[Ding!]
[Secret quest (Cultivate a technique) has been completed!]
[Ding! You have successfully cultivated the first form of the Crimson Saber Sect!]
[Ding! You have successfully cultivated the second form of the Crimson Saber Sect!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[Ding! You have gained a new ability!]
[The Integrator's Eye (Level 1): The Integrator's eye is an eye that grants the cultivator the ability to cultivate and assimilate other cultivator's techniques.
• Passive Skill — The Cultivator's eye: It grants the cultivator the ability to manipulate a limited residue of external and internal Qi. It also grants the ability to decipher complex movements, though with limits.]
"What the hell is this..." It was the same translucent holographic panel he had seen back in Purgatory, but this time its description had changed.
"What is it?" The middle-aged man asked, the panel was only visible to Li Yao, so he couldn't see it.
"You mean you can't see it?"
"See what?"
"This weird floating magic screen, I've cultivated the first form of the Crimson Saber Sect? What's that supposed to -"
Almost immediately, a piercing ring echoed inside his skull, sharp enough to drown out the world around him.
He clutched his head with both hands, and a raw shriek tore from his mouth as an onslaught of memories surged into him.
They crashed into his mind like a violent storm overwhelming him with the life and experiences of another — the previous soul that once inhabited this very body.
When it finally ended, he found himself on his knees, with his hands pressed against the sides of his head.
"Kid! Are you okay?!" The middle-aged man rushed to help him. "Shit! I knew this was a bad idea, the saber forms requires years of training to master and I let you jump into the second form without even properly mastering the first form. Your body couldn't handle the pressure, are you alright?"
"Y—Yeah, I'm fine. Just a-" Almost immediately, Li Yao's eyes snapped open as the memories settled within him.
"Hang on, I'll get you some water." The man hurried to his feet, then rushed over to a bin filled with water right in front of his house, thrn he scooped a bowl of water and hurried back to Li Yao.
"Sir, that technique you taught me, they were the codified forms of the Crimson Saber Sect?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"So I take it you're from the Crimson Saber Sect?"
"Yes, I was once an Elder of the Crimson Saber sect, but that doesn't matter now. You need to rest before the exams begi-"
"I see." Almost immediately, the middle-aged man's eyes snapped open as Li Yao appeared before him. Without hesitation, Li Yao drove the saber forward, executing the second form of the technique perfectly, and plunged it into the man's stomach.
The force of the strike sent the man flying into a nearby tree, which exploded into splinters from the impact. His body crashed to the ground with a thunderous thud.
Li Yao stood tall, gripping the saber as blood dripped from its edge. His eyes were cold, his expression empty yet terrifying, as if they carried a hatred that had been brewing for a hundred years.
He loosened his grip, letting the blade slip from his hands and clatter to the ground. Then, without looking back, he turned and walked away.
"W—what?" A low voice made him pause. He turned, and saw the man lying on the ground, staring up at him weakly, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth.
He was quite tenacious.
"Daichi." Li Yao said bluntly, his voice filled with hate towards the man that saved him the previous night.
Li Yao's rage only grew stronger, from his memories, he remembered clearly. Daichi was a cultivator from the Crimson Saber sect, but when he made the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect Li Yao and his mother, the saber sect branded him as a traitor and hunted him down ever since, forcing him to flee into the forest.
Now, he was dead.
"You said you were once an elder, that means you were there the day the Crimson Saber Sect hunted him. Do you know what you put him through?" As he spoke, a few tears slipped from his eyes as he remembered the memories from former Li Yao — the one who carried nothing but hatred toward all the sects within the demonic cult.
The former Li Yao harbored nothing but hatred for them, and Daichi was no exception. So he treated him just like the rest of the sects, with cold malice.
But now that this Li Yao had separated the good memories from the bad, he finally understood — Daichi had shown him nothing but care and love — something he had longed for all his life, and they had taken that away from him.
"Do you even remember him? Do you?!" Li Yao's voice rang throughout the forest, he couldn't contain his anger and hate he harbored towards the sects responsible for his family's death.
"How could I forget... That I cost an innocent man his life."
Li Yao's eyes twitched, widening in shock. It was an answer he hadn't expected, after all, he was once an elder of the Crimson Saber Sect, and the decision to hunt Daichi had, in part, been his own.
At first, Li Yao thought the man was just flattering him to escape his wrath. But then he noticed his eyes, the genuine look of sincerity within them. Yet, even that wasn't enough.
Then it struck him — if this man truly was an elder, wounds of that degree shouldn't have affected him. In fact, his strike shouldn't have landed at all. Or was it because the man never expected it?
"I see..." The middle-aged man said with a partially weak voice, he couldn't recognize him at first. The last time he had seen Li Yao, years ago in the sect, the boy had been a frail, weak figure, nothing like the person standing before him now.
"You're that boy Daichi left the clan to protect?" The man let out a faint chuckle followed by a groan — not one of amusement, but of deep regret.
"No matter the era, no matter the circumstances, it's always the continuous cycle of violence and hate. That was the foundation that built the demonic cult, it even got picked up when the academy was created, and it became a ruthless ground where only the strong-hearted could survive." The man coughed up a mouthful of blood as he tried to speak.
"I knew that when I became an elder. I thought I was ready to write the wrongs that had been passed down for centuries, but I underestimated the loyalty each sect devoted to the five great sects, and I committed the gravest sin that I regretted for the rest of my life. I stood there, watching as judgement was passed on to an innocent man, because of that, it took time but surely, he died because I couldn't bring myself to follow the right path."
Li Yao remained silent, listening to the man's story for a while. Then he turned around, gritting his teeth as he struggled to contain the surge of emotions flooding his mind.
"I couldn't live with the decision I made, so I left the sect and came into the forest to atone for my sins in solitude. But I did not... Expect that the cycle of hate and vengeance I once dreamed to sever... Will come back to haunt me."
There was a time when the man would do anything in the name of the demonic path. But after reflecting on his past mistakes, he realized he could no longer live with what he had become — how far he had strayed from his original dreams. To atone for his sins, he chose a life of solitude.
"You've changed." The man was particularly surprised about Li Yao's growth, most especially his ability to learn martial arts, and he even went as far as learning the Codified Forms of the Crimson Saber Sect.
Long ago before he fled into the forest, precautions had been taken to stop Li Yao from learning martial arts. They had even gone so far as to damage his lower dantian, ensuring he would never be able to properly cultivate or harness internal energy.
But now, somehow he could use Qi.
It surprised Li Yao to learn that someone from the sects under the demonic cult could possess humility, honesty, and such noble ambitions to end the cycle of vengeance.
However, none of that mattered to him anymore — not after the death of his family, and the second chance at life that had been completely taken from him.
"You're right... I'm not the fragile and talentless boy you once knew." Now, to Li Yao, he was no longer just a victim of the endless cycle of hate and vengeance, he had become vengeance itself. After all, he had spent a lifetime of pain and sorrow avenging his mother's death.
And now that the world had rejected him once again, why should he bother ending the cycle? Instead, he chose to become the cycle itself.
"Now, I am the man who'll eliminate the five great sects. I am..."
Li Yao glanced over his shoulder, staring coldly at the man. His eyes had completely transformed, now glowing blue, with his corneas taking on the shape of an inverted triangle. "Li Yao."
The man's eyes flickered as he saw his eyes, his vision blurring with each passing second. The last thing he saw clearly were Yao's eyes — the legendary cultivators visual prowess, capable of manipulating Qi on a cellular level against anyone far weaker than him.
"To think... That you were able to awaken the Cultivator's eyes..." A faint, warm smile slowly curled at the corner of his lips. At first, he tried to use his Qi to steady his breathing, but now that he knew the cultivator's eyes prevented him from controlling it, there was no point in trying.
"You really are a genius..." With his final words spoken, his eyes drifted shut and he slipped into darkness. Once, he had believed he could atone for his sins by living in solitude, but now, he felt only relief, hoping that with his death, this endless, tiresome cycle of hate would come to an end.