If only I did pay more attention.

If only I had analyzed that demonic qi as to realize.

If only...>

Neither there are on the martial path.

It was my decisions that led me here, so why even bother?

Indeed, why?>

Is it wrong for me to not accept this?>

On the ground.

Sprawled in a puddle of his own blood.

Surrounded by nothing but destruction.

Unable to scream, unable to bleed, at least anymore.

A feeling of unease crept into Bai Qi's mind as he moved his battered body towards their original objective, the 2nd visitor's courtyard, to the location of the Mortality formation core.

And as he had done before, not a few times, Bai Qi ignored it, forcing himself to take step after step. Following behind, and probably in the same, or a similar, condition, the three [Void Palace] elders did the same, each trying to reach their objective while possible.

Initially, the previous battle results looked not so bad, as Tao Xuegang and Shen Kun were rescued and the surroundings cleared of enemies. But the more they advanced, the more they found that each of their bodies was, truly, on the verge of breaking down. But having no choice, especially as the only way to survive was to stop the formation and hope that their cultivations could restore their bodies, everyone heeded Bai Qi's words of making haste.

Thankfully, for some unknown reason, since the battle near the combat palace's main entrance, even while several enemies had escaped, they met no opposition. Which considering their snail-like speed, was something strange. And something that should have alarmed anyone of them, at least in a more normal situation.

But neither the situation was normal nor any of the four wounded, exhausted, and bleeding people could spare even an ounce of energy to think about anything except moving forward.

The same thought crossed the minds of the four, or maybe only three, as Shen Kun's mind had drifted to remembrances, and he only advanced on sheer willpower.

The next identical thought floated into their minds, this time into all of the four, as they looked at the cozy, neatly decorated, engraved with the image of several cranes gate.

Bai Qi, in the lead, had just reached for the gate, as a youthful, strangely welcoming, and cheerful voice filled up the entire plaza, "I would be a bad host if I not come out to receive guests who met such hardships to visit me, would I?"

It took not one moment for Bai Qi and the others to understand that the voice was not only qi-infused but also came from above!

Who?

What is going on?>

Different but similar thoughts crossed the minds of the four as they raised their heads up, and a total of seven eyes centered on a figure, standing in the air, several hundred feet above the ground, with absolute ease.

A black cloak with a deep hood concealed not only the facial features but the figure's build as well. Still, there was no question about who it was. After all, the only person capable of ignoring the formation's effects, and being fueled by it itself, could only be the one to control it.

Bai Qi had been doubting the idea of a simple Grandmaster being behind the formation since the qi draining effect had started.

Such effects were not only a feat that only Saints should be able to control but also something that required a minute, extremely precise control coupled with a treasure to feed it.

At the same time, the [Seven Souls Sect] was hardly comparable to a 2nd tier power of the [Great Forest Region]. So how the heavens could they count with the help of a Saint and a treasure of such magnitude?

Because of that, and aware of the scarcity of Formation Saints thanks to Shen Kun, as well the information obtained in [Shuomen City] before, Bai Qi had discarded the thought. And now, it turned out, that he was wrong to do so?

"You are not of the Seven Souls! Who the heavens are you?! Why are you doing this?!" He Delan and Tao Xuegang yelled out with all of their strength, breaking Bai Qi of his thoughts.

"Hmm? Could it be that you do not recognize me? Or that you came here without even an idea of who is the one behind all of this?" In the same joyful tone as before, the figure questioned while, judging from the cloak's ruffling, even inclined its head in question. "But, that would be impossible, as otherwise, why did you all come here, where all happened?" Down to a barely audible mutter, the figure asked itself.

"Wait, that voice and manner..." Tao Xuegang's voice trailed off, and his figure shuddered as Shen Kun, who had remained silent and still, suddenly shouted out, "Huo Ah!"

"Oh, it seems that Master is still Master as no one else recognized me!" With a cheerful, absolutely misplaced laugh, the figure half-bowed.

"But that's impossible! They burned your mouth! Your dantian was extirpated! And then, you were thrown outside, as the ravenous beast you turned out to be!" Slipping to a shrill cry by the end of his tirade, Shen Kun fell to his knees, his remaining eye glaring at the figure with intermixed shock and hatred.

"You, if that's truly you, then they weren't wrong to act so. No other thing than a demon could survive that." Tao Xuegang spoke up calmly, but having spent the last hours with him, Bai Qi understood that the old cultivator was restraining a wave of hostility while his voice's subtle oscillation denoted he was inwardly discouraged as well.

He Delan, whose tone remained calm but concealed the same feelings, shook her head, "It can't be him. While his blood was considered too tainted to be spilled in the ravine, the [Delicate Forest Palace] would have never made the mistake of leaving him alive."

"But, it is me. Look!" The figure suddenly ripped the cloak's hood off, revealing a young man's face that could be said to be good-looking if not for the enormous, beast-like maw that took the place of the mouth. And before any of the shocked observers reacted, he ripped the entire cloak, revealing a bare chest and an enormous scar covered and oozing something greenish that crossed its lower half.

"You see, it is no one else but me! And, I have come back to make you respond to a single question. Why did you all, so righteous and law-abiding, why did you not protect me against a visiting power?!" The goodwill, although by now it was easy to understand it had been faked, disappeared, and the beast-like maw spread, releasing an anger-filled roar.

"Protect you? Against what charges, the ones about forcefully bedding an unwilling girl? For using her blood as a cultivation resource? Or maybe for stealing a treasure of a visiting power's elder?! Damn you and damn all your ancestors, if not for Head Kongbai's allowing the [Delicate Forest Palace] to judge you, I would have killed you myself!" Tao Xuegang's anger rose to limits where he could not hold it back, and he roared with bloodshot eyes.

*Cough* *Cough* *Spit*

By the end, the Vice-head even spat out blood, albeit from his wounds and not of anger as most would assume.

"But you did not. And now, because of the so-benevolent flowers of the Delicate Forest, I have returned." Huo Ah did not react to Tao Xuegang's anger and spoke up far calmer than one could expect.

But that calmness made even Tao Xuegang inwardly shiver, as the three [Void Palace] elders perfectly understood there was no way to escape. This man, this criminal of theirs, was a foe worse than the [Seven Souls Sect]. Huo Ah had come with a single objective, and he would not stop until each and every member of the [Void Palace] was dead.

Burning one's mouth to prevent one from telling any details;

Ripping off one's dantian as to punish one with a mortal's life;

Leaving one in the wild as to leave one's fate to the beasts and other dangers;

The [Delicate Forest Palace] judgment was harsh but just.

Probably the strange dialogue would have continued for a few more breaths before Huo Ah reached the point where he sentenced everyone to death. Not that it would have been hard, with him being the sole cultivator in the entirety of the ravine. But before that point was reached, the conversation was interrupted, by a calm, somehow unnatural voice, "Do you plan to keep speaking for long? There are things to be done."

It was now Bai Qi's time to shiver as this voice, with its calmness and its lack of emotions, registered in his mind.

{Whatever you may believe, Chen Guang, Bai Qi, or whatever name you will assume next, youth where an immortal resides, it is I. And this time, it will be no question. There will be no option, not even to die. You will serve me.} A qi transmission, one that Bai Qi was unable to answer, entered his mind.

"Who..?" Hearing a new voice, Tao Xuegang and He Delan immediately started looking around. But they had no chance to finish the question as Huo Ah's aura expanded, suppressing the four mortals below with absolute ease.

"Then, I will finish now." Huo Ah responded into nothing, and his aura slowly began increasing in potency, forcing the mortal bodies of his suppressed enemies to drop to the ground. And as torture, the increase was truly slow. To make the four, or maybe three with Bai Qi being a nonessential addition, make them feel how their bodies were destroyed by the pressure.

And as Bai Qi's body creaked, blood oozed, not only from the wounds but from all his facial orifices, and pain that he could not avoid overtook his mind. A calm, uncaring and emotionless transmission filled his pained mind, even slightly lowering the pain with the qi behind itself.

{Do you want to save them?

You have come to find a friend of yours. She's close and in danger. Maybe you want to save her?

Oh, so you have a close somebody, or better said, two of them? They will arrive shortly and meet nothing but dead at the hands of the enemies outside. Do you want to avoid that?

The ones that killed your original self, they are True Immortals by now. How much time will you require to reach that level? Will you even? Would you not want to do so quickly and for sure?

I can help you do any of that and far more. Just accept to serve me voluntarily.}

{Screw off, you damned fake!} Suddenly, a roar responded to the transmission. Emerging from Bai Qi's soul, it pushed back the Bonejade and then filled up Bai Qi's body, forcing the pain back as well.

{This will probably kill you and me as well, but I do not plan to become a fake demon's slave and will not allow you to become one either.}

Even thinking these three words took an enormous effort, but he had to confirm Kui Mulang's intentions.

{Yes. I will go out and deal with it and that other bastard as well. But...} Kui Mulang, not a fake as the Bonejade, but an authentic demon, responded with few words, but they were enough. As for the unsaid words at the end, ones that would be just a repeat that this would lead to their death, with a very slight chance of survival, weren't needed either.

{Don't worry, it will be done. After all, that damned thing that thinks of itself as a demon is the one fueling it.}

A few other thoughts crossed Bai Qi's nearly faded, close-to shattered mind.

And then, everything submerged into darkness, leaving his body, soul, and mind, all ravaged and broken, to lie in a pool of his own blood as two demonic presences, one retreating and another emerging, swirled around.

*Clamor*

Shouts and curses. Roars and Commands. Weapon clashing and auras crashing.

And above all, the sound of something shattering. Followed by another sound of shattering, altough the latter one, unheard by anyone, occuring inside Bai Qi...

Reinforcements? Saviors? Was the [Void Palace], as well as everyone in the ravine, saved?

It could be so.

It should be so.

And indeed, it was so.

Regretfully, for Bai Qi, it seemed to be too late, as he was not even aware that he, practically by himself, had resolved the siege of the [Void Palace].

But at what cost?

And more importantly, for what?