The Quasi-Immortal Messenger floating in the sky was not at peace. Even though he had turned the Elders to ash, his sharp, discerning eyes were searching for something more. Using his Divine Sense, he scanned every inch of the Sect's grounds, suspicious that a secret tunnel or a hidden remnant of the Heavenly Demon might still exist.
He descended through the air, landing where disciples like Kai Fu and Wang Bo knelt trembling amidst the dust and rubble. Their eyes no longer held arrogance; they held only the terror of death.
The Messenger stopped before them, his voice as cold as stone. "All of you... did you know what demonic power your Elders were attempting to awaken here?"
"N-no, My Lord!" Wang Bo wailed, slamming his forehead against the ground. "We are but simple disciples of the Outer and Inner Cores. We were only told of cultivation and service to the Sect. We knew nothing of this Forbidden Art!"
The Messenger peered deep into their eyes. His soul-piercing gaze confirmed they were not lying. These boys may have been bullies to the weak like LeeHan, but they had no hand in the horrific conspiracy of the Heavenly Demon. They were merely pawns, ignorant of the truth.
The Messenger took a long breath and dimmed his divine radiance. "It is not the law of Heaven to shed the blood of the innocent," he said gravely. "You are all given a second chance. The sin of this place has been purged, but your cultivation is incomplete."
At the Messenger's gesture, the Master of the Holy Sword Sect stepped forward. The Messenger commanded, "Take these innocent disciples who were ignorant of the truth. Educate them anew and lead them on the righteous path. From this day forth, their old identities are erased."
Kai Fu and Wang Bo could hardly believe their lives had been spared. They were sent away to join other sects under new identities.
However, the Messenger's work was not yet done. He suddenly turned toward the area where LeeHan's dilapidated shack had stood. He could still smell that "strange aura." He bypassed a hidden tunnel in the rubble, his eyes locking onto a small vial he had recovered earlier. Inside it, he had captured a few drops of LeeHan's blood. The blood was not a simple red; it shimmered with a strange golden light and a deep, swirling blackness.
The Messenger took a sharp breath and whispered, "This is impossible... I haven't felt a sensation like this in thousands of years."
He gestured toward the air and shouted in a thundering voice, "Elder Xuan! Come here at once!"
In the blink of an eye, Elder Xuan—the most experienced and ancient Elder of the Holy Sword Sect—appeared. His face turned pale upon seeing the Messenger's agitation.
"Your orders, Your Excellency," the Elder said, bowing low.
The Messenger held out the vial. "Look at this blood. I found it in the ruins of this Sect. I want you to use your most secret Blood Divination Art to discover its origin. The pressure hidden within this is not normal."
Elder Xuan took the vial with trembling hands. He immediately poured his cultivation power into it and began chanting an ancient mantra. As he began to refine the blood—
BOOM!
The entire valley shook with a terrifying pressure. Elder Xuan coughed up blood and was thrown backward. The energy erupting from that tiny vial was so violent that even the Quasi-Immortal Messenger had to summon a shield to protect himself.
"What... what is this pressure?" Elder Xuan gasped, panting for air. "I feel a power capable of swallowing the universe itself!"
The Messenger's face had turned ashen. He recognized that energy. Wang Bo and Kai Fu were gone, never knowing that the boy they kicked every day possessed blood that could terrify the gods. No one knew that this was LeeHan's blood.
The Messenger looked toward the sky, his voice trembling. "It is exactly like him... The monster that the Great Ye Fang destroyed. This energy is identical to the Source of the Heavenly Demon. But how can it be inside a human body? And where did that human go?"
The Messenger finally realized that the 'strange aura' he had dismissed as minor was actually the seed of the world's greatest catastrophe