Come Out

The gates of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect's compound stood wide open. A thick smell of blood drifted lazily out, spreading through the street.

Outside, a dense crowd had gathered. Everyone craned their necks and stared wide-eyed at the hellish scene beyond the gates.

Bodies lay strewn everywhere, amid scorched black marks, and the only person still standing was a boy drenched in blood.

He had actually done it.

Alone, single-handedly, he had slaughtered everyone in the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect's entire outpost in Ancient Gaze City!

"My heavens... he... he killed them all..."

"Zhao Qinghe... even Zhao Qinghe is dead! He was one of the disciples in this generation of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect with the best chance of forming a Golden Core!"

An older cultivator could not help shaking his head, his face full of regret.

Zhao Qinghe had risen to prominence in Ancient Gaze City over the past few years. Both his talent and temperament were excellent. No one had expected him to fall here, much less in this manner.

Those words struck a chord with many. Zhao Qinghe's final actions had indeed earned him a measure of respect.

"Where's Elder Lü Yan? His disciples are almost completely wiped out. Why hasn't he come out yet?"

Some found it utterly inconceivable. Even if he was in seclusion trying to break through a bottleneck, surely he could not ignore the sky falling outside?

"Maybe he's reached the most critical moment and can't get away..."

Someone nearby speculated quietly, yet his gaze involuntarily flicked toward the tightly shut door deep within the courtyard.

"But with this boy causing such a huge commotion, once Elder Lü comes out of seclusion, I'm afraid..."

He did not finish, but everyone understood what he meant.

Because almost everyone was certain that Si Chen was finished.

He might look formidable now, having killed all the Foundation Establishment disciples, but once that Golden Core elder emerged from seclusion, a thunderous, crushing calamity would descend upon him.

An entire major realm separated them.

No one thought Si Chen could win. They were merely waiting-waiting for a Golden Core cultivator to crush a Foundation Establishment cultivator in a battle whose outcome was beyond doubt.

Inside the courtyard.

Si Chen ignored the noisy discussions and stares outside the gates.

"Moon Chaser..."

He quietly repeated the name.

That sword strike had been fast. So fast that he had not managed to evade it completely.

The sensation was novel, not unpleasant. It had even stirred a trace of interest in this thing called a "sword."

He bent down, picked up a fallen longsword, and casually swung it twice. It felt light in his hand.

But compared with using his fists, something seemed to be missing.

"Doesn't feel quite right," he remarked, then casually tossed the longsword onto the ground.

The onlookers outside were speechless. At a time like this, he was still critiquing how a weapon felt in his hand?

Si Chen, however, turned his head and looked toward the building in the deepest part of the compound, where the spiritual energy fluctuated most violently.

He could clearly sense that the old man named Lü Yan was inside, his aura surging in a state of chaos and strength.

Then, beneath everyone's incredulous gazes, Si Chen began walking unhurriedly toward that meditation chamber.

"He... what is he trying to do?"

"He's mad! He really is mad! He's going to provoke a Golden Core expert in seclusion trying to break through a bottleneck?"

"Isn't that asking for death? There's still time to run!"

Amid a chorus of shocked murmurs, Si Chen stopped before the meditation chamber's door.

Then he raised his hand, curled his fingers, and once again knocked three times on the door, neither softly nor forcefully.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound rang clearly, even drowning out the whispers beyond the gates.

Immediately afterward, he spoke to the person inside:

"Come out."

"Stop trying to break through."

The entire world fell silent.

Everyone outside the gates stared with wide eyes and gaping mouths.

What had they just heard?

He... he had actually told a Golden Core elder who was in seclusion trying to break through a bottleneck... to come out?

And told him to stop trying to break through?!

This was no longer provocation. This was practically... trampling a Golden Core cultivator's dignity, Dao Path, and lifelong pursuit beneath his feet!

Lü Yan sat cross-legged on a cushion. The open frost jade box lay before him, its crimson sun fruit already gone, transformed into a scorching, immense torrent of medicinal power that battered wildly through his meridians.

His face was flushed, veins bulged on his forehead, and the spiritual energy around him fluctuated violently. Clearly, he had reached the most critical stage of breaking through his bottleneck.

He had heard every scream outside, every weapon hitting the ground, and even the final exchange between Zhao Qinghe and Si Chen with perfect clarity.

Every disciple's death was like a needle piercing his heart.

Especially Zhao Qinghe, a junior he had thought highly of, a future pillar of the sect.

A violent ripple in his concentration sent his spiritual power into turmoil, nearly throwing its circulation off course.

But he quickly forced down all his emotions, and a vicious resolve rose within him.

Useless... a whole pack of useless fools!

He cursed savagely in his heart.

So many of them couldn't stop one Foundation Establishment brat. They deserved to die!

As long as I can break through to middle Golden Core, all these losses will be worth it! When the time comes, I'll tear that brat's soul out and refine it myself, leaving him unable to live or die!

He drew a deep breath, ignored every sound from outside, and sank his entire focus into his dantian, guiding that scorching medicinal power to batter furiously against the solid barrier.

Disciples were merely expendable.

As long as he, Lü Yan, remained, and the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect's banner still flew, there would be no shortage of new disciples seeking to join.

His own Great Dao was what truly mattered.

Soon, the barrier that had plagued him for decades seemed to loosen. The first light of dawn was just ahead...

Almost... almost...!

Yet,

Just then-

Knock, knock, knock.

The clear knocks passed unhindered through the door like three blows from a heavy hammer, striking straight at his heart.

Then the voice of the one he hated to his very bones carried clearly inside, its tone almost that of an order:

"Come out."

"Stop trying to break through."

"Pfft-!"

Lü Yan's entire body convulsed. He could no longer suppress the blood surging up in his chest and violently spat it out in a bloody mist that stained the floor before him red.

The medicinal power instantly spun out of control, rampaging through his meridians like a wild horse with snapped reins, bringing a tearing agony.

The barrier that had been on the verge of shattering not only remained unbroken, but grew denser and stronger under the backlash!

Decades of bitter effort, the immense price of three hundred and fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones, the perfect opportunity to break through...

Everything, every last bit of it, went flowing away to the east in that instant, swept away by that one casually spoken sentence.

All his efforts had failed at the final step!

Utter fury, towering hatred, and the immense despair of having his Dao Path severed instantly devoured every shred of Lü Yan's reason.

"You-little-beast!!!"

A shrill roar exploded from the meditation chamber, laden with the terrifying, uncontrolled spiritual pressure of a Golden Core cultivator. It instantly shattered the wooden door and cracked even the surrounding walls!

Wood splinters flew, and dust filled the air.

A figure clad in dark blue, radiating an aura of chaos and savagery, shot skyward from the shattered meditation chamber like a raving demon!

Lü Yan's beard and hair bristled, his Daoist robe was stained with blood, and his eyes were scarlet. He fixed them on Si Chen below, the hatred and fury in his gaze threatening to erupt!

"I! Will! Scatter! Your! Soul! To! Nothing!"