The Sect Master looked down at his burning home. He saw the purple fire. He saw the corpses. He saw the black spikes draining the lifeblood of his mountain.
And he saw the young man in the black mask standing amidst the ruin, radiating an aura that challenged the heavens.
"You..." The Sect Master pointed a withered finger. "Vile creature."
He didn't chant. He simply pressed his hand down.
"Palm of the Azure Sky."
A giant hand, made of solid wind and crushing pressure, descended. It was the size of a football field. It promised to flatten the entire plaza.
"Run!" The surviving disciples screamed.
Mo Tian didn't run. He looked at the giant hand.
"Size doesn't matter," Mo Tian grunted.
He slammed his foot onto the ground.
"Spirit Vein Overdrive."
He drew more power from the spikes underground. His body began to crack, black light leaking from his skin.
"Chaos Drill."
He threw the Blood Crystal Spear.
It spun, creating a vortex of black and red energy. It met the giant palm in mid-air.
SCREEEEEEE!
The sound was piercing. The spear didn't stop the palm; it pierced it. It acted like a needle popping a balloon.
The giant hand destabilized and exploded into a harmless gale of wind.
The Sect Master's eyes narrowed. "You can borrow the power of the earth? Clever rat."
He vanished.
He reappeared behind Mo Tian.
"But you are too slow."
The Sect Master's hand, glowing green with necrotic poison, struck Mo Tian's back.
BANG.
Mo Tian was smashed into the ground, creating a crater ten meters deep.
"Master!" Xue Yao screamed from the distance, trying to rush over.
"Stay back!" Mo Tian's voice came from the crater.
He climbed out. His back was smoking. His robes were torn, revealing the black runic skin beneath. He spat a mouthful of black blood.
"Nascent Soul teleportation," Mo Tian laughed, wiping his mouth. "Fast. Very fast."
[System Alert: Poison Detected. Necrotic Rot.] [Devouring...]
The green spot on his back turned black and vanished.
"You ate my poison?" The Sect Master paused. "What are you?"
"I am your successor," Mo Tian grinned.
He disappeared.
[Reality Glitch (Minor) - Activated]
Mo Tian didn't teleport. He skipped a frame of reality. One moment he was in the crater, the next he was hugging the Sect Master.
"Gotcha."
Mo Tian wrapped his arms and legs around the old man like a vice.
"Purple Nether Flame: Full Burn."
He turned himself into a human torch. The purple fire enveloped both of them.
"ARRRGH!" The Sect Master screamed. The fire burned his rotting flesh, but more importantly, it burned his soul.
"Get off!" The Sect Master exploded his Qi, sending shockwaves that shattered Mo Tian's ribs.
Crack. Crack.
Mo Tian held on. He bit into the Sect Master's neck.
"Heaven-Devouring Art: Soul Siphon."
He wasn't trying to win a martial arts contest. He was trying to drink the milkshake before the cup broke.
The Sect Master felt his life force—the little that remained—being sucked out. Panic set in.
"Die! Die!"
The Sect Master formed a seal.
"Nascent Soul Self-Destruction!"
His body began to glow with blinding white light. He was going to nuke the mountain.
"Oh no you don't," Mo Tian hissed.
He moved his hand to the Sect Master's dantian.
"System Override."
He pushed the [Heaven-Splitter Fragment] (or rather, the intent of it he had absorbed) into the Sect Master's core.
The sharp, chaotic sword intent disrupted the self-destruction sequence. The swelling energy faltered.
"My... my core..." The Sect Master gasped.
Mo Tian looked him in the eye.
"Your time is up, old man."
Mo Tian drove his hand into the Sect Master's chest. He grabbed the miniature infant made of light—the Nascent Soul itself.
"No... please..." The tiny soul whimpered.
Mo Tian ripped it out.
The Sect Master's body went limp instantly, falling from the sky.
Mo Tian floated there, holding the struggling Nascent Soul. It radiated immense, pure power.
He looked at the battlefield below. Everyone—Blood Devils, Azure Cloud disciples, Yan Luo—was watching.
Mo Tian raised the soul high.
Then, he swallowed it.
GULP.
Silence.
Then, a heartbeat.
THUMP.
It sounded like a war drum.
Mo Tian's aura expanded. The purple fire turned black. His Foundation Establishment presence shattered, replaced by the crushing weight of a Pseudo-Golden Core. (He was already Golden Core, but now his energy reserves were monstrous).
[Devoured: Nascent Soul (Early)] [Spirit Power +50,000] [Level Up!] [Current Realm: Golden Core - Stage 5]
Mo Tian wiped his mouth. He descended slowly, landing on the ruins of the Grand Hall.
He walked over to the throne where Yan Luo stood. He sat down on the charred seat.
He looked at the survivors.
"Kneel," Mo Tian whispered.
It wasn't a shout. But everyone heard it.
Yan Luo knelt first.
"Hail the Sect Master," she wept.
Xue Yao knelt. "Hail the Blood Monarch!"
One by one, the surviving disciples, the traitorous Elder Zhang, and the terrified captives dropped to their knees.
Mo Tian sat on the throne of ash. The Azure Cloud Sect was dead.
The Shadow Sect was born.