"What do we do with him now?" asked a burly Core Elder from the Titanic Blade Sect. He was the one who had suggested making sure the old man didn't bite his tongue or hide a poison vial in his teeth.
"I suggest we return, exterminate this strange group, and continue our journey," said a Core Elder from the Blazing Sun Sect.
"That sounds like needless effort," another elder chimed in.
The disciples could only stare as the Core Elders openly discussed their plans. Some of the disciples exchanged bewildered looks, but no one spoke up.
"I say we torture a few of them to get that stealth technique. The Void Piercing Sect could use more of those."
"We should just eliminate them on our way back and avoid a needless expedition."
"It doesn't have to be all of us. Just one Core Elder from each Sect, and they can get the job done. But make sure to pick someone with the stomach for it—I, for one, can't handle killing children."
"I've known you, Xue Heizhong, for nearly twenty years, and if there's one thing you can't handle, it's an honest day's work!"
The Core Elders were cautious, ruthless, and intelligent. Their decisions were cold and rational. Yet, they bickered constantly, seemed lazy, and most appeared disinterested in the whole situation. They talked like old roommates deciding who would do the dishes.
I could tell that some of the disciples were appalled and shocked that the Elders revealed such a side. Some even looked like they were ready to speak up. A few whispered among themselves, uncertain whether the old man was really a threat and feeling the punishment was excessive.
But despite all this, no one dared to say anything. Looking at the waters below, filled with dangerous monstrous beasts... the Core Elders could easily arrange for an annoyance to have an accident. Even if everyone witnessed the crime, they would say nothing.
For some, this might have been an awakening experience. But not for me—I always knew it took a certain mindset to reach such heights in cultivation. Those who made it by luck were in the minority.
The Core Elders weren't pure evil, nor did they seem to enjoy slaughter. Their eyes showed a cold indifference as if they were merely dealing with a chore or cleaning up a mess.
Ultimately, they agreed to send four Core Elders to exterminate everyone. As for the old man, they concluded he was likely preparing to use a technique that required him to sacrifice his life. So, they kept him alive, using a technique to immobilize and keep him hovering nearby.
…
We pressed on through the landscape, our footsteps steady and rhythmic. The terrain gradually opened up into a vast, dry grassy field dotted with rugged rocks and rolling hills that rose like the waves of a turbulent sea.
The sun hovered low on the horizon, its golden light casting long, stretching shadows that painted the field in hues of orange and crimson. The sky darkened as the fiery orb dipped lower, and the first hints of twilight began to encroach upon the day. The air grew cooler, brushing against my face as the last remnants of daylight slowly slipped away.
Were we going to travel through the night as well?
"Stop!" yelled one of the Core Elders. He used a telekinesis-like technique to keep the old man unconscious and hovering above the ground. The old swamp man no longer kept up his pretense and had a glint of mirth in his eyes.
The disciples halted as the Elder ordered, "We will rest for a bit and wait for the others to catch up."
"Your men… they're dead!" the old man suddenly declared, seeming to have finally gained the strength to speak. Though his body was broken, and his Qi was depleted, broken cultivation didn't necessarily mean a weaker body, and he seemed to have recovered remarkably well.
I learned something new today: even a broken cultivation didn't mean a weaker physical body.
"What do you know about it, old man?" asked one of the Core Elders from the Titanic Blade Sect. Though he appeared in his fifties, I bet he was older than the person he called an old man.
"Our God will feast on your flesh, and crows will eat the eyes of your disciples!" declared the old man with surprising vigor.
"I told you they're crazy, evil god-worshipping barbarians," said the same Core Elder who had previously spoken about some kind of bet.
"You said they would be crazy, not worship evil gods," refuted another.
"Perhaps we should be cautious of this so-called God," suggested another.
"Perhaps you should start acting like a Core Formation Cultivator," another Core Elder joked. "The only way this God could be a danger to us is if it's a Nascent Soul Realm power. But if that were the case, it wouldn't just be ruling some swamp in the middle of nowhere."
Now I was getting nervous. For some reason, the old man looked confident. I could only hope he hadn't seen the actual power ceiling in this world and was overconfident in whatever this so-called God was.
"This expedition is finally getting exciting," Song Song smiled and looked at me. "What about you? Are you finally in the mood to fight and learn some new things?"
"No, the further we can go through this without fighting, the better," I replied, though my gaze wandered toward someone who might become Song Song's ally.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
However, I didn't get to contemplate approaching them as a strange chill settled in the air. A shadow suddenly hovered over the swamps we had come from.
The Core Elders looked up, and I followed their gaze. My heart dropped at what I saw.
It was a titanic bird, a monstrous creature whose vast wingspan seemed to envelop entire regions in shadow. Resembling a dark, crow-like beast, it towered above the land. It had four crimson eyes that burned with a sinister glow, each pair fixated with an intense and penetrating stare, with four immense red wings, each a tapestry of intricate feathers that shimmered with an eerie, bloody hue when caught in the light.
An overwhelming and uncontrollable Qi emanated from this beast, prickling at my skin and causing cold sweat to run down my back as a chill spread through my body.
However, amid the fear, I noticed the creature had a large gash along its lower body. One of its claw-like legs was missing, and one of its crimson eyes was nothing more than a gaping hole filled with wriggling flesh.
"Is this your so-called God?" one of the Core Elders scoffed. "A nine-star Core Formation monstrous beast. It seems the people we sent to handle the problem died. Unfortunately, they were in the lower stages of Core Formation."
The Core Elders exchanged glances, seemingly holding a conversation with their eyes alone. Two—one from the Azure Frost Sect and the other from the Void Piercing Sect—stayed back while fourteen others charged at the monstrous beast.
Though they appeared slightly annoyed at their companions' loss, none showed any emotional reaction. It was strange seeing cultivators so… competent. They were the same type of people as the Sect Leader, though he was much scarier.
Suddenly, sonic booms echoed as the Core Elders fighting the monstrous beast vanished. Despite its size, the beast also moved fast enough to disappear from my sight.
The two Core Elders protecting us reacted swiftly. One erected a clear icy dome around us, while the other turned the ground into shadows that seeped into the ice. Though the ice distorted the view, I could still sense what was happening.
Waves of wind crashed against the ice to no effect. But the aftershocks of the battle flattened the swamp, uprooting and destroying the giant trees—some as thick as houses and as tall as apartment buildings. The swamp water turned into brown rain, and the strange creatures that lived in it became bloody splats as they crashed to the ground; one even collided with the ice barrier.
Fire, ice, shadow, and translucent blades danced and blurred at speeds I could barely follow. Space twisted and turned, making me feel seasick just looking at it. The ground cracked, and a massive explosion enveloped the sky like a second sun had formed.
I felt like an ant while elephants clashed around me. This was a fight between monsters.
It only took a dozen minutes before the strange monstrous beast crashed to the ground. In many ways, the sight was majestic—something straight out of mythology.
The titanic crow lay bleeding all over, and where the swamp once stood, there was now a large crater as if a meteor had struck. A new lake of fresh, warm blood was in the swamp's place. It looked like a giant bowl of crow soup.
Not long after, the Core Cultivators who had fought reappeared, some looking more haggard than others. Only a handful had injuries, and while the monstrous beast was clearly powerful, the numerical advantage had worked in their favor.
"Somehow, we didn't sense or see the crow fighting when it killed the Core Elders we sent to exterminate the place. It was clearly injured, so the battle wasn't easy. Yet we heard or saw nothing," said one of the Core Elders from the Blazing Sun Sect. "There might be some kind of strange phenomenon around here. We shouldn't take this route when we return."
"Hopefully, we get something in return for four of our own dying. This inheritance better be real," grumbled one of the Core Elders from the Titanic Blade Sect. For a split second, I thought I saw a sadness in his gaze as he looked at where the swamp had been.
Had he lost someone important in that fight? Though they were cultivators who had lived over a hundred years, they likely had friendships that had lasted just as long. Talented cultivators often saw the family they were born to and the people they grew up with die. But some friendships could have lived through that time.
But that moment of weakness lasted only briefly before it vanished as if it had never been there.
"The monstrous beast seemed mindless for a Core Formation beast," remarked one of the Core Elders from the Void Piercing Sect, shrugging as he rubbed his shoulder where he had a small cut.
"I once heard about a Nascent Soul Cultivator who lost his mind during indoor cultivation. Maybe it's something like that but with a monstrous beast. Loneliness can be a dangerous demon," said a Core Elder from the Blazing Sun Sect.
"I think the story was about a Core Formation Cultivator. There's no way a Nascent Soul Cultivator would be that mentally weak," countered another Core Elder as he adjusted his ruffled clothes from the fight.
I glanced at Song Song. She had a longing look as she stared at the lake of blood forming where the monstrous beast had died. There was a hunger in her eyes, and I wasn't sure if she craved that kind of power or if she literally wanted to eat the beast.
Shan Sha, the old man in the library, had mentioned certain rumors about Song Song. But I wouldn't let my judgment be clouded by some silly rumors.
While everyone was distracted by the battle, and as the ice barrier around us crumbled, many stared at the giant crater where the swamp had once been.
"I'll be gone for a bit," I whispered to Song Song and slipped away.
This was the perfect time to act. With the Core Elders distracted and talking about what to do with the old man from the swamps and the disciples still amazed by the power the Elders had displayed, it was time to gain Song Song an ally.
My gaze wandered toward Song San… This was either going to go well or really, really badly.
Song San smiled at me as I approached him, noticing my presence despite the distraction. Without needing to say anything, I set up a silencing array around us as soon as I was close.
"You really are a smart guy. Song Song is lucky to have someone like you by her side," he laughed wholeheartedly. "While everyone's impressed or occupied with what happened, you sneak away to do your little schemes. I think I know what you want to talk about, but please, go on…"
"I want you to support Song Song in her rise and when she vies for the Sect Leader position," I said directly.
"Well, you're certainly setting the theme straight at the beginning of the conversation," he smiled wider. "But I'll have to refuse. Though I like my sister, I don't like her enough to risk my life for her."
I expected something like this. A guy like him would only move with benefits. We both knew he didn't really care about Song Song; his words were just wind when his actions had proven otherwise.
"You haven't even heard my offer yet," I mirrored his smile. "When Song Song becomes the Sect Leader, she'll help you become the Song Clan Leader."
As soon as those words left my mouth, for a brief moment, the mask slipped off Song San's face. A glint of greed flashed in his deep green eyes. He quickly hid it but sighed when he realized I had seen it.
That was the moment I knew I had him… My guess had been correct. This guy wasn't as ambitionless as he pretended to be. Now I just had to make sure he wouldn’t aim for our throats too.