Kai advanced to Rank 2, feeling his formed Core widen and stretch as it began to accommodate more Chi.

And oh, there was so much of it that had been released from the fight. He drank in the Chaotic energy, forcing it through his Channels and circulating it back to his Soul, feeling the excess energy from the breakthrough begin to heal his external wounds.

Kai flexed his energy just a little, creating a wave of power that launched his opponent backwards, as he himself got to his feet.

Breakthroughs were dangerous in nature due to the fact that anything less than perfect control of the energy released during one, would at best, cripple the Cultivator, and at worst, wipe them off the face of the world. For Chi, it was even worse, as the chaotic waves of energy were even more difficult to control.

Yet Kai did it, as he was now part of the storm of chaos that his energy created. Because Chaos did not want to be restrained and controlled. It wanted to be unleashed. And so, that’s exactly what he did.

He let the energy escape from him in waves, empowering his Aura to even a greater degree.

Cassius, from where he’d been thrown to the ground from Kai’s breakthrough, had gotten to his feet, and as Kai began to run, rushing right towards his opponent, the Raven heir whispered, “Beak of the Bloody Raven.”

The semi transparent shape of the Raven solidified before the Spirit opened its mouth and released a loud shrill sound. It then detached itself from its host and rushed forward, concentrating power onto it beak.

Kai raised his sword as he leapt, and pulled lashes of his excess Chi onto his sword, condensing as much energy as he could along its edge. His Aura, already in full force, barely slowed the Raven, as said sword slammed into beak. A wave of energy released from the point of contact and swept up even more sand.

And yet, even from the disparity of Realms and power and number of Artifacts. Even with all of the disadvantages that existed due to lack of a noble birth, there was always one way to cross that ravine.

Overwhelming power.

Kai’s sword slashed right through the Spirit’s Technique and right through the rest of its summoned body. The Raven desolidified for just a couple seconds, which was more than enough time for Kai to slam his foot into the ground and leap forward.

Overwhelming that attack had taken much more of his excess energy than he’d anticipated, and he was rushing his opponent on the final dregs of it.

Cassius, having expected his Technique to easily beat his opponent, could do nothing but watch as Kai sword swung towards his neck.

And then, another dome of light sprung up around the Raven heir and the sword, and the final dregs of the breakthrough energy could only cut into said dome, before Kai’s breakthrough finished and his energy, his adrenaline, and his stable set of mind fell away. Pain slammed into him from the forceful advancement and from the use of the excess energy as it had strained his cords and channels to almost the point of tearing.

He could only croak out in despair as darkness covered his vision and he fell to the ground, incapacitated.

Therefore, he didn’t see the fear fall away from the Raven Heir’s face, and instead turn into a contempt filled sneer. He didn’t see Cassius pick up Kai’s own sword and swing it.

And he didn’t see the Executive appear on the field in a flash and easily disarm Cassius, calling the match in the Raven Heir’s favor as Cultivators came onto the field with pills to heal Kai and carry him away.

No. His only thoughts before he fainted were on how he hadn’t been strong enough, strong enough to win, to take his revenge. He needed more power. More power to finally raze the Landon family to the ground and wipe every piece of it off the face of the world, so that in the future, the House of the Bloody Raven would only be remembered as a stain that his bloody revenge had washed away.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

***

“Hello old friend,” Kai said out loud, feet dipped in the dark waters in front of him that seemed to brighten as Souls passed through and then darken once again.

“It has been some time hasn’t it?” Death’s somber voice stated.

“Yes, I suppose it has,” Kai simply said and after a few seconds he continued with, “Have you seen him?”

“No I haven’t. But you should know that you can go centuries without even hearing from your master. That is what the path you have chosen gives you. Freedom. You do not need any sort of teaching from him.”

Death sat down right next to Kai, the edges of his hooded cloak slightly dipping into the River. Kai could look over right now and see the face that lay under his hood, yet he knew that not only was it disrespectful, but also there were reasons some people went mad from their near death experiences.

He stared instead, at the dark waters, feeling the ebb and flow of the River throughout his entire being.

“You know,” he said, “I do not regret what I did here, all that time ago. Some Souls do not deserve to continue existing.”

“That…” Death answered, “is certainly an opinion. But do you know the reason that Souls are always bright?”

At Kai’s silence, Death answered his own question. “It is because they do not carry the sins of their mortal vessel. And why should they? In the end a Soul is a tool used by the mind of a Cultivator. Power isn’t good or evil, it just is.”

“Maybe,” Kai murmured, shifting his gaze to the sky that didn’t exist in this twisted dimension, squinting as if he was able to pick out a star in that indescribable place. “But if I had to go back and do it again, I wouldn’t change what I did.”

“Why?” Death simply asked, even though he knew the answer.

“Rage,” Kai said, almost choking up from hidden emotion. “There’s so much of it within me now that I do not know where my Aura begins and where my mind ends.”

“You should’ve seen me today,” Kai continued after another few moments of silence. “There was so much rage when I saw that Raven emblem, I almost let go.”

He sighed again and looked back at black waters.

“That Aura is a part of you, whether you like it or not. However, the moment you let it dictate your actions is the moment you’ve become the very people you’ve sworn your revenge against. Don’t forget. Or you risk losing everything once again.”

***

Kai jumped awake with a gasp, panting in surprise as his mind took a moment to realize it was no longer in a state of battle. He calmed his racing heart and uncontrollable panting as he looked around to see where he was.

He relaxed even further as he recognized his room in the Arena. On the bedside table next to him, he noticed two notes and a pill.

The first note detailed the use of the Energy Recovery Pill, which he assumed was the white pill next to the note.

The second note, or at least what he’d thought was a note, but was an almost blank piece of paper, had only the number 9 written on it. He pushed himself to a sitting position by the edge of the bed, and pocketed the white pill, as he had no use for it.

The energy recovered by the pill was Heavenly, not the Chaos he used, and he’d sell the pill or give it to someone else who needed it. All Kai had needed to replenish his energy was sleep and the only thing that could replenish it faster was a fight.

With that thought, he looked deep into himself, towards his Soul, following the five silver chords towards his chest, where he saw his Core.

It seemed to have grown significantly, as it yearned to fill with an overwhelming amount of Chi. If Kai could’ve used it for two minutes of his general Aura before, he was now able to keep it going for double, if not triple the amount of time. He could see some strain towards the edges, however, which most likely had occurred from the way he’d abused his breakthrough. He could also see the strain and slight tears in his Meridians and Channels, though all of that would heal from rest, as long as he didn’t overuse his energy in the next few days.

His mind then finally jumped to the one topic he didn’t want to dwell on. His loss in the tournament.

Kai had shown off every single ounce of his power, going so far as to abuse the power of his breakthrough, and even show off the prodigious power of his incomplete Aura of Rage, just to fall to the schemes of the Heir to the Blood Raven anyways.

He wanted to think of the fight as an abject failure, yet no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t do so. He was a commoner from the outer villages, and he’d almost beaten the second most powerful Cultivator of his generation in all out battle, and the most insane part of it was that he was an entire Realm under his opponent.

The only reason part of him wanted to consider the fight a failure was because it was the Landon heir he’d faced, and he’d been unable to take his revenge.

Though now that Kai was of a clear mind, he knew that it was probably a good thing that he’d been unable to kill the Landon heir, as it wouldn’t have done anything. First of all, if one of the Elders hadn’t stopped him before he did so, the Bloody Raven himself would then kill him, and then the murders and crime of the Noble house would continue.

No, he decided. He needed make the House of Landon crumble, every single part of it. He had time now, and no matter the fact that the Landon Heir had sworn to kill him just because of a loss of face, Kai would not back down, would not be deterred from his path.

And for him to take his revenge, he needed to advance, to gain more power. He needed to do what he’d promised the Executive he’d do. He’d use the resources of the Sect and advance himself to a level where no one would be able to touch him.

And when he was powerful enough, he’d erase the House of the Bloody Raven from this world, consequences be damned.