The shadows moved like living snakes, twisting and coiling around Zhao Ming's legs. He swung down with his qi powered blade, cutting through the darkness, but more shadows simply flowed in to fill the space he had cleared. The cave itself seemed to be alive, reacting to Kai's will.
"What is this?" Zhao Ming's voice now held a clear note of fear. "This isn't normal death cultivation!"
[SHADOW SOVEREIGN DOMAIN - ACTIVE]
[CURRENT EFFECTS:]
[* Shadow Energy Regeneration: 10 points per minute]
[* All shadow abilities cost 50% less]
[* Enemy cultivation suppressed by 20%]
[* Environmental control: Partial]
Kai stood in the darkest part of the cave, feeling a new kind of power moving through him. This was what the system had promised him, control over shadow and death. In this space, he was no longer a weak outer disciple.
"You wanted to study my cultivation, Brother Zhao," Kai said, his voice carrying a strange, heavy tone in the darkness. "Now you can see it for yourself."
He raised his hand, and the shadows responded. Thin ropes of darkness shot toward Zhao Ming from every direction. The Foundation Building cultivator cut through them with smooth, practiced moves, his sword skills refined by years of training.
But for every shadow he destroyed, two more grew in its place.
[SHADOW ENERGY: 145/150]
[REGENERATION: Active]
[ZHAO MING STATUS: Cultivation suppressed, stamina decreasing]
"Cheap tricks!" Zhao Ming snarled, but sweat was now forming on his forehead. He pushed more qi into his blade, making its light brighter. "I'm still Foundation Building Fifth Stage! You can barely cultivate at all!"
He leaped forward, his sword aimed straight at Kai's heart.
Kai activated Shadow Step. The movement cost only 15 energy now instead of the usual 30. He shifted sideways in a blur, and Zhao Ming's blade hit empty stone, sending sparks flying everywhere.
"In my domain, your advantage means less than you think," Kai said.
It was true, but not the whole truth. Even weakened, Zhao Ming was still much stronger than Kai in a direct fight. The shadows could bother and distract him, but they couldn't really hurt someone at the Foundation Building realm. Kai needed another plan.
His Death Vision examined Zhao Ming carefully, looking for weak points. Unlike Liu Jian's obvious damaged meridians, Zhao Ming's cultivation foundation looked solid. No old injuries, no clear weak spots.
But everyone had weaknesses.
[DEATH SENSE: ANALYZING TARGET]
[ZHAO MING - CULTIVATION ANALYSIS:]
[Foundation Building 5th Stage - Stable]
[Qi Reserves: 4,200/5,000 (Decreasing due to domain suppression)]
[Physical Condition: Excellent]
[MENTAL STATE: Increasingly unstable - Fear response building]
Fear. That was the weakness Kai could use.
"You know what happens to death cultivators when they're found out, Brother Zhao?" Kai made the shadows move more violently around the cave. "The sects hunt them down without mercy. Whole families get wiped out. No trial, no questions asked."
"Which is exactly what will happen to you when I report this!" Zhao Ming shot back, but his voice shook a little.
"Report to who?" Kai tilted his head. "You came here to kill witnesses. You've already killed fourteen disciples on earlier transports. When you die in this cave, who will know what really happened?"
Zhao Ming's eyes went wide. "Wang Shu knows I came in here after you. Liu Jian..."
"Liu Jian is finished. His cultivation foundation is broken. Even if he lives, he'll never advance again." Kai took a step forward, shadows swirling around him like a living cloak. "And Wang Shu? He'll find your body and think you underestimated a trapped enemy. These things happen."
[PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTACK: Effective]
[ZHAO MING: Fear response increasing]
[QI CIRCULATION: Becoming unstable]
It was mostly a bluff. Kai still didn't know if he could actually kill a Foundation Building cultivator, even in his domain. But fear was a weapon, and he was using it well.
"You're crazy," Zhao Ming said, backing toward the cave entrance. "You think you can kill me? I'll destroy you, then burn this whole cave system to the ground!"
He gathered his qi for a massive attack, his sword glowing with enough power to bring down the cave ceiling. A desperate move, but it would work... if the cave collapsed, Kai's domain advantage would be gone.
[WARNING: MAJOR QI ATTACK INCOMING]
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: Counter with maximum shadow energy]
Kai didn't wait. He poured shadow energy into the cave's darkness, telling it to become solid. The shadows came together into a wall between him and Zhao Ming just as the sword strike landed.
The collision was huge.
Qi and shadow energy smashed together in an explosion of light and darkness. Stone cracked. The cave shook. Kai felt the shockwave like a physical hit, throwing him against the back wall.
[SHADOW ENERGY: 87/150]
[HP: 76/100]
[CAVE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY: 67%]
But the cave held. Just barely.
Zhao Ming stood breathing heavily, his qi reserves much lower after that big attack. The glow of his sword had noticeably dimmed.
"Impossible..." he gasped. "That should have destroyed everything!"
"In my domain," Kai said, getting up from where he'd fallen, "your power feeds mine."
It was a lie, but Zhao Ming didn't know that. The truth was simpler... Kai had almost used up all his shadow energy blocking that attack. One more strike like that and he'd have no defenses left.
But Zhao Ming didn't know that either.
[SHADOW ENERGY: 97/150 - Regenerating]
[ZHAO MING STATUS: Qi reserves critically low - 1,200/5,000]
The explosion had drained Zhao Ming more than it had drained Kai, especially with the domain's regeneration effect. The balance was changing.
"Last chance, Brother Zhao," Kai said, the shadows gathering around him again. "Walk away. Leave the sect. I'll tell them you died with the others. You can start over somewhere else."
For a moment, real conflict showed on Zhao Ming's face. The instinct to survive was fighting with his pride. Then his expression hardened.
"I've killed fourteen disciples. What's one more, even if it costs me everything?"
He charged forward, sword raised for a final, desperate attack.
Kai waited until the last possible second, watching Zhao Ming's approach with Death Vision. He could see it clearly now... the way Zhao Ming's low qi reserves made his movements slightly slower, his technique less clean. Desperation was making him careless.
Shadow Step.
Kai blurred to the side. Zhao Ming's sword hit stone where he'd been standing. Before Zhao Ming could recover, Kai struck with his own blade, aiming for the opening in Zhao Ming's defense.
The sword cut into Zhao Ming's shoulder, drawing blood.
[CRITICAL HIT]
[DEATH POINT GAINED: 5]
[ZHAO MING: Seriously wounded]
Zhao Ming stumbled back, blood flowing from the wound. His sword fell from his numb fingers. His qi flickered, its flow disrupted by the injury.
"How?" He looked at Kai with genuine confusion. "You're just a mortal. How are you doing this?"
"I'm not a mortal anymore, Brother Zhao," Kai said quietly. "I'm something else now."
He moved forward, sword ready. Zhao Ming tried to back away, but the cave wall was behind him. Trapped. Hurt. Beaten.
This was it. The moment Kai had been moving toward since the ambush began. Kill Zhao Ming, take his death energy, and remove the threat for good.
[KILL OPPORTUNITY: CONFIRMED]
[ESTIMATED DEATH POINTS: 150]
[ESTIMATED SHADOW ENERGY GAIN: 200+]
[ADVANCEMENT POTENTIAL: Significant]
Kai looked at Zhao Ming... wounded, beaten, terrified. In his previous life, Kai had ruined business competitors without a second thought. But he'd never actually killed anyone. That had always been a line he wouldn't cross.
Until now.
"Wait," Zhao Ming said, his voice breaking. "Please. I'll leave. I'll never come back. Just let me live."
[DECISION POINT]
[OPTION 1: Kill Zhao Ming - Secure death energy, eliminate threat permanently]
[OPTION 2: Spare Zhao Ming - Maintain moral boundary, but significant risk of future retaliation]
Kai thought about the fourteen disciples Zhao Ming had murdered. Young cultivators who'd been weak, struggling, just trying to survive in a harsh world. Zhao Ming had killed them not because he had to, but because he liked it.
The system had marked him as a right and proper target. The world's own rough sense of justice, such as it was, would approve of his death.
And Kai needed the power.
"I'm sorry, Brother Zhao," Kai said, and he meant it. "But you were right earlier. In the cultivation world, the strong survive and the weak die. You taught me that."
He drove his sword through Zhao Ming's heart.
[KILL CONFIRMED]
[ZHAO MING: DECEASED]
[ABSORBING DEATH ENERGY...]
The rush of power was nothing like anything Kai had felt before. Where natural deaths had given him small streams of energy, this was a flood. Zhao Ming's cultivation base, built over years of work, flowed into Kai in one overwhelming wave.
[DEATH ENERGY ABSORBED: 180 POINTS]
[SHADOW ENERGY: 97/150 → 150/150 (MAXIMUM)]
[DEATH POINTS GAINED: 150]
[TOTAL DEATH POINTS: 206]
[CULTIVATION BREAKTHROUGH IMMINENT]
Power burned through Kai's meridians, forcing them open, creating paths where none had existed before. His dantian, empty and still until now, suddenly filled with shadow energy.
[QI GATHERING REALM - FIRST STAGE: ACHIEVED]
[SHADOW CULTIVATION FOUNDATION: ESTABLISHED]
[NEW ABILITIES UNLOCKED]
Kai fell to his knees as the transformation finished. When he opened his eyes, the world looked different. His Death Vision had grown, showing him layers of reality he hadn't been able to see before. He could sense life and death in an area several hundred meters around him now.
And outside the cave, he sensed two life signs... Wang Shu helping the dying Liu Jian.
[LIU JIAN STATUS: Critically wounded, estimated time until death: 15 minutes]
[WANG SHU STATUS: Unaware of Zhao Ming's death, focused on Liu Jian]
Kai stood, feeling his new power settle into place. He'd crossed a line tonight. Killed a man with his own hands. Taken his death energy like a predator eating its prey.
He waited for the guilt, for the horror at what he'd done.
It never came.
Instead, he only felt a cold sense of satisfaction. Zhao Ming had been a threat. Now he wasn't. Simple as that.
[SHADOW SOVEREIGN SYSTEM - STATUS UPDATE]
Name: Kai Chen
Realm: Qi Gathering - First Stage
Shadow Energy: 150/150
Death Points: 206
Abilities: [Death Vision] [Shadow Step] [Shadow Cloak] [Soul Harvest - UNLOCKED]
Mission Progress: Survive first month (20/30 days completed)
[NEW MISSION AVAILABLE]
[ELIMINATE REMAINING THREATS: Wang Shu and Liu Jian]
[REWARD: 200 Death Points, Advanced Shadow Techniques]
[OPTIONAL: Mission can be declined]
Kai looked at Zhao Ming's body, then toward the cave entrance where Wang Shu still didn't know his companion was dead.
Two more threats. Two more sources of death energy.
But unlike Zhao Ming, who'd actively attacked him, Wang Shu was just helping a wounded friend. And Liu Jian was already dying from the injury Kai had caused.
Did they deserve death?
[SYSTEM NOTATION]
[WANG SHU: Involved in 8 murders]
[LIU JIAN: Involved in 8 murders]
[BOTH TARGETS: Justified elimination per cultivation world standards]
The system gave him a reason, but the choice was still his. Kai had killed Zhao Ming to defend himself, in the middle of a fight. But walking out there to execute two people... one wounded, one distracted... that would be different.
That would be murder.
In his previous life, Kai had always found ways to excuse his ruthless business practices. Just business, nothing personal. But he'd never faced a choice this stark before. Kill or let live. Execute or show mercy.
He thought about the fourteen disciples Zhao Ming's group had murdered. Young people who had begged for mercy and received none. Weak cultivators who had trusted that sect missions would be safe.
Wang Shu and Liu Jian had helped kill them all.
Kai picked up Zhao Ming's sword... better quality than his own basic blade... and walked toward the cave entrance.
The shadows moved with him now, answering to his will even outside the domain. His cultivation foundation, built on death and shadow, gave him power that felt both strange and natural.
[DECISION LOCKED]
[PROCEEDING WITH ELIMINATION]
He came out of the cave to find Wang Shu kneeling beside Liu Jian, trying hard to stop the bleeding from the meridian damage. The stocky disciple was pale, his breathing shallow, clearly dying.
Wang Shu looked up at Kai's approach and his eyes went wide.
"You... you're alive? Where's Brother Zhao?"
"Dead," Kai said simply. "You're next."
Wang Shu's hand went to his knife, but Kai was faster. Shadow Step closed the distance instantly. The sword... Zhao Ming's sword... went through Wang Shu's chest before he could even pull his weapon.
[KILL CONFIRMED]
[WANG SHU: DECEASED]
[ABSORBING DEATH ENERGY...]
[DEATH ENERGY ABSORBED: 120 POINTS]
[DEATH POINTS GAINED: 100]
Wang Shu fell, dead before he hit the ground. Kai turned to Liu Jian, who looked up at him with glazed eyes.
"Please," the dying man whispered. "I didn't... I just followed orders..."
"You killed eight people, Brother Liu," Kai said. "You chose to follow those orders."
He drove the sword through Liu Jian's heart, ending it quickly.
[KILL CONFIRMED]
[LIU JIAN: DECEASED]
[ABSORBING DEATH ENERGY...]
[DEATH ENERGY ABSORBED: 115 POINTS]
[DEATH POINTS GAINED: 100]
[MISSION COMPLETE]
[ELIMINATE REMAINING THREATS: SUCCESSFUL]
[REWARD: 200 Death Points, Advanced Shadow Techniques]
[TOTAL DEATH POINTS: 606]
[ADDITIONAL REWARD: Soul Harvest Technique Upgraded]
Kai stood among the bodies, blood on his hands and sword, feeling the death energy settle into his cultivation base. Three Foundation Building cultivators dead. Their power taken. Their threat removed.
He'd crossed more than one line tonight. He'd gone from killing to defend himself to executing wounded opponents. From reluctant violence to efficient removal.
And he felt... nothing. No guilt. No horror. Just cold satisfaction at a job completed.
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS]
[HOST MENTAL STATE: Stable]
[DEATH AFFINITY: Strengthening]
[WARNING: Continued death cultivation will alter psychological state]
[RECOMMENDATION: Maintain awareness of personal boundaries]
Kai looked at the warning and understood. The more he cultivated death, the more he'd become like death itself... cold, efficient, unavoidable. The system was warning him that he could lose himself to this power.
But right now, covered in blood and standing victorious over three predators who had murdered fourteen innocent people, Kai didn't care.
He'd survived. He'd grown stronger. And he'd removed threats that would have killed him and others.
Tomorrow, he would think about morality and limits. Tonight, he had bodies to get rid of and a story to create.