“What’s happening now?” I asked, looking at Wei Rui, he seemed rather calm, so I assumed there wasn’t anything to worry about. “What’s the blast?”

I looked him straight in the eyes, expecting an answer, fingers tapping on my armrest.

“Enemy attack? Haha! This will be fun!” Zhang Jun said with a grin widening by the seconds.

“Oh, come on, Elder Zhang!”

“This is making me sleepy…” Shen Yue yawned.

I maintained eye contact with Wei Rui, and the calmness I felt in his eyes told me there was nothing to worry about.

Another blast rattled the place, but it remained standing, Li Mei and Zhang Jun get more and more agitated as time went, albeit for different reasons. One was laughing like a kid at the prospects of getting to beat some people up and the other was worrying that there’d be war.

Really, these two were opposite of each other.

We waited for another hit but no other blast sounded, an the commotion died. Wei Rui took this moment to clear his throat and stand up. He eyed us all and took a step forward silently, facing the exit of the room. I just stared at him as he left, along with the others.

“Follow me,” he said.

Zhang Jun stood up without a second wasted, and made way behind Wei Rui. The rest of us exchanged a few glances, wondering what was happening. I shrugged and stood up.

“Well, follow the boss, ladies.”

Shen Yue rolled her eyes with a snort and Li Mei had a concerned look on her face. What was up with this woman?

I shook my head, stepping outside and taking a whiff of air. My eyebrow shot up, there was no suspicious smell in the air, it was unlikely that we were attacked. As I’d expected, it had to be something else. Wei Rui was not dumb regardless of his recent passiveness regarding the Obsidian Shadow Clan. He was a ruthless man… what happened to him?

I stepped near him, and found his eyes staring into the horizon. What could it be?

I followed his line of sight, leading east, and a thought started bubbling up in my head.

No way, right?

The question was evident, but the horizon was clear, until it wasn’t.

A flicker. That was all I saw. A flicker of light in the east. A subtle distortion, a quiver. Tiny particles of dust and debris, hardly noticeable in the air.

The next moment, silence remained no longer. A blinding flash of light erupted from the heart of the eaters mountains, brighter than the sun for a few moments and infinitely more destructive—I knew it, I could feel it. The sky was painted white and orange, and then came the sounds.

A shock wave of a thundering clap rippled outward, creating a visible wave of air with debris and dust that traveled at speeds faster than my mortal eyes could follow.

The light expanded, and trees bent before they snapped like fragile twigs.

Then came the cloud of smoke that rose high in the air. It reminded me of a nuke. I wondered if it was as powerful. It could be, it could be not. I’d be able to tell if only I had my cultivation.

The shock waves died down faster than the whole explosion happening, and in but a few seconds, no trace of the east remained—the Eastern Boundary of mountains was no more, it had been flattened under a minus.

We all stood in silence as everything calmed down. I finally heard gasps, from not only Li Mei and Shen Yue, but from Zhang Jun as well.

“That was a message, fellow elders,” Wei Rui finally spoke up, “a message from me to the Obsidian Shadow Clan, and more specifically, the Holy Land.”

“Wha—”

Li Mei’s eyes widened in shock, her hand gripping her sword hilt so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Shen Yue had her brows furrowed. Zhang Jun, usually composed, looked visibly shaken, his eyes fixed on the aftermath.

“Such power…” he said.

“First Elder! You cannot be serious!” Lie Mei said.

Wei Rui met her gaze, his expression as calm as ever. “I am serious. The Obsidian Shadow Clan needs to understand. This was the only way to ensure our message echoed in the very core of their existence—and traveled more, farther, not only into the Holy Lands, but more.”

Li Mei’s grip on her sword loosened slightly, her eyes searching Wei Rui’s face for something. Anything. Remorse, perhaps? That was the only logical option I could assume from her personality.

“But at what cost?” she asked. “How many lives were lost in that explosion? Of our people?”

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“They chose their side,” he said.

“How do you know that?” she asked, her tone biting.

“Spies.”

Shen Yue stepped forward, her fists clenched. “And what about our principles? Our teachings? We are protectors, not destroyers. What kind of message does this send to our own people?!”

Wei Rui’s gaze flickered, “We are demonic, I think it’s time the world be reminded of that. Why have you grown so soft, Li Mei? I do not recall you being like this. The Sect Leader truly made us forget our ways, didn’t he?” He shook his head.

There was a heavy silence, and my eyes couldn’t help but twitch a little wide.

Hmm, the sect leader, explains everything. No wonder when I—or Ryujin, for that matter—joined this sect, we were already way more peaceful than a “demonic sect” should be. So it was the sect leader who’s responsible. But why? What reasons can he have?

“Why? What’s your reason? Isn’t it better this way?” Li Mei didn’t want to back down, however.

I shook my head, eyes focused on Wei Rui.

Sure enough, he didn’t answer at all. A flicker of something I couldn’t recognize did pass his face, though.

Anyway, spies, huh? Hmm, why did I not think of that… Wei Rui seems to know way more than I thought of.

“If you had that power—weapon?—all along… why wait?” Zhang Jun said, voice rather quiet. “Why not use back when we were ambushed? Sect Leader died… why did you not do anything up till now?”

The others, including myself, looked at Wei Rui for answers. However, I knew that he wouldn’t answer, he was just like that—surprising that he’d talking this much at all.

“I need to arrange some soldiers to calm the masses, those blasts were unannounced. You are dismissed.” Saying so, Wei Rui’s figure turned into lightening and zipped somewhere.

“…Fucking bastard.”

Zhang Jun frowned.

***

- Wu Ryujin -

The Sect Leader was the sole person I considered to be the strongest, and it had struck me as nothing but odd that he’d be killed in some random sect’s ambush. It seemed that I wasn’t wrong after all. Wei Rui was being far more than suspicious, and now I was only more skeptical of the whole situation.

I didn’t particularly care about the Sect Leader, he was dead anyway. The problem lay in my attitude. I’d thought that it would be enough to just live under someone else’s rule—so that I wouldn’t have to worry about all the bullshit that came with ruling a sect.

But… I was wrong.

I can’t just leave everything on someone else, I can’t trust anyone.

It wasn’t because I wanted to rule.

No.

Not at all.

It was because I trusted no one having authority over me.

Well, let’s just get my cultivation back first.

I shook my head with a sigh as Jin Ruo flew us back to Bleak Town,

“To the mansion, Elder Wu?” Jin Ruo asked, looking over his shoulder.

I shook my head. “No, I’d like if you drop me off near the town entrance.”

Jin Ruo nodded and off we went near the town entrance. It took us no longer than a few minutes before I was standing on the ground and he was flying back to the capital.

I took a moment to breath and walked forward, wondering if there was any progress with ripping off my sect.

Strangely I found no disciple wandering in town. Were they off on the treasure hunts, perhaps? I had no clue. I hoped I’d find some in town, though, I needed to figure out if my plan was working.

Thankfully, after a few minutes of leisure walk around town, I spotted a group of disciples talking amongst themselves.

“Hey, have you heard that there’s a lack of Vipervine this time around?”

“Heard? More like seen. There is no Vipervine on the outskirts, and we all know it doesn’t survive inside…”

“I was wondering why we couldn’t get no healing potions this time around—”

“These damned potions… If only we could breath the mist and not have any effects like these freaks living in town.”

“Meh. Forget them, I’ve got news.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Apparently, someone’s selling potions in the market, let’s go buy some before they get sold again.”

“Ha??? Why did we not know?! Let’s go boys!”

I smirked as I walked past them.

Good work random merchant. Blackmailing—Uhm, convincing you to sell for me was the right move it seemed.

I made a quick route to him to check how he was doing. I’d promised a small share, and promised I’d give him the supplies—he just needed to handle the production, marketing, and sales themselves. He seemed to be doing pretty well, so I didn’t bother.

Money was coming and that was all that matter.

I strolled back to my mansion, my mind preoccupied with thoughts of regaining my cultivation, money, and the now-formulating plans to take over the sect. As I entered the grand doors of my mansion, I couldn’t help but wonder when Kai would have his breakthrough.

***

- Nu Di Se (Noodles) -

Nu Di Se knew a bad person when she saw one, and Bis Ke screamed nothing but bad.

The first time they’d met had been traumatizing for her, she’d expected her seniors to be kinds and loving—in fact, she had been looking forward to meeting them—but… she had been rejected hard.

It had been etched into her memory like a scar.

However, it didn’t matter so long as she was with her master.

That kind man who had helped her heal—and then taken her in… as one of his own. She could never even come close to repaying his kindness.

“Nu Di Se, let’s get out of here,” her senior brother, Li Renji, called out to her.

Her senior brother knew she was no animal—that she had the spark senior sister Bis Ke held in her eyes—and for that sole reason, he had been kind and understand to her.

Nu Di Se wondered why.

She looked up from her spot, tilting her head in confusion at what he had said. Get out of here? For what reason?

“Brother Kai is about to have a breakthrough, but due to his recent injuries, he’s unstable. We… don’t want to get caught and get hurt if anything is to happen.”