When the room fell silent, Dan Kai waved his sleeve once and everything burned.
The cauldrons, scrolls, corpses—turned to ash.
He moved next to the mid-hall gardens.
Dozens of disciples gathered there, training under moonlight with poison plants.
"Elder Chang?"
One girl ran toward him with a hopeful expression. "Did you bring more Heart-Cutting Seeds for our—"
She paused. Her eyes caught the blood on his boots.
Dan Kai sighed. "Forgive me."
He tossed a jade orb into the garden's center.
Boom!
The ground erupted in violet flame. Poisonous mist rolled over the garden like a tidal wave.
Cries filled the air.
"No! What's happening—!?"
"My lungs—I can't—breathe—!"
"Help! Elders—!"
Dan Kai clenched his fists.
He didn't look back. Most of the Thousand Poisons Hall had been wicked cultivators, their hands stained with the suffering of hundreds—but even so, this place had once been his favorite.
By midnight, three of the four elder peaks had fallen.
