Chapter 1: The Sunder-Heart's Hunger
The air was thick with the scent of ozone and iron. A young man who seemed to be barely twenty years old but possessing the presence of a predator, stumbled through the low canopy of the Black Mist Forest. He pressed a hand to his chest, not to check for wounds, but to feel the terrifying thrum of his newly acquired power. His name was Lin Feng.
Just minutes ago, he had successfully executed the Sunder-Heart Blood Sutra's second stage, consuming the Spiritual Essence of three orthodox disciples who had cornered him. The cultivation boost was immense, rocketing him from the early layers of the Qi Condensation realm to the threshold of Foundation Establishment—a feat that would take most geniuses decades.
But such speed came at a price.
A searing hunger gnawed at his soul, a deep, pervasive craving for more life force. The Sunder-Heart Sutra did not rely on the slow, meticulous refinement of ambient Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, like the paths of the great sects. Instead, it was a demonic shortcut, tearing the pure life essence from living things and forcibly fusing it with the cultivator's spiritual roots. It was fast, ruthless, and universally forbidden, it was the path of the Deviants!
"The power is intoxicating, but the backlash is maddening." Lin Feng muttered, wiping a streak of blood from his lips. The consumed essence was destabilizing, threatening to turn his body into a vessel of conflicting energies which could burst at any moment. He needed a way to stabilize this volatile, stolen power, and he needed to do it now. The forest, usually teeming with spiritual beasts, seemed desolate; his energy signature alone was enough to terrify most creatures away.
He reached the base of a jagged cliff face and activated a hidden glyph. The stone shimmered, revealing a narrow, dark cave entrance—a temporary refuge he had prepared months in advance.
Clang!
Before he could step inside, a wave of crushing spiritual pressure slammed into the clearing, making the stones tremble. It was far more powerful than any Foundation Establishment expert.
Lin Feng coughed, dropping to one knee, the stolen energy in his meridians churning violently. He looked up just as a brilliant emerald light pierced the forest gloom. Standing atop the cliff, bathed in the light of the setting sun, was a figure in the pristine robes of the Azure Cloud Sect.
It was Elder Lei, a formidable expert of the Golden Core realm, known for his righteous fury and uncompromising pursuit of justice.
"Lin Feng," Elder Lei's voice boomed, carrying the weight of his superior and advanced cultivation, "You have abandoned the righteous path for the demonic and deviant one. You have tainted the land with blood by killing many disciples. Surrender your corrupted spiritual core, and I promise your death will be fast and swift."
Lin Feng slowly rose, fighting back the wave of nauseating energy in his core. He felt like his body could burst at any time. He could not outrun a Golden Core cultivator. And obviously fighting such a person was simply not possible, not right now. And yet, surrendering was not in the nature of the Path of the Deviants.
A cold, wicked resolve settled in his eyes as he steeled himself and took a deep breath. He lifted his hand, revealing a small, black vial clutched in his palm—an ancient artifact which contained the concentrated blood of a thousand-year-old beast. It was a poison, a tonic, and a desperate gamble all in one.
"The righteous path? It left me for dead!" Lin Feng sneered, a flicker of dark, crimson light reflecting in his eyes. "I will not surrender the power I earned myself. If I must ascend as a monster, then so be it."
He flicked the cork, and the oily, black liquid rushed toward his mouth.
[P.S. check the author's thoughts for cultivation realms.]