The main hall of the "Fallen Leaf Sect" was steeped in a gloomy silence, broken only by the sound of the mournful wind passing through its decaying wooden windows. The hall had never been grand, but now it seemed more humble and wretched, a reflection of the state the sect had reached in recent years.
The Sect Leader, "Yuan Bo," sat on the main seat made of "Black Oak" wood, his face, which always bore an air of feigned prestige, was now grim and covered with worry and fatigue. He was at the peak of the eighth level of Qi Condensation, indisputably the strongest person in the sect, yet he felt more helpless than ever. Before him sat five elders, each at the seventh level of Qi Condensation, their faces a mixture of anger, frustration, and bitterness.
Among them was Elder "Liu Kang," the man who had wanted to expel "Wei Shen" months ago, his face now red with indignation as he slammed his fist on the wooden table before him.
"An insult! This is an unforgivable insult!" shouted Elder Liu, his voice echoing in the nearly empty hall. "We lost seven of our best inner disciples in the 'Serpentine Mist Valley,' dozens of outer disciples, and returned empty-handed, while some unknown thief stole the legendary 'Spirit Dragon Fruit' from under the noses of the 'Crimson Flame Palace' and the 'Jade Cloud School'! We've become the laughingstock of the entire province!"
Another elder, with a sparse white beard and long white hair, added in a tired, sad voice, "The problem isn't just the loss of the treasure or face, Elder Liu. It's the future of the sect. Over the past two months, more than twenty of our outer disciples have vanished while performing simple tasks in the forest. At first, we thought it was attacks from spiritual beasts that had become more ferocious, or that some had fled out of cowardice and lack of loyalty. But now… I don't know what to think. Something strange is happening in that forest."
Sect Leader Yuan Bo sighed deeply, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "I've sent reconnaissance teams, but they found nothing out of the ordinary, other than some traces of old battles. The beasts are behaving normally, and there's no evidence of demonic cultivators or bandits in our area." He then looked at his elders with a sharp gaze. "The truth is, we have become weak. Our disciples lack experience and courage, and our resources dwindle day by day. The 'Spirit Dragon Fruit' was our only hope to change this situation, but that hope was stolen from us."
And while they argued, casting blame on each other and on the other sects, and discussed their desperate plans to increase their caution and tighten the guards, none of them realized that the real catastrophe, the catastrophe that was the cause of a large part of their recent troubles, was not coming—it had already arrived at their doorstep.
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Wei Shen walked calmly and confidently through the outer gate of the "Fallen Leaf Sect." He didn't sneak; he didn't hide. He entered on foot in broad daylight, as if he were an ordinary disciple returning from a mission, or perhaps an honored guest from a major sect. His power aura of peak ninth-level Qi Condensation was completely concealed thanks to his absolute control over his "Blood Qi." All that was visible was the deadly coldness in his eyes, the terrifying calm in his movements, and that absolute confidence that only one who stands at the pinnacle of his world could possess.
Two outer disciples, on lazy guard duty at the gate, saw him. At first, they didn't recognize him due to the immense change in his presence and his features, which had become sharper and more mature. But as he drew closer, one of them widened his eyes in shock and horror.
"You… you're Wei Shen?" he said loudly, his voice mixed with astonishment and contempt. "The trash! How dare you return here? Have you gone mad?!"
The two disciples, both at the second level of Qi Condensation, moved to intercept him, their hands going to the rusty swords hanging at their waists. "Get lost, you scum, before we break your legs and throw you off the mountain, and this time there will be no coming back!"
A faint, ice-cold smile played on Wei Shen's lips. He didn't raise his daggers, nor did he prepare for a fight. Instead, he slowly raised his right hand, as if waving them a final farewell.
"Annoying insects," he muttered in a voice only he could hear.
In the next moment, the two disciples froze in place. There was no explosion of energy, no visible attack. But their eyes suddenly widened with indescribable terror and turned a dark red. Dark veins began to appear on their necks and faces, like a black spiderweb spreading under their skin with horrifying speed.
They tried to scream, to speak, to call for help, but only a muffled, horrific, bloody gurgle escaped their throats. They felt their blood boiling in their veins, rebelling against them, trying to tear their bodies apart from the inside. This was one of the terrifying applications of the "Art of the Bloody Tide": controlling the blood of weaker opponents and turning it into a weapon that killed them from within.
They fell to their knees, blood beginning to trickle from their eyes, noses, and ears. Their bodies convulsed violently for a few seconds, then they collapsed to the ground, lifeless corpses, their features frozen in a mask of unimaginable pain and absolute horror.
Wei Shen continued his walk calmly, as if he had done nothing, leaving the two bodies behind and heading towards the outer training grounds.
Dozens of outer disciples were there, training or lounging around. As soon as they saw him, whispers and mocking laughter began.
"Look! It's the trash Wei Shen! He's come back to be beaten again!"
"Has he completely lost his mind? Doesn't he know Elder Liu will skin him alive if he sees him here?"
But their mockery turned to screams of terror when they saw Wei Shen raise his hand again.
"What…?"
Before they could do anything, or even understand what was happening, an invisible wave of killing intent swept over them. Every disciple at the first, second, and third levels of Qi Condensation felt the same terrifying sensation: their blood rebelling, boiling, rupturing their blood vessels from the inside.
It was a scene from the deepest nightmares of hell. Dozens of disciples collapsed to the ground at the same moment, writhing, blood exploding from every orifice in their bodies. It wasn't a battle; it was a silent, swift, and terrifying massacre, carried out by one person with a mere gesture of his hand.
Wei Shen didn't turn to look at their dying screams or the horror in their eyes. He continued his walk calmly and steadily towards the inner disciples' section, leaving behind a field of convulsing corpses that slowly began to cool.
The few screams that some had managed to let out before they died, along with the commotion of the falling bodies, had finally reached the main hall where the elders were still arguing.
The hall's door burst open, and the elders and Sect Leader Yuan Bo came out, their faces a mixture of anger and confusion. Then, they saw the horrific scene on the training grounds, and they saw the young man standing calmly amidst all those corpses, like the god of death himself.
"WEI SHEN!!!" screamed Elder Liu Kang, his mind almost exploding with rage and disbelief as he saw the disciple he himself had expelled months ago now standing like an aura of death. "You… you demon! What in the hell have you done?!"
Wei Shen looked at him coldly, the demonic red glint in his eyes deepening. "I've returned… to collect a long-overdue old debt."
"Kill him! Kill this monster now!" roared Sect Leader Yuan Bo, sensing the powerful and mysterious aura surrounding Wei Shen, an aura that didn't belong to the Qi Condensation realm as he knew it. It was heavier, darker, and more… lethal.
The five elders, all at the seventh level of Qi Condensation, rushed towards Wei Shen from different directions, unleashing their strongest techniques. One launched a "Cutting Wind Palm" that tore at the air, while another launched a "Sword of the Dancing Autumn Leaves" that shimmered with a faint green light, and the rest moved to encircle him, attempting to crush him with their collective power.
Wei Shen stood in place, a sarcastic, cold smile on his lips. "Good training dummies… Let's see what I've learned."
With a will, his "Blood Qi" swirled around his body, forming the "Bloody Tide Armor," a viscous shield resembling a vortex of shadows and tormented faces that appeared and disappeared.
The elders' attacks struck the shield. There was no violent explosion as they expected, but a muffled, unsettling hiss, like water hitting superheated iron. Their techniques began to corrode and dissolve upon contact with the shield, which seemed to absorb their power and dissolve it like acid.
The elders' eyes widened in shock and horror. "What is this damned demonic armor?!" one of them screamed.
Wei Shen gave them no time to think or regroup. He moved. His speed was astonishing, a phantom weaving between their attacks with ease. He dodged their techniques with unbelievable agility, suddenly appearing before one, then vanishing the next moment, leaving behind a superficial cut with his ivory dagger—not to kill, but to humiliate and to test.
He was playing with them, enjoying the sight of terror and confusion on their faces.
"Is this all you have, you mighty elders of the Fallen Leaf Sect?" he said in a calm, cold voice that echoed across the now-silent square, where only the sound of their panting breaths and the mournful wind remained. "Your techniques are full of openings a child could see. Your combat efficiency… is just as pathetic as I remember."
He was using them to test the limits of his ninth-level power, to test the effectiveness of the "Bloody Tide Armor" against multiple attacks from seventh-level cultivators, and to test his speed and maneuverability in a real battle against multiple opponents.
After several minutes of this cruel, humiliating game, in which the powerful elders who once decided the fates of disciples were turned into mere panicked rats in a cage, Wei Shen decided that the training time was over, and the play had become boring.
"I've enjoyed this short training session," he said, suddenly stopping in the middle of the square. "But it's time for the end."
He raised his hand, and this time, he unleashed five "blood blades" at once. The dark crimson crescents shot through the air, making a terrifying hissing sound, each one targeting an elder.
The elders desperately tried to defend themselves, unleashing all their remaining Qi into their proud defensive techniques and shields.
But it was utterly useless.
The blood blades pierced their defenses as if they were hot knives through soft butter. They didn't cut them, but touched them, and began to corrode their bodies at a terrifying speed, turning flesh, blood, bone, and Qi into black dust that scattered in the wind.
Indescribable screams of pain and horror erupted from the elders as they watched their own bodies disintegrate before their eyes, consumed alive by a demonic technique they had never seen or heard of before.
Sect Leader Yuan Bo, at the eighth level, stood frozen in place, watching his elders, his comrades, the pillars of his sect, being killed in this demonic and humiliating way, absolute terror paralyzing every cell in his body, preventing him from even thinking of attacking or fleeing.
The last elder fell, staring at Wei Shen with eyes full of hatred, horror, and regret, half of his body already turned to black dust. It was Elder Liu Kang.
Wei Shen walked calmly and stood before what was left of his body. "Remember, Elder Liu? You wanted to expel me for being 'trash.' Look now who the real trash being cleansed from this world is."
Then, with a swift movement, he stabbed him through the heart with his ivory dagger, ending his slow torment.
Now, only the Sect Leader remained, standing alone in the square filled with corpses and black dust, trembling with rage, fear, and despair.
"Who… who in the hell are you?" Yuan Bo screamed, his voice trembling violently. "You are not Wei Shen! You can't be! There is no demon like you in this world!"
Wei Shen turned towards him, the demonic red glint in his eyes now as bright as embers, as if looking at his next prey. A harsh, confident smile stretched across his lips.