CHAPTER 4: THE ARCHITECT'S DECEIT AND THE KNEELING ELDERS
The night sky over the Blue Cloud Sect was no longer dark. It was streaked with luminous trails of emerald and azure as several figures descended from the inner peaks. These were the Sect Elders, men and women who had spent centuries breathing the spiritual essence of the mountains, their power far beyond the comprehension of ordinary disciples. At the forefront was Elder Gu, a man known for his fiery temper and a cultivation base at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, nearing the threshold of the Golden Core.
As they landed, the scene that met their eyes was one of pure devastation. The outer disciple quarters, usually a place of quiet mediocrity, looked like a battlefield after a divine war. In the center of a massive crater stood a single youth, his tattered robes fluttering in a breeze that shouldn't exist. At his feet lay Chen Huo, once a promising disciple, now nothing more than a broken heap of flesh and shattered pride.
"Who dares to cause such havoc in my sect?" Elder Gu's voice roared, a wave of sonic pressure intended to force any subordinate to their knees.
But Li Xiao didn't even flinch. He didn't turn to face them. He remained standing, his back to the most powerful men in the sect, his gaze fixed on the moon as if contemplating the very fabric of the universe.
"Impudent!" another Elder shouted, drawing a heavy bronze saber. "Li Xiao? Is that you, you Ninth-Rank waste? How dare you stand before us without bowing! And what happened to Chen Huo?"
Li Xiao finally turned his head. The movement was slow, deliberate, and carried a grace that made the Elders' hearts skip a beat. When they met his gaze—those abyssal violet eyes flickering with the cold light of five hundred years of simulated divinity—the words died in their throats. The sonic pressure Elder Gu had released didn't just vanish; it was absorbed into the void surrounding Li Xiao.
"Bowing?" Li Xiao's voice was a cold melody that seemed to resonate with the earth itself. "I have sat upon thrones that would make this sect look like a pigsty. I have had Emperors offer their souls for a moment of my guidance. And you... you want me to bow?"
Elder Gu's face turned from red to a ghostly pale. He could feel it now—the aura. It wasn't the chaotic, unstable Qi of a breakthrough; it was the dense, suffocating, and ancient pressure of a Golden Core Master. But it wasn't just any Golden Core; it was a perfect, flawless foundation that felt as solid as a primordial mountain.
"Golden Core..." Elder Gu whispered, his voice trembling. "How... how is this possible? Yesterday you were a mortal. You were a piece of discarded trash!"
Li Xiao smiled, a gesture that contained no warmth. "The heavens have many paths, Elder. Some walk for a thousand years and find nothing. Others take a single step and reach the summit. I have taken that step."
Inside his mind, the System's cold interface flickered to life.
[ Target Identified: Elder Gu. Cultivation: Late Foundation Establishment. ]
[ Potential: Low. Recommendation: Use as a 'Cultivation Battery'. ]
[ System Manufacturing initiated... ]
Li Xiao raised a single finger. A spark of violet light danced upon his fingertip, a concentrated bead of Sword Intent so sharp that the space around it began to distort. The Elders instinctively backed away, their weapons trembling in their hands. They realized that if that bead of light were released, the entire peak would be erased from existence.
"I have no interest in your petty sect politics," Li Xiao said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "But I find myself in need of... assistants. Elder Gu, you have spent fifty years trying to break through to the Golden Core, haven't you? You have felt your lifespan waning, the terror of death knocking at your door every night."
Elder Gu gasped, his eyes wide with fear and longing. "How... how did you know?"
"I see the fate written in your marrow," Li Xiao lied, his smile widening. "What if I told you that I could give you a 'Legacy'? A divine system that would guide your every breath, optimizing your Qi flow and ensuring your breakthrough within a month?"
The other Elders looked at each other in shock. A 'system'? To them, it sounded like a legendary blessing from the ancient gods. They didn't see the cruel glint in Li Xiao's eyes. They didn't know that the "system" he was about to manufacture was a parasite—a 'False Path System' that would grant Elder Gu a temporary surge in power while secretly funneled eighty percent of his future cultivation back to Li Xiao.
"You... you would do that?" Elder Gu stammered, his greed finally overcoming his fear. He fell to his knees, his forehead touching the cracked earth. "If you can grant me such a path, I, Gu, will swear my soul to you!"
Li Xiao flicked his finger. The violet bead of light flew into Elder Gu's forehead.
[ Ding! 'The False Golden Path System' successfully implanted. ]
[ Current Harvesting Rate: 80% of target's daily Qi. ]
Elder Gu let out a cry of ecstasy. He felt a sudden, massive surge of energy. His meridians, once clogged and aging, felt like they were on fire with new life. He didn't realize it was just a temporary overclocking of his own potential, a fire that would eventually burn him hollow. He only felt the power.
"Master! Thank you, Master!" Elder Gu prostrated himself, followed quickly by the other Elders, who scrambled to kneel, their eyes filled with a terrifying mixture of awe and avarice.
Li Xiao stood amongst the kneeling giants of the sect, his expression one of bored indifference. He looked at his hands, feeling the steady trickle of harvested Qi already flowing into his Dantian from Elder Gu. This was his new reality. He wasn't just a cultivator anymore; he was the Architect.
"Rise," Li Xiao commanded. "From this day forth, the Blue Cloud Sect is mine. Weave the word through the continent... tell them that the Master of the Empress has returned. I want the world to hear my name, and I want her... to find me."
He looked toward the north, where the Empress's palace stood. He could feel her regret—a dark, pulsing knot of sorrow in the distance. He didn't want her forgiveness. He wanted her to watch as he rebuilt the world he had once sacrificed for her, but this time, he would be the one holding the leash.
"Let the simulation of
the real world begin," Li Xiao whispered to the wind.