"Arghhh stop it stop it!"

From the agonizing pain, Thordan wriggled his body and pushed the skilled Physician. Although Katrina did destroy his Dantian and cripple him, that doesn't mean he'll give up that easily. He belongs to the best alchemy sect in the Cloud Sea Universe so they obviously have many means to restore his lost cultivation.

It was supposed to be simple yet a hurdle appeared and caused everything to crumble. The mark of the Dark Blade's oath was sucking all the medicinal energy that enters his body, rendering it completely useless.

Fortunately, Thordan's status within his sect is quite high so even after becoming a cripple, not a soul dared to mock him. Furthermore, they shared his hate as they, too, lost a precious talent under the hands of the White Specter Clan.

Thordan turned toward a young man standing at the corner and angrily asked:

"Did you send them?"

The young man bowed his head and replied:

"Yes, they should have arrived already. Please rest assured, the task will be completed without any mishap."

Thordan waved his hand dismissively and let out a sigh. He shifted back his attention to the Physician sitting next to him and said:

"How's my condition?"

The Physician dropped his head and hesitated on whether to spill all the truth or try to reassure his patient.

"Just tell me, It's not like I haven't figured out a few things by myself."

The Physician nodded his head and gave a brief explanation:

"Your body is in perfect condition, the only problem is that mark. It constantly releases Dark Magic which affects your emotions and consumes any kind of energy that enters your body. Moreover, it is slowly corrupting your mortal body, if this continues I'm afraid the worst will happen…"

Though he didn't directly say it, it was clear what he was implying. Thordan snorted but didn't lash out at the Physician, who excused himself a bit later.

As he sat alone in his room, Thordan clenched his fists and mumbled

"Soon, I'll get back everything I lost."

*****

The White Specter Clan, Forbidden territory.

Inside Katrina's residence, which became Lucy's home and prison, sat a lonesome figure. She was staring at the front in a daze while one of her eyes emitted a blue luster every now and then. It took her great effort just to activate the eye's ability, stopping time is too mentally taxing.

Everything was quiet and peaceful, as it always had been. However, this serenity was cut short by a small, almost unnoticeable sound which was clearly heard by the silent Lucy.

Her Dexterity was high enough for her to hear things even Overgods couldn't but the people who caused this noise were unaware that they were facing a Sovereign with inflated stats to the point that it's absurd!

The origin of the noise was far away from the residence but it was still a strange occurrence. She was trapped here but she knew that no one but Katrina, Angelina, and sometimes Hobson, are allowed to enter this place.

Furthermore, the 'guests' were trying to cause minimal sound which made the situation even more suspicious. Due to restrictions put by Katrina, most of Lucy's powers were sealed, nevertheless, she could still defend herself.

The silver revolver appeared in her hand while her blue-colored eye started scanning her surroundings. As expected, a few seconds later, several hooded figures managed to bypass the array protecting the residence and safely appeared around Lucy, clearly intending to harm her.

They didn't immediately attack and instead, inspected her from head to toe to confirm that she's their target before they took strange ropes made of literal lightning and circle around her.

Their actions were careful but it didn't seem they were worried about her but afraid of Katrina, who may appear at any time. They only dared to enter this place only because their sources informed them that the Matriarch is in the Thousand Buddha sect, still, they couldn't help but feel restless.

As they were closing in on her, Lucy abruptly raised the hand holding the revolver and pulled the trigger. Although her cultivation was weakened, her stats only decreased by 20% so she was still able to use the weapon.

Unlike the powerful bullets, Lucy used normal bullets that are injected with a monstrous amount of Mana. They aren't attribute-related but their penetrative power cannot be denied.

The moment the loud sound of the gunshot reverberated across the room, one of the figures around her fell on the ground with a large hole in his forehead.

He couldn't see the bullet, much less move out of the way or try to block it. As for the remaining enemies, once they saw the instantaneous fall of their comrades, they instinctively backed away and became highly-alert.

Lucy wasn't going to dawdle around and watch them as they collect their thoughts and gang up on her. She pointed the gun at another individual and started firing.

Approximatively thirty seconds later, Lucy empties her barrel but was able to kill three of them. The ones who're still alive have higher cultivation, furthermore, the commotion occurring him forced one additional enemy to enter and check on the situation.

Unlike the rest, he didn't hide his appearance and seemed to be much more powerful than them. Upon seeing three of his subordinates dead, he glared at the expressionless Lucy before saying

"Go secure an escape route, we're leaving now."

"B-but Si-"

One of them, scared of Lucy's weapon, tried to warn his boss only for him to be yelled at

"Do as I say, there's no time to waste!"

The remaining hooded individuals dispersed soon after, leaving only their boss with Lucy. He was a man in his fifties, a thick black beard with some traces of white hair, sharp eyes and a somewhat lengthy dark hair. The most noticeable thing was his robe, which belonged to Thordan's sect.

"I've no intention to hurt you. You better come with me willingly or else I'll be forced to use extreme measures."

Just as he finished, he found out that Lucy was fiddling with her revolver. She readied the powerful bullets and was about to attack again only for the man to throw a weird grey powder.

The effect of this weird concoction was almost immediate as Lucy fell on her knees, her skin reddened and her breathing quickened. A few seconds later, the man let out a sigh and walked up to Lucy, crouched down and was about to pick her up only for a loud, ear-deafening gunshot to enter his ear.

He was pushed backed three steps before falling on his butt, a bloody hole appearing on his left shoulder. Along with the new injury he just suffered, his whole arm became frozen from the after-effect of the Yin bullet.

The man didn't panic or get angry, he retrieved a pink pill and gulped it down while spraying some white ash on his wound, immediately dissolving the ice and stopping the bleeding. He slowly got up and focused on Lucy, who was supporting herself using her saber, Twilight's vow.

From the looks of it, she was hell-bent on resisting him or at least buy some time at least Katrina or Hobson arrive.

******

A few hours later, Katrina, who just appeared within her clan's territory, suddenly frowned and vanished from her spot, appearing inches away from a secluded forest.

This forest was the entrance to the forbidden territory which no one is allowed to enter. Right beside the entrance laid a heavily wounded Hobson, who noticed the appearance of his master so he struggled to get up but his wounds were too severe to properly move.

Katrina enveloped the old man with her energy, aiding him in healing his injuries while spreading her sense, quickly discovering the state of her residence, which was turned into a complete mess.

More than half of the magnificent pagoda and the courtyard were destroyed either by ice or flames. She also wasn't able to locate her daughter so she could only ask the servant for an explanation.

"*cough* people came and abducted Miss E-*cough* Eva"

A ghastly aura started surrounding the usually calm Matriarch. Illusory white wings and a long tail materialized behind her, a clear indication of her unstable emotions and her rising anger.

"Who was it?"

"The Five Lakes Sect."

The woman creased her brows, appearing confused for a slight second before she guessed the real perpetrator behind all of this. It wasn't that hard to guess, as for their motive? It was more or less clear.

"Go to Elder Presley to get treated. I'll take care of this."

Soon after, Katrina disappeared from Hobson's sight. She wasn't foolish enough to barge into the Five Lakes Sect, demanding her daughter back. Such behavior is predictable and will put her at a disadvantage.

She was a mother who deeply cared for her daughter and if she were to cause a mess in Thordan's sect, there's a strong chance he'll harm Lucy.

******

Five Lakes Sect, Thordan's room.

The man stared at the bound young woman while grinning from ear to ear. It's not like he was pleased to see his daughter but he was happy that his plan worked as intended.

He crouched down to meet her piercing glare and softly caressed her hair while saying

"Oh my dear daughter, I won't harm you, don't worry. I just need your husband to remove this mark."

He showed her the ominous mark on his right hand and was about to continue speaking only to feel an inexplicable chilliness. Without a doubt, it was emanating from her.

Knowing her crazy and reckless actions, Thordan cowardly backed away then said to a man standing right behind Lucy.

"Are you sure she's harmless?"

The man who subdued Lucy and brought her here in one piece nodded his head and replied:

"Yes, she uses the cultivation ladder and the System but the latter is more dangerous. Her cultivation was already restricted so all I had to do is make use of this crystal to reduce her stats."

He retrieved a weird-looking jet black crystal and passed it to Thordan.

"As long as you have this crystal, her life is in her hands."

The father grinned while repeatedly saying

"Good good…"

As for Lucy, she remained silent and only glared at the man in front of her eyes. He clearly needs Arthur's help to remove the mark of the Dark Blade so there will come a time when her husband will free her of her current shackles and at that time, she'll kill this man.

He didn't seem to care about Lucy or Angelina and only sought power, it truly made her disgusted and added the number of reasons that justify killing him.