The black city stretched across the horizon like a wound in the red desert. Towers of dark stone pierced the purple sky. Strange runes glowed along the walls with sickly green light. This was Bloodfang City, one of the major settlements in the Crimson Realm.
Wei Liang approached the massive gates. They were carved from single blocks of obsidian and stood fifty feet tall. Guards flanked the entrance, but they were not human. Their skin was scaled like reptiles. Their eyes glowed yellow in the dim light. Curved horns sprouted from their foreheads.
These were Raksha demons. Beings native to the middle worlds. Each one possessed strength that could crush boulders with bare hands. Their cultivation levels far exceeded anything from Wei Liang's original world.
But the Iron Blood Manual had changed him. He was no longer the weak mortal who had burned that first village. One hundred deaths had transformed his very essence. He could sense the demons' power levels, and they were not beyond his reach.
"Halt," one guard commanded. His voice sounded like grinding stone. "State your business in Bloodfang City."
Wei Liang studied the demon's aura. This creature had killed thousands in its long life. Its qi burned with the accumulated anguish of countless victims. Perfect material for his cultivation.
"I come seeking stronger prey," Wei Liang replied.
The demon guard laughed. The sound was like breaking glass mixed with screaming wind. "Another fool from the lower worlds. You reek of weak qi and peasant blood."
The second guard joined in the mockery. "How did something so pathetic manage to ascend? Did you buy a teleportation talisman from some merchant?"
Wei Liang's spear moved faster than lightning. The iron tip punched through the first demon's skull and emerged from the back of his head. Black ichor splattered across the obsidian gates.
The second guard had time to register shock before Wei Liang's return strike opened his throat. Demon blood fountained across the red sand. Both guards collapsed in twitching heaps.
Other demons came running from inside the city. They wore armor of black scales and carried weapons forged from condensed qi. Their leader was a massive brute with four arms and filed teeth.
"You dare kill gate guards of Bloodfang City?" the leader roared. "I am Captain Gorath! I have slain armies from seven lower worlds!"
"Then you should understand what comes next," Wei Liang said.
The battle was joined. Captain Gorath wielded two curved swords that blazed with hellfire. His remaining arms threw daggers of pure energy. Each weapon could have leveled a mountain in the lower world.
Wei Liang's spear met the demon's assault head-on. The Iron Blood Manual's techniques adapted to this new level of combat. His weapon moved in patterns that defied physics. Each strike built momentum from the last. The tempo increased until his spear became a blur of deadly steel.
Gorath's four arms could not match Wei Liang's speed. The hellfire swords moved too slowly. The energy daggers arrived a split second too late. Wei Liang's spear found every gap in the demon's defense.
The iron point pierced Gorath's heart. The demon captain looked down in disbelief at the weapon protruding from his chest. Black blood bubbled from his mouth.
"Impossible," he gurgled. "I am a middle realm native. You are just ascended trash from some backwater world."
"I am death," Wei Liang replied. He twisted the spear and yanked it free.
Captain Gorath collapsed. His massive body shook the ground when it hit. The other demon soldiers backed away in fear. None of them wanted to face this monster who had just killed their strongest warrior.
Wei Liang walked past the cowering demons into Bloodfang City. The streets were paved with polished bone. Buildings rose in impossible angles that hurt the eyes to follow. Strange creatures scuttled through the shadows between structures.
This city held over ten thousand inhabitants. Demons, fallen angels, corrupted spirits, and things that had no names. All of them were potential sources of power. All of them could fuel his continued ascension.
But Wei Liang had learned patience. Random slaughter worked in the lower world where everyone was weak. Here he needed strategy. Information. He needed to understand this realm's power structure before making his move.
A tavern called The Screaming Skull sat on a corner nearby. Perfect place to gather intelligence. Wei Liang pushed through the doors into a room thick with smoke and the stench of sulfur.
Dozens of creatures sat at tables carved from human skulls. They drank blood wine and gambled with coins made from compressed souls. Conversations filled the air in a dozen different languages.
Wei Liang approached the bar. The bartender was a fallen angel with black wings and empty eye sockets. Maggots crawled through holes in his rotting flesh.
"What do you serve?" Wei Liang asked.
"Depends what you can pay," the angel replied. His voice echoed from somewhere deep inside his hollow skull. "Mortals usually want information about the local power structure."
"That will do."
Wei Liang placed a handful of qi crystals on the bar. He had taken them from Captain Gorath's corpse. The fallen angel's eyeless sockets somehow focused on the payment.
"Bloodfang City has three major factions," the bartender began. "The Crimson Brotherhood controls the eastern districts. They specialize in blood magic and soul harvesting. About two thousand members, mostly demons and vampires."
The angel paused to pour himself a drink of something that glowed purple. "The Iron Claw Sect dominates the western districts. They focus on weapon cultivation and battle techniques. Three thousand members, mainly corrupted humans and beast spirits."
"And the third faction?" Wei Liang prompted.
"The Shadow Court holds the central districts including the city lord's palace. They practice stealth arts and assassination techniques. Smallest group with only five hundred members, but each one could kill a dozen from the other factions."
Wei Liang absorbed this information. Three major powers with roughly five and a half thousand total members. All of them cultivators at the middle realm level. Their combined deaths would provide immense power for his advancement.
"Which faction recruits newcomers?" he asked.
The fallen angel laughed. Worms fell from his mouth onto the bar. "All of them are always looking for cannon fodder. Fresh ascended mortals make perfect expendable troops. You planning to join up?"
"Something like that."
Wei Liang finished his drink and left the tavern. Outside, night had fallen over Bloodfang City. The twin purple suns had set, replaced by three crimson moons that cast everything in bloody light.
Time to begin his infiltration. The Crimson Brotherhood seemed like the best starting point. Their blood magic techniques might complement his Iron Blood Manual. Plus, they had the most members to eventually slaughter.
Their headquarters occupied a massive pyramid in the eastern district. Guards in crimson robes patrolled the perimeter. Wei Liang could sense their cultivation levels. All of them were equivalent to peak masters from his original world.
He approached the main entrance boldly. No point in sneaking when he planned to kill them all eventually.
"I seek to join the Crimson Brotherhood," he announced to the guards.
One of them looked him up and down with glowing red eyes. "Another fresh ascended mortal. What makes you think you're worthy of our brotherhood?"
Wei Liang's spear flashed out. The guard's head separated from his shoulders before he could react. Blood sprayed across the pyramid's steps.
"That," Wei Liang said simply.
The remaining guards drew their weapons. But Wei Liang had already sheathed his spear and raised his hands peacefully.
"I killed him to prove my strength," he explained. "Is that not how things work here?"
The guards looked at each other uncertainly. In the middle realms, might did make right. Killing to prove worthiness was not uncommon. But the speed of that strike had been unusual.
"Wait here," one guard said. He disappeared into the pyramid to fetch a superior.
Wei Liang smiled as he waited. Soon he would be inside their stronghold. Close to their leaders and inner secrets. The Crimson Brotherhood had no idea they had just invited death itself into their home.