To send exiled criminals to the Abandoned Lands and ensure that no being from the Abandoned Lands entered the Mainland, a sect had established itself at the border to gain the favor of the Emperor. This sect was known as the Clear Spring Sect.
It began as a minor sect with no notable ancestral resources or advanced cultivation techniques. The sect possessed only a few dozen disciples, and even among them, only the core disciples had reached the peak of the Spirit Warrior Realm.
Their survival depended entirely on the annual Soul Stones and resources granted by the Empire in exchange for guarding the border.
However, ten years ago, sothing about them changed.
The sect began purchasing expensive cultivation techniques, recruiting large numbers of disciples, and even bringing in foreign elders at the Awakened Sage Realm. The Sect Leader, who had been stuck at the sixth level of the Awakened Sage Realm for many years, also made astonishing breakthroughs, reaching the ninth level of the Awakened Sage Realm within just ten years.
So claid that the Clear Spring Sect had discovered an ancient treasure, while others argued that the Empire must have aided them due to their long-standing loyalty.
However, none of these speculations were close to the truth.
---
Two months ago, in the grand hall of the Clear Spring Sect
---
"We greet the Sect Leader!" said two cultivators, a man and a woman, as soon as they entered the hall. They were John and Courtney, the core disciples of the Clear Spring Sect.
Why did they have English nas?
Was it not obvious? They were on the Western Continent.
Then why did they follow a system of sects and disciples, a culture clearly rooted in the East?
Because the primary cultivation thods originated in the East and later spread across the world. Along with those thods, the culture tied to cultivation inevitably spread as well.
Anyway...
The grand hall was largely empty. Only an old man with a long white beard sat upon a massive seat on the raised platform. He was the Sect Leader of the Clear Spring Sect, Stanley.
The Sect Leader nodded in acknowledgnt of their greetings before speaking, "I have summoned you both to co with on a secret mission in the Abandoned Lands."
The two disciples flinched upon hearing his words.
"Is it about the Soul Stones, Sect Leader?" John asked.
"Hmm. According to information sent by our spies in the Abandoned Lands, El Dorado has been annihilated."
This ti, the two disciples did not rely flinch but gasped in shock at the revelation.
"B-but the leader of El Dorado, Nyx, was the strongest cultivator in the Abandoned Lands. Not to ntion that the four leaders under her were all at the first level of the Awakened Sage Realm," John murmured, disbelief evident in his voice.
"Was it an assassination, a betrayal, or an internal dispute?" Courtney asked, as those were the only explanations that seed logical for the collapse of such a powerful organization.
With a sigh, the Sect Leader replied,
"It was none of those. El Dorado, along with its entire force of a thousand cultivators, fought against four unknown cultivators and was completely annihilated."
Both John and Courtney remained frozen, eyes widened and mouths agape after hearing the revelation.
However, before they could ask anything, Stanley continued.
"According to the information, the three cultivators were Lesser Spirit Beasts nad Night, Strong, and Kitsune, while their leader was a human at the early stage of the Awakened Sage Realm.
He was the man who fought alone against an army of thousands from El Dorado and is now revered as the Harbinger of the Dawn in the Abandoned Lands.
His na, as the spies reported, was Lucifer Morningstar."
The duo remained in a daze from the unbelievable news. Courtney was the first to pull herself together.
"H-how could a person at the early stage of the Awakened Sage Realm not only fight but defeat thousands of cultivators? I know the cultivators of the Abandoned Lands are relatively weak due to the absence of Soulforce and their unnatural cultivation thods, but this still makes no sense. Defeating them alone should be impossible."
"That man, Lucifer, possesses the lightning attribute," Stanley revealed in a low, unsteady voice.
"L-lightning attribute!?" Both Courtney and John gasped in utter shock.
"That explains it," Courtney mumbled, as if such a feat were only natural for soone with the lightning attribute.
"Lucifer has beco the new leader of the Abandoned Lands," Stanley continued. "Although he has the advantage of a powerful attribute, he still does not possess resources or cultivation thods as profound as those of the Mainland. Moreover, he was heavily injured during the war against El Dorado. His whereabouts have been unknown for the past year. I am confident I could take on two of him without even going all out."
A wicked smile slowly curled on Stanley’s face as he continued.
"We will go to their base in Forlorn City, intimidate them by destroying a building or two or beating them to near death, then demand even more Soul Stones than we extorted from El Dorado."
"The Sect Master’s wisdom sees ten steps ahead of us!" Courtney announced respectfully, giving a deep bow.
John followed her example, repeating the sa words as he bowed.
"Hahaha, prepare yourselves. You might learn sothing from this trip," Stanley said, clearly amused by their praise.
The duo quickly departed to make preparations and, within a few minutes, regrouped with Stanley at the border of the Mainland.
"Open the gates!" Stanley ordered.
The gigantic iron gates slowly creaked open, revealing a vast expanse of open grassland ahead.
The trio mounted their horses and set off toward the Abandoned Lands.
Ignoring villages, towns, and even major cities like Dreadspire City, they traveled nonstop for several days, only stopping occasionally to let their horses rest.
The reason for their hurried journey was simple. Stanley was excited to make what he believed would be the greatest deal of his life, more accurately a grand act of blackmail, one that could elevate his already renowned sect even further.
"Sect Master, I heard that the Abandoned Lands are devoid of Soulforce," Courtney said from her horse beside Stanley. "But I can sense a faint presence of Soulforce here."
"Hm, so you noticed as well," Stanley replied, his expression turning serious. "I do not understand this either. When I last visited this place, there was not a single trace of Soulforce. Now, it seems that Soulforce is slowly returning to these lands."
Clicking his tongue in frustration, Stanley muttered inwardly, "If this is truly the case, the Emperor will not ignore this place any longer. I must ensure this information does not leak."
After several more minutes of riding in silence, a loud voice echoed.
"We are finally here!" Stanley laughed as the gates of Forlorn City ca into view.
As soon as they arrived, Stanley leapt off his horse and struck the city’s steel gate with a palm attack.
With a thunderous boom, the gate was sent flying several feet into the air before crashing inside, leaving a massive dent behind.
"Hah! How foolish! They do not even have guards stationed at the gate, nor any protective arrays," Stanley scoffed, a smug smile adorning his face.
As the dust slowly settled, sothing appeared before them that Stanley had never expected to witness.
"Sect Master, that move was amazing!" Courtney shouted from behind as she and John reached the entrance.
"Why are we not going insi—" John began, but his words died in his throat as he, too, froze upon seeing the scene ahead.
Instead of the buildings, streets, and houses they had anticipated, there was nothing.
Before them stretched a vast open field filled with hundreds of cultivators clad in dark robes. They appeared to have been training, but now every single one of them had turned, their sharp and expressionless gazes locked onto the uninvited intruders who had destroyed their gate.
"How impudent!" Stanley snapped. "It seems they have ford a sect of their own here."
Raising his voice and infusing it with Soulforce, Stanley shouted,
"I am the Sect Master of the Clear Spring Sect, Master Stanley. I have co to punish the arrogant brat Lucifer Morningstar who dared to sow chaos in the Abandoned Lands!"
The mont his words rang out, the silent cultivators’ expressions darkened as killing intent surged from them, their deathly glares fixed on Stanley.
"How dare you glare at like that!" Stanley snarled, his palms glowing with brilliant energy.
"I will kill you all!" he roared, charging forward and launching a beam of energy from his palms.
"Who is this ignorant idiot?"
A calm yet arrogant voice suddenly echoed from behind Stanley, sending chills racing down his spine.
At the sa ti, dark shadowy energy erged before the gathered cultivators, completely engulfing and erasing the palm attack Stanley had launched.
Stanley instinctively turned and hurled a punch behind him, but his fist struck nothing but empty air.
"We do not know, Sir Night," one of the cultivators replied. "He destroyed the entrance gate and attacked us without any reason."
"Hm. Another madman from the Abandoned Lands seeking death," the sa arrogant voice echoed.
Stanley followed the voice and saw a strikingly handso man standing where his attack had vanished.
The man possessed long dual-colored hair, black and blonde, with faint whisker-like marks on his cheeks.
When Stanley looked at him, the man stared back with sharp golden eyes, the gaze of a predator that seed to pierce straight through his soul.
"Oy, filthy mortal," the man said in a low, heavy voice. "How dare you destroy the gate?"
With nothing more than his words and the thick, ominous aura surrounding him, Stanley’s entire body trembled uncontrollably.
"I... I have entered a tiger’s den," Stanley murmured inwardly as he gulped hard.
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