—–

Louis withdrew Gungnir with a sharp flick that sent droplets of blood flying in scarlet arcs. He looked down at the “corpse” of Elder Kai, his eyes narrowing for a moment.

Then he turned back to the disciples, who trembled in horror at the scene. Their faces twisted with disbelief and terror.

This “insect” who had ascended from the lower realm was a true monster. He had stolen their legendary art and made it his own.

“Hm.”

He knelt and touched the corpse, which had been transformed into a golden statue, then extracted the bizarre soul of Elder Kai. It was composed entirely of Fantasium, a Fake Soul like those of Entities.

As long as it had a human origin or was considered “people” by others, the Spiral of the Desecrated Soul could work with it.

“Soul Enslavement.”

He enslaved the soul and forced it back into the golden statue. Elder Kai rose once more, silent, his face unchanging and golden.

The disciples stepped back in even greater horror.

At the same time, a rush of memories and knowledge flooded Louis’s mind as he seized Elder Kai’s memories.

“Bingo.”

He had tried claiming other souls, but none offered anything worthwhile until this Elder, a powerful Golden Core Realm cultivator, appeared. Louis had taken him down with a devastating strike that combined Gungnir, his own Sword Energy techniques, and Sword Qi Intent.

Elder Kai had been utterly helpless to defend himself. He could not have predicted that Louis would create a technique capable of piercing Sword Formation Barriers.

Ding!

[The Cultivation Method: [Heaven-Splitting Sword Intent – Initial Layer (Incomplete)] Progress for Full Comprehension has increased from 25% to 50%.]

[You have begun to grasp several new techniques and the mechanics behind the control of Sword Qi and its combination with Mana and Sword Energy.]

[The Cultivation Method [Sword Breathing Technique – Second Step: Sword Master Rank] is growing stronger…]

“It was a truly advanced technique he was using… Sword Curtain, huh? Sword Rain Array too… Interesting,” Louis nodded. “Autumn Water, hm? It is a dropped item as well. A beautiful sword, and it seems packed with sword qi.”

He added the new sword to his collection, holding it with one hand as he channeled his sword qi into it. The blade reacted instantly, exuding a sharp silver light.

“Y-You bastard…!”

“Elder Kai…!”

“How dare you?!”

“Monster…!”

“Kill that monster from the lower realm! Avenge the elder!!!”

He glanced at the remaining elders and inner disciples still hovering above the gates, as well as those rushing toward him from below.

“You’re next,” he said simply.

Then he resumed walking forward as though nothing of consequence had happened.

Behind him, House Frostbane roared and surged after their lord.

The Ki Sword Sect’s outer defenses collapsed in under four minutes.

The inner disciples tried to rally, forming a desperate Sword Domain that filled the sky with a dome of interlocked blades.

Louis raised Gungnir once and summoned one of his spirits.

“Niflheim.”

The air temperature plummeted. A domain of absolute zero frost clashed violently against the Sword Domain.

In that instant, the blades froze mid-swing. The very qi that formed them grew brittle and covered in cracks, leaving the disciples stunned.

“H-How did he…?!”

“How did he freeze the swords?!”

“They are made of sword qi! Is there sorcery capable of freezing sword qi?!”

Ignoring their panicked words, Louis spoke a single word they could not understand, yet instinctively knew meant disaster.

“Break.”

The frozen swords shattered into glittering powder. Snow fell from the skies, blanketing the entire sect in a beautiful yet eerie winter scene.

The Sword Domain collapsed.

The inner disciples plummeted. Some screamed, others fell in shocked silence at what they were witnessing.

Mirai caught one mid-fall. Her katana pierced through armor and heart in a single clean motion. The disciple tried to fight back but was slain instantly.

“Too slow,” she sneered, then kicked the corpse downward.

“Quickly, take them down before they use any more of their crazy abilities!” Anastasia cut down another with an elegant upward slash. Ice flames bloomed into a spiraling lotus that froze and shattered her target.

“It’s them or us! No hard feelings, okay?!” Timothy, still half-panicked, smashed two more out of the air with burning shovel swings.

“Let’s go, Selene!”

“Yeah, Melisa!”

Selene and Melisa hunted in tandem, claws and explosive feathers reaping lives like wheat.

“That sword rain array cost most of my undead! But you will make good replacements!” Zorba’s undead marched forward relentlessly, absorbing every desperate counterattack and growing stronger with each fallen cultivator they raised.

“Ugh, you’ve got me working overtime!” Agustina stayed back, hammering out fresh armor plates mid-battle and tossing them to whoever needed reinforcement. When targeted, she began mass-producing spiritual weapons to fight from a distance. “D-Don’t get closer!” She defended herself with large shields and fired spiritual swords at the disciples, slashing and impaling several of them.

Meanwhile, Louis never slowed. He walked through the carnage with Gungnir resting on his shoulder, silver sword intent trailing from its tip like smoke.

Every cultivator who tried to bar his path met the same fate: a single thrust, a flicker of silver intent, and neat, surgical dismemberment.

By the time he reached the inner gates, the once-proud jade entrance had been reduced to rubble.

He stepped over the broken threshold.

Inside, hundreds of disciples waited in perfect formation, swords raised and qi blazing.

“You guys are way too many…” he sighed.

At their center stood three figures, two men and one woman, all wearing the deep indigo robes of Core Elders.

The woman, silver-haired Elder Ming, stepped forward first.

“You dare defile our sect?” she hissed. “You will pay for every drop of blood you have spilled here.”

Louis regarded her calmly.

“I would rather not fight, but you leave me no choice,” he said. “You are merely entities now. By killing you, I am simply granting you mercy.”

Ming’s face twisted with rage.

“I don’t understand a single thing he is saying, but I bet he is insulting us! Kill him!”

“You will pay for what you did to Kai!”

“Know the wrath of the Ki Sword Sect, outsider!”

The three elders attacked simultaneously.

“Heaven-Devouring Sword Dragon!”

Elder Ming summoned a thousand swords that formed a roaring dragon of silver light.

“Sun Blade Vortex Array!”

The man to her left, Elder Yang, unleashed a spiraling maelstrom of yang-charged sword qi.

“Mountain-Cleaving Palms!”

The man to her right, Elder Feng, thrust forward with both palms, releasing a slicing sword intent in a single mountain-cutting line.

Three Core Formation peak cultivators.

A combined assault that could level mountains.

Louis was fascinated by their incredible techniques. Although they were massive and powerful…

He still sighed and shook his head.

Then he raised Gungnir and spoke three words.

“Rune of Slaughter.”

In that moment, before the eyes of the three elders, the world turned red.

A crimson shockwave erupted from the spear tip, carrying every ounce of accumulated killing intent Louis had harvested since entering this layer.

The dragon of swords shattered in a single second.

The vortex collapsed inward and exploded back into its owner’s face.

The mountain-cutting line met the crimson wave and simply stopped, scattering like nothing before reversing.

“Kuaaaaagghh!”

“W-What is this monster?!”

“Aaaaaggghh!”

All three elders were blown backward. Their robes tore; blood sprayed from their mouths. They crashed through walls, training halls, and jade pillars, carving long furrows in the ground before coming to rest in broken heaps.

Silence fell.

Every remaining disciple who had not been slaughtered in that attack stared in mute horror.

Their three strongest elders, the pillars of the sect, had been defeated in a single exchange.

“M-Monster…”

“Is he someone at the Nascent Soul Realm?!”

“He is unstoppable! Just what was that ultimate technique?!”

“He wields a spear!”

“D-Demon!”

“I felt it… Within his spear, the souls of all our fellow disciples! He is a malevolent demonic cultivator!”

Louis lowered Gungnir. He looked at the sea of stunned faces and spoke, his voice quiet yet carrying to every corner of the shattered sect.

He knew they could not understand him, but he pointed his spear at them.

“You are not winning this. Surrender the node.”

He smiled, a small and gentle smile.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

Their eyes darted between one another in fear. These entities, records of people who had once died here, still felt these emotions.

Then, slowly, swords clattered to the ground.

One by one.

Until the entire inner court knelt in terrified silence.

Louis exhaled.

“Good choice.”

He turned to his House.

“Secure the Formation Node. It should be beneath the central pagoda. Agustina, extract everything valuable. Mirai and Anastasia, guard the perimeter. The rest of you help Zorba raise the dead. We are not done with this mountain yet.”

As his companions moved to obey, Louis looked up at the golden palace shining on the distant peak.

He felt it.

A gaze, ancient, cold, and furious, watching him from the heart of the Heavenly Sovereign’s Pagoda. Louis smiled wider.

“Good,” he whispered. “Did you feel my presence?”

Louis began walking again, toward the central pagoda and the Formation Node.

As he did, the disciples stared in silence. Then some smiled as he turned his back to them.

From behind, a figure emerged, sneaking closer and hiding from Louis’s senses until now.

FLASH!

It happened in a single second. A silver sword pierced Louis’s chest, stabbing through his lungs and heart. Blood poured from his mouth and wounds.

“Gaaaaha!?”

“You should have never given us your back, foolish creature from the lower realms.”

A bearded old man with a sickening grin emerged, walking calmly toward Louis.

“Prepare yourself to die by the hand of the Sect Master, Yang Mieng. It is an honor among honors, fool!”

—–

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep