Once, in the glorious days of a sect, the Purple Moon Pavilion was a wonderful temple where disciples strived with all passion for the refining of their cultivation. Today, many disciples had retreated due to conflict too great to bear.
In the courtyard's center, Shen Wuji, Third Prince of the Withered Bone Dynasty, knelt—a figure of utter disgrace. His current state stood in stark contrast to his arrival in this Third World Realm, when he had been insolent and brimming with contempt. Now, that arrogance had been utterly gutted from him, leaving behind only the hollow shell of pride.
His face remained a mask of sheer panic; he could not comprehend the reality unfolding before him. His lofty status meant nothing before Xiao Hei, whose power defied the Laws of Heaven and Earth themselves. "W-What exactly are you?" he stammered, voice trembling like a leaf in a storm. "How can someone of your might exist in this backwater realm, a place even the lowest celestials would scorn to tread?"
As far as he understood, the natural laws should suppress any outsider's cultivation to the Golden Core peak. Yet this being stood unbound, as if truth, as terrible as death, but harder to find, had been rewritten by his will alone. Unless he had consumed a forbidden pill—one that强行 broke through heavenly restrictions but exacted a terrible price: eternal stagnation, a cultivation path forever sealed.
Shen Wuji's mind reeled. "How could he defeat you?" he demanded, shooting a furious glance at Feng Tialan. "After taking my pill, weren't you at the late stage of Nascent Soul?"
Feng Tialan's voice thickened with shame. "Lord Shen… he didn't defeat me. He was toying with me as if I were an insect."
A wave of humiliation scalded Feng's face—centuries of dignity as sect founder evaporated instantly, laid bare before the disciples he once led.
"You fool!" Shen Wuji exploded. "You dragged me into this mess! Why didn't you speak up?"
"Lord Shen," Feng retorted, cheek still burning, "you struck me and ordered my silence."
Shen Wuji's mouth twitched. Damn it all. He was right.
He had to find a way out. His clan's mission could not be leaked. This foe… even his father, the emperor, might not withstand him. Perhaps not even his exiled grandfather.
"You must be concealing your presence," Shen Wuji narrowed his eyes, suspicion etched deep. "Using some artifact to deceive the natural order."
Xiao Hei only stared, utterly baffled. Was this youth's mind broken?
Desperation took hold. Wuji conceived a reckless plan. He tilted his head toward the heavens, drew a breath that swelled his chest, and bellowed:
"HEAVENLY DAO! IS THIS NOT A VIOLATION OF YOUR RULES? HE DECEIVES YOU—I IMPLORE YOU, STRIKE HIM DOWN!!"
For a moment, silence fell.
High above, the Heavenly Dao—a luminous consciousness—jolted. This gnat of a prince from a mid-tier realm thought to command it? It inwardly cursed the brat's entire bloodline.
Annoyed that the fool's cries might attract Xiao Hei's gaze, the Dao seethed but remained unwilling to intervene.
"Just wait, fiend!" Wuji sneered, smugness twisting his features. "Divine judgment is upon you! You will be purged into ash!"
"Pfft, HAHAHAH~." Xiao Hei burst into a roaring, contemptuous laugh, clutching his stomach.
"What amuses you, monster?" Wuji spat. "Do you dare mock heaven's will?"
The remaining sect members whispered among themselves.
"Did our ancestor summon a fool?" a senior female disciple muttered.
"Hush, Senior Sister," a junior disciple whispered. "He is from a higher world."
"Ancestor, Sect Leader," Elder Bai asked, voice shaking, "can such a method work?"
Sect Leader Feng shook his head. "Given that dark figure's power, the Heavenly Dao should have noticed long ago."
Feng Tialan did not respond. He looked upward, his instincts honed over centuries screaming that something was wrong.
Then—an omen. Black clouds gathered like an army of shadows above the pavilion. A fierce wind blew, and thunder rumbled as the sky shifted without warning.
The booming thunder startled everyone. Disciples looked up, eyes wide, as dense clouds amassed with frightening speed.
"What is this?" cried a junior disciple, trembling.
"Senior Brother, we must leave! This is heaven's wrath!" a female disciple shouted, face pale.
Elder Bai felt a terrible premonition. "All disciples, evacuate! Now!" he barked.
But they could not move. An oppressive aura from Xiao Hei struck them like a colossal mountain, rooting them in place.
"I can't move!"
"Senior Sister, I'm scared!"
Sect Leader Feng and Elder Bai exchanged terrified glances. They had never felt such fear.
Feng Tialan could only stare blankly at the sky.
"HAHAHA!" Shen Wuji laughed wildly, pointing a trembling finger. "Heaven heard my call! Prepare to be erased!"
Yet amid his triumph, Feng Tialan suddenly knelt toward Xiao Hei.
"Honored One!" he cried, voice trembling. "These disciples are innocent! I beg you, release them! Let them leave before judgment falls! I alone will bear the consequences!"
Elder Bai also prostrated. "Have mercy, senior! We elders will risk our lives for the young!"
Shen Wuji snorted. "You will all die with this creature! Begging is pointless!"
A fierce wind swept the courtyard, whipping leaves and dust into a frenzy. The disciples, paralyzed, could only close their eyes as they choked under the pressure. Tears streamed; some bit their lips until blood flowed; others trembled violently, calling for parents in hoarse, broken voices.
Xiao Hei glanced up, and watched the falling storm-clouds without any real curiosity. It was like an insult, as though the Heavenly Dao were employing low fifths to frighten him.
His thought was longitudinal as the act of reaching out to a hand. The impact of his message was so grave that it would have broken worlds.
Mental voice, little spirit of this realm, were you to interfere with my affairs I will swallow thee entire. Your life will be just manure to my growth.
And above, the bright awareness of the Heavenly Dao was as the leaf in a hurricane. This menace was not boastful, it was merely a factual statement put across with the nonchalance of a person who was discussing the weather.
Pardon me, Exalted One! the hysterical response of the Dao followed immediately. I do not mean opposition to your magnificence. This is some gallant fellow, who had audacity to call your name in vain--I only wanted to chastise his blasphemy of your honour. but as you bid it so I will retire immediately!
The tempest clouds were growing pale like never born. The light of the sun penetrated through the dark, which was on the run, and warmed the courtyard of the Purple Moon Pavilion. The repressive atmosphere was forgotten, and there was something oddly mocking in its stead.
The successful smile of Shen Wuji could not keep up with the disappearance of his divine salvation. "What? No! Come back! Strike him down!"
You mean by heavenly punishment? The voice of Xiao Hei was contemptuous. Who shall be judged who really deserves the judgment?
And suddenly, as though out of the blue sky, a bolt of lightning, not fatter than a bean but bristling with Deity, fell. It pierced the dantian of Shen Wuji, as though it were made of wet silk.
His cultivation base exploded and the prince screeched over the mountains. The Nascent Soul realm refined over decades collapsed in a second. Lightning tore his spiritual foundation like the acid through the silk, burnt his meridians.
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Shen Wuji fell clutching his chest, and a shiver of pain shot through him. His former whitish robes were now burnt and shredded, his once carefully kept looks were now those of a wretched and raggedy beggar.
The disciples who were there looked on in dumb amazement. They had prepared to receive the wrath of God and be all swallowed, but even the very heavens had smitten the prince, the one who thought he could have its goodwill.
What has happened just now, Senior Brother? said a junior disciple, scarcely intelligible, what has happened? Why was he punished by heaven instead?
A disciple a little more comprehending, though on the inside, shook his head in confusion. The Heavenly Dao always does not err. Since it has been struck him down, it must have been a great offence.
but he was demanding godly justice, another said. "How could that anger heaven?"
Elder Bai still lying on the ground was daring to raise his head a little. His yellowing face flushed with surprise. Was it possible... was it possible that this elder is at all preferred by heaven? The pride of Lord Shen was an insult to the will of God?
Feng, the Leader of the sect, nodded slowly with a heavy voice. Lord Shen has requested that heaven should punish an honored guest. And maybe, maybe that amounted to blasphemy.
Feng Tianlan did not say anything, but his body was trembling due to the previous loss. The pill had lost its false strength and he was even weaker than he once had been. What he had seen, he could hardly understand, a creature which could be a subordinate of the Heavenly Dao.
The sky shook above the forces that were coming together miles away, the Purple Moon Pavilion. A vast fleet of flying weapons ripped through the clouds - spirit beasts with wingspan as large as the sun, large flying ships with their decorations on the side, and smaller individual swords, as bright as falling stars.
The confederate sects rallied all. Novice disciples who had never experienced actual fighting flew with battle-hardened elders. The old artifacts that were closed to be unlocked in the times of emergency were humming with death intent. And this was their last move--either the Purple Moon Pavilion was felled to-night, or their world would be rotten with corruption.
Farmers in remote villages indicated wonderingly and terror-strickenly to the sky. The hermit cultivators came out of the remote caves to view the spectacle. Even the wild beasts scampered further up into the mountains, with a feeling of the storm of violence about to happen.
The flagship of the alliance chiefs, a wonderful ship cut of ironwood and marked with defensive designs, swam with the power of royalty in the midst of the fleet.
Seven sect leaders were sitting round a jade table in its luxurious main cabin, with faces drawn with fatigue and nigh-hysterical nerves as they gripped their cups of spirit tea between shaking hands.
Our scouts report that the Purple Moon Pavilion is full of chaos, that Elder Zhang of Storm Phoenix Sect said, with a voice somewhat cracked. His eyes were ringing with dark circles-- he had not slept in weeks. Explosions, screams--whatever it is there they are all busy about.
Elder Su of the Jade Serpent Clan bent forward, her normally calm aspects destroyed. And this supernatural assailant? Any word on his identity?" Her fingernails went bang bang bang on the table.
Concrete nothing, Elder Li of Azure Wave Palace contented himself with, mopping his brow with his handkerchief, although the cabin was cool. But when he is able, single-handedly, to destroy their forces, what then does that make him? Friend or some other monster we shall meet?
Elder Wu of Moonlit Grove Sect, whom in her simple character they all thought to express her thought, spoke out what they all thought. "Look at us. We have all been scared of our shadows. And this is our one and only shot--we give it all we have to them to-night or we see our world on fire. Her gray hair shivered at her words.
Old Qin of the Heavenly Sword Sect had not drunk his tea. His hands were tensed so that the knuckles were pale. My ancestor, he has secluded himself the last thirty years. I had to drag him out for this. If we fail, if this doesn't work…" He was not able to complete the sentence.
Elder Chen of the Golden Tiger Sect laughed bitterly.
At least your own ancestor never came unwillingly. This mine called me a fool, and told me we were all going to die.
He looked into his cup like it could be some sort of answer.
"Maybe he's right."
The richly adorned doors of the cabin flew open. A panting envoy came stumbling in, his outer disciple robes torn and dishevelled by a hurried flight. Blood came out of the end of his nose--he had thrust his sword of flight far beyond reasonable bounds to reach this point.
"Report!" Elder Zhang gave an order, but his voice was not as authoritative as it usually was.
The young man bent down, choking.
"Elders! Forgive me--weird things--tremendous storm clouds worked out over the pavilion, as though the world was coming to its end, and disappeared as though they had never been! Our long vision arrays spotted lightning strikes, though... He wiped blood from his mouth.
Not the type that demolishes structures. Or like somebody was being put to death by heaven itself.
The leaders went silent. It was only disturbed by the breathless breathing of the messenger and the soft moaning of the ship-construction.
"Divine intervention?" Elder Su muttered, with scarcely audible voice.
Is it time to get the heavens to listen at last?
Or because we are desperate, Elder Qin scowled to himself.
Who knows what we are flying into?
Elder Zhang was stiff on his wobbly legs, and his withered hands shaking, he shuffle up to the crystal window of the cabin. They could see the Purple Moon Pavilion now, a tiny spot in the distance that had appeared in their nightmares weeks and weeks.
Signal the fleet, it was his voice, hollow.
"Reduce speed. We… we observe first. And suppose this unknown personage is dealing with our foes, perhaps--just perhaps--we shall not all of us be dead to-day.
And suppose that he is also unfriendly to us? Elder Wu made a question, when they all knew the answer.
The reflection of Zhang in the crystal resembled a ghost.
Then we hope that our ancestors will forgive us that we led them to their deaths.
The huge fleet started to slack outside. Tens of thousands of followers and seniors were getting ready to what could be their last battle. A great many had written farewell letters. Others were already saying good-byes. The Purple Moon Pavilion, in the distance, seemed peaceful indeed under the afternoon sun--but they all knew that peace was as nothing but the tip of an iceberg that might absorb their whole world.