and his two elders arrived, the officials set to work immediately; six human-sized Blood Stones covered on the square were making their debut.
"This year's evaluation will consist of three steps; the first is the Blood Compatibility exam. Those who have at least third-level blood compatibility from ranks one to six will pass, others will be eliminated!"
The Holy Blood Sect was a place where people using blood-based techniques gathered; it was unimportant what the one hundred and ten powers under it dealt with, if you wanted to enter here, you needed to walk on the blood path.
For this reason, the biggest slaughter would be in this exam; no one who couldn't catch above-average compatibility was allowed to continue.
Officials lined up in front of the human-sized stones were noting down the results of the candidates coming in the order of their numbers.