...Zen's consciousness returned... to a world that was collapsing.
He stood in the middle of a dueling ground that had once been serene and beautiful... but was now covered in cracks, like scars upon the earth. The sky above was a deep, coppery red... like metal that had been scorched by an intense heat. The smell of rusted blood and the ozone from shattered spiritual energy hung thick in the air.
Zen turned left... then right... The sight that met his eyes chilled him to the core. The disciples of the Celestial Script Sect, in their light blue robes... some lay in pools of their own blood... lifeless... others were fleeing for their lives... hunted by a group of people in multi-colored garments... disciples from other sects who had now become a pack of rabid wolves.
Screams... the clash of weapons... the explosion of spiritual power... all of it mixed into a nauseating cacophony.
And then... a voice boomed... a voice filled with an immense, tyrannical power... it shook the entire valley... forcing Zen to cover his ears.
"XU YIANZI!!! Hand over the 'Essence of the Dao'!!! Or today, I will erase your Celestial Script Sect... from the face of history!!!"
Zen looked up... the images of the ten powerful figures floating in the sky... remained the same. The aura of power radiating from them was so heavy it distorted the very air around them... it was a pressure that forced the spirit to its knees... so intense that he dared not even look them in the face.
And amidst the chaos... a familiar silhouette stepped out from the ruined main hall. Xu Yianzi...
He didn't look up at the sky immediately... but let his gaze drift... across the sect he had built with his own hands... at the lifeless bodies of his disciples... and at those who were terrified... before his eyes slowly moved upwards... to the ten figures who were awaiting his answer.
"Hah..." A soft sigh escaped his pale lips. "...The thing I have always feared... it has finally come to pass... What must be... must be."
In his eyes... there was no fear... only a weariness... and a faint trace of regret. "...If only I could have seen Master one last time... that would have been nice."
A small smile touched the corner of his lips... a memory surfaced in his thoughts... the image of himself as just a weak young boy... curled up on an old mattress in a small hut... and the image of the "Master" who had visited him in his dreams... the one who taught him never to give up... the one who sat with him, drawing strange "characters" that no one in this world could understand... together... ...That person was both his teacher... and his friend... on a day when he had nothing... until this day, when he had everything...
Xu Yianzi took a deep... long breath... before slowly taking a step... onto the air itself... step by step... walking up into the sky... to face the ten gods... who had surrounded his sect... alone...
"Hand over your Essence of the Dao... or else..." the leader of the group roared... before lowering his hand... BOOM!!! A beam of blood-red energy shot down from his palm... obliterating the training hall below into dust! "You saw that... Hand it over."
Xu Yianzi looked down at the scene with a flat expression. "It is not an 'Essence of the Dao'... You've already sent your people to learn the art of scripts from my sect, have you not?"
"NO!!!" the man bellowed back. "What you taught them was nothing but a child's toy! What we want... is this!" His finger pointed directly at Xu Yianzi's body... at the faint blue runic inscriptions that were glowing beneath his skin... "The power you have fused with your own body! That is what you have never taught anyone!"
"This, you mean..." Xu Yianzi looked down at his own arm... the memory of his most desperate day... the day he had taken a knife to his own flesh... and painstakingly carved the first rune onto his skin with excruciating pain... to grasp for power... returned once more. "...That is impossible."
"Master!!!" A voice cried out... his one and only disciple... a young man in a blue robe... soared up to stand beside his master. "Master! Do not give it to them! To fight is only to die! I am willing to fight by your side!"
Xu Yianzi turned to his disciple... his gaze softened for a moment. "My student... you must flee," he said, his voice flat. "This place... its time has ended... I will hold them off for you."
"Hah!" one of the ten laughed mockingly. "You think we would let a single ant like you escape? If you don't hand over the essence... I will declare a hunt for every one of your disciples... until the name of the Celestial Script Sect is no more!"
"Why waste time talking," a grim-looking old man... radiating a poisonous aura... spoke in a raspy voice. "Just kill them... torture them a little... they'll talk eventually."
"Indeed," a young woman in a black robe... surrounded by an aura of death... added. "There are ten of us... how can we not defeat a single person... Then we can just capture his soul and extract the truth."
Xu Yianzi turned back to his disciple... his voice was firm. "Go... you are the last hope... of this line of the script arts."
The young disciple looked at his master's face... tears streamed down his cheeks... but seeing the unwavering resolve in his eyes... he gritted his teeth... bowed one last time... before turning and flying away at his maximum speed!
"Trying to flee!?" The old man was about to give chase... but Xu Yianzi had already made his move!
"Come... all of you... COME AT ME!!!"
At his roar... he raised a hand to his face... and a jet-black mask with golden horns instantly materialized, obscuring his features! From his back... two mechanical arms, inscribed with glowing runes, unfolded... letting out the roar of an ancient machine!
ZING! ZING! Blue beams of light shot out from both mechanical arms... slamming into the four figures who had charged at him! At the same time... both his hands began to draw runic circles in the air... creating dozens of energy shields and light spears... to combat the remaining six!
The battle in the sky erupted! Explosions thundered throughout the valley... Xu Yianzi, with his full power unleashed... fighting against ten masters alone... that image... was a legend Zen would never forget... But ten against one... was an impossibility... CRACK!!!
The runic barrier protecting him... was shattered by the relentless assault... Xu Yianzi's body slumped in mid-air... blood trickled from the corner of his mouth beneath the mask... He tried to gather his power... to cast another defensive circle... And in that moment... a cold, sharp pain... shot through his body... SHUNK!!!
A longsword... had pierced through his back... and out of his chest... Xu Yianzi froze... all movement ceased... his eyes widened... He slowly turned his head... slowly... and saw a familiar face... a face he never thought he would see in this situation... ...The disciple he had taught... the disciple he had sent to flee...
"Why... you..." his voice was hoarse... filled with confusion... He looked deep into the eyes of his treacherous student... before the confusion... transformed into an understanding... and an endless sorrow...
"...I am sorry."
With those final words... the light in his eyes faded away…