Smoke still curled from the ruins of the Heavenly King Stronghold, a testament to the destruction Luo Zhen had just wrought. Satisfied with the annihilation of the bandit clan, he rose into the air, his silhouette cutting through the clouds as he oriented himself toward the Saber Transformation Gate.
But mid-flight, his momentum hitched. He paused, hovering in the void.
His spiritual senses, sharp as a razor, had picked up a disturbance—several faint, trembling threads of human vitality clinging to life halfway up the mountain where the stronghold had stood.
"Survivors?" Luo Zhen mused, his eyes narrowing against the wind. "Or perhaps ordinary civilians abducted by those wretches?"
With a flicker of movement, he vanished from his position, reappearing instantly at the source of the aura. If it were a matter of lifting a finger to save a few wretched souls, he wasn't opposed to it.
However, upon arrival, the scene that greeted him was not one of mere captivity, but of a nightmare made manifest.
In just two seconds, he had descended to the mountain's waist. The forest here was dense, but the leaves were not the only things swaying in the breeze. As far as the eye could see, the branches were laden with a grisly harvest. Hundreds of human corpses, stripped bare, hung suspended from the ancient trees. It was a macabre orchard of death. Men, women, the elderly, and children—none had been spared. Their abdomens had been sliced open with surgical cruelty, their insides hollowed out.
A gust of wind swept through the valley, and the hanging bodies swayed in a silent, grotesque rhythm. This wasn't a forest; it was a cathedral of corpses.
Luo Zhen surveyed the carnage with a calm expression. He was surprised, perhaps, but not shocked. Before laying siege to the stronghold, he had gathered intelligence. He knew the Heavenly King Stronghold was run by five bandit leaders at the Nascent Soul King level who possessed depraved, gluttonous appetites. They didn't practice demonic arts that required human sacrifice; they simply enjoyed the taste of human blood and organs.
It was a hobby. A sick, twisted pastime born of unchecked power.
In the cultivation world, power was a corrupting intoxicant. When one transcended the limits of mortality, the constraints of morality often dissolved. Desires expanded infinitely, twisting the psyche until the line between man and monster blurred. Some developed eccentricities; others, like these bandits, descended into absolute barbarism.
Luo Zhen released a heavy sigh, his spiritual consciousness expanding like a tidal wave.
A thousand meters away, hidden deep within the corpse forest, he detected a faint pulse of life. A family of eight was suspended from a massive oak. It was a multigenerational tragedy in the making—grandparents, parents, and children, the youngest no more than three years old.
They had not yet been disemboweled, but death was knocking. They were mere mortals, and the physical and psychological torture had drained them to the brink of extinction.
Luo Zhen didn't move his body. He simply extended a finger and tapped the air.
Snap.
Invisible blades of condensed Qi tore through the spatial fabric, slicing the thick hemp ropes a kilometer away with surgical precision.
The family tumbled to the forest floor, gasping for air as the nooses loosened. The sudden restoration of gravity and freedom left them bewildered.
"Ah! The rope... it snapped!" a woman cried out, her voice raspy with dehydration.
"How could such a thick rope just break?" a man stammered, clutching his children. "Did... did someone save us?"
Confusion warred with relief on their faces until a child's piercing scream drew their attention upward. "Look! Look over there! The Stronghold is burning!"
The family scrambled to look through the canopy. Sure enough, the terrifying fortress that had loomed over their lives was engulfed in a sea of flames.
"Heavens," an old woman wept. " The Heavenly King Stronghold has fallen. The gods have finally opened their eyes!"
"It must be an immortal passing by," the father shouted, falling to his knees. "Benefactor! Whichever deity you are, please accept our kowtow!"
The entire family prostrated themselves, bowing fervently toward the empty sky, offering prayers to a savior they couldn't see.
High above, Luo Zhen watched for a fleeting second before turning away. He didn't descend to accept their thanks. He didn't care to hear their stories.
He hadn't saved them for gratitude, nor out of a sense of profound justice. He saved them simply because the thought had crossed his mind.
You are not important, he thought, his gaze turning cold as he accelerated away. Your gratitude means nothing to me. Who cares what an ant thinks of the boot that steps over it instead of on it? I saved you because I wanted to. Killing you or saving you... It has nothing to do with you. It is only about my will.
Luo Zhen streaked across the sky, a comet of spiritual energy.
After fifteen minutes of travel, he abruptly slammed to a halt in mid-air. To his left, the horizon had been swallowed by an unnatural darkness. Ink-black clouds churned violently, blotting out the sun.
"That's a powerful Demon Cloud," Luo Zhen murmured, sensing the air. "And the scent... thick, serpentine energy. Judging by the pressure, a massive serpent is attempting to break through to the Emperor Level."
As if to answer him, the clouds tore open.
A serpent the size of a mountain range breached the cloud layer, its scales shimmering like dark iron. It roared, a sound that vibrated in the marrow of one's bones, and soared through the lightning-charged sky.
"What a massive body. Is that a Sky-Roaming Dragon Python?" Luo Zhen wondered aloud, stunned.
He focused his spiritual consciousness, scanning the beast's physiology. "No. The scale pattern is different. That is a Ba Serpent!"
The Ba Serpent was an Exotic Beast of legend, ranking alongside the Soaring Snake and the Transformation Snake. While all were formidable, the Ba Serpent was renowned for its sheer, terrifying size. It was a titan among reptiles.
A predatory gleam entered Luo Zhen's eyes.
"I remember the Sect's Mission Hall has a permanent bounty for Exotic Beast materials," he calculated. "Hide, blood, Demon Core, Demon Infant... even a fragment of a Ba Serpent is worth a fortune. If I bring this beast down, the Contribution Points would be astronomical."
King-level Ba Serpents were rare enough; catching one in the vulnerable state of a tribulation was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Their rarity equated to immense value.
"If I kill it, I won't have to worry about resources for a long time."
Without hesitation, Luo Zhen shifted his trajectory, diving toward the storm. The moral implication of killing a sentient beast during its ascension didn't even register. In this world, humans kill each other for far less. To hesitate was to be weak.
Minutes later, Luo Zhen hovered near the epicenter of the storm.
Below him lay a towering peak that served as the serpent's altar. The colossal Ba Serpent had coiled itself around the summit, roaring defiantly at the heavens as arcs of silver tribulation lightning began to coalesce in the clouds.
But the Ba Serpent was not alone.
Luo Zhen's scan revealed that the mountain was alive. It was a writhing mass of scales and fangs—a mega-nest containing hundreds of thousands of snakes.
As his presence became known, over a dozen figures shot up from the snake den to intercept him. They were humanoid, but their slit-pupiled eyes and patches of scales betrayed their true nature. These were King-level serpents that had cultivated human forms.
The leader, a man with cold, reptilian eyes, stepped forward. "Our Grandfather is undergoing his tribulation. Leave this place immediately."
"Grandfather?" Luo Zhen glanced at the titan coiled on the peak. "You are all his descendants?"
"Correct. Every snake in this den shares the bloodline of the Ba Serpent," the Snake King hissed. "I will give you three breaths to vanish. If you do not, you will become food."
Luo Zhen was about to retort when the sound of breaking wind drew his attention.
From the east, streaks of firelight tore through the sky. The flames dissipated to reveal a group of young men clad in robes emblazoned with a blazing sun. Their hair was tinged red, and heat radiated from their bodies.
"Disciples of the Fire Sun Sect?" Luo Zhen frowned.
One of the newcomers sneered, spotting Luo Zhen's uniform. "Well, if it isn't a stray dog from the Saber Transformation Gate."
The disciple looked past Luo Zhen, eyeing the Ba Serpent with greed. "We, the Fire Sun Sect, have claimed this beast. You can roll away now, dog."
Luo Zhen's expression did not change, but the air around him grew heavy. Without a word, he flicked his sleeve.
A Venomous Shura Seal, glowing with lethal green light, shot forward.
There were four disciples from the Fire Sun Sect, all outer sect members, but their cultivation was solid—at least mid-King level. To them, a lone cultivator from a rival sect was nothing to fear.
"You dare attack me?" the lead disciple laughed, incredulous. "Open your eyes! I'll show you what a real powerhouse looks like!"
He opened his mouth and exhaled a torrent of pale red fire.
The temperature in the sky spiked instantly. The air shimmered and warped.
"Feast your eyes on my Seventh-Tier Beast Fire!" he boasted. "With this, your little trick is—"
His voice cut off with a wet gurgle.
To the horror of onlookers, Luo Zhen's Venomous Shura Seal didn't just penetrate the fire; it obliterated it. The green seal punched through the flames and slammed into the disciple's chest.
Bang.
There was a muffled explosion of toxic energy. In the blink of an eye, the disciple didn't even have time to scream. His body dissolved, melting into a gruesome rain of green liquid that hissed as it fell toward the mountain below.
His Seventh-Tier Beast Fire, now masterless, drifted aimlessly in the wind.
"Senior Brother Yang!"
"He... he killed him instantly!"
The remaining three disciples stared in shock, which quickly curdled into rage.
"Kill him! Burn this dog to ash!"
Gritting their teeth, the trio unleashed their full power. As disciples of the Fire Sun Sect, fire was their lifeblood. They opened their mouths and expelled streams of multicolored flame. Five distinct Beast Fires roared across the sky, weaving together into a curtain of destruction.
The watching Snake Kings gasped. "The Fire Sun Sect is terrifying," one whispered. "Even mere outer disciples possess such high-level fires."
Luo Zhen stood unmoved against the incoming inferno. He smiled, a cold, sharp expression.
"You play with fire?" he said softly. "Let me show you how it's done."
He waved his hand. From his sleeve, a stream of pale silver fire flowed out like liquid mercury.
This was the Origin-Returning Silver Fire.
It didn't roar like the beast fires. It moved with an eerie silence. It surged forward, colliding with the multicolored torrent.
The result was immediate. The disciples' fires recoiled, trembling as if terrifyingly sentient. They were predators facing an apex monster.
"What is that silver fire?!" one disciple screamed, his control slipping. "It's suppressing all of us!"
Before they could retreat, the silver fire flared. It split into three razor-sharp crescents of heat and light.
"Run!"
But the flight was impossible. The silver blades sliced through their defenses, through their bodies, and through their souls.
"Argh!"
Three screams merged into one short, sharp note. The disciples were incinerated mid-air, their bodies turning to ash before the wind scattered them into nothingness.
Silence fell over the mountain.
Now, six masterless Beast Fires floated in the void—orphaned remnants of the arrogant disciples.
Luo Zhen stood amidst them, the silver fire coiling around him like a loyal pet. He didn't destroy the captured fires; he kept them contained.
On the mountain below, the Snake Kings watched with hungry eyes.
They saw the six powerful fires. They saw Luo Zhen alone. And in their reptilian brains, greed began to override fear.
"That silver flame..." the lead Snake King murmured. "If we kill him, all those fires are ours."
They exchanged glances. A silent command passed between them.
Suddenly, the dozen Snake Kings moved in unison. They shifted into a complex formation, their auras linking together to manifest a massive, spectral python that loomed over Luo Zhen.
"Hey, kid!" the leader shouted, his voice booming. "Hand over the silver fire and the beast fires, and we might let you leave with your life!"
Luo Zhen looked down at them and sighed. It was a sound of genuine disappointment.
"Greed really is the most effective poison," he said. "You saw me slaughter them, and yet you think numbers will save you?"
"Kill him!" the Snake King roared.
The spectral python lunged.
"Since you wish to die, I will facilitate it."
Luo Zhen threw his arms wide. The Origin-Returning Silver Fire erupted from his body, turning the sky into a sea of silver. At the same time, he fired off a barrage of Venomous Shura Seals and summoned phantoms of Thunder Flood Dragons.
It was overkill.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The snake formation shattered on impact. The spectral python disintegrated.
Without their combined defense, the Snake Kings were nothing more than kindling.
"Wait! No!"
"Grandfather, save us!"
"Ahhh!!"
The screams were pitiful. Some were melted by poison, others blasted apart by lightning, and the rest reduced to ash by the silver fire. In thirty seconds, the "elite" guardians of the snake den were wiped from existence.
Luo Zhen hovered amidst the smoke, shaking his head. "Weak. Too weak to even test my skills."
He turned his attention to the spoils. With a gesture, he drew the six floating Beast Fires toward him.
Far below, on the peak, the giant Ba Serpent shrieked as a bolt of lightning struck its spine. It was too occupied with its own survival to care about the slaughter of its kin.
"It will be a while before that snake is done," Luo Zhen assessed. "Time enough for a snack."
He activated his Devouring Ability.
His mouth opened, and an invisible vortex formed. He swallowed the six fires whole.
Inside his dantian, the system chimed.
"You have refined the Seventh-Tier Beast Fire: Locking Heart Fire."
"You have refined the Eighth-Tier Beast Fire: Floating Light Fire."
"You have refined…"
The notifications cascaded, a satisfying list of acquisitions. Finally, the ultimate prompt appeared.
"Host has refined six High-Tier Beast Fires. Massive Fire Essence obtained."
"Initiate absorption into Origin-Returning Silver Fire for upgrade?"
"Yes," Luo Zhen commanded mentally.
Heat exploded within his core. His silver fire churned, devouring the essence of the captured flames, evolving, changing structure, becoming something denser, hotter, and more terrifying.
"Absorption complete."
"Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Third-Rank Exotic Fire: Mystic Crystal Fire!"
Luo Zhen opened his eyes. In his palm, a new flame danced—crystalline, beautiful, and utterly deadly. He looked toward the giant serpent on the mountain peak.
"Now," he whispered. "My turn."