"No, I can't accept this..."
Hong Tiande's trembling voice was filled with unwillingness and anguish. The last wisp of his life force was completely extinguished, and he died with his eyes wide open.
His furious, wide-open eyes seed to roar with the unwillingness and regret in his heart. The ghastly, glaring wound on his chest, still pouring out fresh blood, was a sight too grueso to behold.
Hong Yu slowly retracted his Breaking Army Spear, staring blankly at the breathless corpse of Hong Tiande. His expression was complex—a mix of emotion, hesitation, and a thread of excitent. In the past, a single glance from Hong Tiande had been enough to nearly strip him of the will to resist. Now, the once-lofty Seventh Elder lay dead by his own hand.
The stark contrast between then and now made Hong Yu feel the imnse change that strength brought.
Without strength, he would still just be an ordinary mber of a Hong Family branch, struggling daily between life and death just to earn a ager sum for his sick sister's dicine.
Without strength, he would still be bullied and oppressed by Hong Lin and the others, viewed as nothing more than an ant or a dog by those Direct Lineage Disciples...
But now...
The strength he had obtained had led to a constant rise in his status and power.
He once had to haggle over a few Gold Coins, pinching every penny to save up for dicine, and might not have been willing to buy himself any nourishing food for a whole month. Now, he carried a gold card worth tens of thousands in his pocket at all tis. Before parting ways, he had casually tossed Yun ngyao one hundred thousand Gold Coins for pocket money.
Even the once-arrogant Direct Lineage Disciples now had to greet him respectfully as "Ninth Young Master."
All of this was the change brought about by strength.
"ROAR!"
Hong Yu couldn't help but throw his head back and roar.
He was venting the frustration that had been suppressed in his heart, and at the sa ti, it was as if he were announcing to the world, 'I, Hong Yu, have made my coback!'
'Who the hell says a nobody can't turn things around?! I'm a living example! So what if you're rich and handso? So what if you're a second-generation heir? You rely on the blessings of your ancestors, but I, Hong Yu, have gotten to where I am today step by step, with my own two hands and my own hard work. And I'm confident that I will go even further and beco even stronger in the future. More importantly, all this glory and all these achievents—I fought for them myself.'
"AWOO!"
As if sensing the shift in Hong Yu's emotions, Xingtian also let out a low growl.
Hong Yu was taken aback for a mont, then smiled at him and gave a thumbs-up. "You're truly worthy of being the Execution Corpse that Little One praised so highly. You really are incredible!"
"AWOO!"
Xingtian's face was expressionless and his eyes were vacant, but Hong Yu could sense the joy in his heart.
"Little One said that your Soul will remain in a comatose state until you reach the realm of a Third-Tribulation Execution Corpse. Don't worry, I'll do everything in my power to help you recover!" Hong Yu patted Xingtian's shoulder.
"AWOO!"
Xingtian gave a stiff nod.
Then...
His pair of gray-white eyes looked toward Hong Tiande's corpse on the ground.
Hong Yu paused. "You're saying you want to give you the body?"
Xingtian nodded.
Hong Yu raised his eyebrows. He was also curious to see what Xingtian wanted to do with Hong Tiande's corpse. "Alright, it's yours!"
"AWOO!"
A wave of excitent emanated from Xingtian.
He suddenly bent down, grabbed Hong Tiande's head, and lifted it up. Imdiately after, Xingtian's mouth gaped open. Hong Yu saw it clearly: a faint black light swirled within Xingtian's dark mouth. With a WHOOSH, a dim, illusory figure flew out from Hong Tiande's body.
"A Soul?"
Hong Yu was shocked.
The Soul is the foundation of a living being.
Legend had it that once one's strength reached a certain realm, the Soul would solidify. So supre experts could even survive in the world as a Soul after their physical bodies had crumbled.
Of course, Hong Tiande had definitely not reached such a realm.
"N-no, let go..."
Hong Tiande's Soul struggled desperately.
A trace of disdainful coldness flashed in Xingtian's gray-white eyes. With a growl, he opened his mouth and swallowed the Soul. After devouring Hong Tiande's Soul, Xingtian violently tossed the corpse aside, closed his eyes, and stood motionless like a puppet.
'What's going on?'
Hong Yu's heart pounded with alarm.
'Xingtian can actually devour Souls? What kind of ability is this?!'
He couldn't help but frown and ask, "Little One, how can Xingtian devour Souls?"
"Oh, you an that!"
Little One explained lazily, "An ordinary Execution Corpse certainly can't devour Souls, but Xingtian is different. It is a Calamity Xing Corpse personally created through Refining by this god. Plus, it was awakened by the aura of a Spirit Bone, so it has far more potential than a regular Execution Corpse. This soul-devouring is his innate ability."
"He advances by devouring Souls?"
Hong Yu asked with a frown.
Although he had already experienced the cruel law of the jungle, the thought of having to kill people for Xingtian to devour their Souls just to raise its level was a line he was hesitant to cross. If it were enemies who provoked him, like Hong Tiande, who had tried to kill him ti and again, he naturally wouldn't care.
But if it ca to ordinary people, Hong Yu would absolutely not allow himself to slaughter the innocent.
Little One said, "Of course not. For Xingtian to advance, it just needs to devour enough energy. This can be achieved by consuming Heaven and Earth Spiritual Veins, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and so on. It doesn't need to devour Souls."
After a pause, Little One continued, "I just told you Xingtian is a Calamity Xing Corpse, so it was born with a Seed of Misfortune inside it. This Seed of Misfortune is quite marvelous. It will gradually grow as Xingtian advances, eventually even becoming a 'Tree of Misfortune.' The more powerful and evil the Souls it devours, the better. Not only can they nourish the Seed of Misfortune, but once the Tree of Misfortune has grown, it can even give birth to Misfortune War Generals!"
"Misfortune War Generals?"
Hong Yu asked, confused.
Little One nodded. "Misfortune War Generals are a special type of being born from the devoured Souls through the Tree of Misfortune. They retain a portion of the Soul's owner's strength from before their death. As for how much strength is retained, that depends on Xingtian's level!"
As it spoke, Little One chuckled, a little smugly. "Just think about it. Once the Tree of Misfortune has grown, not only can Xingtian fight for you, but it can also summon a whole horde of Misfortune War General underlings to help you. How badass would that be?"
"..."
Hong Yu was stunned.
Perhaps Xingtian was still very weak now, and even if it absorbed a Soul to create a Misfortune War General, it wouldn't be too strong. But imagine if, as his and Xingtian's strength increased, he could one day collect the Souls of Celestial Soul Realm, Primordial Core Realm, or even higher-realm experts and turn them into Misfortune War Generals. What a powerful source of support that would be!
An image of Xingtian rampaging with a horde of powerful Misfortune War Generals appeared in Hong Yu's mind.
'Holy crap! An Xingtian that fears neither pain nor death is already overpowered enough. If it had those Misfortune War General underlings to help, wouldn't it be heaven-defying?'
"Holy hell, Xingtian's the real Demon Fiend here!" Hong Yu blinked.
Little One threw cold water on his excitent. "Stop daydreaming. No matter how powerful the Misfortune War Generals are, you'll have to wait until Xingtian becos a Third-Tribulation Execution Corpse before they can fight for you. The Seed of Misfortune hasn't even sprouted yet!"
"..."
Hong Yu rubbed his nose, a bit frustrated, but not particularly disappointed.
No matter how strong Xingtian was, it was ultimately an external force.
What truly mattered was his own cultivation and strength.
He recalled Xingtian into the Profound Celestial Tower. After searching for a while, he finally found his mount, which had been scared off. He soothed the little horse for a mont before mounting it and continuing on his way.
The empty road returned to its calm state. Only the two gouges dragged out by Xingtian seed to commorate the fall of an Earth Soul Realm expert.
Roughly ten hours after Hong Yu had left, three swift figures suddenly rushed over from the direction of Shishui City, coming to a halt at the scene.
"Look, there are traces of a battle here," one of them said in a low voice. "Everyone, search the area."
The three of them searched around and finally found the breathless body of Hong Tiande resting on a branch of a large tree in the woods by the road.
Looking at Hong Tiande's corpse, all three fell silent.
After a mont, the one who had spoken earlier said in a grim voice, "This impatient fool. I warned him not to move against Hong Yu right now, but he just wouldn't listen. He even mobilized Dark Shadow without authorization. In the end, not only did he fail to kill Hong Yu, he ended up losing his own life."
"Second Brother, Lao Qi is dead now. What should we do?"
Second Brother said, "I never thought that little bastard Hong Yu would be so formidable. Even Lao Qi was no match for him. It seems Third Brother and his faction bet on the right horse this ti. With Hong Yu's talent and strength, he might even reach Renjie's level in the future and beco a True Disciple of the Sword Sect. Once that happens, Third Brother and the others will have the confidence to challenge us..."
"Second Brother, are you suggesting we continue the pursuit?"
"No. Lao Qi's recklessness has already alerted the enemy. Hong Yu has likely changed his route by now." Second Brother was silent for a mont before speaking coldly, "Imdiately write a letter and send it to the Cyan Nether Sword Sect by the fastest ans possible. Have Renjie and the others give Hong Yu a 'warm welco'... Hmph. Third Brother and his people want to use Hong Yu to oppose us, but if Hong Yu can't even get into the Inner Sect of the Cyan Nether Sword Sect, I'd like to see what confidence they have left to fight us!"
"Second Brother is truly wise!"
Carrying Hong Tiande's body, the three of them slowly disappeared into the night.
* * *
The Cyan Nether Sword Sect was situated in the Cyan Nether Mountain Range, outside the Imperial Capital of the Fengyue Kingdom.
The entire Cyan Nether Sword Sect occupied a mountain range that stretched for three thousand kiloters. It was said that the Sword Sect had several hundred thousand mbers.
If the hierarchy separating Direct Lineage and branch disciples within a family could be called strict, then the hierarchy among disciples in the Cyan Nether Sword Sect could only be described as terrifying.
The Cyan Nether Sword Sect was divided into an Inner Sect and an Outer Sect.
There were over three hundred thousand Outer Disciples living on Cyan Cliff Peak, on the outskirts of the Cyan Nether Mountain Range. Most Outer Disciples were at the Essence Realm, with a rare few being Early-stage Earth Soul Realm experts. Outer Disciples were collectively known as ordinary disciples and carried a Bronze Sword Order.
There were rely ten thousand or so Inner Sect Disciples.
However, the divisions among Inner Sect Disciples were even more detailed, with distinctions between Core Disciples, True Disciples, and the Chief Disciple.
Among them, there were over ten thousand Core Disciples, ten True Disciples, and only a single Chief Disciple!
Every Inner Sect Disciple had to pass through an incredibly strict screening and series of trials to successfully advance. Therefore, even the most ordinary Inner Sect Disciple had a much higher status than the strongest disciple in the Outer Sect. All of the several hundred thousand disciples of the Cyan Nether Sword Sect were desperately trying to claw their way into the Inner Sect.
Besides the difference in status and rank, the more important factor was, naturally, the difference in treatnt.
Becoming an Inner Sect Disciple ant gaining access to more cultivation resources, and one's path on the Martial Dao would beco much broader and clearer.
On this day, the Cyan Nether Sword Sect was bustling with activity. It was ti for a new batch of disciples to report.
At the foot of Cyan Cliff Peak, a spirited, well-built steed trotted slowly forward. Atop the horse, a travel-worn young man gazed at the towering peak before him. He let out a long, wistful sigh and murmured, "The Cyan Nether Sword Sect... I've finally arrived!"
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