A day later, Moon Sect.
The decree from the alliance had yet to be delivered to the sects. So, the 'Moon' sect was unaware of the danger that was lurking in the dark.
Bang!
Suddenly, the sect gate shattered into small pieces. The pieces lunged toward the nearest guards killing them instantly and knocking down the lucky ones.
Cough! Cough! Cough!
The surviving guards were coughing while trying to get up.
Ringggggggggg!
Their heads were still ringing from the explosion.
The leader yelled. "Is there anyone else alive?"
"Yes, Sir."x5
He got five 'yes' in response.
The dust had yet to settle, so he guided them using his voice.
The leader relayed an order. "If you can move, try to assemble near me. I'll use my voice to guide you."
The guards replied in unison."Yes, sir."
"Here"x10
He was able to assemble four of them using his voice.
The leader said. "There is still one missing."
Then, he inquired the guards about his location. "Do you guys know his location?"
However, he got a disappointing response from them. "Sir, we don't know."
"Dammit"
He was angry.
Suddenly he heard a sound.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
He could hear something chewing loudly.
The sound sent shivers down their spine.
The leader relayed an order. "Everyone gather around and form a circle."
"Yes, Sir."
The guards stuck close to each other and formed a circle.
They were trying to observe their surroundings nervously.
Suddenly, hordes of beasts lunged toward them out of thin air.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh"
Their desperate cries echoed through the distance.
***
Moon Sect Hall
A thin middle-aged man was cultivating in his room. He was Gou Min, the sect leader of the Moon sect.
The sudden commotion forced his eyes open.
Guo Min yelled. "Everyone gather around."
His voice reverberated everywhere.
All the elders assembled within the sect hall in a matter of minutes.
Gou Min stated. "There's a commotion on the gate. We are going to investigate it."
The elders were taken aback by his announcement because they didn't feel anything.
One of the elders said. "Sect leader, you don't have to trouble yourself. You can trust us with the investigation."
However, Guo Min shut him down. "I'll be going too. One can never be too careful these days."
"Yes, sect leader."
They replied in unison.
Swoosh!
Guo Min took off followed suit by the elders.
'Draft'
His speed doubled in an instant.
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***
Moon Sect Entrance.
The 'Moon' sect had an area of 50 square kilometers(19.3 square miles). Its size was below average since even the 'spring' sect was double in size.
Guo Min arrived at the gate in three minutes.
There, he was greeted by the scenes like devastated buildings within a kilometer, streets littered with corpses, cultivators fighting for their survival, and beasts feasting on the human corpses.
Guo Min was angered. "That's enough."
'Lightning Domain'
The domain expanded to an area of 700 meters. Lightning bolts emerged within the domain and rained down on the beasts instantly killing them.
The surviving cultivators saw the beasts getting annihilated.
"Sect Leader"x10
Their morale skyrocketed with the arrival of Gou Min.
Soon, one of the elders arrived, but Guo Min had wiped all the beasts within the sect by then.
A few minutes later, the rest of the elders joined him.
One of the elders joked. "The sect leader has already cleaned the sect. Why don't we return?"
Guo Min replied. "We're not yet."
Suddenly a voice reverberated in everyone's head. "You're a sharp one."
***
The beasts appeared one by one from the forest.
Soon, the wyvern also made an appearance giving off an intimidating aura.
The aura caused everyone to fall to their knees except for Guo Min.
The wyvern mocked Guo Min. "I hope you can struggle longer than the people from the 'willow' sect."
Guo Min's eyes widened after the revelation.
He muttered. "The 'willow' sect is no more."
Hahaha!
The wyvern mocked him. "That's right. However, you don't have to worry since you will be with them soon."
'Thunder Domain'
The domain covered an area of five kilometers in an instant. Dark clouds formed above the domain-summoning lightning bolts everywhere.
The bolts struck the surviving cultivators and elders-carbonizing them in an instant.
The remaining cultivators tried to block the attack with their full might, but it was futile.
"Help me, sect leader."
They begged Guo Min for help.
'Lightning Domain'
Guo Min tried to make his way to their side. But his domain was suppressed by the wyvern blocking his path.
"You dare get distracted?"
'Ice Domain'
The domain covered an area of five kilometers in an instant overlapping with the lightning domain. The combination caused everything within to freeze at first, then the bolts obliterated the frozen statues into the snow dust.
0_0
Guo Ming's eyes went wide. His common belief of cultivation stated 'multiple domains couldn't overlap without canceling each other'. But he was witnessing the opposite, shattering his belief.
His people were dying left and right, but his brain had yet to recover from the previous shock.
The wyvern laughed. "Haha. Looks like I blew his brain."
***
The beasts had no one to fear since the enemy elders turned into popsicles at first and snow dust later, and the sect leader got his mind blown.
They advanced and attacked everyone.
A bloodbath started, and unlike before it spread to the entire sect.
Ahhhh
"Don't let them advance."
"Make a line of defense here, and let the citizens escape"
People's desperate cries and battle roars echoed throughout the night.
***
Guo Min came back to his sense a few minutes later. But, it was too late. All the elders had returned to nature as snow dust and the remaining people were getting massacred one-sided.
He could hear the people's cries for help.
With every passing minute, his sanity started waning.
Finally, he cracked and kneeled on the ground.
"I surrender."
The Wyvern was slightly surprised by the surrender.
"Why should I accept your surrender when I can just wipe all of you?"
Guo Min begged while kowtowing. "Lord, please have mercy. I'm willing to do anything."
Tch!
Guo Min was the kind of person the wyvern hated the most.
The Wyvern was contemplating whether to kill him or not.
"You said anything right?"
"Yes, Lord." Guo Min replied without hesitation.
The wyvern asked again. "Even if it means betraying your kind?"
Guo Min hesitated for a few seconds before agreeing eventually. "Yes, Lord."
The wyvern replied. "Count yourself lucky since I need some people under me after I have cleansed this planet."
"Stop"
Its voice reverberated across the sect causing all the beasts to halt.
"Retreat"
The beasts retreated.
The wyvern ordered Guo Min. "Inform your people about the situation. We'll head toward the 'Wolf' sect after an hour."
He bowed. "Yes, Lord."
***
Guo Ming gathered all the survivors and informed them about his decision.
The citizens had mixed reactions. They were happy to be alive, but they had betrayed humanity in the process.
Some of the citizens couldn't take it and revolted against Guo Min, but he quickly disposed of them.
The rest of the citizens were too afraid to say anything, so they followed his order.
***
A day later.
All the remaining sects received the decree from the alliance.
At first, it caused an uproar among them. But after finding out about the fate of the 'willow' sect they caved in.
Soon, a mass exodus took place. Some of the sects ruled the first option and some ruled the second option.
Luckily for the 'wolf' sect, they decided to relocate near the 'beast' alliance, the 'windgrass' sect near the 'merchant' alliance, and the 'longfen' sect near the 'martial' alliance.
The remaining three sects under each alliance formed a temporary alliance and relocated to one of the member sects.
The wyvern arrived at the entrance of the 'wolf' sect.
It destroyed the gate. However, no one came even after ten minutes.
He ordered the beasts to check the situation.
Soon, he figured out that the sect was abandoned.
"Looks like they ran away. Let's go to the 'windgrass' sect."
The wyvern arrived at the 'windgrass' sect and found the same result. Then, it went to the 'longfen' sect. The result was the same.
The wyvern roared. "Dammit. Looks like they all fled to the alliance."
The wyvern relayed an order. "Let's head back. We'll recuperate and prepare for future attacks. We have ten more years to take over the world."
***
Eleven months later, Fiery Highlands.
Grim was advancing toward the gem.
He was at the 41-meter mark.
"And done."
He took the final step and reached the 40-meter mark.
Whoosh!
The fiery aura engulfed him heating his body inside out. He was glowing like a red hot metal.
The metal with the highest melting point is tungsten, and it has a melting point of 3422 °C (6192 °F). The temperature at the-40 meter mark was around 3300° C(5972° F).
'Aerial'
Swish!
He appeared back at the 60-meter mark-cooling his body slowly.
He observed his body being cooled down and thought. "What a strange sight. Never thought I would see anyone heating and cooling like metal. As I grow stronger, I evolve further from humans. I wonder what I'll be at my peak form."
'Vigor'
He could feel the explosive power residing within the body.
"I have yet to utilize half of its power, but no one can match me at a similar level when it comes to physical strength."
"I look forward to the day, I can channel its full strength."
[Evo points left: 1,244,750]