Golden Crow Kingdom, Jinyang City.
At this time, Shi Tian was sitting in his room. His gaze was deep like an abyss, as if he could see through all illusions.
However, at the same time, it had faint signs of sadness—very contradictory.
He is Shi Tian, but at this time, Lei was taking over his body.
Lei recalled his memories of the Massacre of Jade Harbor City.
Flashback.
In an isolated cave, a middle-aged man was cultivating.
The cave was sealed with formations. The old man was none other than Master Lei.
He had heard about the commotion that had happened in the past few years. He also knew about the feud with the Azure Mountain villages.
The Spirit Dragon Clan, Shadow Phoenix Sect, and Moonlight Sect were the ones who truly participated in that incident. Even though their factions suffered humiliation and utter defeat, he wasn't narrow-minded enough to target some villages just for resources.
Even though some of the warriors died, it was their incompetence.
The Moonlight Sect attacked because they wanted to avenge Tang Liuyue, while the Shadow Phoenix Sect attacked because of the life-and-death threat Huang Shu suffered and because Huang Ling was defiled. The Spirit Dragon Faction attacked because of Long Yifan's stubbornness.
Everyone had their own reasons, but Lei decided to watch from the sidelines and not interact with them.
One day, a commotion arose, and his cultivation was disturbed by a few warriors.
In Jade Harbor City, the Shadow Phoenix Sect and Thunderous Peak Sect were quite close to each other, while the Spirit Dragon Sect was situated on the outskirts, at the foot of the Azure Mountain Range. The Moonlight Sect was also not very far from the Spirit Dragon Sect, though not particularly close either.
As soon as Lei went out and asked what had happened, he was shocked.
It turned out that a disaster had struck, and a demon had appeared, massacring the Spirit Dragon Clan and Moonlight Sect.
The demon had appeared here, and Master Huang was fighting it alone.
Lei immediately rushed out and was shocked to see the situation. Everyone was running away in fear, and even Master Huang didn't look well.
He could see that Huang was incapable of fighting the demon, and his entire body was already bloodied.
Lei instantly disappeared and reappeared in front of the demon, punching with his full power.
But before his punch could land, a giant shield appeared and blocked it.
Li Gang's pupils, which had completely turned black, glanced at Lei.
Lei felt as if he was being locked onto by a huge beast, watched by the eyes of a predator. He felt immense fear in his heart, but thinking of his family and heritage, he gritted his teeth.
"I have cultivated all my life. Whether I survive or die, I shall not go down!"
Despite the fear in his heart, he rushed towards Li Gang.
He said coldly, "Spiritual Imprint: Thunder Singularity."
A purple mark appeared on his forehead as it spread through every part of his body.
His speed and durability increased multiple times.
Beside him, Master Huang had already fought with his Spiritual Imprint at full power.
He had already lost one eye and one leg, but he was still fighting.
Huang approached from the right front while Lei came from the left front. It is basic understanding that one cannot attack effectively from two opposite directions while coordinating. When cooperating in battle, it is best if both individuals can maintain eye contact, which often conveys intentions.
If attacking from opposite sides, Li Gang might dodge, forcing them to change trajectories to avoid colliding with each other.
This was basic common sense; no one needed to think deeply about it. The best strategy was attacking at 45 degrees from both sides, as that would give the most room for maneuvering. Even if Li Gang dodged, they wouldn't need to adjust much, since they wouldn't risk interfering with each other.
However, all strategies, all plans, and all ideas were futile in front of absolute strength.
Li Gang simply waved his hand, and the entire space fluctuated. He disappeared and reappeared in front of Huang.
Before Huang could react, Li Gang formed his palm like a sword and slashed.
One of Huang's hands fell.
At the very next moment, Li Gang kicked him while using his other hand to block Lei's attack.
A huge shield appeared in front of his palm.
At this moment, Li Gang was using the Abstract Weapon Realm. There was no visible weapon—no one could sense its existence—but both Huang and Lei could feel that he was using all kinds of weapons, and yet none at the same time.
In the next moment, Li Gang kicked Lei as well in a similar manner, sending him flying several miles before crashing into the Shadow Phoenix Sect.
Master Huang had already used up all his Spiritual Essence. He had been fighting for too long. At this point, he no longer had any strength to battle Li Gang, and his consciousness was fading.
He forced himself to remain awake, but as he saw Li Gang appear before him, despair filled his heart.
However, at that very moment, a voice rang out: "Leave!"
Hearing that, Li Gang, as if influenced by something, ignored Huang and moved toward the closest target—
Thunderous Peak Sect.
Lei witnessed all of this and was horrified.
He shouted, "NO!"
At that moment, his fighting spirit broke all limits.
He instantly appeared in front of Li Gang and punched him again.
Li Gang, who was about to attack, was slammed to the ground.
He stood up again expressionlessly and looked at Lei.
Master Lei's entire body was filled with a purple-blue aura as he murmured, "I will protect this ancestral heritage! As long as I am alive, no one can harm them!"
He moved again, appearing in front of Li Gang as he said slowly,
"Secret Technique: Thunder Singularity Collapse!"
It was a secret technique he had created in response to his Spiritual Imprint.
He used all the Spiritual Essence in his body and converted it into a small thunder core. The thunder compressed into an even smaller size until it became a dark point.
That extremely high energy density created a mini black hole.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Go!"
The tiny black hole collapsed, and the immense energy gathered broke through spatial nodes as it lunged toward Li Gang.
But the moment it touched him, it disappeared—like a drop of water in the ocean.
Abstract Shield Weapon Realm.
Li Gang disappeared and reappeared in front of Lei, throwing a punch, but before it could land, Lei vanished again. He moved through the air as he murmured,
"Spiritual Imprint: Thunder Singularity!"
This time, he was pushing his Spiritual Imprint to its limit.
At that moment, thunder from thousands of miles around was absorbed into his body. Under normal conditions, this shouldn't have been possible—but he was breaking his own body to deliver the strongest blow.
Immense thunder flooded into him, destroying his internal organs.
He gritted his teeth as he compressed everything into a single point.
Looking at Li Gang, he shouted, "Take this!"
The immense thunder shot toward Li Gang, who once again raised his hand.
An Abstract Shield appeared again.
However, the situation was different this time.
Lei never stopped absorbing. He continued drawing in thunder, constantly amplifying the attack.
The attack pierced through space and collided with the Abstract Shield. The shield—whose very existence was abstract—began to collapse under the overwhelming power.
It broke through and struck Li Gang, who once again interfered using other Weapon Realms.
Despite that, he was pushed back several miles.
Lei's body was collapsing as he stared ahead. "Did I succeed?"
His vision blurred, but he soon had his answer.
The demon still stood. There were streaks of blood on his chest and at the corner of his mouth.
He disappeared and reappeared in front of Lei once more.
Lei was filled with despair, yet he still chose to face him head-on.
He was smashed into the ground as Li Gang jumped on him and repeatedly crushed his body.
Lei's entire body was breaking under the damage. His Spiritual Essence eroded, his battle strength plummeted. Yet he stubbornly forced himself to stay conscious, searching for any opportunity.
He thought inwardly, "Heaven! What wrongdoing did I commit to face this crisis? What did I do to witness the destruction of the ancestral heritage under my protection? How can you cut off my path like this?"
In the face of absolute death and despair, only belief and prayer remain.
Heaven is fair.
Everything comes with a cost. The Law of Balance equalizes the clever and the less clever through unpredictability. This unpredictability grants some people greater luck—but if some gain more, others must lose.
You may have enjoyed the blessings of unpredictability for years, but in the end, you must also face its curse.
Li Gang grabbed his neck and threw him miles away. He looked in that direction, but as soon as he took a step forward, the voice sounded again: "Leave!"
At that moment, Ding Wei appeared near Lei and protected him, just as he had protected Huang.
Lei gritted his teeth as he tried to stand. His body was failing, his internal organs in chaos, his Spiritual Essence exhausted—but he was unwilling to watch his loved ones die.
He had reached his limit, yet he still stood and took a step forward.
Ding Wei said calmly, "This catastrophe is unstoppable. Neither you nor I can stop him. The best I can do is distract him momentarily. Let's go. If you stay, you will die. As long as you live, you can rebuild everything."
Lei said coldly, "No!"
However, Ding Wei did not listen. He forcibly took Huang and Lei away.
On the other side, the massacre continued.
Cries of agony and despair filled the entire Thunderous Peak Sect. Wherever Li Gang passed, only death followed.
The Thunderous Peak Sect was not a clan, and many warriors came from commoner backgrounds. But that did not mean there was no bias.
Who wouldn't want their own flesh and blood to succeed?
Lei was no exception. He had invested many resources in his son, Lei Zhenyu.
As Li Gang was about to kill him, something triggered in his mind, and he stopped. He moved on and continued attacking elsewhere.
After finishing the Thunderous Peak Sect, he moved on to massacre the Shadow Phoenix Sect.
Huang had invested heavily in the younger generation. He had many legitimate and illegitimate heirs—nearly all of whom were killed in front of him.
Only two survived:
Huang's youngest legitimate son, Huang Haoran, and his daughter, Huang Rong.
However, the existence of survivors was something even Ding Wei was unaware of. He had protected many warriors tied to the Monarch Inheritance, but most of them were rogue cultivators.
He did this to prevent the Immortals from pinpointing his identity. Ding Wei thought all of the Warriors of Thunder Peak Sect and Shadow Phoenix Sect died, just like Huang and Lei.