The day of the reckoning began like any other. The sun rose, the sect hummed with its usual morning activity and Shi Ran, the obedient slave, prepared his tribute.
He held three jade bottles, each containing a single Golden Soul Longevity Pill. They were the product of his latest refinement, created from the priceless thousand year old herbs.
To the outside world, they were treasures meant to sustain the sect's guardians. To him, they were a mocking insult. He had already drained them of 60% of their essence. The power that should have been theirs was now his, a Peak Nascent Soul cultivation base humming beneath his skin, perfectly concealed.
He made his way to the most forbidden part of the Spirit Cauldron Sect: the Ancestral Grotto. It was a secluded cavern deep within the mountain the sect was built upon, a place where the spiritual energy was at its densest and where the two Nascent Soul Ancestors remained in perpetual seclusion, their very existence a silent threat to the domain.
No one was permitted to enter without a direct summons. But he, the sect's most trusted alchemist, the one who provided their life sustaining medicine, was the sole exception.
The guards at the grotto's entrance, two stoic Late Stage Golden Core elders, bowed as he approached. "Disciple Shi," one of them said, his voice a respectful rumble. "The Ancestors are expecting you."
Shi Ran nodded, his face a perfect mask of humble reverence. "Thank you, Elders. I will not be long."
He stepped past them, the heavy stone gate groaning shut behind him, sealing him inside with his prey. The air within was thick and heavy, saturated with a spiritual pressure that would have crushed a lesser cultivator. He walked down a long tunnel, his footsteps echoing in the profound silence.
The tunnel opened into a circular cavern. In the center, on two raised stone daises, sat two withered figures.
They were skeletal, their skin like dried parchment stretched over bone, their long white hair pooled around them.
They were Ancestor Jin and Ancestor Mu, the two Middle Stage Nascent Soul guardians of the sect. Their eyes were closed, their breathing so shallow it was almost non existent. They looked more like corpses than living masters.
"You have come, child," a voice rasped directly in his mind. It was Ancestor Jin. "The pills?"
"Ancestors," Shi Ran said, his voice filled with a practiced deference. He knelt on the cold stone floor, placing the three jade bottles before him. "The Golden Soul Longevity Pills are complete. Their quality is the highest this disciple has ever managed to produce."
"Good," the mental voice of Ancestor Mu joined in. "Your diligence is the foundation of this sect's continued prosperity. You will be rewarded."
Shi Ran kept his head bowed, a storm of pure hatred raging behind his eyes. Reward? The only reward he wanted was their ashes.
These two men, these so-called guardians, had sat here in their self imposed exile for a century, blissfully unaware, or perhaps willfully ignorant, of the monster who ran their sect.
Their inaction made them complicit. Their power was the bedrock of Yao Guang's authority. To destroy him, he had to first shatter his pillars.
"Ancestor Jin, your Nascent Soul suffers from a minor yin deficiency," Shi Ran said, his voice a professional calm. "This first pill is specifically refined with a potent sun fire essence to counteract it. Please, allow this disciple to present it to you personally."
He uncorked the first bottle. A life affirming aroma filled the cavern. Ancestor Jin's mental voice held a hint of pleased surprise. "You have become quite proficient in your art, child. Very well. Approach."
Shi Ran rose to his feet and walked towards the first dais, his heart a cold drum. He held the pill in his palm, his expression one of a devoted servant offering a tribute.
He was now within five feet of the withered figure. He could feel the powerful, if slightly stagnant, aura of the Nascent Soul expert.
He extended his hand. "Ancestor, please."
Ancestor Jin's spiritual sense, old and slightly dulled by years of seclusion, swept over him. It registered the harmless aura of a Peak Foundation Establishment disciple. The old man had no defenses up. Why would he? This was Shi Ran, the loyal tool, the harmless boy who brought him his life extending medicine.
In that moment of arrogant complacency, Shi Ran's system suppressed cultivation exploded forth.
[Cultivation Concealment: Deactivated.]
The overwhelming spiritual pressure of a Peak Nascent Soul expert erupted from him in a silent shockwave. The air in the cavern instantly solidified, the torch flames freezing in place.
Ancestor Jin's eyes snapped open, wide with a century's worth of pure shock. His mind couldn't even process what was happening. The harmless firefly before him had just revealed itself to be a sun.
But it was too late.
Shi Ran's hand, which had been gently offering the pill, became a claw of destructive force. He poured the entirety of his vengeful power into a single strike aimed at the old man's Dantian.
His fingers, wrapped in a golden light, tore through the ancestor's robes, through his withered skin and brittle ribs and plunged directly into his spiritual core.
The impact was a dull thud.
Ancestor Jin's body convulsed. A choked gasp escaped his lips. His ancient eyes stared at Shi Ran, filled with a profound confusion. And then, the light in them went out.
Shi Ran ripped his hand back and in his grasp was a miniature figure… Ancestor Jin's Nascent Soul. He had torn it directly from its seat, a mortal wound from which there was no recovery. The Nascent Soul struggled weakly in his grip for a moment before dissolving into motes of pure spiritual energy that were greedily absorbed by his own body.
It had taken less than a second.
"JIN!" a horrified mental scream echoed through the cavern.
Ancestor Mu was on his feet, his skeletal frame trembling with a mixture of rage and terror. The full force of his Middle Stage Nascent Soul pressure slammed into Shi Ran. It was like being hit by a mountain. But Shi Ran, at the Peak of the same realm, merely braced himself, his robes fluttering but his feet unmoving.
"You… what have you done, you demonic spawn?!" Ancestor Mu shrieked, his voice no longer a mental whisper but a physical screech. A wave of corrosive energy shot from his palm towards Shi Ran.
Shi Ran's movements were a blur. He was faster, his body younger and more vibrant, his spiritual energy purer and more potent.
He sidestepped the attack with contemptuous ease, the black energy splashing harmlessly against the cavern wall behind him, where it hissed and dissolved the solid rock.
He appeared directly in front of Ancestor Mu, his face a mask of cold calm. "You sat here for a hundred years," Shi Ran said, his voice quiet but echoing with an immense power. "You sat here while a murderer and a thief ruled your sect. Your inaction was a crime. Today, you pay the price."
He unleashed a furious barrage of attacks. His fists and feet, each one imbued with the terrifying power of his cultivation, rained down on the ancestor.
Ancestor Mu, once a revered master, was now just a frail old man facing a storm. He tried to defend himself, to summon his own techniques, but Shi Ran was too fast, too strong.
Every block was shattered. Every counter was overwhelmed. A punch to the chest broke his ribs. A kick to the leg snapped his femur. He was thrown across the cavern, his body crashing into the stone wall with a sickening crunch.
He slid to the floor, a wheezing heap. Blood poured from his mouth. His Nascent Soul was flickering, on the verge of collapse. He stared up at the approaching figure of his executioner, his eyes filled with a pleading terror.
"Why…?" he rasped.