Darkness had set in and the lanterns around the sect had lit on their own. But that wasn't enough to dispel the danger that had come knocking at their door.

As the disciples stood in formation to activate the array so it would attack within it, five elders appeared three feet above the ground, wary of the blood and severed parts littering the ground.

"Stop!" one boomed, directing the order at the disciples.

Almost immediately, the sect leader arrived, and everyone alive and capable saluted, bowing to him. With him was Elder Jun, who wore a horrified veil on his face as he took in the gory sight beneath them that surrounded Ren.

He didn't need him to take off his mask to recognize him. The black holes still spread out in the air were proof of his identity.

"Where is he?" Ren hissed at them, raising the sword intimidatingly.

He could feel something stronger take over him. It fed on the desire to kill anything and anyone who stood in his way. It was more than just the void, it was his inner demon. And this demon was taking advantage of Ren's weakness to overpower his will and rule his body and mind.

It was an inner demon that every being had that was to be erased before one could successfully become an immortal.

Ren, who had never felt its presence until now did not know what it was or how to control it. He simply thought that it was his anger. In a way, it was, yet not entirely.

"They came to my sect, wounded my disciples, killed my beasts, and took away my pets. I want an explanation or I will destroy this bloody sect even if it takes all I have."

"May I ask which sect-"

"Shut up!" Ren growled and dark qi shot out from him, making the void holes enlarge simultaneously. "Bring them here, now."

He opened his free palm, creating two void holes that were inches apart before letting a bolt of black lightning run from one hole to the other.

Seeing this, the sect leader, the elder, and the disciples stared terrified. They had all witnessed the destruction that had been brought by the Dao punishment, a sight to be written down in the history of the city.

The sect leader flew down until his shoes touched the bloody ground. "I'm the sect leader. Please spare my sect and let us talk without the need to kill each other. If the people you seek are indeed within my walls, I will give them up to do with as you please," he assured, his voice as rational as his demeanor.

"Sect leader!" a disciple gasped noting how the once clear sky was starting to darken, announcing the near arrival of the calamity that had been foreseen.

Even a man as powerful as the sect leader was aware that nothing and no one could escape the punishment. Even if the grand elders who were in seclusion came out, they would only buy the others a few minutes but would be destroyed in the end.

The intensity of the lightning in Ren's hand was even stronger than the last time. This would draw an even harsher punishment.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Bring them out." It was all Ren wanted. He was trying hard not to release the lightning all over the sect and burn it down like they had destroyed his sect.

This had been one of his tramp cards which he was certain would work.

If it had failed, his last resort had been fleeing. But that didn't seem necessary any longer.

The sect leader looked back. "Who has been out today? Bring them all here including the elders. Now!"

There was a sense of urgency due to the impending doom gathering above them. Everyone present was worried, frightened that this would be the end for hundreds of disciples who just wanted to become immortal as every other cultivator.

The fear darkening their eyes and the tears filling them reached Ren. He decided to pause their deaths temporarily by creating a dome barrier over him to cut off the Dao from sensing the lightning.

This action caused a blade of pure pain to stab his heart, which was the demon lashing back at him for not unleashing his anger and killing as it wanted.

The taste of his blood in his mouth was disgusting, but he couldn't spit it out, no. He had to maintain a composed and dominant posture lest they go back on their words and attack him before finishing off his disciples.

The clouds began clearing, bringing relief to the souls that had been shaking seconds ago.

But who wouldn't? The Dao could erase even immortals if they were not fully prepared for their tribulation. It made the gods. Made the worlds. It was order, and it was chaos.

"Master?" Clay's voice reached out in his head.

"Clay? Where are you? I'm already in the sect. I'll set you free, just a little longer."

"Mmm...I'm, sleepy."

Ren had already studied Clay's habits. Whether to heal or to absorb energy, Clay would go into hibernation.

"It's okay. Go to sleep. When you wake up, the pain will be gone, and you will be back home."

It went silent from Clay's side, informing Ren that he had already fallen asleep to give his body time to recover. After all, his master was here. There was hope of being saved and thus didn't have to destroy itself to keep the enemy from drawing out its core.

While they waited, the sect leader ordered the elders to move the wounded disciples to the recovery hall, and the corpses to the cremation hall through mental transmission.

They obeyed, levitating closer to the whining disciples who had been only trying to protect their home. With anger buried beneath their hearts, they silently performed a unified mudra to transport at least a hundred and twenty living disciples and over sixty incomplete corpses.

The manner in which they had been killed was heart-wrenching. They agreed that only a demon could be this cold when it came to killing, but they could do nothing. Not when their leader had shown respect to the intruder in front of so many disciples without understanding that he was saving them from imminent death and destruction.

'I can't hold on much longer. My qi is depleting. And if I use the void again, I'll completely lose control of myself. This is annoying. I just wanted to rest tonight and drink some wine to appreciate my hard work over the weeks.'

He lowered his eyes at the mess that was being cleaned up by the elders using their qi. The bodies were gone, and so was the blood.

Everything was back to the way it was before he wrecked it. Including the gates far behind him.

Elder Jun came back to stand by the sect leader, his eyes avoiding Ren's so as not to give his identity away. He understood this much when he saw Ren wearing the mask. Indeed, a wise decision. But he doubted if it would last forever.

Just as the other elders approached the tense scene between Ren and the sect leader, the culprits responsible for the entire dispute were brought by three more elders.

"Sect leader, these are the only ones we could find. Some of the outer disciples who had left in the morning are recovering from a fight they had with disciples from a Dragon Sword Sect," an elder reported saluting. "Should we bring them here as we-"

"Where is he?" Ren hissed as his dangerous eyes raked the faces before him. One was missing. The most important one. "Are you playing games with me?"

The sect leader frowned looking back at his elders. "Is there any-"

"Him!" Ren growled upon setting his eyes on the man hiding behind a hooded gray cloak standing under the shadow of a nearby building. "Now you're hiding?" He chuckled angrily, spinning his body into the black hole that materialized instantly.

He had already mastered the portals after using them so many times. It was now as easy as breathing to him.

The sect leader, as well as the elders, shot into the air and began chasing Ren, who could only be detected like pulses as he moved from one portal to the next in uneven intervals.

"I'm going to skin you alive!"

"Stop!" ordered the sect leader at the elder being chased, but he wasn't listening to him. Nothing was as important as saving his life.

The black holes, just like before, destroyed anything they came in contact with, from walls to plants to the training dummies, as he followed his target throughout the large sect. His rage made him forget about his depleted qi which couldn't allow him to travel in wide distances, limiting him to five feet at most between the intervals.

He tried to trap the target by opening small black holes in any direction he was flying into, but he kept rolling and spinning out of their way.

The noise made from the fight alerted every disciple, elder, and beast in the sect. But their leader ordered them not to interfere to save their lives.

He was now certain that this masked man was the doom he had foreseen long ago.