Chapter 37 - A Desolate Farewell

It was only after messengers arrived from all eight mountains that the terrifying reality of their current situation finally set in. The disciples, the elders, the strong, the weak, almost everyone present was shook to the core. Emotions soared high, leaving everyone feeling anxious and confused.

Every single group aside from the Yuso Clan had been attacked by the legion of beasts in a massive assault over the past few days. The destruction and devastation caused by an unexpected wave like this was unfathomable, the death toll was certainly in the millions, perhaps even higher.

Even the factions which had managed to defend themselves well had suffered from thousands of losses, whilst the losses of some of less fortunate factions numbered in the tens or even hundreds of thousands. This wasn’t even including the residents of the surrounding mortal villages and towns though, whose numbers far surpassed that of the cultivators on the nine mountains.

“Everyone, please settle down. Since this is a matter affecting the entire Northern border, we must carefully consider our next course of action, we must not be hasty! I suggest that you all stay within my clan’s lands. This way, we can unite our strength and fight against the beasts together!”

When they heard the Yuso Clan Lord speak out in this time of crisis, many people thought that his suggestion sounded reasonable. They even felt glad that someone reliable had stepped up in this seemingly dire situation.

However, there were plenty of intelligent, older and wiser cultivators present…they immediately saw through this farce!

“Yuso Dan, you sick bastard! You actually planned all of this, didn’t you?! You brought the nine groups to your Yuso Mountain, knowing full well that the beasts would attack our homes in our absence! You planned to damage the other groups whilst simultaneously gathering strength within your own clan!”

The Zue Clan Lord jumped up in a fit of rage and pointed towards the old Yuso Clan Lord. Despite being an esteemed Origin Soul Realm powerhouse, he couldn’t contain his burning anger right now, causing his finger to tremble slightly as he grit his teeth.

Zue Yin was stunned, not only by the unexpected turn of events, but also by her grandfather’s shocking outburst. She had never seen him act with such an emotional display before today!

The old Yuso Clan Lord’s expression darkened. It was outside of his expectations that he would be seen through so easily…

But of course, he knew that someone would point this out eventually.

“Bastard, he actually did it! He’s the cause of all this”

“Damnit, to think that I actually fell for his ploy!”

“Since it’s like this, I will be taking my leave. Everyone, I truly wish you all good luck.”

…

Three groups directly departed, including the Zue Clan, the Fire Dragon Sect and the Undead Coffin Sect. Whilst they all wanted nothing more than to tear the Yuso Clan to shreds, they knew that now wasn’t the time. It was more important to return to their mountains; after all, they needed to stabilise the ongoing calamity.

And besides, it’s not like they could actually do anything to the Yuso Clan Lord, even if they hated him to death. Even if the entire world hated a person, if that person was stronger than the world, then the people of the world could only grit their teeth and lower their heads.

The Yuso Clan Lord’s expression darkened upon seeing the other Origin Soul Realm cultivators encouraging people to up and leave. In his original predictions, he believed that even if his plan was seen through, the others would still choose to remain here due to the extreme potential danger laying in wait outside of Yuso Mountain.

It seemed that he had been too rational in his estimations. He did not expect that even those old monsters would lose their ability to think rationally when they learned of the downfall of their beloved comrades…

Soon enough, the Heavenly Path Sect made the same decision to leave. The Yuso Clan Lord tried to prevent everyone from leaving, but he couldn’t resist the momentum of so many cultivators going all at once. This was especially true when there were Origin Soul Realm cultivators in the mix, who did their best to incite further ire towards the Yuso Clan’s actions.

Yuso Dan was left standing there helplessly, only able to sigh as almost every group chose to leave.

‘Well, the most important point is that I have successfully weakened the other eight organisations.’ He thought to himself, quickly recovering from this slight setback.

In this world, plans rarely went perfectly. This result was already quite good, for Yuso Dan at least.

Yaan felt like he was in a dream. Even as he stepped onto his teacher’s flying sword and they rushed into the air with haste, it still didn’t feel real.

Without even thinking, Yaan grabbed onto his teacher’s robe tightly so that he didn’t fall. Great Elder Wan didn’t have time to worry about Yaan’s ability to deal with this extreme travel speed. Whenever he thought about his sect, about his mountain, his home, his beloved sect members…he felt too worried to even focus on anything else. Heavenly Path Mountain was his home, filled with the sect’s disciples and elders, all of whom he cared for…

Rui watched silently as Great Elder Wan’s heart became increasingly unstable. Her expression remained ever-indifferent, it was impossible to see through her thoughts.

The return journey to the Heavenly Path Mountain was much faster compared to the trip from the sect to Yuso Mountain. Great Elder Wan’s top speed was tens of times faster than a horse drawn carriage, meaning that he would only take a few hours to return.

The sect lord was even faster, he reached the sect with Elia an hour before Yaan and his teacher's arrival. As for the other elders, they couldn’t keep up at all, they were forced to chase the tails of the leading party.

Everyone took care on their relaxed journey to the Yuso Clan, but nobody had the heart to care about the potential dangers of flying through the sky so openly right now.

They knew that when they returned, they might have to fight a hopeless battle…since that was the case, why would they care about attracting the attention of a few aerial beasts?!

Great Elder Wan scanned his eyes across the devastation throughout the countless mortal villages. The destruction to the mortal homes was catastrophic, whilst the sight and stench of blood stained every inch of land. There were no complete corpses, only some discarded limbs and ruptured organs littered about. Identifying these body parts as human was only possible due to the smell.

The same scene repeated itself in the outer sect, then again when they reached the inner sect. They were yet to find even a single survivor.

It was even worse than they had expected…much, much worse.

They were too late to help, the beast tide had already come and gone, sweeping through the sect with a force more destructive than a tsunami. The only remaining beasts were stragglers from Ranks 1 to 3. Whenever Great Elder Wan saw such a beast, he lashed out in rage with a spell far more powerful than required, obliterating its body into a mist of blood.

When they reached the core sect, Great Elder Wan could no longer contain the growing, agonising torment in his heart. He dropped to his knees and faced the sky, before letting out a despairing cry towards the heavens. Yaan was stunned by this, he had never seen his teacher so emotional before…

Great Elder Wan was different from Yaan, his devotion to the sect was eternal and unquestionable. Seeing his home destroyed like this…it was simply too much for his old heart to bear.

Yaan understood as he looked around, taking in the scene of devastation throughout the core sect.

The mysterious sect protecting formation had been completely destroyed. Without the sect lord supporting the formation, the Rank 5 beast was able to break through with the assistance of its army.

After that, it was simply a massacre. Bodies lay scattered everywhere, drenching the land and the buildings with crimson red. Organs, bones and limbs were chaotically strewn across the ground. Many chunks had been torn out and devoured from the dismembered corpses.

Every now and then, Yaan recognised someone as he followed his teacher and walked through the core sect. Whenever he saw a familiar face, he paused and trembled slightly, before forcing himself to turn away

He continued to follow his teacher in silence. It would be easy for Great Elder Wan to fly into the air and assess the scale of damage from above, but he did not. He walked slowly, like a distraught mortal, like an old man who had come home one night, to find that he had no home to return to…

They were currently on the Western side of the mountain, but it was safe to assume that the other sides were in a similar condition.

As Great Elder Wan walked further, he saw more and more disciples and elders, lying dead on the red-stained grass. Compared to Yaan, he was able to identify many more people, whilst the pained emotion he felt towards their demise was ten fold deeper. He could feel the aura of death, their lingering resentment and pain.

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As his heart grew heavier by the second, wrinkles appeared on his face and his beard turned from black to grey. He looked like he had aged a century within a single minute.

As Yaan stared blankly at this scene of destruction, the likes of which he had never seen before, his teacher strayed further away. The tired old man soon reached the edge of a cliff and stared down, his eyes glowing with golden light as he finally activated his Eagle Eye Spell, his strongest investigative spell.

He remained silent, but a mournful smile appeared on his face. The old man was wearing a smile so sad, that it caused Yaan to shiver involuntarily.

The bodies across the mountain all came into the elder’s view. The previously luscious and temperate atmosphere was now filled with a chilly breeze and a metallic scent. The grass was stained red all around, the plants had withered and died due to the excessive death aura that infected the atmosphere and tainted their fragile environment.

Great Elder Wan stared at this scene, and a stream of tears ran down his face. So many of his friends and beloved disciples were slaughtered so meaninglessly, whilst he had completely failed to protect them.

Great Elder Wan had killed many people in the past, but towards his fellow sect members, he honestly cared about each and every one of them, but particularly those in the core sect. As he thought about this, as he lingered over his affection and the pain he felt towards their demise, his mind naturally drifted towards Yaan.

“Can I…really betray him? Can I really take his life? I never intended to consider him a real disciple, but now, there are hardly any disciples remaining…they’re dead, all dead…should I refine him and become stronger? It doesn’t feel right…but I could help the sect…but Yaan, I don’t want to refine him, I just…what should I do…everyone is dead, so much death…Yaan, my beloved disciple…he is just a child…he is just a pitiful boy, a truly pitiful boy…”

Great Elder Wan started muttering to himself. He was now a couple dozen feet away from Yaan, so Yaan could not hear him, he could only see the old man’s back, which now looked so fragile, as if he might blow away in the wind at any moment…

After taking in the despairing sights of death which now plagued the entire Heavenly Path Mountain, Great Elder Wan’s mind deteriorated into a total mess, and his heart was on the verge of collapsing entirely.

In his stupor, Great Elder Wan didn’t notice that an illusory woman with long black hair had appeared behind him. Her face was indifferent and seemingly lacking all emotion, but her eyes were blood red, matching her robe, and displaying her hidden killing intent.

At this point, Yaan was unable to face his teacher, as the mournful aura exuding from his body was too much for him to bear. Because of this, he didn’t notice Rui’s appearance.

She watched Yaan’s teacher for a while, before coming to a decision.

‘He’s too unstable, Yaan will always be in danger if this continues.’

She took a step closer to Great Elder Wan. Her illusory form started to glow as she formed a mysterious hand seal. The seal floated up and stuck onto her tongue, forming an ominous black rune. After this, she stepped forwards again, leaning in close to the heartbroken old man, and she whispered softly into his ear.

“What you are doing is wrong. Killing Yaan is killing a disciple of the sect…”

Great Elder Wan’s eyes became blurry as a black gas drifted into his ears. His movements slowed down, whilst his manner of speech changed, becoming dreary and vacant.

“Killing Yaan would be wrong, so I should…” He muttered quietly, his voice absent and his eyes vacant.

“Bringing a demon into your sect was wrong, the demonic races are evil, yet you encouraged one of them to grow…” Rui spoke softly. Her voice again became saturated with a black gas which was released from the rune on her tongue.

“I was wrong to bring Yaan into the sect…I was wrong to help Yaan cultivate such an evil technique…but what do I…”

Rui paused, then examined the great elder closely. Satisfied that her soul spell had successfully entranced the unstable old man, she spoke one final sentence. The black rune on her tongue dissolved into a black light, which then flowed directly into Great Elder Wan’s brain as she spoke.

“What you have done is unforgivable. The only way to repent…is to pay with your life.”

Great Elder Wan’s eyes became completely dull. He looked down the mountain again and took in the sight of the devastation one final time. The old man slowly removed his gaze, turning to the sky and smiling sadly. Two streams of tears flowed down his face, mixing with the blood of his fellow sect members which was thoroughly soaked into the ground below his feet.

“The only way that the heavens will forgive me, is if I pay with my life.” He muttered this with absolute certainly.

After saying this eery piece, strangely, the clarity seemed to return to his gaze. For a moment, Rui paused, narrowing her eyes. She hesitated, uncertain about whether or not the spell had been successful enough to push him over the edge.

Great Elder Wan looked up into the sky and smiled. The sadness in his eyes grew even stronger, and at this point, Rui relaxed and took a step back.

Great Elder Wan closed his eyes, then stepped forwards and fell from the cliff.

A few moments before this, Yaan had finally found the strength to look back up towards his teacher. He stared blankly for some time, but when his teacher took that step over the edge of the cliff, his eyes widened and he rushed forth.

“Teacher, you-! Rui, what are you doing?!”

Yaan was horrified. His heart lurched and his mind became blank, unable to comprehend what exactly was going on. Just what was happening, what was his teacher doing?!

Great Elder Wan didn’t hear Yaan speak. He fell from the cliff, disappearing from Yaan’s view. Yaan finally reached the cliff edge and he looked over the edge, but there was nothing he could do. He could only stare down helplessly, watching his teacher’s aged body drop.

“Why isn’t he flying, why isn’t he using his Qi?!” Yaan screamed out loud, not turning towards Rui, but instead keeping his bloodshot eyes locked on his teacher.

Any logical reasoning in Yaan’s mind had vanished. Any suspicions he held against his teacher were vacant from his mind right now. Instead, all he could think of was that warmth, the feeling of closeness he felt towards his teacher, this man who had treated him so well ever since he lost his family.

As a Spirit Core Realm cultivator, Great Elder Wan was capable of flight. He was also able to wrap his body in Spirit Qi, strengthening his body enough that he could survive the fall.

But, for some strange reason, he did not do so. Great Elder Wan had completely given up on his life, allowing himself to fall to his death. Yaan’s strained eyes filled with helpless grief, a feeling that soon seeped deep into his heart. He didn’t avert his gaze even as his teacher's body hit the ground 200 feet below, exploding into a mess of blood and organs.

Thud…

The faint noise sounded out from below. It was not particularly loud, but the terrible sound echoed through Yaan’s mind time and time again, as if he was being forced to rewatch his teacher’s death endlessly.

“WHY?!” Yaan screamed again as tears uncontrollably rolled down his pale cheeks. He couldn’t understand why his teacher would suddenly commit suicide without even saying a word! Could it be that he was just that devastated? Was he truly so distraught that he couldn’t even bear to spend another second in this world?

No, that wasn’t right…why was Rui standing behind him?

“Rui…what did you do?!” Yaan leapt to his feet, then immediately span around and growled crazily. His face was extremely vicious right now, displaying none of the calmness and respect that he usually showed to those around him. His eyes were bloodshot and his rationale was nowhere to be found. Yaan hadn’t felt this sort of uncontrollable rage ever since that fateful day, when his family were senselessly cut down.

“Did you kill him, did you do something to teacher, you-”

“Yaan, shut up and listen to me, I overexerted myself and will fall into a deep slumber shortly.”

Rui’s voice was so cold and commanding that even through his anger and pain, Yaan paused and became silent. He looked down at her body and realised that she did indeed appear to be fading away, becoming less corporeal than before. Clearly, the soul spell was more than she could handle given her current level of recovery.

“Your teacher was going to refine you into a puppet, I killed him because you are the best hope I have found for recovering myself in the last thousand years.” Rui stated plainly, showing no fluctuation in her emotional state.

“But, but, you said that he was having a change of heart! He changed his mind! He wouldn’t have killed me, I’m sure of it!” Yaan shook his head through a pained gaze, even now refusing to accept that his teacher had held such despicable intentions towards him.

“He was too unstable, I wasn’t willing to take the risk.”

Yaan stared silently at Rui. Her voice was cold and she showed no reluctance to inform him that she had killed his teacher.

Really…she was unlike anyone else…

“Yaan, you need to leave the sect.” Rui continued, speaking quickly but unhurriedly. “Your identity as a fiend will be discovered without that man’s protection. At that point, you will be killed immediately. Go South, from what I have learned, there should be a proper cultivation society towards the centre of this province. Continue cultivating the Fiend Transformation Technique. Once you reach the 4-Star Realm, you will be able to repair your dantian. On top of this, find methods to strengthen your physical flesh beyond your Vital Energy. Cultivating the demonic body to this point is difficult, but not impossible. Once you reach the 4-Star Realm, don’t cultivate any further. First you must find a way to awaken me, I can help you to return to the Qi refining path.”

Suddenly, Rui’s form blurred, almost disappearing in that moment. She returned for an instant and left him with only two words. As she spoke these two words, her gaze held an almost unnoticeable trace of resolution. This gaze made Yaan forget about everything else for the briefest of moments.

He couldn’t help but focus on this woman…this resolute, unapologetically ruthless demoness.

“Yaan…survive.”

With that, her form turned into golden specks of light, then returned to the black stone ring like a current of dust in the wind. Yaan looked towards the ring blankly, before slowly turning to stare at where Rui had been just moments ago.

He didn’t stay for long. In the end, he wiped the tears from his face, took a final sorrowful glance at his teacher’s place of death, then closed his eyes and forced himself to leave.

“Yaan?”

He paused. That voice was familiar…extremely familiar.

Yaan gritted his teeth and debated just running. It would be easier that way. It would be so much easier if he just ignored her and ran, if he didn’t look back, if he didn’t face her…

But oftentimes in this life, the easy path was not the correct path to take.

Yaan sighed, forcefully relaxing the muscles in his face as he turned around. Even though he prepared himself, when he actually saw her, his heart was unable to remain calm.

“Elia, I-”

“You’re leaving?” Her voice sounded devoid of feeling, as if she had already expected this. Yaan shivered slightly as he saw the despondent look in her eyes. That empty gaze was one that he had never seen before on his childhood friend’s face.

There was a long moment of silence. Towards this ever-bright and bubbly girl, who had suddenly fallen into a dark, depressed state, Yaan found himself feeling at a loss.

But in the end, he needed to speak.

“I am.” Yaan finally confirmed her worry.

They shared a deep look with one another, and for the first time since they reunited in the core sect, Yaan could tell that Elia was finally…seeing the real him.

He also understood that she had seen everything just now. However, for whatever reason, she didn’t ask any questions.

“Lightstone Village was destroyed.” Elia’s voice was calm, but the empty look in her eyes seemed to deepen even further. Yaan shuddered when he heard this news, and the feeling of shame and guilt in his heart grew stronger.

“My parents were killed, Yaan…I think I understand how you feel now, at least a bit. Yaan, before coming here, I checked for you…Elder Sun is dead. Are you happy now? Do you feel better knowing this? Is your heart finally at ease, Yaan?”

Elia smiled at him, but her tears gave away the sorrow that had enveloped her heart.

Yaan remained silent. He already suspected it, but hearing that Elder Sun was amongst those killed in the beast tide left him feeling…

Empty.

His entire reason for cultivating so arduously all these years, was because he wanted to gain enough strength so that he could obtain revenge and kill Elder Sun with his own two hands.

Now, Elder Sun was dead. His hated enemy, the murderer of his family, had finally been killed…but not by his own hands.

The bastard died in a beat tide, along with everyone else.

Yaan’s heart felt empty. His parents were dead, his teacher was dead, his home village had been massacred and his hated enemy died pitifully to a tide of beasts, alongside millions of other pitiful souls. And now, Yaan was leaving behind the one person left in his life who meant anything to him; his childhood friend, Elia.

Life and death, these two things were forever intertwined. Everything you gained in this life was taken from you by death… if all life ended in death, then what was the point of it all, really?

A mysterious golden vortex appeared in the depths of Yaan’s eyes and he became entranced in his musings. In the next moment though, he snapped out of this strange state and immediately forgot that it had ever happened. He shook his head, smiling bitterly at himself…really, why was he getting distracted by useless musings in this situation?

“I’m sorry about your parents Elia.” Yaan sighed, gazing at her sorrowfully. He understood the pain of such a loss…he understood it far too well.

That was why he felt terrible about what he was about to do.

“Yaan, please stay with me?” Elia suddenly looked up with a weak and helpless smile. She began silently crying even more pitifully than before. Her smile was extremely forced, making Yaan feel all the more guilt for what he needed to do.

In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say anymore. He couldn’t find the words to explain his actions, to explain how he felt. In the end, he felt that it didn’t really matter. In the end, he still needed to leave, or else he would die at the hands of the so called ‘righteous’ cultivators.

Even in his current state where he felt empty, pained and without purpose, the primitive desire to survive still drove him onwards. He did not know why he felt this desire…he had nothing left, there was nothing to live for. And yet, he wanted to live…

Why did he want to live? Well, perhaps right now, he wanted to live so that he could find his answer to that very question.

“Goodbye, Elia.”

Yaan turned and descended the slope quickly, eventually running and not looking back. Elia was only at the Qi Gathering Realm, she couldn’t hope to keep up with Yaan’s 2-Star Realm demonic body when he sprinted with his greatest speed.

As he ran, eventually leaving Elia far behind, Yaan’s heart tightened and the pain he felt was nearly unbearable. Whilst this emotional torment continued to tear into him, a gust of wind swept by.

Yaan shivered as this wind brushed past over skin. For a moment, he even felt like he could hear a deep, emotional sigh within the wind, a sigh so shocking and clear that it caused him to stop and look around dazedly. It almost felt as if the world itself was sighing at his pitiful plight…

In the end, Yaan realised that it must have been his imagination, an illusion resulting from his unstable mental state. Not wanting to linger around in this place any longer, he continued on his way.

The stench of blood became thicker and thicker the further he descended down the mountain. The stack of deformed bodies in the more densely populated inner sect was like something out of a large scale torture chamber, only this scene was everywhere, with no end in sight. The aura of death started to affect Yaan’s mind, but he forced himself to endure and continue.

Yaan’s small figure wasn’t noticed by any of the elders as they started to arrive at the core sect. It wouldn’t be until much later that Great Elder Wan’s body was discovered. By then, Yaan would already have departed South, into the dark forest, with no clear goal in mind.

He was being driven entirely by his survival instincts, and by Rui’s parting words. Those words lingered on his mind even now, and they resonated with him, for a reason that he could not explain.

‘Yaan…survive.’