The flames in the courtyard had nearly died out, leaving behind scorched stone and bodies cooling in the night air. Black smoke drifted lazily upward, but none of that reached Mo Xie's mind.
His attention was focused inward.
His soul was boiling.
His heartbeat… thundered.
Boom… Boom… Boom…
He felt it—
a familiar force awakening inside him, one he had once used to kill immortals by the thousands.
The Crimson Fate Eyes.
They were not fully restored, but cracks of scarlet light flickered across his irises like lightning trapped inside glass.
And with each flicker…
The world changed.
He could see faint threads of crimson connecting his father's body to the ground—
Death threads, weak but present.
He touched one gently with his fingertip.
Snap.
The thread dissolved.
His father's injury-stabilizing suddenly improved.
Blood stopped pouring.
Breathing steadied.
The old man slumped unconscious, safe.
Mo Xie exhaled slowly.
"So even in this weak body… the Eyes still hold power."
He didn't expect them to respond this early.
In his past life, he had awakened them after slaughtering ten thousand righteous cultivators.
But now, reborn, with his soul retaining its peak state…
Fate itself trembled around him.
He closed his eyes and let the power flow.
His blood vessels burned.
His mind shook.
He had to stabilize them before they burned out.
He took a deep breath, sat cross-legged on the bloodstained ground, and formed a hand seal.
"Sin Dao — Wrath Primordial Core."
Blood-red energy gathered inside him, swirling like a storm.
This was the earliest stage of the Sin Dao, a technique he had created after years of madness and war.
He allowed a fraction of wrath energy to merge into his core.
His cultivation base erupted.
BOOM!
The ground cracked beneath him.
A wave of demonic aura surged upward, shaking the courtyard walls.
Even the night sky seemed to darken.
He opened his eyes—
and for a brief moment, two demonic halos circled around his pupils.
Then the power sank deep inside, sealing itself.
His strength surged straight to Peak Spirit Channel Realm, the level of inner sect disciples… in one minute.
Mo Xie flexed his hand.
"So fragile," he muttered. "This realm is nothing."
He stood.
Shadows crawled along the ground, following him like hungry beasts.
**
A soft gasp came from behind him.
Mo Xie turned slightly.
A girl about sixteen stood at the broken gate, holding a small basket of herbs. She had long silver hair tied with a blue ribbon and wore a simple white robe.
Her expression was cold, but her eyes trembled upon seeing the corpses.
Liu Qingxue.
In the future, she would become the Ice Empress, ruler of the Northern Eternal Fields.
In the original timeline:
She was captured and executed by the righteous sects.
He remembered watching her die.
But in this life… something else would happen.
Her gaze moved slowly from the corpses… to Mo Xie.
Their eyes met.
Her breath hitched.
She saw something no ordinary person could see—
the faint, terrifying shadow behind him, shaped like a demon with wings of darkness.
Her aura shivered instinctively.
"You… killed them?" she whispered.
"Yes," Mo Xie replied calmly. "They attacked my family."
She looked again at the bodies—clean kills, precise wounds, utterly merciless.
Not a single wasted movement.
Her eyes narrowed.
"You are strong," she said softly.
"Too strong… for this village."
Mo Xie didn't deny it.
Instead, he tilted his head slightly.
"And what will you do with that information?"
She froze, gripping her basket.
Mo Xie took a step closer.
Her heartbeat quickened.
Her breath misted faintly—the sign of her latent Extreme Ice Physique.
He lowered his voice.
"If you wanted to report me… you would have screamed already."
Liu Qingxue stared at him, conflicted.
He could read her emotions easily:
Fear.
Caution.
Curiosity.
Loneliness.
She spoke finally.
"…I won't tell anyone."
Mo Xie smiled faintly.
He could have erased her memories.
He could have killed her.
He could have devoured her talent.
But he didn't.
Because destiny itself had brought her here tonight.
She turned to leave, but before she did, she murmured:
"My name is Liu Qingxue…"
She hesitated.
"Thank you… for saving your father."
Mo Xie raised an eyebrow.
"You should thank me for not killing you."
She almost smiled—just a tiny, fleeting expression.
Then she vanished into the night.
Mo Xie watched her go.
"…Fate is already changing."
He looked up at the stars.
In the past life, he didn't meet her until she was already powerful—
already hunted.
Here she was now, at the very beginning of her path.
A fragile ice bud waiting to bloom into an immortal lotus.
He would ensure she never died this time.
Not because of affection.
But because talent… is a resource.
And Mo Xie collected resources.
**
He turned away as his father groaned awake.
"Xiao Xie… what… what happened? Those men—"
Mo Xie helped him up gently.
"It's over."
His father winced.
"Did the sect send someone to protect us?"
Mo Xie smiled faintly.
"No. I killed them myself."
His father froze.
"You… what did you say?"
Mo Xie placed a hand on his father's shoulder.
"Father. Listen carefully."
A breeze passed between them.
The last flames flickered out.
"This world is far more dangerous than you imagine. And in the days to come, even more danger will arrive."
He tightened his grip.
"So I will join the Heavenly Sword Sect's entrance tests."
His father's eyes widened.
Mo Xie continued:
"But not as a disciple."
His crimson eyes shone.
"As a hunter."
**
Far away, beneath the night sky, a golden carriage rolled through the forest.
Inside sat a handsome boy with a gentle smile—
Ji Yuren.
He hummed softly as he examined a jade slip.
"What a peaceful night," he said.
Behind him, a shadow flickered.
Ji Yuren smiled coldly.
"It's time to meet my old friend again…"
His eyes glinted.
"…before he becomes a threat."