The sensation of teleportation was like being squeezed through a straw. Space twisted, gravity inverted, and then—thud.
Mo Tian landed on hard, cracked earth.
He didn't stumble. He absorbed the impact with his knees, instantly crouching low, senses expanding.
The Ancient Trial Grounds.
The sky here was a bruised purple, lacking a sun. Instead, three shattered moons hung in the void, casting a pale, sickly light over the landscape. The air smelled of ozone and ancient dust.
[System Analysis: Ancient Trial Grounds] [Environmental Qi Density: High] [Corruption Level: 15%] [Note: This dimension is a graveyard of an ancient war. Spirits are restless.]
"Home sweet home," Mo Tian murmured.
He stood up. He was in a canyon of black rock. The teleportation vortex had scattered the fifty Azure Cloud disciples. He was alone.
Or so it seemed.
"Well, well. Look what the vortex spat out."
Mo Tian turned slowly.
Blocking the canyon exit were three disciples wearing heavy iron gauntlets and sleeveless brown robes. Their muscles bulged like rocks.
The Iron Fist Sect.
"An Azure Cloud disciple?" The leader, a scarred brute, spat on the ground. "And a logistical one at that? Where is your sword, pretty boy?"
Mo Tian adjusted his sleeves, checking his "Han Fei" disguise. "I am just a porter. I have no quarrel with you. I only carry supplies."
"Supplies?" The leader grinned, his eyes greedy. "Hand over your storage bag. And maybe we'll only break one of your legs."
The three Iron Fist disciples advanced, their fists glowing with metallic Qi. They were all late-stage Qi Condensation. In the outside world, they were elites.
Here, they were food.
Mo Tian sighed. "You know, I was hoping to find a map first. But a snack works too."
"What?" The leader frowned.
Mo Tian vanished.
He didn't use a movement technique. He used pure, explosive physical force. The ground beneath his feet detonated.
He reappeared instantly in front of the leader.
"Grip."
Mo Tian's hand, pale and slender, caught the leader's massive iron fist mid-punch.
CRUNCH.
The sound of metal and bone shattering echoed in the canyon.
"AAAAHH!" The leader screamed, dropping to his knees. His gauntlet was crumpled like paper, his hand a ruin of flesh inside it.
The other two disciples froze. "Brother Liu!"
Mo Tian looked at them. His eyes were no longer human. The left eye burned with purple fire.
"Don't just stand there," Mo Tian whispered. "Run. It makes the meat tender."
"Monster!" One disciple roared, swinging a sledgehammer.
Mo Tian didn't dodge. A black thread—[Soul Puppet Thread]—shot from his finger, piercing the disciple's forehead.
The disciple stopped mid-swing. His eyes went blank. He turned around and swung the hammer directly into his teammate's chest.
SPLAT.
The third disciple collapsed, chest caved in.
"W-what are you doing?!" The puppet-disciple screamed, his mouth moving against his will. "Why did I do that?!"
"Because you belong to me now," Mo Tian said.
He turned back to the leader, who was clutching his mangled hand.
"Iron Fist Sect," Mo Tian mused. "Your body cultivation technique focuses on blood vitality. High protein."
He placed his hand on the leader's head.
"Devour."
The leader withered in seconds. His massive muscles deflated, his skin turning grey and papery. Mo Tian felt a rush of warm, metallic energy flood his system.
[Consumed: Iron Fist Elite] [Gained: Iron Bone Tempering (Trace)] [Villain Merit: +50]
Mo Tian dropped the husk. He turned to the puppet-disciple, who was weeping in terror.
"Please... I have a family..."
"So did the cows you ate for dinner," Mo Tian said.
He snapped his fingers.
The puppet-disciple raised the hammer and brought it down on his own head.
Silence returned to the canyon.
Mo Tian looted the bodies. Three storage bags. Some herbs. A map fragment.
"North," Mo Tian read the map. "The Spirit Medicine Garden. That is where the main teams will go."
He looked North. He could see a faint pillar of golden light in the distance. That was Ye Chen's destination.
"Run, rabbit, run," Mo Tian smiled.
Meanwhile - The Spirit Medicine Garden
Ye Chen slashed his heavy sword, cleaving a Rank 2 Stone Wolf in half.
"Is everyone okay?" he shouted.
"We are safe, Brother Ye!" a female disciple swooned.
Ye Chen wiped sweat from his brow. His team of ten had regrouped quickly. Yan Luo was with them, standing near the back, looking pale.
"Senior Sister Yan," Ye Chen walked over. "Here. Drink some water. The air here is dry."
He handed her his own canteen.
Yan Luo froze. She looked at the canteen. She looked at Ye Chen's trusting face.
Do it, the voice in her head whispered. Or Mo Tian will expose you.
Her hand trembled as she took the canteen. While Ye Chen turned to issue orders to the others, she slipped her finger over the rim. A tiny amount of invisible powder fell from her nail into the water.
"Here," she handed it back. "You drink first. You have been fighting."
Ye Chen smiled. "Thank you, Senior Sister."
He took a long swig.
Yan Luo felt like she was going to vomit.
"Alright team!" Ye Chen capped the canteen. "The Medicine Garden is ahead. I sense powerful Spirit Herbs!"
As they marched forward, Ye Chen didn't notice the change. But the wind did.
A scent, imperceptible to humans but irresistible to beasts, began to radiate from his pores.
Deep in the jungle, yellow eyes snapped open. Red eyes. Green eyes.
Thousands of them.
One Hour Later
Mo Tian walked through the forest. He didn't need to hunt. He just followed the trail of corpses.
Iron Fist disciples. Violet Sword disciples. Even some wandering cultivators. They lay broken and drained.
But something was wrong.
The forest was too quiet.
"No beasts," Mo Tian noted. "Not even a squirrel."
He stopped. He sniffed the air.
He smelled blood. Not the stale blood of the dead, but fresh, hot blood. And underneath it... a sweet, musk-like scent.
"The Beast-Lure Powder," Mo Tian grinned. "She actually did it."
The ground began to vibrate.
THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
It wasn't an earthquake. It was a stampede.
Mo Tian leaped onto the top of a giant tree.
In the valley below, he saw a sea of monsters. Shadow Wolves, Iron Bears, Razor Boars, Wind Eagles. A tide of fur and claws, thousands strong.
And in the center of the tide, glowing with golden light, fighting for his life, was Ye Chen.
"Hold the line!" Ye Chen roared, his sword a blur of gold. "Protect the Saintess!"
Ye Chen was magnificent. Every swing killed a beast. His Ancient Solar Physique burned like a miniature sun, incinerating the monsters.
But there were too many.
His team was falling.
"Help me!" a disciple screamed as a wolf dragged him into the brush.
"No!" Ye Chen tried to save him, but a bear slammed into his shield.
Yan Luo stood in the center of the formation, her face white as a sheet. She knew. She knew this was her fault. Every scream, every drop of blood, was on her hands.
High above, Mo Tian watched, eating a spirit fruit he had stolen from a corpse.
"Beautiful," Mo Tian whispered. "The Hero tries to save everyone. But the weight of the world is too heavy."
He looked at the edge of the beast tide.
A massive shadow was moving through the trees. It was far larger than the others.
[Alert: Boss Monster Detected] [Target: Earth-Shaker Ape (Rank 3 - Peak)] [Combat Power: Equivalent to Foundation Establishment Stage 9]
The Ape roared, tearing a tree out of the ground and using it as a club. It charged toward Ye Chen's exhausted formation.
"Time to intervene," Mo Tian decided. "Not to save him. But to steal his kill."
He put on his white mask. He drew the stolen Golden Crow Sword.
"System. Activate Bone-Masking. Aura: Righteous."
Mo Tian dropped from the sky.
But he didn't land near Ye Chen. He landed behind the Earth-Shaker Ape.
"Hey, ugly," Mo Tian whispered.
The Ape turned.
Mo Tian didn't use his villain arts. He used the Blazing Sun Sword Art—the one he stole from the Zhao Clan.
"Sun Slash!"
A beam of fire struck the Ape's ankle. It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was annoying.
The Ape roared and turned its focus to the new gnat.
Ye Chen saw the flash of fire. "Reinforcements?"
Mo Tian led the Ape away from the group, deeper into the forest.
"Come on," Mo Tian taunted the monster. "I'm the main course."
Once they were out of sight of Ye Chen, Mo Tian stopped.
The Ape charged, raising the tree-club.
Mo Tian's posture changed. The "Righteous" aura vanished. The white mask seemed to grin.
"Domain Expansion: Ghost Prison."
Black fog exploded from his body, swallowing the clearing.
The Ape paused, confused. It couldn't see. It couldn't smell.
From the darkness, a purple flame ignited.
"You are big," Mo Tian's voice came from everywhere. "Lots of blood."
Chains of black Qi shot from the fog, binding the Ape's limbs. It struggled, snapping them, but more came.
Mo Tian appeared on the Ape's shoulder. His hand, burning with Purple Nether Flame, pressed against the Ape's temple.
"Sleep."
The flame drilled into the brain.
The Rank 3 Beast King didn't die instantly. It convulsed, its massive body becoming a battery for Mo Tian.
[Devouring Rank 3 Beast Essence...] [Experience Overflow.] [Strength Attribute +50.]
When the fog cleared, only a massive skeleton remained.
Mo Tian stood atop the bones, cracking his neck.
"Rank 3 Essence," he exhaled a cloud of purple steam. "Tasty."
He looked back toward the battle. Ye Chen had survived the wave, but his team was battered.
"Phase One complete," Mo Tian said. "Ye Chen is exhausted. Yan Luo is traumatized. And I just got stronger."
He merged back into the shadows.
"Now... let's go find the Trial Core."