Morning came quietly.
Too quietly.
Yan Luo stood atop a low ridge overlooking the outer sect. Smoke rose from breakfast fires. Bells rang. Life continued ignorant, orderly, pretending nothing had changed.
But the world already knew.
It always did.
By noon, the notice board was crowded.
Yan Luo watched from the shade of a dead tree as disciples whispered, pointed, and backed away like prey sensing a hidden predator.
A new scroll had been nailed to the board.
Black ink. Red seal.
A bounty.
WANTED: DEMONIC CULTIVATOR
Alias: Ash Blood Trash
Crimes:
Murder of sect disciples
Practicing forbidden arts
Defying Heavenly Order
Reward:
300 spirit stones
Entry recommendation to Inner Sect
Personal guidance from Elder Zhou
Yan Luo read every word.
He felt nothing.
So this was his value now.
A stepping stone.
He's only an Ash Blood Initiate someone scoffed nearby. Barely cultivation.
Still another replied lowering his voice Outer disciples don't die for nothing.
Yan Luo turned away.
They were already hunting him.
Good.
By sunset, the forest shifted.
Not in sound but in intent.
Yan Luo felt it: gazes that lingered too long, footsteps that stopped when he stopped, breathing that didn't belong to beasts.
Hunters.
Five of them.
He let them follow.
They cornered him near a ravine.
A man in clean robes stepped forward, sword humming with spiritual light. His aura was sharp, controlled.
Yan Luo the man said calmly. I am Qin Feng, ninth ranked outer disciple.
Yan Luo recognized the name.
A genius.
Loved by elders.
Never kicked trash personally.
he let others do it.
You killed three disciples Qin Feng continued Surrender They attacked together.
Perfect formation.
Textbook righteous cultivation.
Yan Luo retreated not in panic, but in calculation. Each strike that grazed him fed pain into his veins.
Pain refined power. I will make your death painless.
Yan Luo tilted his head.
Is that mercy he asked or convenience
Qin Feng frowned.
A blade cut his shoulder.
Blood fell.
The ground darkened.
Yan Luo felt something click.
Blood Condition Met
Ash Blood Method: Phase Two Unlocked
Ability Gained: Blood Sense
He smiled.
Yan Luo moved into the next strike.
Qin Feng's sword pierced Yan Luo's side
and stopped.
Yan Luo's muscles locked around the blade.
What Qin Feng gasped.
Yan Luo grabbed his wrist.
Fear surged.
Not wild.
Controlled.
Refined.
The others froze.
They watched their genius scream not loudly, not dramatically but quietly, as his spiritual energy was drained away.
Yan Luo released him.
Qin Feng collapsed.
Alive.
Empty.
The remaining disciples ran.
Yan Luo didn't chase.
He crouched beside Qin Feng and spoke softly:
Tell them he said the bounty is too low.
Qin Feng's eyes shook.
Night fell.
Yan Luo stood alone at the ravine's edge blood drying on his clothes.
His reflection stared back at him in the dark water.
It no longer looked weak.
Far away in the inner sect hall Elder Zhou paused.
His chest tightened.
For the first time in decades.
He felt watched.
System Notice:
Name Recorded by Heaven
Threat Level: Emerging Calamity
Yan Luo looked up at the stars.
They've noticed he said.
He turned and walked deeper into the wilderness.
Not fleeing.
Expanding.