Wei Shun lay on the ground, his body heavy and his chest rising faintly. The blast had thrown him far, and he could barely open his eyes.
Above him, the sky flashed in gold and crimson. The sounds of thunder and steel shook the air, but it all reached him like muffled echoes through water.
He tried to move, but his arms would not obey. His vision blurred. The only thing he could see clearly was a roof beam beside him, and the faint glow of the black dagger, half-buried in the tree's bark.
The voices of his parents no longer reached him. His ears only caught the distant roar of the two cultivators.
Wei Shun's eyes rolled back, and he slipped into darkness.
...
"Moxue Zhantian!"
Mo Fengtian shouted as dark qi flowed into his crimson blade and struck at the village square below.
The talisman that had been placed there trembled under the immense pressure before it broke into pieces.
Mo Fengtian grinned and dove into the slumped villagers, weakened by Zhentian's life-draining talismans. He brandished his sword, its metal reflecting the pale faces of the villagers.
"How despicable, Mo Fengtian!" Lingyuan Zhentian clasped his hands and gathered the few remaining talismans from his sleeve.
They glowed in various colors of green, violet, and red, ready to unleash their hidden power.
"Tianling Sanse — Three Colors of Heaven's Order!"
Fire, lightning, and wind spells crashed down. Mo Fengtian laughed and darted aside, weaving between the blasts.
His sword cut down the few villagers still breathing, their life essence spilling into his blade.
Zhantian's face started sweating profusely as backlash after backlash rippled through his body.
That wretched brat, giving Mo Fengtian an idea! If I do not butcher him a thousand times, I will not call myself a Lingyuan!
Red-eyed with bloodlust, Zhantian channelled all of his focus into the life-draining talismans.
Xueming Zhifa — Blood-Life Enforcement!
The talismans that had been placed over the village exploded into countless pieces of white-green radiance, the very life essence of the villagers.
Zhentian took a deep breath, and like the eye of the storm, swallowed all of it as they surged into him.
His muscles tightened, his hair darkened, and years seemed to fall away.
"Lingyuan dog, you have finally shown your true self! And you dare advertise to the world you are righteous?!"
Mo Fengtian stood at the village square, grinning at the scene of Zhentian's greedy siphoning.
"Works for me as well!"
With a flash of inspiration, he took out a small dark chalice embedded with red and purple gems. At the center of the chalice was the statue of a gargoyle, eyes closed and wings retracted.
"Yanyan Gongbei — Chalice of the Eye-Nightmare! Patriarch Mo Tianqiu, you have gifted me this, and now, the world shall witness the power of our clan!"
The chalice pulsed once, then its gems flared to life. Red light spread across the square, dragging loose strands of life essence into its maw. The gargoyle statue at its center slowly opened its eyes, releasing a faint hum as if satisfied.
The scattered essence that might have drifted back to the villagers now bent toward Mo Fengtian's relic instead, feeding the dark chalice in steady waves.
Then, he slipped two fingers into his back, retrieving a dark talisman engraved with one red eye at the center.
"Record!"
The talisman floated above his hand, the single red eye at its center opening with a faint glow. A thin curtain of light spread outward, capturing every motion in the air.
The roar of flames, the shimmer of talismans, even Zhentian's strained face — all etched clearly into its surface. The talisman's glow deepened, sealing every detail for the Mo Clan's eyes later.
Zhentian noticed the irregularity of the life essence's flow. His eyes bulged in surprise when he saw the dark chalice in Mo Fengtian's hand.
"Yanyan Gongbei?! No wonder... You Mo Clan family, truly heinous to the core!"
"Too late for you to realize, Lingyuan Zhentian! Now, witness my purpose and its inevitability! Xiao Shengyan Shouchao — Minor Sacred Eye Beast Tide!"
Mo Fengtian's hysterical laugh echoed into the heavens. The dark chalice, as if responding to his madness, shot up high into the clouds.
The chalice rotated slowly before low hums of beastly voices echoed from the gargoyle's statue. Clouds around it twisted black as the gargoyle's eyes flickered open, its wings stretching as if to take flight.
The chalice spun faster, its gems burning with red and violet light. The gargoyle's statue creaked as its stone eyes slowly opened, and the hum deepened into a growl that rattled the clouds.
Dark mist spread from the chalice into the sky, thickening into a swirling mass.
Moments later, the forest beyond the village stirred.
Howls of countless beasts reverberated, a maddening stampede on the rise. Birds smashed out of trees, flinging their ragged and broken wings into the dark skies.
The ground shook with the onslaught of boars and wolves, their eyes glowing red. Even the insects rose in waves, clicking and hissing as the air filled with their swarm.
The chalice pulsed once more, threads of life essence from the broken talismans bending into it. Each pulse drove the forest into deeper frenzy, until the very earth seemed to breathe in anger.
...
Zhentian, knowing that time was of the essence, clasped his hands and quickly channeled qi, forming a golden sphere larger than before.
"I won't let you!"
Mo Fengtian, who turned pale after activating the chalice, gathered strength from his arms and threw his crimson sword.
"Hmph!" Zhentian raised his left hand and swatted the crimson sword away. "I will deal with you later!"
The golden sphere crackled with golden lightning. Zhentian then pushed his hands and released the spell.
Jin Lei Wan — Golden Thunder Orb!
A beam of light flashed by, the mouth of a dragon forming at its edge and aimed at the oblivious dark chalice.
With a roar, the dragon's mouth opened wide and bit down. However, the gargoyle, once small and unassuming, suddenly enlarged and raised its skinny arms to block the encroaching spell.
"Hahahaha! Lingyuan Zhentian, your efforts are useless!" Mo Fengtian mocked while coughing up blood.
Angered, Zhentian sent a beam of golden light towards him, blasting his pitiful figure away. "Wretched insect!"
Above, the golden dragon and the stone gargoyle locked jaws in the sky. Sparks and dust rained down as they pushed against each other, neither side yielding.
Zhentian conjured another golden orb, but before he could release it, beasts poured from the forest in a frenzy.
Behind them, larger shapes stirred, their shadows towering above the treeline.
The earth itself shook with their every step.
Zhentian's face tightened. "The beast tide... It's here!"
The large red-eyed ape saw Zhentian's figure and grabbed a large tree from the side. Its muscles tensed and growled, before hurling it straight at his face.
"Hmph!" Lingyuan Zhentian, while controlling the golden dragon above, snorted and punched the tree into fragments.
However, a boulder followed right after, leaving him momentarily stunned. Too slow to dodge, Zhentian was struck by the boulder and flung away.
"Annoying insects!"
His body flashed in golden light, releasing a powerful shockwave that destroyed every projectile aimed at him.
He withdrew control of the dragon and gathered qi into his arms once again. With a wave, he flung both hands outward.
"Tianfa Guangbo — Heaven's Law Radiance!"
Blades of golden light swept out in all directions, tearing through the stampeding beasts. Wolves and boars fell in heaps, their bodies shredded into pieces. Even the towering ape staggered as its chest split open under the searing glow.
For a moment, the ground cleared, and silence dropped in after the strike.
But the chalice pulsed again. Zhentian's eyes bulged in despair when he noticed the gargoyle flying freely in the sky, with the fragments of the conjured golden dragon in its hands.
At the same time, the forest answered the chalice's call. More beasts poured in from every side, their numbers swelling greater than before. The very air reeked of blood and madness as the tide pushed forward again.
If only the Tian Ming Ling token hadn't been damaged earlier, I wouldn't be suffering alone! Mo Fengtian, I will curse all of your nine generations into eternal damnation!
Zhentian's jaw clenched, knowing that if the chalice continues to pulse, even he, a golden core elder, will be dragged down under!
His hands shook as he forced his qi together. Veins bulged across his forehead, and his breath grew harsh.
"There's no choice... if I must burn my blood, then I will! Jinshu: Ran Xue Jue!"
(Forbidden Technique: Blood-Burning Art)
His body erupted in scarlet light, his skin cracking like porcelain. His whitened hair whipped violently, threads of red seeping through as his qi doubled in intensity.
Scarlet aura whirled around him, darkening the surroundings like an eclipse.
He slammed both palms together. "Tianming Suqing — Heaven's Mandate Purge!"
A storm of red-hued talismans exploded outward, searing beasts into ash as far as the eye could see. Several behemoths were caught in the blast, their flesh torn to cinders before they could even roar.
Seeing the intended effect, Zhentian turned his focus back to the chalice. Now powered by burning blood, the golden sphere he formed now roared fiercer than before.
"Jin Lei Wan!"
The golden beam flashed straight at the gargoyle and blasted it into pieces.
Zhentian waved his arms to control the surging golden dragon bathed in a red hue. It turned around and rushed to the chalice once more.
A dark barrier blocked its assault. Enraged, the golden dragon's face turned fierce and bit harder. The barrier slowly cracked at the center, about to be destroyed.
Suddenly, a powerful bloody sword wave came from the sides, pushing the golden dragon away. The chalice flew from the sky down under, right behind Mo Fengtian.
Lingyuan Zhentian turned his head at his adversary, whose aura was no less fierce than his.
"Lingyuan dog," he wheezed, "look at you—burning your own blood, tearing yourself apart, all to stand for one more breath. How righteous you appear... and how filthy you truly are!"
Dark qi boiled out of his body, eating into his flesh. His crimson blade cracked, its edge glowing black-red as he raised it high.
"Since you burn, then I shall burn as well! Jinshu: Ran Xue Jue!"
The two auras swelled, golden and crimson filling the skies.
Zhentian pointed forward, talismans swarming at his back. Fengtian lifted his crimson sword, the half-broken chalice humming behind him.
For a moment, the whole village froze under the pressure.
Then both men roared and charged, their final strikes colliding in a blinding storm of light and blood.