The Grand Plaza was an inferno. The Purple Nether Flame didn't just burn wood and stone; it burned Qi. The defensive formations of the guest sects flickered and died as the purple fire ate through them like acid.
"Join forces!" The Iron Fist Master roared, his skin turning to metallic gold. "If we don't kill him, we all die!"
"Agreed!" The Violet Sword Master gritted his teeth, his rapier humming with desperation.
Even Elder Liu of the Azure Cloud Sect, realizing the "Young Master Nether" was the calamity, drew his weapon. "Protect the Sect! Kill the intruder!"
Three Golden Core experts charged at Mo Tian simultaneously.
Iron Fist: A punch capable of shattering a mountain peak.
Violet Sword: A lightning-fast thrust aimed at the glabella.
Elder Liu: A storm of wind blades.
Mo Tian floated in the center of the attack. He didn't raise his sword. He didn't dodge.
He simply expanded his Golden Core.
"Domain Expansion: The Villain King's Court."
VWOOM.
The world turned grey. The fire froze. The wind stopped.
A spectral throne room superimposed itself over the plaza. Chains of black law descended from the sky. The gravity increased tenfold.
The three attackers slammed into the invisible floor of the domain.
"What... what is this pressure?" The Iron Fist Master gasped, his metallic skin cracking under the weight. "A Domain? Impossible! Only Nascent Soul cultivators can manifest a Domain!"
"I am an exception," Mo Tian walked down from the air, stepping on invisible stairs.
He landed in front of the Violet Sword Master.
"You wanted an alliance?" Mo Tian asked.
He grabbed the Violet Sword Master's rapier. The Horizon Sword Intent flared white on his hand.
SNAP.
He broke the High-Grade Spirit Weapon with his bare fingers.
"No..." The Master paled.
Mo Tian punched.
It wasn't a fancy technique. It was raw Chaos Qi.
SPLAT.
The Violet Sword Master's head exploded. His Golden Core tried to flee, a small ball of light shooting into the sky.
Mo Tian opened his mouth.
"Snack."
A suction force dragged the Golden Core back. Mo Tian swallowed it whole.
[Devoured: Golden Core (Early Stage)] [Spirit Power +2000]
He burped a cloud of violet smoke.
"One down," Mo Tian turned to the other two.
The Iron Fist Master and Elder Liu were trembling. They had just watched a peer being eaten. This wasn't a battle. It was the food chain.
Underground - The Spirit Vein Node
Deep beneath the burning sect, in a cavern glowing with blue light, a different kind of slaughter was happening.
The Spirit Vein was a literal river of liquid spiritual energy flowing through the rock. It was the heart of the Azure Cloud Sect, the source of their power for a thousand years.
Guarding it were the Vein Guardians—ten elderly cultivators who had fused their bodies with the rock to live longer.
"Intruders!" A Guardian roared, his stone skin glowing. "You dare defile the Holy Vein?"
Xue Yao laughed. She was covered in blood—none of it hers.
"Defile? No, grandpa. We're here to drink."
She charged. Her Zanbato was heavy, but in her hands, it was a feather.
Slash.
She cut the Stone Guardian in half. The rock crumbled, revealing withered flesh underneath.
"Plant the spikes!" She ordered her Shadow Court elites.
Five cultivators rushed forward, carrying massive black pillars inscribed with Devouring Runes. They drove them into the banks of the Spirit River.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
"Activate!"
The runes flared red.
The blue river of Spirit Qi screamed. It began to boil, turning black as it was sucked into the pillars. The energy wasn't going into the ground; it was being transmitted.
Transmitted directly to Mo Tian.
The Grand Plaza
Mo Tian felt the surge.
It was like being hooked up to a lightning bolt. Infinite, pure energy flooded his meridians.
"Aaaah..." Mo Tian threw his head back, his aura exploding.
His Chaos Core spun wildly, digesting the influx.
"He's distracted!" The Iron Fist Master roared. "Now! Iron Mountain Cannon!"
He gathered all his life force into a single punch aimed at Mo Tian's heart.
Mo Tian didn't look. He just caught the fist.
"Distracted?" Mo Tian looked at the terrified man. "I'm just charging up."
He channeled the energy of the Spirit Vein into his hand.
"Vein Blast."
BOOM.
The Iron Fist Master didn't just die. He was erased. His body, his soul, his core—everything was vaporized by a beam of concentrated Spirit Qi that shot out of Mo Tian's palm and carved a trench through the mountain behind him.
Elder Liu dropped his sword. He fell to his knees.
"Demon..." Elder Liu wept. "You are destroying the foundation of the sect... the ancestors will curse you..."
Mo Tian walked over to Yan Luo, who was still sitting on the throne, staring blankly at the apocalypse.
"Stand up, Saintess," Mo Tian said gently.
Yan Luo stood, moving like a puppet.
"Look at them," Mo Tian pointed to the terrified disciples being slaughtered by the Blood Devil Army. "They are waiting for a savior."
"There is no savior," Yan Luo whispered.
"There is," Mo Tian handed her his Horizon Sword. "You."
He pointed at Elder Liu.
"Kill the traitor Elder Liu. Declare that he opened the gates. That he conspired with the Blood Devils."
"What?" Elder Liu gaped. "I did no such thing!"
"History is written by the victors," Mo Tian whispered to Yan Luo. "Kill him. Be the hero who purged the traitor. Lead the survivors to surrender. If you don't... I will let Xue Yao eat every single child in the outer sect."
Yan Luo's hand trembled. She looked at the crying children in the distance. She looked at the pleading Elder Liu.
She raised the sword.
"I am sorry, Elder," she sobbed.
"Yan Luo! No!"
Slash.
Elder Liu's head fell.
Mo Tian applauded slowly.
"Perfect."
Suddenly, the mountain shook.
A pressure—far greater than Mo Tian's, far older and colder—erupted from the Forbidden Peak behind the Grand Hall.
The sky cracked.
A voice, sounding like grinding tectonic plates, rolled over the sect.
"WHO DARES TOUCH MY VEIN?"
Mo Tian stopped smiling. He turned to face the peak.
An old man, looking like a dried corpse wrapped in rotting imperial robes, floated into the sky. He was surrounded by a grey aura of death and decay, but his eyes burned with the green fire of a Nascent Soul.
The Sect Master.
He had awakened.
[System Warning] [Boss Detected: Azure Cloud Sect Master (Dying State)] [Cultivation: Nascent Soul - Early Stage (Unstable)] [Threat Level: Extreme] [Note: He is burning his soul to fight. He has 10 minutes of peak power before he dies.]
"Ten minutes," Mo Tian cracked his neck. The Spirit Vein energy hummed in his veins.
"Finally," Mo Tian drew a new weapon from his void space—a jagged spear made of Blood Crystal. "A real boss fight."