The failed summoning enraged the Necro-Soul Sect. Their response was swift and brutal. They unleashed the full fury of the Sigma strain, using their cultivation arts to accelerate its mutation, creating a variant that could actively seek out and attack strong cultivators.
Mo's foundations in Europe were hit first. Field hospitals were overwhelmed by a wave of patients whose Qi was being violently ripped from their bodies. Mo himself was targeted; an infected envoy delivered a package that released a cloud of the enhanced virus directly into his headquarters.
Mo's cultivation was strong, his body refined. He fought off the infection, but it left him weakened, his Qi dangerously depleted. He was vulnerable.
When Ye Xia saw him on the secure feed, pale and coughing, a cold fury unlike any she had ever known seized her. The Sect had crossed a line. They had threatened her partner.
This was no longer a strategic game. This was personal.
She accessed the System Store again. The monthly refresh had just occurred. She scrolled past the pills and cloaks, looking for something specific. Something with undeniable power.
She found it.
[The Star-Severing Sword Intent - 5,000 Kai (Price reduced due to imminent cataclysm. Limited time offer.) - A fragment of divine will contained in a jade slip. Upon comprehension, grants the user a single, planet-level attack capable of severing spiritual formations and erasing entities from existence. Warning: Incomplete comprehension will result in the user's soul being severed instead. Success rate: 10%.]
The price was impossible. She had no Kai left. The risk was suicidal. A 10% chance of success.
But the image of Mo, weakened and fighting for breath, burned in her mind.
The system, sensing her resolve, delivered another message.
[Emergency Quest: 'Annihilation of the Necro-Soul Sect' initiated. Objective: Permanently eliminate the Sect and its leadership. Reward upon success: 10,000 Kai, System Level 12 Unlock, and the permanent acquisition of the 'Star-Severing Sword Intent' technique.]
The system was offering a loan. A chance to win the power to end this, with the ultimate prize being the power itself.
It was the biggest gamble of her life.
"System," she whispered, her voice steel. "Accept the quest. Grant me the Star-Severing Sword Intent."
A searing pain exploded in her mind as a flood of incomprehensible cosmic knowledge threatened to tear her soul apart. She screamed, collapsing to the floor as she fought to contain a fragment of power that could cut a world in half.