"Just like in all of the underground palaces in the other Red Moon Cities, there's a lingering bloody odor in the air here, and the earth has already turned into yin soil. It's clear that this is a place where living beings are regularly slaughtered. Among the people brought to this place, all of them are either cultivators or mortals who possess spiritual roots. They're most likely going to be used as sacrifices here," Han Li explained with a grim expression.

"Now that you mention it, Gongshu Hong does cultivate in the laws of blood. Could it be that he regularly requires a large number of sacrifices to support his cultivation?" Wyrm 16 speculated with tightly furrowed brows.

"If that's the case, then why don't they begin the sacrifice right away? Why did they put the sacrificial subjects through a selection process first?" Wyrm 9 asked in a skeptical manner.

"My guess is that those who possess the most exceptional cultivation aptitude are selected so that they can be developed into those high-grade cultivators wearing the crimson robes, and they'll be the ones who directly serve Gongshu Hong. 

“In order to prevent these people from revealing the true nature of the pilgrimage, they've most likely had some type of restriction...