Chapter 26: Come Out

The gates of the Liuyun Sword Sect's guest manor stood wide open, and a thick, cloying stench of blood drifted lazily outward, spreading through the streets.

Outside the gates, a dense crowd had gathered, every person craning their necks and widening their eyes, staring at the hellish scene within.

Bodies lay strewn in every direction. Scorched black marks scarred the ground. And there stood the only one still upright — a young man drenched head to toe in blood.

He had actually done it.

Alone. Single-handedly. He had slaughtered the entire Liuyun Sword Sect's foothold in Wanggu City.

"My heavens… he — he killed them all…"

"Zhao Qinghe… even Zhao Qinghe is dead! He was one of the most promising disciples of this generation, with the best chance of reaching Core Formation!"

An older Cultivator shook his head, unable to help himself, his face full of regret.

Zhao Qinghe had made a name for himself in Wanggu City over the past few years — both his talent and his character were considered exceptional. No one had expected him to fall here, and in this manner.

Those words struck a chord with many in the crowd. Zhao Qinghe's final act had, indeed, earned him a measure of respect.

"What about Elder Lü Yan? His disciples are nearly all dead — why hasn't he come out yet?"

Someone found it utterly incomprehensible. Even if you were in Closed-Door Cultivation pushing for a Breakthrough, you couldn't just ignore the sky falling outside, could you?

"He's probably at the most critical moment… can't pull himself away…"

The person beside them murmured quietly, their gaze drifting involuntarily toward the tightly shut door deep within the courtyard.

"But with the commotion this young man has stirred up, once Elder Lü comes out of seclusion, I'm afraid…"

The words trailed off unfinished, but everyone understood the implication.

Because nearly everyone was convinced: Si Chen was finished.

He might look impressive right now, having cut down every Foundation Establishment disciple, but the moment that Core Formation Stage Elder broke free from his seclusion, what awaited him would be a catastrophic, overwhelming annihilation.

This was a full major realm of difference.

No one believed Si Chen could win. They were simply waiting — waiting for an utterly foregone conclusion, a Core Formation Stage powerhouse crushing a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator into dust.

* * *

Inside the courtyard.

Si Chen paid no attention to the noisy chatter and stares from beyond the gates.

"Chasing the Moon…"

He repeated the name softly to himself.

That sword strike had been fast. So fast he hadn't been able to fully dodge it.

The sensation was novel — not unpleasant. It even stirred within him a faint curiosity toward the thing called a "sword."

He bent down and picked up a fallen longsword from the ground, giving it a couple of casual swings. It felt light in his hand.

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

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

The crowd outside fell into a collective, speechless stupor. At a time like this, he was still critiquing whether a weapon felt comfortable?

Yet Si Chen turned his head, his gaze settling on the building deep within the courtyard — the one where the Spiritual Energy fluctuations were most violent.

He could sense it clearly: the old man called Lü Yan was inside, his aura surging and churning in a state of turbulent, powerful flux.

Then, under the disbelieving eyes of everyone present, Si Chen began to walk — unhurried, at an easy pace — straight toward that meditation chamber.

"He — what does he think he's doing?"

"He's insane! He's actually going to provoke a Core Formation Stage powerhouse who's in Closed-Door Cultivation pushing for a Breakthrough?!"

"Isn't that just asking to die? He could still run — there's still time!"

Amid a wave of stunned gasps, Si Chen came to a stop before the door of the meditation chamber.

Then he raised his hand, curled his fingers, and knocked on the wooden door — three times, neither too hard nor too soft.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The sound rang out clearly, cutting right through the whispers outside the gates.

Then he spoke toward the door within:

"Come out."

"Stop trying to break through."

* * *

The entire world went silent.

Every person outside the gates stared with eyes wide open, mouths agape.

What had they just heard?

He… he had actually told a Core Formation Stage Elder who was in Closed-Door Cultivation pushing for a Breakthrough… to come out?

And told him to stop trying to break through?!

This was no longer mere provocation. This was… this was taking a Core Formation Stage Cultivator's dignity, his path of cultivation, and his life's greatest pursuit — and grinding them underfoot.

* * *

Lü Yan sat cross-legged on his meditation cushion. Before him rested the opened cold-jade box, its Crimson Yang Fruit already gone — dissolved into a torrent of scorching, overwhelming medicinal power that now raged wildly through his Meridians.

His face was flushed crimson, the veins on his forehead bulging, the Spiritual Energy around his body churning violently. He was clearly at the most critical juncture of his assault on the bottleneck.

The screams outside, the clang of weapons hitting the ground, even the final exchange between Zhao Qinghe and Si Chen — he had heard every word with perfect clarity.

Each disciple's death was like a needle driven into his heart.

Zhao Qinghe especially — this was a junior he had held in high regard, a future pillar of the Sect.

A violent surge of emotion disrupted the flow of his Spiritual Energy, nearly sending it careening off course.

But he swiftly forced down every feeling, a cold, vicious resolve rising within him.

"Useless… a bunch of useless trash!"

He cursed viciously in his heart.

So many of them couldn't stop a single Foundation Establishment junior — they deserved to die!

As long as I can break through to the Mid Core Formation Stage, every loss will have been worth it! When that time comes, I will personally rip that brat's soul apart and refine his spirit — I'll make him beg for life and beg for death, and grant him neither!

He drew a deep breath and shut out every sound from the outside world, sinking his entire consciousness into his Elixir Field, guiding that blazing medicinal power as it hammered furiously against the unyielding barrier.

Disciples were nothing more than expendables.

As long as he, Lü Yan, still stood, as long as the banner of the Liuyun Sword Sect still flew, there would be no shortage of new disciples flocking to him.

His own Great Dao was what truly mattered.

Soon, the barrier that had confounded him for decades seemed to be giving way at last. The dawn was right before his eyes…

Almost… almost…!

But then —

Right at that moment —

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Three clear knocks, like three heavy hammer blows, passed through the door without resistance and struck him directly in the heart.

Then that voice — the voice he despised with every fiber of his being — carried through in a tone that was almost like an order:

"Come out."

"Stop trying to break through."

* * *

Pfft —!

Lü Yan's entire body convulsed violently. The surge of blood he had been suppressing in his chest could no longer be held back — it erupted outward in a spray, scattering into a crimson mist that stained the floor before him.

The medicinal power instantly spiraled out of control, rampaging through his Meridians like a runaway horse, bringing with it a tearing, shredding agony.

The barrier that had been on the verge of shattering — rather than breaking open — instead grew denser and more solid under the backlash, more unyielding than ever before!

Decades of painstaking effort. The staggering price of 350,000 mid-grade Spirit Stones. The most perfect opportunity for a Breakthrough…

All of it — every last bit — in this single moment, with those few lightly spoken words, had been reduced to nothing.

So close, and yet so far!

Extreme fury, towering hatred, and the vast, crushing despair of a severed path — all of it swallowed Lü Yan's reason whole.

"You — little — beast — !!!"

A shrill, anguished roar exploded from within the meditation chamber, laden with the terrifying spiritual pressure of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator gone berserk. In an instant it shattered the chamber's wooden door, and the surrounding walls cracked and split apart!

Splinters of wood flew in all directions. Dust and smoke billowed.

A deep-blue figure — radiating an aura of chaos and savage fury — erupted from the ruins of the shattered chamber like a madman ascending to the heavens!

Lü Yan's hair and beard stood on end, his Daoist robe soaked in blood, both eyes a blazing, bloodshot red. His gaze locked onto Si Chen below with a hatred and rage that looked ready to burst into flame.

"I — will — scatter — your — soul — to — the — winds!!!"