BOOM!
A deafening horn blasted from the highest tower of the outpost, shattering the heavy silence and signaling the official start of the countdown.
The chaos exploded instantly. The massive plaza transformed into a literal slaughterhouse in a fraction of a second. There was no preamble, no testing of waters; the desperate hunger for survival drove tens of thousands of applicants into a feral, unbridled frenzy.
"Hand over your talisman, you backwater piece of garbage!" said a core region youth. He swung a heavy iron mace downward, completely shattering the collarbone of a nearby frontier cultivator.
"Ahhhhh!" said a young woman. Her scream was cut short as a blinding flash of wind-qi sliced cleanly through her chest, her blood spraying across the icy steps like rain.
