The head of Lei Ming rolled across the marble floor, stopping at the feet of the Violet Sword disciples.
For a second, time froze. Then, chaos erupted.
"Sect Brother Lei!" "Kill him! Kill the demon!"
Ten Violet Sword disciples charged, their fear transmuting into desperate rage. Ten rapiers hummed with lightning Qi, aiming to turn the masked figure into a pincushion.
Mo Tian didn't even look at them. He looked only at Ye Chen.
"Observe, Hero," Mo Tian whispered.
He swung the Horizon Sword. He didn't move his feet. He simply flicked his wrist.
"Horizon Art: First Form - Line of Death."
A thin, black line appeared in the air, bisecting the space horizontally.
The ten charging disciples kept running for two steps. Then, their upper bodies slid off their lower bodies. Blood sprayed in a synchronized fountain, painting the golden pillars crimson.
Ye Chen's eyes dilated. He had seen death before, but not like this. This wasn't combat. It was execution.
"Monster!" Ye Chen roared. His Ancient Solar Physique flared. Golden flames wrapped around his heavy sword, turning it into a pillar of scorching light.
"Solar Breaker!"
Ye Chen leaped, bringing the heavy sword down with enough force to shatter a mountain.
Mo Tian raised the slender black sword with one hand.
CLANG.
The ground beneath Mo Tian cracked, spiderwebbing out for thirty meters. But Mo Tian didn't buckle. He held the heavy sword at bay with effortless grace.
"Heavy," Mo Tian commented, his voice distorted and mocking. "You fight with the weight of your morals. It makes you slow."
"Shut up!" Ye Chen pushed, his veins bulging. "You kill without reason! You are evil!"
"Reason?" Mo Tian laughed. He pushed back, sending Ye Chen skidding across the floor. "I killed Lei Ming because he was an obstacle. I killed his disciples because they were annoying. That is the purest reason there is: Will."
Mo Tian vanished.
He reappeared behind Ye Chen.
Ye Chen's instincts screamed. He spun, blocking barely in time.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
They traded blows at blinding speed. Golden fire clashed with black void.
To the onlookers, it was terrifying. Ye Chen was the strongest genius they had ever seen, fighting with the desperation of a cornered tiger. But the masked man... he was playing. He was parrying with lazy elegance, occasionally leaving a shallow cut on Ye Chen's arms or legs, just to bleed him.
"Yan Luo!" Ye Chen shouted, parrying a strike that nearly took his head off. "Take the others and run! The tomb is unstable!"
Yan Luo stood frozen near the entrance. She held her sword, but her hands were shaking. She looked at the masked man—Mo Tian. She knew it was him. The posture. The aura.
If she attacked him, would he expose her? Would he tell Ye Chen that she drugged the water?
"I..." Yan Luo took a step back.
"Run?" Mo Tian's voice appeared right next to Ye Chen's ear as they locked blades. "She won't run, Ye Chen. She wants to see you die."
"Liar!" Ye Chen headbutted Mo Tian.
The white mask didn't crack. Ye Chen's forehead began to bleed.
Mo Tian kicked Ye Chen in the chest, sending him flying into the throne. The impact shattered the stone seat.
Ye Chen coughed blood, struggling to stand. His golden aura was flickering.
Mo Tian walked toward him, dragging the black sword. The tip carved a deep groove in the floor.
"You want to save them?" Mo Tian pointed the sword at the huddled group of terrifying Azure Cloud disciples. "Let's see if you can."
Mo Tian raised his left hand.
[Skill: Soul Puppet Thread]
Five invisible threads shot out, bypassing Ye Chen and striking five wounded disciples in the back.
"Argh!" "My body! It's moving on its own!"
The five disciples stood up, their eyes blank. They drew their weapons.
"What are you doing?" Ye Chen gasped.
"Attack him," Mo Tian commanded.
The five disciples charged at Ye Chen, screaming, "Brother Ye, run! We can't stop!"
Ye Chen froze. He held his heavy sword, but he couldn't swing. These were his sect brothers. His friends.
"Stop!" Ye Chen pleaded, dodging a sword thrust from a crying junior brother. "Fight it!"
"They can't," Mo Tian said, walking closer. "Kill them, Ye Chen. Or they will kill you."
"No!" Ye Chen threw his sword aside and caught the disciples, trying to restrain them without hurting them.
But while he was wrestling with his friends, Mo Tian arrived.
"Hesitation," Mo Tian whispered.
Shkth.
The Horizon Sword pierced through the chest of the disciple Ye Chen was holding, and continued through to stab Ye Chen in the shoulder.
Ye Chen stared at the blade sticking out of his friend's chest. The disciple looked at him, blood bubbling from his mouth.
"I'm... sorry... Brother Ye..."
The disciple died in Ye Chen's arms.
Ye Chen's mind snapped.
"NOOOOO!"
A shockwave of pure, golden grief exploded from Ye Chen. It wasn't Qi. It was Destiny.
[System Alert] [Protagonist Limit Break Detected.] [Target Ye Chen is awakening 'Solar Sovereign Bloodline'.] [Danger Level: Extreme.]
The golden light blinded Mo Tian, forcing him to retreat. The threads snapped.
Ye Chen stood up. His eyes were no longer brown. They were burning white. The wound on his shoulder healed instantly.
"I will kill you," Ye Chen said. His voice was no longer human; it sounded like a god speaking from the heavens.
Mo Tian skidded back to the center of the room. He looked at the glowing protagonist.
"Finally," Mo Tian grinned behind his mask. "A challenge."
He raised his sword.
But suddenly, the tomb began to shake violently. Rocks fell from the ceiling. The floor cracked open, revealing the abyss below.
[System Alert] [Tomb Collapse Imminent.] [Reason: The destruction of the Sword Saint's soul has destabilized the dimension.]
"Tch," Mo Tian lowered his sword. "Bad timing."
He looked at Ye Chen, who was charging up an attack that looked like a miniature sun.
"I would love to stay and extinguish your light, Hero," Mo Tian shouted over the rumbling. "But I have what I came for."
He pointed at Yan Luo, who was cowering by a pillar.
"Ask her!" Mo Tian laughed. "Ask your Saintess why the beasts found you! Ask her about the water!"
Ye Chen paused, the ball of fire in his hand trembling. "What?"
Mo Tian took advantage of the confusion. He threw a smoke bomb—infused with Ghost Prison fog—at the floor.
When the smoke cleared, the masked man was gone.
The tomb groaned. The ceiling collapsed.
"We have to leave!" Yan Luo screamed, running to Ye Chen, pulling his arm. "Ye Chen! Snap out of it! We are going to be buried!"
Ye Chen looked at the spot where the villain had stood. The golden light in his eyes faded, leaving him exhausted and broken. He looked at the dead disciple at his feet.
"He... he killed them..."
"We have to go!" Yan Luo cried, tears streaming down her face—tears of guilt, fear, and relief.
Ye Chen gritted his teeth. He grabbed the bodies of his fallen comrades.
"Let's go."
They fled the crumbling tomb, leaving the headless corpses of the Violet Sword Sect to be buried in the dark.
Outside the Tomb
Mo Tian emerged from a hidden ventilation shaft a mile away.
He dusted off his robes. He removed the white mask, placing it back in his storage ring. He equipped his "Han Fei" persona—disheveled, terrified, and covered in fake dirt.
He looked at the collapsing pyramid in the distance.
[System Mission Update] [Geniuses Killed: 15/50] [Seed of Doubt Planted in Ye Chen: Successful.] [Loot Secured: Horizon Sword, Saint's Soul.]
"Fifteen," Mo Tian shook his head. "Not enough. I need thirty-five more to upgrade the System."
He turned away from the tomb.
"The survivors will be scattering. Injured. Scared. Easy pickings."
He licked his lips.
"Let the hunt continue."