Why couldn’t he sense anything? Whoever had attacked him hadn’t been strong enough to completely cut his hand off, but the fact that they had managed to carve so deeply into his flesh meant that they were, at the very least, a Genesis-staged cultivator. Could it be the golden-haired boy that Little White had injured before? He had just broken through to the first level, and even if a large gap existed in their power levels, such an individual could definitely injure him if he was taken unawares.

The first move that Tems made was to seal shut the laceration on his wrist, which quickly began to heal at the behest of his inner energies. Unaware of his enemy’s location, he made sure to keep moving as he glanced down at his hand with a curse. The moment he’d received the injury, the arrayment diagram that he’d been working on was dispersed.

A blinding flash of white light showed him a scene that caused his heart to skip. Tegan was falling to the ground in two pieces, bisected at the waist by a combination attack from the women that he’d been fighting.

“Tegan!”

For the first time in his life, Tems set aside thoughts of his own safety and instinctually rocketed over to where Tegan was falling. In passing, he scooped up both pieces of the man and turned around to flee, but was taken aback to see the cold eyes of the boy that he’d suspected to have died at Little White’s hands. The only reason Tems had glanced at his back was out of instinct, his eyes widening as he saw a black-bladed longsword penetrate through the energy that surrounded the dying elder only for the point to bury itself deep into Tegan’s chest.

As May and Little White appeared on either side of him, Tems knew that he had to leave Tegan to die if he wanted to have any hope of surviving this unexpected and bizarre situation. Two feminine fists nearly took his life, but each were blocked by a piece of Tegan’s corpse as Tems shamefully shielded himself and then flew downward at his fastest pace. As both halves of Tems’s oldest friend exploded into a bloody mist that quickly mingled with the falling rain, he pulled out a protective talisman that, upon activation, blocked another swipe of the halmite longsword along with the martial skill that was a part of the strike. The barrier that he’d conjured was cracked in several places as he was bombarded by hundreds of needles of glowing green energy, at which point he kicked off of the ground as hard as he could and tore through the air at his maximum speed.

Due to the urgency of his situation, Tems continued to leap across the landscape as it was much faster than flying, something that was quite dangerous at his level since an unexpected impact could result in serious injuries. It was also difficult to control his movements when moving at such fast paces, which, he assumed, was why May hadn’t tried to flee in such a fashion even when her life was on the line. Thankfully, his pursuers didn’t seem interested in following after him as they quickly retreated in the opposite direction, leaving him with a sinking sensation in his stomach.

Drasin, who had been likely to succeed him, had been murdered during the sect’s most celebrated event. So had Elder Jameson, and now Tegan along with him. Not only that, but May had defected and joined those that had brought harm to his people, and he had also been betrayed by the only friend that he’d ever made.

Little White…

It all made sense to him now. The reason why May had left the sect was the same as why Little White had betrayed him. It was all because of that young cultivator, who’d been able to inflict a substantial injury on Tems despite only being at the first level of Integration. Sure, his defenses had been down and he had already used up half of his energy reserves, but such a thing still shouldn’t have been possible even in the wildest dreams of the most depraved madman.

Thinking of his father and of the events that had transpired over a decade ago, Tems felt regret for the first time since he had taken up the mantle of sect master all those years ago. His father had been right. Women, wine, and riches; he’d only been concerned about what was right in front of him, and in the process he had completely tarnished the legacy that had been passed down to him by his forefathers.

Passed down… I am a disgrace. In reality, he hadn’t truly earned his position, but for the first time since he had assumed it he was wholly determined to play the part. He passed dozens of storm-battered towns and villages on his way back to Wilton, his eyes hard as the halmite that had cut into his wrist as he pulled out a talisman that he had never dreamed of using since Tegan had gifted it to him in the early days of his service.

The paper lit up and then crumbled away as Tems’s mind was connected with that of every elder and disciple within his sect, his voice burning with a foreign fire as he gave the first true command of his life to those that he had sworn to lead.

Attention members of the Falling Rain Sect. We have been infiltrated by an enemy group, which Great Elder May has defected to. Great Elder Tegan has been killed, and these forces are now attempting to flee the island.

Tens of thousands of people across the Grand Isle of Weston simultaneously froze in place the instant that they received the same skin-crawling order.

Everyone above the Integration stage, report to your elders immediately! It seems that we must remind the world why we’ve gone unchallenged after all these years.

Next, he cut communications with all disciples so that he only remained connected with the elders and those of higher rank. He provided them with brief descriptions of those that they were to apprehend, and told them where it was that he and Tegan had confronted them. He then pointed them in the right directions of where the two groups of infiltrators had been heading.

Although he’d never truly got along with Tegan, he felt a soul-crushing sense of remorse at what had happened today, and knew full well that he was largely responsible. The guilt and grief continued to weigh down upon him all throughout his journey back to the island’s capital, where he quickly retreated to his favourite room at the central palace. Once inside, he smashed the floorboards apart and pulled out a small wooden box that was wrapped in dozens of paper slips, sealing talismans that he and Little White had worked together to place in the aftermath of his succession to the sect’s top position.

Narrowing his eyes as thunderclaps continued to ring off in the background, he tore the box open and withdrew a little golden bell that looked as ordinary as they came. It was anything but, however, for but a single shake of this essence fusion object and the worst catastrophe imaginable would descend upon his enemies, just as had happened all those years ago.

Tems walked out of the room and stood upon the upper balcony with cold eyes, not caring to stop the rain from drenching his dazzling, priceless robes. Although it was the middle of the night, the city was abuzz with movement, as if someone had just thrown a rock at a large beehive and stirred up a storm of vengeful stings.

Closing his eyes, he was momentarily faced with images of both of the beauties that had managed to bewitch him in his lifetime. These were quickly replaced by the smug visage of the boy that had caused them to walk out of his life in such an abrupt and ruthless fashion. If not anything else, Tems would make sure to find that boy and debone him like an animal, continuously healing, continuously cutting.

Calming the rage that began to build within his mind, Tems expanded his spiritual sense so that it ran on for a dozen leagues in all directions. He observed the central area of the island for a time, as this was the area where all of the sect’s elites were situated, with not a single outer court disciple in the region. A small, eager smile tugged at his lips as he sensed over a hundred thousand auras beginning to make their way towards the island’s southeastern shores.

For the first time in over a century, the full might of the Falling Rain Sect was mobilizing for battle.