Rain fell steadily over the Azure Cloud Sect, hitting the stone courtyards and temple roofs with the soft sound of a thousand footsteps. Dark clouds hung low over the mountain peaks, sucking the light out of the day and leaving the sect's outer courtyard in a greyish haze. The wind was biting, with a shade of wet stone and rusting metal that had become familiar to the disciples assembled in the courtyard.
At the center of it all was the execution platform.
The execution platform had been built centuries ago, using thick slabs of black granite quarried deep in the heart of the mountains. While time had smoothed the stone, there were still faint dark stains on the platform, the legacy of the many executions carried out under the strict laws of the sect. Many disciples believed the platform had seen more backstabbing than battles.
Today, it would see one final betrayal.
There were more than one hundred outer sect disciples who had assembled around the platform in a loose circle, awaiting the execution. Some of the disciples had their arms folded across their chests, watching the scene with interest. Others were talking in hushed tones, their voices laced with intrigue and eagerness. Executions were uncommon within the sect, and the opportunity to witness one was enough to attract the interest of many.
On the platform was the young man who knelt in the rain, dressed in tattered grey robes.
He was named Li Wei.
Rain had seeped into the fabric of the young man's clothes, causing the fabric to darken and stick to his body. His long black hair fell loosely about his face, dripping rainwater steadily onto the platform he knelt upon. Thick iron chains encircled the young man's wrists, locked behind his back. Each chain was engraved with suppression runes, meant to restrict the power of a cultivator.
Under normal circumstances such restraints would have been unnecessary.
Three days ago, Li Wei's dantian had already been shattered.
His meridians destroyed.
His cultivation reduced to nothing.
Slowly, Li Wei's head lifted, surveying the sea of faces that had gathered. Li Wei's face was deathly pale due to the blood loss, but he still had an air of calm. There was no desperation in Li Wei's eyes, nor was there any trembling fear of the execution that awaited him.
A tall figure stood in front of Li Wei, dressed in crimson elder robes. He stood up straight, with an aura of sternness in his eyes. Not even the rain falling down the surface of the elder's robes disturbed the elder's calm demeanor.
Elder Huang, the law enforcement elder of the outer sect.
As he spoke, his words were easily heard by all, despite the rain.
"Li Wei, outer sect disciple," he began, his voice formal, devoid of all expression. "You stand accused of poisoning fellow disciple Zhao Tian."
A murmur ran through the crowd surrounding him.
"Poisoning Zhao Tian?"
"That's madness."
"Zhao Tian is the strongest disciple in the outer sect."
"Why would he do something like that?"
Another voice, though soft, was easily heard by all.
"Jealousy, probably. There are people who cannot bear seeing others surpassing them."
Li Wei listened to all this without expression. He had heard it all before. Just three days ago, all these disciples had smiled and nodded politely to him at meals. Now they regarded him with interest, or disdain, as if he were already dead, simply waiting to fall.
"Your charges against you have already been verified. The injured disciple Zhao Tian himself testified that you lured him into the mountain forest to poison him."
The elder's eyes slightly narrowed as he gazed down at the kneeling figure in front of him.
"Do you confess to these charges against you?"
There was a brief silence in the plaza as the rain fell in a soothing melody.
Li Wei slowly looked up with his eyes.
"No."
The answer caused another wave of whispers to go through the crowd. Elder Huang slightly frowned.
"You're saying that you did not poison Zhao Tian?"
"Yes."
The elder thought for a moment before he sighed.
"It doesn't matter. The charges against you have already been verified."
There was no one in the crowd that opposed this statement. All the disciples knew this truth well enough. Zhao Tian was the most talented disciple in the outer sect. While most of the outer sect disciples were at mid or late Body Tempering, he was a young genius with cultivation strength that had already reached the third level of Qi Gathering. If he testified against another disciple, no one in the outer sect would oppose him.
Elder Huang raised his hand slightly.
"According to sect law," he went on, "the punishment for your crimes is death."
The executioner stepped forward.
He was a large man with thick arms and an even heavier execution blade, which was nearly two meters in length. The edge of the blade seemed to shimmer even in the dull light of the storm clouds. As he raised the blade, the murmuring of the crowd gradually came to a stop.
Li Wei looked down.
Poison Zhao Tian?
That was an absurd accusation.
Only three days ago, Zhao Tian had been cornered by a demonic wolf in the mountain forest outside the sect. Li Wei had been the one who had come to rescue him, risking his own life to chase the wolf away. He had even sacrificed the last healing pill in his inventory to stabilize Zhao Tian's wounds.
And this was the outcome?
Li Wei let out a silent sigh.
Humans were rather predictable creatures.
Zhao Tian was a genius, a man meant to climb the sect ranks fast. If the news of his rescue by an inferior disciple got out, it would reflect poorly on him. Reputation was as valuable as power in the world of cultivation.
Zhao Tian thus solved the problem in the simplest manner possible.
He killed the witness.
Li Wei did not hate him for it. In fact, he could almost understand the reasoning behind the act.
The executioner raised his blade high above his head. The wind whistled with the force of the rain as the blade began its descent.
Li Wei closed his eyes.
Twenty years of life, ending here on this executioner's platform in the rain.
It was not an ideal way to go, but it was acceptable. Death was not an uncommon occurrence in the world of cultivation. Many disciples died in their sect assignments or in battles against the spirit beasts. In the end, his life had simply ended when it was meant to end, a little sooner than expected.
But just as the blade was about to fall, a strange voice echoed in his mind.
[System Activation Detected.]
Li Wei opened his eyes.
For a brief instant, he wondered if it was just the final hallucination of a dying mind. But before he could think further, the voice came again, the same tone, the same language, the same precision.
[Scanning host… Host identity confirmed.]
[Karmic Accounting System successfully activated.]
A translucent screen appeared in front of his eyes.
No one else seemed to notice it.
The executioner continued his movement, as if nothing had happened.
Li Wei stared at the screen floating in front of him, his mind racing as he tried to analyze the strange interface.
At the top of the screen, several lines of text appeared.
Karmic Accounting System
Host: Li Wei
Active Debts: 1
Ability Unlocked: Fate Appraisal
Li Wei instinctively glanced towards the crowd. The panel had changed immediately, focusing on a person Li Wei recognized in the crowd of disciples.
Zhao Tian.
A second panel appeared underneath the first.
Target Analysis
Name: Zhao Tian
Cultivation: Qi Gathering Realm - Third Layer
Fate Grade: Purple
Potential Ceiling: Nascent Soul Realm
Karmic Connection Detected.
A second panel appeared underneath the first.
Debt Holder: Zhao Tian
Debt Type: Life Saving Grace
Debt Level: Major Fate Debt
Collection Options: Fate Command / Fate Harvest
Li Wei's eyes slightly narrowed as he read the information on the panel.
So, Zhao Tian had a purple-grade fate and the potential to reach the Nascent Soul realm. That was why the sect elders favored him so much. However, the part that caught Li Wei's eye was the description of the debt between them.
Major Fate Debt.
The act of saving Zhao Tian's life had forged a strong karmic tie.
And, it seemed, this karmic tie could be claimed.
The execution sword had already started descending towards his neck.
Li Wei's mind worked rapidly. Among the four choices offered by the system, only one of them might prove useful immediately.
Fate Command.
If Zhao Tian indeed owed him a life debt, then Zhao Tian should repay it.
Without hesitation, Li Wei made his decision.
The screen flickered.
Fate Command activated. Major Fate Debt consumed.
The crowd around him seemed to ripple with an invisible force.
A moment passed, and then a voice called out loudly in the square.
"Stop!"
The executioner's blade halted mid-air.
All disciples looked in the direction of the voice.
Zhao Tian himself emerged from the crowd, his white robes soaked with rain and his expression full of inner conflict. For an instant, he looked as if he were struggling with some force, but he went on to approach the execution platform.
"Elder Huang," Zhao Tian said, his voice full of tension, "the execution cannot proceed."
The elder's brow furrowed.
"Explain yourself."
Zhao Tian clenched his fists before speaking again.
"Three days ago… Li Wei saved my life in the mountain forest."
Shock filled the faces of all the disciples who had gathered.
Elder Huang slowly turned to face the chained man on the platform, his face darkening as he understood the implications of Zhao Tian's statement.
Killing a man who had saved a fellow disciple would harm the sect's reputation significantly.
Finally, after a long time, the elder sighed.
"Release him."
As the chains fell off the man, who was once again standing under the rain, the system screen appeared once more before his eyes.
The status under Zhao Tian's name had already changed.
Debt Status: Consumed.
Li Wei read the message quietly.
So, that was the rule. One debt, one use, and it was gone. He looked briefly at Zhao Tian, who was standing in the rain, looking puzzled. The young genius did not understand why he had defended the man he had accused.
Li Wei couldn't help but smile faintly.
Humans, indeed, are fascinating creatures. Zhao Tian had tried to kill him three days ago.
It was today that Zhao Tian had saved his life.
And all because of one invisible debt.
As Li Wei stepped down from the execution platform and disappeared into the rain-soaked courtyard, a single thought echoed quietly through his mind.
If the world truly ran on debts…
Then perhaps debts weren't so bad.