"Must you go?"
Kaolin looked away, unable to face his wife and best friend. He had known Yue'er since they were both wet behind the ears. When he lost his parents during a rebellion against the Immortals of Huan-Yue, it was General Orun who led the troops to victory and saved his life. Now, all he recalled from his childhood back in Koryuthan was the bloodbath and his dying mother's wish for him to stay alive.
He grew up alongside the Korran family members, and neither General Orun nor his deceased wife, Hana, treated him any differently from their own flesh and bones. Perhaps this was why he agreed to marry Yue'er, General Orun's only daughter, when they both became of age. It was not love, at least not for him, but a wretched need to be part of the Korran family. For real.
Now, another bloody war had broken out on the southern borders, near the city of Virelai. As the son-in-law of the Korran Family and a commander trained by General Orun himself, he was expected to lead the Jinlian Guards against the rebellions in the south.
It was the same story from years ago all over again. The immortals of the Jinlian Sect had once again taken a stance against Huan-Yue and sought to be the rulers of the skies. With the immortals of Nivarra long since defeated and Huan-Yue the only remaining heavenly realm intact, it was only a matter of time before the members of the Jinlian reached their goal.
Koryuthan was now the only safe place left in the Immortal Realm. He had to protect this vast land with his life. General Orun not only saved his life but also gave him a warm family, one that he did not deserve. He was lacking in many ways, and yet—he shook off the bleak thoughts. Now wasn't the time to muse on such things. Every second he wasted here, the closer to destruction the immortals of Koryuthan were.
"Kaolin! Don't you owe me an answer?"
He broke off in the doorway, reluctant to turn around and face her. Once he broke through the clouds, he would no longer be protected by the charms put in place to shield the skies from trespass and destruction. And with the urgency of General Orun's message earlier this morning, it only showed to prove that things were not going as smoothly as he had hoped. Once he left Koryuthan… he was as good as dead. But how could he tell such a cruel thing to the woman who bore his child? And so, he left.
The southern border was a wasteland when he arrived after three long nights. It was too late. General Orun's lifeless body was among the sea of warriors, now cold and stiff under the moonlight. The Jinlian Sect had fought a losing battle, killing thousands of their own to ascend and claim victory over the skies. Now, nothing would ever be the same.
Known for their wicked ways and never-ending thirst and greed, the immortals of the Jinlian Sect would not only declare themselves as the rulers of all immortals but also silence those who went against them in the most bestial ways possible. Not to mention that, with the demons they conspired with to get to the top of the ladder, their cultivation skills had quadrupled in a matter of weeks, and their spiritual power had become unmatched. They were now masters of demonic cultivation and more god than the ancient gods themselves, who no longer existed in this world.
It would take no less than ten thousand years for any immortal to increase their spiritual power to become a god and challenge the status quo, and by then, the Jinlian Sect would have cultivated enough to master the Soul-Crushing Way and reach true godhood.
Shenzhou had already been lost and would stay so forever. It was only a matter of time before the members of the Jinlian Sect broke through the protective arrays and entered Koryuthan. Perhaps they already had, and the letter he received from General Orun was sent long after he was killed in battle. But why? Of all people, why had his life been spared? Was it a coincidence, or was it something else? Something much darker?
Holding General Orun close in his arms from where he stood on both knees, he looked up at the bright sky, now turning bright red with the blood of the innocent. With the darkening sky, the cries of the common people who died at the hands of the Jinlian Sect soon rang throughout the vicinity in a nightmarish loop. As a tear trickled down, he put the general down and closed his eyes as a last act of respect and undying loyalty.
Turning his back to the carnage, he summoned the sword General Orun had gifted him the day before his wedding to Yue'er and rose to the skies, towards the floating city of Huan-Yue. He didn't know what the heavens had in store for him or why they had spared his life, but he knew one thing and one thing only: vengeance. And he wasn't going to stop killing until this sword shattered into pieces or he lost his life in the process.
As he broke through the grey, fast-moving clouds, the sky only grew darker and the air more suffocating. The demonic energy was overwhelming, and at times, intoxicating. The surge of power he felt in his stiff veins was enough to make him drunk. So, this is demonic energy, he thought, so powerful yet so wicked? Now he understood why the members of the Jinlian sought such devious cultivation to take over Shenzhou and Koryuthan. But why did his body react like this? It almost felt like—
"Took you long enough. Kaolin."
Kaolin broke off his surge through the skies as soon as he caught sight of the familiar figure in the distance, followed by an army of demons guarding the borders of Huan-Yue with their wretched existence. Yet it wasn't the demons that made him stop abruptly.
"Rongjie? Why… are you here?"
"I've come to give you an offer."
"An offer?" he repeated, then glanced at the smirking demons flanking on either side of him. "What offer?"
Rongjie stepped closer. "I know what you're thinking. But I haven't lost my mind, not yet. I don't wish for more blood to spill. Surrender to Jinlian and pledge your loyalty to them. If you do that, I'll—"
"Don't tell me you—" Kaolin couldn't carry on, even the thought of what he was now about to say curdled his blood. "How could you!? General Orun has shown nothing but kindness to us! How could you—lead him to his death?"
"I have my reasons. Had I other options, then none of this—"
"Reason?" Kaolin snapped back. "What reasons could warrant the betrayal of your home, your family, Rongjie?"
"I've tried my best to convince him, Kaolin. But even until his last breath, General refused to surrender. You think I didn't try to save him? That I did not try my best to protect him!?"
"Then why? Why would you conspire with the Jinlian Sect?"
"I told you, Kaolin, I have my reasons!"
"Reasons you can't even tell?" Kaolin drew out his sword and aimed it at his former friend. "Then how do you expect me to understand your betrayal?"
The demons all poised as he drew his sword, ready to attack him as soon as they were allowed to.
"It doesn't have to end like this, Kaolin. I don't wish to hurt you."
"No, it does. You should've known that when you sent me that letter."
"What about Yue'er? You're just going to leave her?"
Kaolin gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with rage.
"Don't you dare say her name!"
"Then... so be it."
Rongjie motioned for the demons to charge ahead – thousands or perhaps millions of them. Still, Kaolin did not move or flee. He kept his ground and wielded his sword high, ready to fight until his last breath, just like General Orun. With his spiritual power and cultivation of two thousand years, however, fighting against the demonic army was no easy feat. There only one way to stop things from getting worse was to sacrifice himself. The flow of qi inside him was not enough to destroy the demons, but just enough to deplete their spiritual power and make them unable to recover for hundreds of years, and if he was lucky, long enough for the immortals to cultivate a god themselves against the Demon God and the Jinlian Sect.
But why was it that things never worked in his favour or in the way he wanted them to? As he stood there, depleted of two thousand years of cultivation and facing his former friend and confidant, why was it that this fool did not flee, although his Demon Army had long made a break for it? For someone seeking to rise to power and conspire with the demons, wasn't he being unreasonable by standing there?
With his sword now dripping with crimson blood, barely alive, Kaolin floated through the skies towards Rongjie, who neither moved nor tried to fight back. "Pick up your sword and fight!"
But even as Kaolin aimed the sword at his throat, Rongjie did not summon his sword. Instead, he stood his ground without looking away, almost as if… as if this was exactly the outcome he wished for. To die. Here and now. By Kaolin's hands.
"I said, pick up your sword and fight!" This time, he cut through the skin, just enough to see the blood trickle down Rongjie's throat. "Or I swear to the heavens I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
"In that case," Rongjie whispered, "you'd do me a favour."
Kaolin unwittingly loosened his grip on the shaft, his determination faltering at these words. Something was wrong. This wasn't the voice of a bloodthirsty person gone berserk, but someone filled with remorse and a pain he could not reveal.
"Favour? You betrayed your family and now you're going to just let me kill you?" He shook his head, eyes welling with tears, his grip on the sword faltering. "I don't understand. Why? What is it that you can't tell me?"
But instead of answering, Rongjie reached out and seized the tip of the blood-soaked blade with his bare hand. Kaolin froze. Then Rongjie stepped forwards without warning and the sword pierced deep into his chest, tearing through the flesh, but he did not stop. Blood ran down the blade and vanished into the wind as Rongjie continued walking, forcing Kaolin backwards step by step.
His eyes widened. He tried to withdraw the sword, tried to pull back, but Rongjie only closed the distance further, until there was nowhere left to go. His body then tipped sideways, slipping past Kaolin's grasp, and fell into the abyss below the heavens, as did the sword that slipped from his trembling hand. He reached out instinctively, a moment too late, fingers grasping at empty air, his expression breaking at last. But it was all too late.
"No—"
With Rongjie's betrayal, the Jinlian Sect became the sovereign rulers of Shenzhou and a brand-new era began, one chronicled as one of the bloodiest periods of the post-war time by historians. This period would last fifteen thousand years and become known by the mortals as The Long Winter.
And now, after fifteen thousand years of silence, the story of vengeance and redemption was about to begin once more.