Ghost Hollow - The Seclusion Chamber
Mo Tian sealed the cave. He activated every defensive array he had purchased or stolen.
He sat in the center of the chamber. Floating around him were the ingredients he had gathered over the last year:
The Mist King's Thunder Core (Digested).
The Purple Nether Flame (Tamed).
The Horizon Sword Intent (Mastered).
The Heaven-Splitter Fragment (The Catalyst).
The Blood of a Thousand Sinners (Stored in his body).
"It is time," Mo Tian whispered.
The Foundation Establishment realm was just building the basement. The Golden Core... that was building the engine.
Most cultivators formed a core of one attribute. Fire. Water. Sword.
Mo Tian was going to form a Chaos Villain Core.
He swallowed the Heaven-Splitter Fragment.
SHINK.
It didn't go down his throat. It cut its way into his dantian.
Pain. Absolute, severing pain.
"Heaven-Devouring Art: World Eater Mode."
The black vortex in his dantian spun to life. It grabbed the fragment. It grabbed the flame. It grabbed the sword intent.
It crushed them together.
The energies fought. The Holy Sword Intent tried to purge the Villain Qi. The Earth Flame tried to melt the fragment.
[System Alert: Energy Critical.] [Stabilization Failed.] [Chance of Explosion: 99%.]
"I am the Emperor!" Mo Tian roared internally. "SUBMIT!"
He poured his Will—the sheer, unadulterated arrogance that had allowed him to defy the Heavens in the first chapter—into the mix.
The energies froze. They recognized a greater predator.
Slowly, painfully, they began to fuse.
A sphere formed.
It wasn't gold.
It was a swirling marble of black, purple, and white. It looked like a galaxy trapped in a bead.
The Dao of Devouring. The Dao of Slaughter. The Dao of Control.
BOOM!
A shockwave blasted out from the cave. It wasn't sound. It was Authority.
The sky above the Azure Cloud Sect turned pitch black. A single, giant red eye opened in the clouds—the gaze of the Heavenly Dao.
It sensed something born that shouldn't exist. It wanted to smite it.
But Mo Tian's system flared.
[System Action: Fate Concealment (Level 2).]
The system wrapped the Golden Core in a layer of static. To the Heavens, the anomaly vanished. The red eye blinked, confused, and slowly faded.
Inside the cave, Mo Tian opened his eyes.
They were no longer mismatched. Both eyes were now deep purple, with a ring of white sword light around the pupil.
He exhaled. The breath cut a groove in the stone wall.
[Breakthrough Successful] [Current Realm: Golden Core - Stage 1 (Perfect Chaos Grade)] [Lifespan: 800 Years] [New Ability Unlocked: Domain of the Villain King] [New Ability Unlocked: Reality Glitch (Minor)]
Mo Tian stood up. He felt... absolute.
He walked out of the cave.
Xue Yao and Ghost One were waiting. They fell to their knees instantly, crushed by the mere presence of his new realm.
"Congratulations, Master!" Ghost One gasped.
Mo Tian looked at his hands.
"The Foundation is laid," he said, his voice echoing with a strange duality. "The Core is forged."
He looked toward the horizon, toward the vast world beyond the Azure Cloud Sect.
"Now," Mo Tian smiled. "It is time to start the War."
[System Mission Generated: ARC 3 - The Rebellion] [Objective: Destroy the Azure Cloud Sect.] [Time Limit: 1 Year.]
"One year," Mo Tian laughed. "I'll do it in six months."