The Foundation Establishment Realm.
In the outside world, reaching this stage would make Su Lan a respected elder in a small sect or a top-tier core disciple in a large one. For most, it took twenty years of bitter cultivation. Su Lan had done it in a single afternoon.
But she wasn't satisfied. The Void Root inside her was humming, hungry for more. It didn't just want energy; it wanted restitution.
"System," Su Lan said, testing the weight of the black sword. The blade was light as a feather but felt like it could slice through the world itself. "How many 'Face-Slapping' points did I get for devouring that old ghost?"
[Ding! Host earned 1,000 System Points for 'Utterly Disrespecting an Ancient Senior.']
[Would you like to open the System Mall?]
"Open it," she commanded.
A holographic screen appeared in her mind, showing rows of legendary items: Divine Alchemy Cauldrons, Dragon-Blood Pills, Invisibility Talismans.
Su Lan's eyes skipped over the weapons. She already had the Heaven-Slaying Sword. Her gaze landed on a shimmering, silver liquid in a small vial.
[Item: Karma Mirroring Mask.]
[Cost: 800 Points.]
[Description: Allows the wearer to assume any face. More importantly, it can reflect a person's greatest fear back at them.]
"Perfect," Su Lan whispered. "Buy it."
The points vanished, and a cool, liquid-metal mask appeared in her hand. She pressed it to her face. It felt like a second skin, merging perfectly with her features. With a thought, she didn't change her face to a stranger's—she made herself look exactly like she did when she was dying on the altar, blood-stained and pale, but with one difference: her eyes remained those haunting, purple-black voids.
At the edge of the Cloud Mist Sect's territory, near the "Cliffs of Repentance," two outer-sect disciples were on guard duty. They were bored, leaning against the stone pillars and gossiping about the afternoon's festivities.
"Did you see the Saintess earlier?" one asked, lighting a spirit-tobacco pipe. "She looked like a goddess. I heard her new Spiritual Root is so powerful it caused a rainbow to appear over the Phoenix Pavilion."
"Yeah," the other sneered. "And to think, that 'trash' Su Lan actually thought she was a genius. I heard they threw her into the Abyss. By now, the Soul-Eaters have probably turned her into a pile of dung."
They both laughed, the sound echoing off the rocks.
CRACK.
The laughter stopped. A cold wind suddenly whipped up from the Abyss, carrying with it the scent of old blood and ozone.
"Did you hear that?"
"It's just the wind, you coward. The Abyss is sealed by the Sect Leader's formation. Nothing comes up from—"
The disciple froze. His pipe fell from his mouth, embers scattering on his boots. He didn't feel the burn. He was staring at the cliff's edge.
A hand, pale and thin, had gripped the jagged rock. Then another.
Slowly, a figure pulled itself up. It was a girl in a tattered white robe, the fabric soaked in dark, dried blood. Her hair hung over her face, but through the gaps, they saw eyes that didn't belong to a human. They were swirling pits of darkness.
"S-Su Lan?" the first disciple gasped, his legs turning to jelly. "No... that's impossible. You're dead!"
Su Lan stepped onto the flat ground. Every step she took left a scorched, black footprint on the "holy" soil of the sect. She didn't speak. She didn't need to.
[Ding! Detected 'Minor Antagonists.' Fear Level: 80%.]
[Calculating Face-Slap Bonus...]
"I forgot something," Su Lan said, her voice sounding like grinding stones.
"W-what?" the disciple stammered, reaching for his sword, but his hand was shaking too much to even grip the hilt.
"I forgot to thank you," Su Lan smiled. It wasn't a kind smile. It was the smile of a wolf looking at a rabbit. "You were the ones who dragged me to the edge, weren't you? You said my bones would turn to dust."
"It was an order! We were just following orders!" The second disciple turned to run, his only thought being to reach the inner gate and sound the alarm.
Su Lan didn't move her feet. She simply flicked her wrist.
A pulse of black energy shot out like a whip. It caught the running disciple by the ankle, slamming him face-first into the dirt. With a tug, Su Lan dragged him back across the rocks, his screams tearing through the quiet night.
"The Sect Leader said the Abyss is a place for trash," Su Lan whispered, leaning over the two terrified men. "I think he was right. But he got the names wrong."
She grabbed them both by their collars. Despite her slender frame, she lifted them as if they weighed nothing.
"Let's see if you can survive the fall better than I did."
"NO! PLEASE! MERCY—"
WHOOSH.
With a casual toss, she threw them over the edge. Their screams faded into the dark depths of the Abyss, silenced by the howling wind.
[Ding! Host has successfully 'Cleaned the Trash.']
[Reward: 200 Experience Points. 500 System Points.]
[New Title Unlocked: 'Vengeful Ghost'. (Effect: Increases Intimidation by 20% against low-level enemies.)]
Su Lan didn't head for the Phoenix Pavilion yet. She wasn't a fool. The Sect Leader was at the Nascent Soul realm—three stages above her. If she rushed in now, she would be suppressed by his sheer aura.
Revenge was a dish best served in courses. And tonight was just the appetizer.
She walked to the massive stone gate of the outer sect. On it was carved the symbol of the Cloud Mist Sect: a graceful white crane.
Su Lan raised her black sword. With a single, vertical strike, she cleaved the massive stone gate in half. The "White Crane" was split down the middle, falling into the dirt.
Using the blood of the Soul-Eater beasts she had collected in a jar, she wrote four massive words across the wreckage:
I HAVE RETURNED. DEBTORS, PREPARE.
As the alarms of the sect finally began to blare—a frantic, high-pitched ringing—Su Lan vanished into the shadows.
Minutes later, Ye Chen and a group of elite disciples arrived at the gate. They found the ruins, the blood, and the message.
Ye Chen's face turned from arrogant to pale white. He touched the edge of the shattered stone. "This... this wasn't done by a beast. This is sword intent. A very dark, very powerful sword intent."
"Senior Brother! Look!" a disciple pointed at the ground.
There, lying in the dust, was a piece of silk. It was a fragment of the robe Su Lan had been wearing when they threw her away.
Ye Chen felt a cold sweat break out on his neck. "Impossible. She had no root. She was a mortal. How could a mortal survive the Abyss and come back with this kind of power?"
From the darkness of the forest, a low, feminine laugh echoed. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"One month," the voice whispered, carried by the wind. "In one month, at the Sect Competition... I will take back my root. And your lives."
Ye Chen unsheathed his sword, spinning around wildly. "Who's there?! Come out and fight like a man!"
But there was no one. Only the cold wind and the feeling of a thousand eyes watching him from the dark.
[Ding! Target 'Ye Chen' is experiencing 'Psychological Terror'.]
[Reward: 1,000 System Points!]
Deep in the woods, Su Lan sat on a tree branch, watching the chaos. She popped a cultivation pill into her mouth like it was candy.
"One month," she murmured. "System, mark the calendar. I have a lot of faces to slap, and I don't want to miss a single one."