Finally, they sped past the gates, reaching an open plains beyond.
The corrupted cultivators didn't seem to pursue far. They lingered near the city, snarling, ripping apart those who failed to escape. Hundreds, maybe thousands, had been slaughtered.
Bodies piled at the gates, forming streams of blood that soaked deep into the earth.
Noah staggered onward beside Duyi and Lian as the echo of screams followed them into the night.
He glanced back one final time.
Verdant Flame City, a well known jewel of cultivation, was now nothing but a pyre of horror.
Flames from the city licked the heavens, exhuming smoke that choked the stars.
And he knew, deep in his gut:
He'd started this.
They walked in haunted silence, joining thousands of exhausted, bloodied, traumatized survivors.
As they moved further into the darkness, Noah noticed most of the remaining refugees were slum dwellers who'd never cultivated.
For tonight, they'd survived. But deep down, Noah knew:
The world had changed forever.
Somewhere far ahead, past the gate, an ornate carriage had flipped.
Noah caught a glimpse of it through the dust. It was made of deep red wood with the royal insignia scorched across the side.
Someone stumbled from the wreckage, supported by two guards.
It was a young woman, no older than him with scorched clothes. A bloody cut could be spotted on her forehead but she still walked like royalty.
A crowd of nobles surrounded her, forming a protective circle as they fled.
He didn't know her name.
But he remembered her face.
It was the same royal he'd "saved" by accident two days ago.
She didn't see him now.
Didn't even glance his way.
But it was enough to chill his spine.
The kingdom's elite were falling too.
And if she was running…
That meant there really was no safe place left.
---
They camped in a valley that night.
Far from the city. Far from sects. Far from anything that might have qi formations or cultivation cores left to corrupt.
There was no fire... they couldn't risk the smoke or illumination which might make them a target in the dead of night.
Just thin blankets, dried mushrooms, and the kind of silence that only came after running for your life.
Fortunately, the two moons in the sky were vaguely illuminating.
Noah sat alone on a boulder, staring up at the stars.
For a world built on cultivation and cosmic energies, the sky here looked surprisingly… normal.
"You good?" Lian's voice called softly from the edge of their makeshift mat.
"Peachy," Noah muttered. "Love being the reason the world's ending."
"You're not," she stated, completely unaware of the prior incident.
"Mm-hmm."
She walked off.
Noah sighed and rested his face in his palms. His hands were dirty. His shirt was bloodstained. His legs still trembled from the endless sprint.
And his heart felt heavy after witnessing all the destruction the plague had wrought... The lives lost.
Then:
[ System Calibrating… ]
Noah's head snapped up.
"What—?"
Words appeared in his line of vision.
Not real, not physical... but there. Etched into the air like phantom light.
[ Verifying Host Identity… ]
[ Analyzing Cataclysm Protocol… ]
[ Cross-referencing Multi-Dimensional Transgressions… ]
>[ Success ]<
Then it blinked.
For a moment, everything in Noah's body froze.
'What the hell is going on?'
His heartbeat stopped and his breathing hitched.
The stars above glittered ominously as if laughing.
>[ You Have Triggered An Apocalypse ]<
>[ Welcome, Chosen Sin-Bearer ]<
There was a long pause.
And then came a quiet ding:
> [ ✅ Apocalypse Successfully Triggered ]
> [ 🎁 Cataclysm Tier Rewards Unlocked ]
> [ ⚙️ Corruption-Based Cultivation System Initialized ]
Noah stared at the floating screen, dumbfounded.
"What the hell?!"
New windows flashed open:
> 🔹 Corruption Qi Core (Level 1) Acquired.
> 🔹 Passive Trait: Immunity to All Qi-Based Corruption.
> 🔹 Skill: Plague Sense (Detect infected/corrupted cultivators within 200m).
> 🔹 Title Gained: Catalyst of Collapse.
> 🔹 System Perk: Cataclysm Points will be earned based on the scale of destruction caused.
At the bottom of the screen, a new question lingered.
[ Would You Like To View Current Damage Report? ]
[ YES ] × [ NO ]
Noah slowly raised a hand and hesitated briefly... Before tapping YES.
A shimmering report bloomed before his eyes:
> 🧟♂️ Infected Cultivators: 71,020
> 🏙️ Fallen Cities: 1 (Full Qi Spread Confirmed)
> 🔥 Destroyed Sects: 7
> ☣️ Spreading Zones: 19 Active Plague Routes
> 👁️ Current Status: Irreversible Outbreak
> 💀 Probability of Global Collapse: 97.02%
Noah just stared.
Then he leaned back slowly, laid on the grass, and whispered:
"I have a system."
This whole time... In the two years he had spent here, he never saw this coming.
Could this have been here the whole time just waiting for a catastrophic turn of events?
"I triggered the apocalypse… and the system rewarded me for it."
He laughed.
He laughed so hard tears stung his eyes.
Lian peeked from behind, clearly concerned.
"Uh… you okay?"
Noah wiped his face. "Yeah. I'm great."
"You don't seem... Okay..." She muttered.
"I don't think any of us are after everything that has happened today," Noah responded softly.
Lian let out a sigh and wanted to speak again but Noah interrupted her.
"Don't worry, just go to bed... I'll keep watch."
Lian nodded and moved towards the makeshift mat laid on the ground.
'Although this is quite the precarious situation... It opens up a new opportunity for me. If this system will grant me power... Perhaps now I can finally find Ava.'
...
...
(( Hours later ))
The valley stretched cold and dark beneath the blanket of night. Thousands of refugees huddled together beneath rough blankets with their breath visible as mist in the chill air.
Noah River sat slightly apart from the others, cross-legged on a rock while staring blankly into the space before him.
Floating words still blinked softly in his vision:
>[ New Objective: Acquire and Absorb The Core Of A Corrupt Cultivator ]<
"Yeah, because that sounds easy," Noah muttered sarcastically. "Next you'll ask me to juggle flaming swords while doing backflips."
Recalling how the corrupt cultivators easily ripped people apart and some could still even use their techniques which had turned to corrupted arts, Noah was sure he'd turn into shredded meat before he got the chance to acquire a corrupt core.
He sighed and glanced back toward Lian and Old Duyi who were already sleeping fitfully on a blanket, with pale looks of exhaustion.
They deserved the rest, but he couldn't sleep. He had too many questions bouncing around his head, and he didn't exactly have a "Corruption-Based Cultivation System for Dummies" guidebook to help him figure it out.
Nearby voices rose, cutting through the quiet. Arguments echoed softly, gradually becoming louder, more desperate.
"—doomed! You all know it!" came a shrill voice from among the huddled refugees.
Noah turned, squinting through the gloom.
He saw a rail-thin man, trembling and pacing frantically as he shouted. "We have no chance! We'll all die out here!"
Several tired refugees gathered around him, attempting to calm him, but his panic was infectious.
"Shut your mouth!" barked a big, broad-shouldered man who stepped forward with a tense look. "You're spreading fear! Calm down!"
"Calm down?!" the thin man shrieked with a cracked voice. "Are you kidding? Did you not see what happened at the gates? Those…those corrupted things! They tore people apart—like they were paper!"
The crowd went silent. Even Noah felt his throat tighten as flashes of blood and screams echoed in his memory.
The big man took a breath and steadied himself. "We all saw it. But listen—so long as we're far from cultivators and spirit beasts, we'll be fine. You saw it, didn't you? That black smoke only affected those who had cultivated!"
Mutters and hesitant nods rippled through the refugees, but others still whispered anxiously:
"How long can we avoid cultivators?"
"What if corrupted beasts appear?"
"How long will our food last?"
The thin man trembled with a wild look of fear. "Exactly! How long before something finds us? We're sitting ducks!"
Noah shook his head and muttered under his breath, "Typical apocalypse stuff. All we're missing now is cannibalism, creepy cultists, and someone hoarding canned food. Oh wait, this world doesn't even have canned food—great."
Before Noah could continue his private commentary, another voice pierced the night with a shrill and terrified tone:
"Cultivator! She's a cultivator!"
All eyes immediately snapped toward a figure illuminated by faint moonlight.