Chapter 25 - A Desolate Farewell

As the shocking realisation of the present situation dawned upon those present, emotions soared high, leaving everyone feeling anxious and confused.

Every single group aside from the Yuso Clan had been attacked by the legion of beasts in a massive assault over the past few days. The destruction and devastation caused by an unexpected wave like this was unfathomable, the death toll was certainly in the millions, perhaps even higher.

Even the smallest losses numbered at many thousands of members, whilst the losses of some organisations numbered in the tens or even hundreds of thousands. This wasn’t even including the residents of the surrounding mortal villages and towns though, who’s numbers far surpassed that of the Qi masters on the nine mountains.

“Everyone, please settle down. Since this is a matter affecting the entire Northern border, we must carefully consider our next course of action, we must not be hasty! I suggest that you all stay within my clan so that we can gather our strength and fight against the beasts together.”

Hearing the Yuso Clan Lord speak out in this time of crisis, many thought it sounded reasonable, even feeling glad that someone reliable had stepped up in this seemingly dire situation. There were some more intelligent, older and wiser Qi masters present though…they immediately saw through this farce!

“Yuso Dan, you sick bastard! You actually planned all of this, didn’t you?! You brought the nine groups to your Yuso Mountain, knowing that the beasts would attack our groups! You planned to damage the other groups whilst simultaneously gathering strength at your own mountain!”

The Zue Clan Leader jumped up in a fit of rage and pointed towards the old Yuso Clan Lord. Despite being an esteemed Origin Soul realm powerhouse, he couldn’t contain his burning anger right now, causing his finger to tremble slightly as he grit his teeth. Zue Yin was stunned, not only by the unexpected turn of events, but also by her grandfather’s shocking outburst. She had never seen him act with such an emotional display before now!

The old man’s expression darkened. It was outside of his expectations that he would be seen through so easily…

“Bastard, he actually did it!”

“Fuck, to think that I actually agreed with what he just said!”

“I’m taking my leave. Everyone, I truly wish you all good luck.”

…

Three groups directly departed, including the Zue Clan, the Fire Dragon Sect and the Undead Coffin Sect. Whilst they all wanted nothing more than to tear the Yuso Clan to shreds, they knew that now wasn’t the time. It was more important to return to their mountains so that they could attempt to stabilise the ongoing calamity.

The Yuso Clan Lord’s expression darkened upon seeing the other Origin Soul realm Qi masters encouraging people to up and leave. In his initial predictions, even if his plan was seen through, the others would still choose to remain here due to the extreme potential danger outside of Yuso Mountain. It seemed that he had been too rational in his estimations, not expecting that emotions would lead to these old monsters losing their ability to think rationally.

Soon enough, the Heavenly Path Sect made the same decision to leave with the crowd. The Yuso Clan Lord tried to prevent everyone from leaving, but he couldn’t resist the momentum of so many Qi masters, especially when there were some at the Origin Soul realm in the mix, inciting further discontentment against the Yuso Clan.

Yuso Dan was left standing there helplessly, only able to sigh as almost every group chose to leave. Well, whatever, the most important point was that he had successfully weakened the other eight organisations.

Yaan felt like he was in a dream, even as he stepped onto his teacher’s flying sword and rushed into the air. Without even thinking, he grabbed onto his teacher’s robe tightly so that he didn’t fall. Great Elder Wan didn’t have time to worry about Yaan’s ability to deal with this extreme travel speed, he was too anxious whenever he thought about his sect. Heavenly Path Mountain was his home, filled with the sect’s disciples and Elders, all of whom he cared for…

Rui watched silently as Great Elder Wan’s heart became increasingly unstable. Her expression remained ever-indifferent, it was impossible to see through her thoughts.

The return journey to Heavenly Path Mountain was much faster compared to the trip from the sect to Yuso Mountain. Great Elder Wan’s top speed was tens of times faster than a horse drawn carriage, meaning that he would only take a few hours to return.

The Sect Lord was even faster, he reached the sect with Elia an hour before Yaan and his teacher's arrival. As for the other Elders, they couldn’t keep up at all, they were forced to chase the tails of the leading party. Whilst everyone took care on the journey to the Yuso Clan, nobody had the heart to care about the possible dangers of flying through the sky so openly right now.

Great Elder Wan scanned his eyes across the devastation of the mortal villages. The destruction to the mortal homes was catastrophic, whilst the sight and stench of blood stained every inch of land. There were no complete corpses, only some discarded limbs and ruptured organs littered about. Identifying these body parts as human was only possible due to the smell.

The same scene repeated itself in the outer sect, then again when they reached the inner sect. They were yet to find even a single survivor.

It was even worse than they expected, far worse in fact. They were too late to help anything, the beast tide had already been and gone, sweeping through the sect with a force more destructive than a tsunami. The only remaining beasts were stragglers from Ranks 1 to 3. Whenever Great Elder Wan saw such a beast, he lashed out in rage with a spell far more powerful than was required, obliterating its body into a mist of blood.

As they reached the core sect, Great Elder Wan could no longer contain the growing torment in his heart. He dropped to his knees and faced the sky, before letting out a despairing cry towards the heavens. Yaan was startled, he had never seen his teacher so emotional before…

Great Elder Wan was different from Yaan, his devotion to the sect was eternal and unquestionable. Seeing his long time home destroyed like this, it was too much for his weary heart to bear.

Yaan understood somewhat as he saw the state of the core sect. The mysterious sect protecting formation had been completely destroyed. Without the Sect Lord supporting the formation, the Rank 5 beast was able to break through with the assistance of its army, given that its assault lasted for an extended period of time.

After that, it was simply a massacre. Bodies lay scattered everywhere, drenching the land and the buildings with crimson red. Organs, bones and limbs were chaotically strewn across the ground, many chunks had been torn out and devoured from the dismembered corpses.

Every now and then, Yaan recognised someone as he followed his teacher and walked through the core sect. Whenever he saw a familiar face, he paused and trembled slightly, before forcing himself to turn away and continue following his teacher. They were currently on the Western side of the mountain, but it was safe to assume that the other sides were in a similar condition.

As Great Elder Wan walked further, he saw more and more disciples and Elders, lying dead on the floor. Compared to Yaan, he was able to identify many more people, whilst the emotions he felt towards their demise was ten fold deeper. He could feel the aura of death, their lingering resentment and pain. His heart grew heavy, wrinkles appeared on his face and his beard turned from black to grey. He looked like he had aged a century within a single minute.

As Yaan stared blankly at this scene of destruction, the likes of which he could have never even imagined before now, his teacher strayed further away. The tired old man soon reached the edge of a cliff and stared down, his eyes glowing with golden light as he activated his Eagle Eye spell. He remained silent, but a mournful smile appeared on his face, a smile so sad that it caused Yaan to shiver involuntarily.

The bodies across the mountain all came into the Elder’s view. The previously luscious and temperate atmosphere was now filled with a chilly breeze and a metallic scent. The grass was stained red all around, the plants had withered and died due to the excessive death aura that tainted their fragile environment.

Great Elder Wan stared at this scene, and a stream of tears ran down his face. So many of his friends and beloved disciples were slaughtered so meaninglessly, whilst he had completely failed to protect them. He himself had of course killed many in the past, but towards his fellow sect members, he honestly cared about each and every one of them, particularly those of the core sect. As he thought this, his mind naturally drifted towards Yaan.

“Can I…really betray him? Can I really take his life? I never intended to consider him a real disciple, but now, there are hardly any disciples remaining…they’re dead, all dead…should I refine him and become stronger? It doesn’t feel right…but I could help the sect…but Yaan, I don’t want to refine him, I just…what should I do…everyone is dead, so much death…Yaan, my beloved disciple…he is just a child…”

Great Elder Wan continued to mutter to himself. After taking in the despairing sights of death that now plagued the entire Heavenly Path Mountain, his mind deteriorated into a total mess and his heart was on the verge of collapsing entirely.

In his stupor, Great Elder Wan didn’t notice that an illusory woman with long black hair had appeared behind him. Her face was indifferent and seemingly lacking all emotion, but her eyes were blood red and displayed her hidden killing intent.

At this point, Yaan was unable to face his teacher, as the mournful aura exuding from his body was too much for him to bear. Because of this, he didn’t notice Rui’s appearance.

She watched Yaan’s teacher for a while, before coming to a decision.

‘He’s too unstable, Yaan will always be in danger if this continues.’

She took a step closer to Great Elder Wan. Her illusory form started to glow as she formed a mysterious hand seal. The seal floated up and stuck onto her tongue, forming an ominous black rune. After this, she stepped forwards again, now almost leaning on the Great Elder as she whispered softly into his ear.

“What you are doing is wrong. Killing Yaan is killing a disciple of the sect…”

Great Elder Wan’s eyes became blurry as a black gas drifted into his ears. His movements slowed down, whilst his manner of speech changed, becoming dreary and vacant.

“Killing Yaan would be wrong, so I should…” He muttered quietly, his voice absent minded.

“Bringing a demon into your sect was wrong, the demonic races are evil, yet you encouraged one of them to grow…” Rui spoke softly, her voice again becoming saturated with the black gas released from the rune on her tongue.

“I was wrong to bring Yaan in…I was wrong to help Yaan cultivate such an evil technique…but what do I…”

Rui paused, then examined the Great Elder closely. Satisfied that her soul spell had successfully entranced the unstable old man, she spoke one final sentence. The black rune on her tongue dissolved into a black light, which then flowed directly into Great Elder Wan’s brain as she spoke.

“What you have done is unforgivable. The only way to repent, is to pay with your life.”

Great Elder Wan’s eyes became completely blank. He looked down the mountain again and took in the sight of the devastation one final time. The old man slowly removed his gaze, turning to the sky and smiling sadly. Two streams of tears flowed down his face, mixing with the blood of his fellow sect members that was thoroughly soaked into the ground below his feet.

“The only way that the heavens will forgive me, is if I pay with my life.” He muttered this with absolute certainly and the clarity seemingly returned to his gaze, but the sadness in his eyes only became stronger.

Great Elder Wan stepped forwards and fell from the cliff.

At this moment, Yaan finally found the strength to look back up towards his teacher.

“Teacher, you-! Rui, what are you doing?!”

Seeing his teacher stepping forwards from the cliff, Yaan was horrified. His heart lurched and his mind became blank, unable to comprehend what exactly was going on. Just what was happening, what was his teacher doing?!

Great Elder Wan didn’t hear Yaan speak. He fell from the cliff, disappearing from Yaan’s view. Yaan rushed forwards and looked over the cliff, but there was nothing he could do. He could only stare down helplessly, watching his teacher’s aged body drop.

“Why isn’t he flying, why isn’t he using his Qi?!” Yaan screamed loudly, not turning towards Rui but instead keeping his eyes locked on his teacher.

Any logical reasoning in Yaan had vanished. Any suspicions he held against his teacher were vacant from his mind right now. Instead, all he could think about was the feeling of closeness he felt towards his teacher, the only person who had truly treated him well since he lost his parents.

As a Spirit Core realm Qi master, Great Elder Wan was capable of flight. He was also able to wrap his body in Spirit Qi, strengthening his body enough that he could survive the fall. For some strange reason, he did not do so. Great Elder Wan had completely given up on his life, allowing himself to fall to his impending death. Yaan’s strained eyes filled with helpless grief, a feeling that soon seeped into heart. He didn’t avert his gaze even as his teacher's body hit the ground 200 feet below and exploded into a mess of blood and organs.

Thud…

The faint noise sounded out from below, not particularly loud, but echoing through Yaan’s mind nonetheless.

“WHY?!” Yaan screamed again, tears uncontrollably rolling down his pale cheeks. He couldn’t understand why his teacher would suddenly commit suicide without even saying a word! Could it be that he was just that devastated? So distraught that he couldn’t bear to spend another second in this world?

No, that wasn’t right…why was Rui standing behind him?

“Rui, what did you do?!” Yaan leapt to his feet, then immediately span around and growled crazily. His face was extremely vicious right now, displaying none of the calmness and respect that he usually showed to those around him. His eyes were bloodshot and his rationale nowhere to be found, Yaan hadn’t felt this sort of uncontrollable emotional surge since that fateful day when his family were senselessly cut down.

“Did you kill him, did you do something to teacher, you-”

“Yaan, shut up and listen to me, I overexerted myself and will fall into an even deeper slumber shortly.”

Rui’s voice was so cold and commanding that even through his anger and pain, Yaan paused and became silent. He looked down at her body and realised that she did indeed appear to be fading away, becoming less corporeal than before. It was obvious that the soul spell was more than she could handle for her current level of recovery.

“Your teacher was going to refine you into a puppet, I killed him because you are the best hope I have found for recovering myself in the last thousand years.” Rui stated plainly, showing no fluctuation in her emotional state.

“But, but, you said that he was having a change of heart, he might not have killed me!” Yaan shook his head through a pained gaze, even now refusing to accept that his teacher held such despicable intentions towards him.

“He was too unstable, I wasn’t willing to take the risk.”

Yaan stared silently at Rui. Her voice was cold and she showed no reluctance to inform him that she had killed his teacher.

Really…she was unlike anyone else he had ever met…

“Yaan, you need to leave the sect.” Rui continued, speaking quickly but unhurriedly. “Your identity as a fiend will be discovered without that man’s protection. At that point, you will be killed immediately. Go South, from what I have learned, there should be a proper cultivation society towards the centre of this province. Continue cultivating the Fiend Transformation, once you reach the 4-Star realm you will be able to repair your dantian. On top of this, find methods to strengthen your physical flesh beyond your vital energy. Cultivating the demonic body to this point is difficult, but not impossible. Once you reach the 4-Star realm, don’t cultivate any further. First you must find a way to awaken me, I can help you return to the Qi refining path.”

Suddenly, Rui’s form blurred, almost disappearing in that moment. She returned for an instant and left him with only two words. As she spoke these two words, her gaze held an almost unnoticeable trace of resolution. This gaze made Yaan forget about everything for the briefest of moments, fully focussed on her departing words.

“Yaan…survive.”

With that, her form turned into golden specks of light, then returned to the black stone ring like a current of dust in the wind. Yaan looked towards the ring blankly, before slowly turning to stare at where Rui had been just moments ago.

He didn’t stay for long. In the end, he wiped the tears from his face, took a final sorrowful glance at his teacher’s place of death, then closed his eyes and forced himself to leave.

“Yaan?”

He paused. That voice was familiar…extremely familiar. Yaan gritted his teeth and debated just running, not looking back and not facing her. In the end though, he sighed, relaxing the muscles in his face and turning around. When he saw her though, he couldn't remain entirely calm.

“Elia, I-”

“You’re leaving?” Her voice sounded devoid of feeling, as if she had already expected this. Yaan shivered slightly as he saw the despondent look in her eyes, a gaze he had never before seen on the young girl’s face.

There was a long moment of silence. Towards this ever bright and bubbly girl, when he saw her in such a depressing state, Yaan temporarily felt lost.

“I am.” Yaan finally confirmed her worry. As they shared a look with one another, Yaan understood that she had seen everything just now. However, for whatever reason, she didn’t ask any questions.

“Lightstone Village was destroyed.” Elia’s voice was calm, but the empty look in her eyes seemed to deepen even further. Yaan shuddered slightly as he heard this news, and the feeling of shame and guilt in his heart grew stronger.

“My parents were killed…I think I understand how you feel now, at least a bit. Yaan, Elder Sun is dead, are you happy now? Do you feel better knowing this? Is your heart finally calmed?”

Elia smiled at him, but her tears gave away the sorrow that had enveloped her heart.

Yaan didn’t ask how she knew this. He already suspected it, but hearing that Elder Sun was amongst those killed in the beast tide made him feel…

Empty.

His entire reason for putting so much arduous effort into cultivating was so that he could gain enough strength to obtain revenge and kill Elder Sun. Now, Elder Sun had been killed, though not by his own hands.

Yaan felt empty. His parents were dead, his teacher was dead, his home village had been massacred and his hated enemy died pitifully to a tide of beasts, alongside millions of other pitiful souls. And now, Yaan was leaving behind the one person left in his life who meant anything to him, his childhood friend, Elia.

Life and death, these two things were forever intertwined. All life ended in death, so what was the point of it all, really? A mysterious golden vortex appeared in the depths of Yaan’s eyes and he became entranced in his musings. In the next moment though, he snapped out of this strange state and immediately forgot that it had ever happened. He shook his head, smiling bitterly at himself…really, why was he getting distracted by useless musings in this situation?

“I’m sorry about your parents Elia.” Yaan sighed, gazing at her sorrowfully. He understood the pain of such a loss, he understood it far too well.

“Yaan, please stay with me?” Elia suddenly looked up with a weak and helpless smile. She began silently crying even more pitifully than before. Her smile was extremely forced, making Yaan feel all the more guilt for what he needed to do.

In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to say anymore. He couldn’t find the words to explain his actions, to explain how he felt. In the end, he felt that it didn’t really matter. In the end, he still needed to leave, or else he would die at the hands of the so called ‘righteous’ Qi masters.

Even in his current state where he felt empty, pained and without purpose, the primitive desire to survive still drove him onwards.

“Goodbye, Elia.”

He turned and descended the slope quickly, eventually running and not looking back. Elia was only at the Qi Gathering realm, she couldn’t hope to keep up with Yaan’s 2-Star body when he sprinted with his greatest speed.

As he ran, eventually leaving Elia far behind, Yaan’s heart tightened and the pain he felt was nearly unbearable. Whilst this emotional torment continued to tear into him, a gust of wind swept by. Yaan shivered as this wind brushed past, over his pale skin. For a moment, he even felt like he could hear a deep, emotional sigh within the wind, a sigh so shocking and clear that it caused him to stop and look around dazedly. It almost felt as if the world itself was sighing at his pitiful plight.

In the end, Yaan realised that it must have been his imagination, an illusion resulting from his unstable mental state. Not wanting to linger around this place any longer, he continued on his way.

The stench of blood became thicker the further he descended down the mountain. The stack of deformed bodies in the more densely populated inner sect was like something out of a large scale torture chamber, only this scene was everywhere, with no end in sight. The aura of death started to affect Yaan’s mind slightly, but he forced himself to endure and continue.

Yaan’s small figure wasn’t noticed by any of the Elders as they started to arrive at the core sect. It wouldn’t be until much later that Great Elder Wan’s body was discovered. By then, Yaan would already have departed South, into the dark forest, with no clear goal in mind.

He ended up being driven entirely by his survival instincts, and by Rui’s last words to him. Those words lingered on his mind even now, for a reason that he could not explain.

‘Yaan…survive.’