"Ugh!" Zhao Wu was sent hurtling backward, his beloved white jade sword now covered in jagged cracks. He collapsed upon the stony ground, spitting out fresh blood that stained his pristine, sacred white robes.

  Zhi Xuan slowly descended from the air, landing lightly right in front of the massive mine opening. He stood there, his back to the sunlight streaming into the hollow, making his silhouette appear like a God of Death guarding the gates to the afterlife.

  "Y-You... Gu Fengyan?" Zhao Wu hissed, crawling backward with trembling hands. "You truly are the demon Senior Ba Yan spoke of... You are a calamity!"

  "A calamity?" Zhi Xuan stepped forward, each footfall making the earth beneath Zhao Wu vibrate violently. "No, I only wish to harvest blood. It so happens those children were in my path, so naturally, I sought the mastermind behind their suffering."

  Zhi Xuan raised his left hand toward Zhao Wu. The Seal of Slaughter on his palm pulsed with a dense, blood-red light. "You speak of faction laws, of failure, and of dignity. Now, let us see how much dignity remains when I draw out your inner essence to pay for every drop of sweat those children shed down there."

  "No! Mercy!" Zhao Wu screamed hysterically. All his arrogance vanished, replaced by the basest survival instinct. "The Mo Family... the Heaven Sword Faction will not let you go! Elder Cao will hunt you to the ends of the heaven!"

  "Elder Cao?" Zhi Xuan sneered coldly. "If he wishes to meet me, tell him to seek his own shadow at midnight. For that is where I shall be waiting."

  Without another word, Zhi Xuan flicked his hand. A flash of crimson lightning, resembling the slash of a Heavenly Sword, cleaved through Zhao Wu—without pride, without denial of the massacre.

  Silence fell as Zhao Wu's Divine Spirit vanished and his Divine Essence Blood was utterly absorbed by Zhi Xuan. However, at that exact moment, a seal shot toward Zhi Xuan’s forehead, appearing to lock onto the pattern of his slaughter pillar and nesting there. Zhi Xuan touched his brow, feeling a searing heat that burned his skin down to the bone. In the reflection of Zhao Wu's cracked sword, he saw a blood-red symbol glowing—an ancient script forming the word "Annihilator."

  "Hmm?" Zhi Xuan murmured, feeling the mark on his forehead throb faintly. "What is this?"

  Zhi Xuan brushed his fingers over the burning script, attempting to suppress it with his twilight-gray essence. But instead of dimming, the symbol absorbed his mental energy and glowed even brighter.

  A pillar of blood-red light shot from his forehead toward the horizon, piercing the clouds and creating ripples of energy felt thousands of miles away, forming a pressure that manifested ancient script across the sky.

  Zhi Xuan stood frozen in the middle of the ruined valley, staring at the pillar of red light stabbing the heart of the firmament. The 'Annihilator' script, formed from Zhao Wu’s blood energy, danced in the heavens, radiating an aura of darkness—a mark of the hunt.

  "Damn it..." Zhi Xuan hissed, his voice hoarse. He felt his soul as if bound by invisible yet unbreakable threads of fate.

  "Zhao Wu... that little bastard," Ruo Xianxue’s voice rang out sharply, this time without a trace of mockery. Her figure manifested beside Zhi Xuan with an incredibly serious expression. "He sacrificed the remaining lifespan of his soul to trigger the bloodline curse of the Heaven Sword Faction. From this moment on, every cultivator in the southern region will see you as a demon marked by the heavens."

  Zhi Xuan tried to rotate the Heavenly Samsara Wheel to destroy the seal, but his twilight-gray essence slipped past it as if the seal existed in a different dimension. The aura radiating from his brow was sharp, smelling of iron and rage—a signal screaming to the world.

  "The Blood Karma Mark," Ruo Xianxue hissed, her spiritual fingers trying to touch the air in front of Zhi Xuan’s forehead, only to be repelled by red sparks. "This is no ordinary tracking seal. This is the Heavenly Script Vow. Zhao Wu used his pure hatred to lock the identity of Gu Fengyan into your very marrow. As long as this mark burns, you are a candle in the dark for every bounty hunter and sect elder."

  Zhi Xuan looked up, staring at the 'Annihilator' script that now sat in the sky above Mist Valley like a giant tombstone. He could feel the gaze of thousands of eyes from afar beginning to turn toward this valley. Within his mind, ripples of consciousness from great factions began to stir; the mark sent out a mental resonance carrying his name, face, and aura forcibly into the mind of every cultivator within a radius of thousands of miles.

  "Gu Fengyan... killer of core disciples... looter of the earth’s veins..." The ethereal voices seemed to whisper in Zhi Xuan’s ears, echoes of the collective hatred triggered by the seal.

  Zhi Xuan clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. "So, they wish to make me a public enemy? They want the world to know that Gu Fengyan has been reborn from the dust of the Ancient Demon Land?"

  "Worse than that," Ruo Xianxue looked toward Dragon Lotus City, which was now releasing dozens of spiritual light trails—experts flying this way. "You are no longer just a fugitive. You are 'Heavenly Prey.' Whoever kills you will gain the recognition of the Heaven Sword Faction and perhaps a portion of the karmic luck you possess."

  Zhi Xuan took a deep breath, trying to stabilize his emotions. He glanced at the mine opening where the small children still watched him with hope and terror. If he stayed here, this valley would become a bloody battlefield, and those small lives would be consumed by the fires of the cultivators' war.

  "I have no time to hide," Zhi Xuan muttered. He waved his hand, and his Heavenly Trifold Reincarnation Cauldron floated out, expanding to the size of a small house.

  With a firm mental command, the olive-green energy vortex from within the cauldron pulled the dozens of children into the safe spatial realm inside. "Enter. There you will find a warmth gentler than this bleeding sun."

  As the last child entered, Zhi Xuan stored the cauldron back into his Sea of Consciousness. He now stood alone in the ruins of Mist Valley, while on the horizon, the auras of dozens of cultivators—from the Five Element realm to Soul Transformation—began to appear. Most prominent of all was the late-stage Soul Transformation aura of Elder Cao, pressing down on the air like thousands of collapsing mountains.

  "Gu Fengyan! You cursed thief! You dare defile the Mo Family lands with the blood of our disciple?!" A voice thundered from the distance, carrying a shockwave that crumbled the remaining cliffs around Zhi Xuan.

  Below, the adult miners also scrambled out of the mine, creating a chaos that indirectly saved hundreds of lives trapped too long inside. Their faces were pale, radiating an ironic sense of relief.

  Zhi Xuan stood tall amidst the swirling dust, letting the red pillar of light on his forehead roar into the sky. The mark was not just light; it emitted a unique soul frequency, a melody of death resonating across every horizon in the southern region.

  In the eyes of the approaching cultivators, the Annihilator mark was not just script, but an instant vision of Gu Fengyan’s sins—the massacre at the Sword Tomb, the destruction of the Golden Net, and the theft of the spiritual veins.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Do you feel it, Zhi Xuan?" Ruo Xianxue whispered, her shadow slowly fading but her voice remaining, vibrating with anticipation. "This world has set your price. Every drop of your blood is now equivalent to a divine pill for those thirsty for fame."

  Wusss—!

  Golden light struck from the western sky, followed by silver sword radiances from the east. In a matter of breaths, seven figures had surrounded the air above Mist Valley. They wore robes of various factions: the Heaven Sword Faction, the Elephant Mountain Sect, and elders from noble families who had originally intended only to observe the auction.

  However, in their midst appeared a figure wearing earth-colored robes with a pattern of nine mountains on the back. His spiritual pressure was so dense that the fog in the valley seemed to freeze into crystals.

  "Elder Cao," Zhi Xuan hissed, his sapphire eyes now beginning to be streaked with red from the resonance of the seal on his forehead.

  "Little thief," Elder Cao’s voice echoed like thunder buried in the earth's belly. His wrinkled yet dignified face looked down at Zhi Xuan with loathing. "You have killed Zhao Wu and defiled the destiny of the Heaven Sword Faction. The Annihilator mark on your brow is witness that heaven itself does not desire your existence. Surrender, and I will leave you with a dignified corpse."

  Zhi Xuan touched the mark on his forehead; its heat had now turned into a piercing cold. He realized this mark was like a focal point for negative karma. Anyone who looked at it would instinctively feel deep hatred—an effect of the bloodline curse manipulating the world's perception.

  "Surrender?" Zhi Xuan laughed, a dry laugh devoid of joy. "Elder Cao, you speak of heaven as if you are the wielder of its power. If heaven were truly just, this valley should have collapsed the moment you bound those children with soul-draining chains!"

  "Impudent! How dare a traitor speak of justice!" An elder from the Elephant Mountain Sect brandished his giant axe, his eyes red with greed. "Gu Fengyan’s head is a ticket to the Heaven Sword Faction’s treasury! Die!"

  Without waiting for orders, the elder dived down. His axe expanded, making the air feel heavy with the weight of a thousand jin, cleaving the air with a coarse and oppressive Axe Intent.

  DUMM! DUMM! DUMM! WHUMP!

  Clouds of dust billowed high as the giant axe struck where Zhi Xuan stood. The earth split, creating a crack dozens of zhang deep that spread like lightning across the ground, making the mine below look unstable. However, as the dust settled, the eyes of the cultivators in the air widened. The axe was frozen in mid-air, just inches from the ground, gripped by Zhi Xuan’s left hand—which looked small yet was as solid as an ancient mountain.

  Zhi Xuan looked up, his eyes flashing with crimson lightning. He waved his right hand as fast as a lightning strike; from there, a Heavenly Sword with a dark blade appeared, carrying the weight of Extreme Lightning, as if the Eternal Treasure also bore the slaughter of thousands.

  "An Eternal Treasure?! You possess an Eternal Treasure?!" roared the Elephant Mountain elder, his eyes flashing with sharp rage. "General Tie Feng did not lie—you truly are a Demon!"

  "A fine axe," Zhi Xuan snorted, pushed slightly into the ground. He looked coldly at the figures surrounding him. "The southern region of Yao Gu is about to learn who once made the Court of Holy Light tremble two hundred years ago."

  With a sharp thud, Zhi Xuan hurled the massive axe upward, the air shaking from the weapon's reversal. Zhi Xuan stomped his foot once, and with a sharp slash, crimson lightning crossed to form a massive x-shaped strike toward the Elephant Mountain elder.

  The blood-red cross-slash darted like two lightning dragons hungry for bone marrow. The air around the sword's path seemed to explode from the slaughtering intent gathered on the blade of Zhi Xuan’s Heavenly Sword.

  "Annihilation Sword Intent!" roared the Elephant Mountain elder. He tried to pull back his giant axe to parry, but the weight of his own weapon—just hurled by Zhi Xuan’s raw strength—made his movements a fatal second too slow.

  CRAAAKKK!

  The thick armor protecting the elder’s chest shattered like cheap ceramic. The crimson lightning slash tore through flesh, cleaved cartilage, and exploded his internal organs in one cruel surge of energy. He didn't even have time for a final scream; his body disintegrated into charred fragments of flesh, while his Divine Spirit was shredded before it could escape from his crown.

  A harrowing silence immediately enveloped Mist Valley. The death of an early-stage Soul Transformation expert in a single breath was not something often witnessed in the southern region. Shards of flesh and decaying remnants of energy fell like a rain of ash carrying a fishy stench, staining the faces of the cultivators still hovering in the air.

  Zhi Xuan stood tall, the Heavenly Sword in his right hand vibrating lowly, emitting a hum that synchronized with the heartbeat of the earth. The crimson lightning coiled around the blade spread to his arm, making his veins bulge with a terrifying glow. The "Annihilator" mark on his forehead was no longer just glowing; it began to emit a red steam that shrouded his entire head like a demonic crown.

  "One," Zhi Xuan said, his voice cold and flat, yet echoing in the soul of everyone who heard it.

  "D-Demon! He has truly merged with that Calamity Banner!" screamed an elder from the Mo Family, his hands trembling as he chanted a protective mantra. "Look at his eyes! Those are no longer human eyes!"

  Elder Cao, who had been silently observing until now, finally moved. He stepped forward in the air, each footfall creating dense, earth-colored energy ripples. His aura of "Nine Mountains Suppressing the Ocean" began to press down, increasing the atmospheric pressure around Zhi Xuan thousands of times over. The ground beneath Zhi Xuan’s feet began to sink, forming a crater that grew deeper as the City Hall elder approached.

  "Gu Fengyan, you indeed possess extraordinary talent for a wanderer," Elder Cao’s voice was heavy, containing a pressure capable of rattling teeth. "However, killing a sect elder in front of me is an unforgivable act. Do you think with one Eternal Treasure you can challenge the order of the southern region?"

  Zhi Xuan felt an incredible weight pressing on his shoulders. His bones began to emit dry, cracking sounds, but his divine body, washed by the essence of life, was not so fragile. He straightened his back, staring straight into Elder Cao’s eyes with an ever-widening smile.

  "Order?" Zhi Xuan chuckled, a sound like a sword scraping against a tombstone. "If your order is built upon the cries of children whose souls you drain, then let me be the chaos that collapses your mountains!"

  Zhi Xuan stomped his foot onto the ground, triggering an explosion of gray energy that countered Elder Cao’s pressure. He no longer waited for an attack; he shot upward like a black line splitting a golden curtain.

  "Daring!" roared Elder Cao. He raised his right hand, and from the clouds above the valley, a massive stone mountain manifested, made of pure spiritual essence. "First Mountain: Soul Suppressor!"

  The giant mountain fell with terrifying speed, blocking Zhi Xuan’s entire view. The air beneath the mountain became so dense it was impossible for anyone to breathe. Yet, Zhi Xuan did not dodge. Instead, he spun his Heavenly Sword, letting the twilight-gray essence and crimson lightning merge into a single point at the tip of the blade.

  "First Heaven: A Thousand Thunderstorms!"

  Zhi Xuan thrust his sword straight toward the peak of the spiritual mountain crushing him. Instantly, the sky above Mist Valley shattered like a mirror hit by a sledgehammer. Thousands of gray and crimson lightning tongues exploded from the tip of the Heavenly Sword, racing upward and enveloping the entire surface of the stone mountain.

  BOOM!

  Elder Cao’s first mountain shattered into essence dust before it could even touch a strand of Zhi Xuan’s hair. The vibration of the explosion threw low-level cultivators back hundreds of zhang, while some of them spat blood from the overwhelming mental shock.

  Zhi Xuan shot out from the cloud of dust and mountain ruins, his robes tattered but his aura soaring even more wildly. The "Annihilator" mark on his forehead throbbed in sync with his heartbeat, triggering a pure combat madness.

  "Your mountain is too light, Elder!" Zhi Xuan shouted, his voice thundering amidst the claps of lightning.

  Elder Cao’s face turned a deep crimson. As the ruler of Dragon Lotus City Hall, he had never been so insulted by a junior. "Arrogant brat! Let us see how well your demonic body holds the weight of the world! Second Mountain: Bone Crusher! Third Mountain: Spirit Trapper!"

  Two more spiritual mountains manifested, this time twice as large and featuring ancient runes that glowed golden. The resulting pressure turned the valley’s atmosphere into a crushing center, squeezing Zhi Xuan’s body from two sides like the jaws of an ancient beast.

  Zhi Xuan felt a pressure capable of crushing Divine metal begin to constrict his lungs. However, amidst the physical suffering, he felt the Heavenly Samsara Wheel within him spinning faster and faster, absorbing the external pressure and converting it into fuel for his twilight-gray essence.

  Zhi Xuan spat out a mouthful of black blood that instantly evaporated into a thin mist. The pressure from Elder Cao’s two spiritual mountains was real; his divine body felt forced to shrink back into mortal dust. Yet, within his sapphire eyes, the shadow of death was absent—instead, there was a spark of rebellion that transcended earthly logic.

  "This pressure... is but a pebble compared to the weight of the sins you carry, old man!" Zhi Xuan roared.

  He released his left hand’s grip on the air, letting the Heavenly Sword float before him. Suddenly, he clasped his hands together, closing his eyes in a silence of slaughter that brought an aura of death around him. A single tear fell into the air, and six silver and black dragons emerged from the blade of the Heavenly Sword.