Kai considered his options. Shen Yu was Third Stage, which made him stronger than Kai's public cultivation. But Kai's true power with shadow techniques was higher, and he had the advantage of surprise.
More importantly, eliminating Shen Yu now would prevent another disciple from being poisoned. It would save a life while also providing death energy.
That was... almost heroic. Except Kai's primary motivation was harvesting the death energy, not saving potential victims.
The system had warned him about losing his humanity. Was this what it meant? Making the right choice for the wrong reasons?
Kai pushed the philosophical question aside. Whatever his motivations, the outcome was the same... stop the saboteur, prevent more deaths, grow stronger.
He waited until Shen Yu finished gathering materials and left the storage building. The suspect moved toward a secluded area near the outer wall... probably planning to refine the poison somewhere private.
Perfect.
Kai followed silently, his shadow abilities keeping him undetected. Shen Yu reached an abandoned outbuilding, glanced around to ensure he was alone, and entered.
Through a cracked window, Kai watched as Shen Yu set up a small refinement formation and began processing the poison components. The work was skilled, practiced... this wasn't Shen Yu's first time creating this poison.
How many disciples had he killed before Han Feng?
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS]
[REFINEMENT TECHNIQUE: Expert level]
[CONCLUSION: Multiple previous poisonings likely]
[ESTIMATED VICTIM COUNT: 3-5 disciples]
So Shen Yu had been doing this for a while, systematically eliminating competition. Han Feng was just the most notable victim because his position made his death impossible to hide.
Kai's hands tightened on his sword. In his previous life, he'd destroyed competitors through legal means... hostile takeovers, market manipulation, regulatory pressure. But he'd always operated within societal rules, believing the system would punish those who broke them.
The cultivation world didn't work that way. Here, power was the only rule that mattered. Shen Yu had killed multiple disciples and would continue until someone stopped him.
Time to be that someone.
Kai activated Shadow Step and appeared inside the outbuilding.
Shen Yu spun around, his hand going to his sword. "Who..."
He froze when he recognized Kai. Confusion, then calculation crossed his face.
"Kai Chen? What are you doing here?"
"This junior followed you, Brother Shen. This junior saw you gathering poison components."
Shen Yu's expression hardened. His cultivation aura flared... Third Stage power that pressed against the walls of the small building.
"So the farm boy knows how to sneak around. Impressive. But you've made a fatal mistake, Brother Kai. You're alone, and you're weaker than me."
"This junior isn't as weak as Brother Shen thinks."
"Second Stage against Third Stage? You'll die before you can even raise an alarm." Shen Yu's sword came free of its sheath, glowing with qi. "Nothing personal. But you've become a problem that needs solving."
He attacked without warning, his blade moving with Third Stage speed.
Kai activated Shadow Step, blurring sideways. Shen Yu's sword struck empty air. Before he could recover, Kai manifested Shadow Blade in his off hand and slashed across Shen Yu's back.
The shadow energy blade passed through Shen Yu's qi-reinforced robes as if they didn't exist, cutting directly into his spiritual essence.
[CRITICAL HIT]
[SPIRITUAL DAMAGE: Severe]
[OPPONENT STATUS: Meridians damaged]
Shen Yu screamed and staggered forward. He spun around, his face twisted with shock and pain.
"What was that? That's not normal cultivation!"
"This junior has unusual techniques, Brother Shen."
Shen Yu's eyes widened with recognition. "Shadow cultivation. You're a death cultivator."
"And you're a murderer who's killed multiple disciples. This junior thinks the sect would be interested in that information."
"They'll never believe you!" Shen Yu gathered his qi for a desperate attack, ignoring the pain from his damaged meridians. "I'll kill you and dispose of the evidence. No one will know!"
He lunged forward with everything he had, his sword blazing with Third Stage power. It was a suicide attack... putting all his remaining strength into one overwhelming strike.
Against a normal opponent, it might have worked.
Against Kai, it was predictable.
Shadow Step carried Kai behind Shen Yu. Before the saboteur could turn, Kai's shadow blade pierced through his back and into his heart.
[KILL CONFIRMED]
[SHEN YU: DECEASED]
[ABSORBING DEATH ENERGY...]
The rush of power was immediate and intense. A Third Stage cultivator who'd built his foundation through years of cultivation and multiple deaths... all that accumulated energy flowing into Kai.
[DEATH ENERGY ABSORBED: 138 points]
[DEATH POINTS GAINED: 130]
[TOTAL DEATH POINTS: 1,826]
[BONUS OBJECTIVE COMPLETE]
[IDENTIFY SABOTEUR: CONFIRMED]
[ADDITIONAL REWARD: 500 DEATH POINTS]
[TOTAL DEATH POINTS: 2,326]
[CULTIVATION BREAKTHROUGH IMMINENT]
[ADVANCE TO QI GATHERING THIRD STAGE?]
The system's prompt hung in Kai's vision. With the death energy from Shen Yu plus his accumulated points, he could advance immediately to Third Stage. That would put him on par with the tournament's strongest remaining disciples.
But advancing here, now, with a body at his feet and evidence of shadow cultivation scattered around the room, was dangerous.
"Not yet," Kai said. "Save the advancement for later."
[ADVANCEMENT DELAYED]
[ENERGY STORED FOR FUTURE USE]
Kai looked at Shen Yu's body and the half-refined poison. He needed to handle this carefully. Simply disappearing the body would raise questions. But leaving it here with evidence of his shadow cultivation was worse.
He activated Soul Harvest, consuming Shen Yu's spiritual remnants. The body aged rapidly, becoming unidentifiable. Then Kai gathered the poison materials and Shen Yu's notes... evidence of multiple poisonings, including detailed records of victims.
[EVIDENCE COLLECTED]
[SHEN YU'S CRIMES: Documented]
[5 DISCIPLES POISONED OVER 8 MONTHS]
[HAN FENG WAS SIXTH VICTIM]
Five murders, plus Han Feng. Shen Yu had been systematically eliminating competition for nearly a year. The notes showed careful planning, medical expertise, and complete lack of remorse.
Kai felt no guilt about killing him.
He arranged the scene to look like Shen Yu had been caught by someone during his poison refinement and killed in the confrontation. The aged body would confuse investigators, and the scattered evidence would prove Shen Yu's guilt.
Then Kai used Shadow Meld and left.
The next morning, Shen Yu's body was discovered.
Elder Zhang personally investigated the scene, finding the poison materials and the detailed notes documenting multiple murders. The sect was shocked but also relieved... the saboteur had been identified and eliminated.
Questions naturally arose about who had killed Shen Yu, but without clear evidence, the sect concluded that one of his intended victims or their allies had discovered his crimes and taken revenge.
Elder Zhang addressed the disciples again.
"The saboteur has been identified as Shen Yu, now deceased. His crimes have been documented... five disciples poisoned over eight months, with Han Feng as his most recent victim. The disciple who eliminated this threat has done the sect a service, even if their methods were... unofficial."
The elder's gaze swept across the assembled disciples, lingering briefly on Kai among others.
"The tournament will resume tomorrow. Those who wish to honor the fallen should compete with integrity and skill. That is all."
After the dismissal, Lin Wei pulled Kai aside.
"Brother Kai, did you have anything to do with Shen Yu's death?"
Kai kept his expression neutral. "Why would Brother Lin ask that?"
"Because you were suspicious of him from the start. And you have those shadow techniques no one else has seen before." Lin Wei's voice was low. "If you did eliminate him, I won't judge. He was a murderer who needed to be stopped."
[RELATIONSHIP DECISION POINT]
[LIN WEI: Requesting truth]
[OPTION 1: Deny involvement - Maintain complete secrecy]
[OPTION 2: Partial admission - Build deeper trust]
[OPTION 3: Full admission - Risk but maximize alliance potential]
Kai considered Lin Wei carefully. The young man had been consistently loyal, genuinely helpful, and perceptive enough to put pieces together. A true ally was valuable, but trust was risky.
"Brother Lin, if this junior did eliminate a murderer who'd killed six disciples, would that be wrong?"
Lin Wei smiled slightly. "In the cultivation world? No. That would be justice. The sect just doesn't like unofficial justice because it undermines their authority."
"Then perhaps this junior did the sect a favor. And perhaps Brother Lin should be careful about asking questions that might attract unwanted attention."
"Understood, Brother Kai." Lin Wei's expression was serious now. "But if you're becoming the kind of person who hunts threats in the shadows, you should know... you're not alone. Some of us would rather have a strong, pragmatic ally than trust the sect's slow justice."
[RELATIONSHIP UPDATED - LIN WEI]
[STATUS: Trusted Ally]
[LOYALTY: High]
[ASSESSMENT: Reliable support, shares similar pragmatic worldview]
They separated before the conversation could draw attention. Kai spent the rest of the day preparing for tomorrow's tournament resumption while processing what he'd learned about himself.
He'd killed four people now... Zhao Ming, Wang Shu, Liu Jian, and Shen Yu. All justified by the system's standards and arguably by any reasonable morality. They'd all been murderers or violent predators.
But Kai had also harvested their deaths to fuel his own advancement. He'd positioned himself to benefit from their crimes before stopping them. And he'd felt no hesitation, no horror, no guilt.
The system had warned him. Death cultivation changed you. Made you colder. More efficient. Less human.
Was he becoming a monster? Or just adapting to a monstrous world?
He didn't have an answer. But he did know that tomorrow's tournament would continue, strong disciples would compete, and eventually some of them would die.
And when they did, Kai would be there to harvest their deaths and grow stronger.
Because in the cultivation world, that was simply how survival worked.