I was thinking of dipping into the past of the sect master and the military but then I decided to not waste anyone’s time with that. A small background story incorporated here and there would be enough.

Let me know if you don’t want that.

~~

[Circulation of heart and soul has been completed]

[Your Death Qi core has been fully stabilized]

[Your Death Qi purity has increased significantly]

[All skills costs have been reduced by 50%]

[All skills effects have been enhanced by 50%]

[Death Qi limit +100%]

[Death Qi +50,000]

[Your partner has experienced the same effects]

[Wand of the Damned has been created due to the perfect fusion of the user and his partner]

[Wand of the Damned]

[Tier: Unknown]

[Description: A wand created from the blood of the dark dragons who sacrificed themselves for their elder

The wand contains their desire to save their father along with all the emotions they ever held, making it difficult for anyone to ever bear the wand.

The perfect fusion of their lives created the wand and only those who have undergone perfect fusion can ever use the wand]

[Effect: For ten minutes, become an immortal dark dragon]

[All stats +100%]

[All skills effects +100%]

[Effect ‘Immortality’ would take place during the usage of the wand]

[Warning: The user’s emotions would be greatly enhanced]

[Cool down: 10 days]

[Duration: 10 minutes]

[Cost: Spilled blood of a sinner]

[Limited to the user only]

[…]

[You have killed a cultivator x3]

[Death hungrily reacts]

[Gain of stats is no longer applicable]

[Death Qi +2091]

[Death Qi: 83109]

[…]

[Quest rewards have been received]

[Level +10]

[All stats +100]

[Skill ‘Lord of the Damned’ has been obtained]

[Error]

[A superior skill is already present]

[The skill would be absorbed by the existing skill]

[Skill ‘Call of the Undead’ has been upgraded in terms of effects]

[Now the undead can retain the power they had in their lifetime for thirty minutes]

[After the duration, the undead would cease to exist]

[…]

[A contract has been signed with the ‘Child of the Damned’]

[You can now summon the contracted partner at the cost of 5000 Death Qi]

[The kills from the contracted monster would be transferred to you]

[…]

“Haa…” Wei Jun sighed as he looked at the plethora of notifications in his view, not so sure where to begin. All the rewards he received were immensely good and he couldn’t help but be happy about them but even then, he was sure, the problems that were about to come his way wouldn’t be solved with just that.

Whatever that woman from the sarcophagus did greatly did something to his Death Qi. In a good way as well.

The item he received was ridiculously good as well but he had an ominous feeling about the small warning at the end of the effects related to his emotions.

And he had a guess the mentioned emotions weren’t the good ones either.

Other than that, there had been another change in his Death Qi. Before whatever the woman in the tomb did, his Death Qi would only move around when needed and otherwise would remain dormant. However, now it was constantly moving through his body. Just like the Yang Qi before Death Qi used to move in his body, it was the same.

It was no longer dormant. And it was due to that he would no longer gain any more stats from killing cultivators.

Then he lowered his head and raised his forearm to look at it, at the tattoo of a centipede on his arm. To summon it, Wei Jun required 5000 Death Qi which was not much for him at this point.

‘But summoning it here would be a bit…’ Wei Jun was unsure if the thing would retain its size but he had a strong feeling it would. Wei Jun sighed and lowered his arm and looked up at the ceiling. He was deciding his next move.

With the potential threat from the military and the definite threat from the imperial family, Wei Jun was uncertain about his next moves.

While he was wondering that, the door to the hospital room he was in opened and entered a man he recognized well. The man looked at Wei Jun and smiled, “So you’re up.”

“Seems like it.” Wei Jun replied to the sect master who took a seat beside the bed. Wei Jun looked at the sect master who didn’t have a neutral expression on his face. Usually, he was mostly laidback as if nothing in the world could harm him but now, his expression wasn’t so laidback.

“What?” Wei Jun asked.

“You killed three imperial family members.” The sect master said.

“Yeah, they had it coming.” Wei Jun replied.

“They don’t really care about that.” The sect master replied.

“Who are they?” Wei Jun asked.

“Imperial family members.” The sect master replied.

“No, who are they really?” Wei Jun asked again before he clarified, “Your brother and them and then there’s your sister. I wanna know how you all ended up in that setting. The current setting.”

“…” The sect master remained silent for a while before he chuckled. He looked at Wei Jun and asked, “And?”

“And?” Wei Jun asked.

“What will you do then?” The sect master asked.

“Deal with them.” Wei Jun replied. Know your enemy before making a move on them. It was the basic rule everyone had to follow involved in an enmity.

“Haa…” The sect master sighed before he asked, “Do you know what my name is?”

“Song Huan.” Wei Jun replied.

“That’s the name of the person who I used to hate will all my being.” The sect master replied before he added, “My name is Liao Tang. I was once a crown prince of this empire many, many years ago. But then the owner of this name, Song Huan, and his family, the Song family, came after the throne of our family and I was powerless to do anything about it.”

But then, life changed.

An opportunity that was nothing less of a shortcut arrived. However, it wasn’t his own.

“What happened?” Wei Jun asked.

“There was a saying. Talentless would always remain talentless. No matter what I did, I wouldn’t be able to do what the talented could do. I thought if I took back my throne, everything would be over but… nothing was over. Talent was a requirement. A strict requirement.”

From the words of the sect master, otherwise known as Liao Tang, Wei Jun could discern some hidden meanings. The most apparent of them being the talentless body of Liao Tang.

“Although I took back my throne with overwhelming power, that power was nothing compared to the power of the talented. A boy rose in front of my very eyes, from a child to an adult, and took the throne back from me. I went into hiding once more, determined to take it back again, but…” The sect master stopped.

“You stunted.” Wei Jun completed the words for him. The sect master chuckled and replied, “Yes, I stunted.”

“No matter how hard I tried or how long I lived, I could only remain a helpless cultivator who had reached his limit. My limit was my current realm. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t take back the throne anymore.” The sect master said.

“Before my very eyes, centuries once again passed and I tried many, many times to take back the throne but every time someone would come and take it from me. In the end, I had to give up.” The sect master replied.

“Then I saw another young man grow up before my very eyes and take control of this empire from behind the shadows.” The sect master continued.

“Let me guess; the old man.” Wei Jun said.

“Him.” The sect master nodded in assent before he added, “My brother couldn’t accept the same reality, to this day, he kept on trying to take back the throne but no matter what he did, we had to admit, the bloodline of the Tang family ended with us.”

“Are they aware of you?” Wei Jun asked.

“I am still strong so yes, everyone is afraid of me, however, I am not to only one no longer. There are more stronger than me and they have taken control of what once belonged to me before my very eyes.” The sect master said.

“Your regret?” Wei Jun asked.

“That I didn’t end this life sooner. Should have ended it before I threw myself in this endless cycle of hatred.” The sect master replied.

“What’s stopping you now?” Wei Jun asked.

“This.” The sect master replied before he pulled a cube from his robe and placed it near Wei Jun. As Wei Jun looked at it, no description appeared in his eyes, even from the system so he was curious and asked.

“What is it?” Wei Jun asked.

“My blessing and my curse.” The sect master replied, “I made a contract that would allow me to live forever, but in return, I can’t die.”

That was the most nonsensical thing Wei Jun could have heard had he not been able to understand the real meaning behind the sect master’s words.

He then looked at Wei Jun and said, “You need to keep going. Soon, everything is going to come to an end and you will be at the very center of it. I hope you make the right choice then.”

With that, the sect master left, leaving Wei Jun with his own thoughts.

‘The right choice, huh?’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep