Chapter 741: Harvest of Blood
The Grand Elder stared at the scene with a blank gaze, his eyes wide with horror. He felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness watching the sect he had helped build and strengthen over centuries being annihilated in such a brutal and ruthless manner. A few meters away, the Sect Leader lay on his knees on the ground, his hands trembling and his gaze fixed on the slaughter; the man who had once believed himself invincible could not even utter a word.
The worst part for both of them was neither the physical pain nor the destruction of their walls, but the suffocating wave of resentment emanating from their own disciples. The screams of agony were accompanied by curses and glares filled with hatred directed at them. All of this... absolutely all of this hell was happening solely because they had decided to attack and plunder a small, insignificant island years ago.
Ethan watched the spectacle from high above the entrance, silently savoring every second of the carnage as flames consumed the main pavilions.
Suddenly, Crul’s spectral voice echoed directly within his mind.
[Master, let the weaker ones go,] Crul suggested in a serene tone. [Slaughter only those above the Golden Core Realm. Gathering the essence of the strongest will be more than enough for our purposes.]
Ethan narrowed his eyes, feeling his amethyst veins flash with contained fury.
"Why should I?" Ethan replied in his mind, with icy venom in every word. "These bastards showed no mercy to the babies or children in my world. I will not leave a single stone intact in this place."
[Do not lose your patience, Master,] Crul continued with his usual coldness. [The amount of negative karma you will accumulate if you annihilate everyone without distinction is too great. The undead are acting under your direct order, so the karma they generate will be collected from you, not from Vel’Kha’Lems. The punishment of the heavens will accumulate ruthlessly upon your shoulders.]
Ethan paused to think for a moment. Crul always spoke of karma, of cosmic debts, and of how dangerous it was to accumulate resentment—something Ethan didn’t fully understand. However, he couldn’t help but feel a slight pang of dread at the warning regarding those "heavens" crul spoke of.
"Fine," Ethan muttered, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Then it will be as you say."
Ethan raised his hand, and his voice echoed with a divine command above the screams of the slaughter. Upon hearing their master’s order, the undead hordes halted instantly, falling back and ceasing their pursuit of the younger, weaker disciples who were fleeing in terror.
"You keep talking about this karma, but I still haven’t felt anything..." Ethan said to Crul in his mind as he watched the retreat. "When will I actually feel it?"
[It is the reason I advised you to be careful with your eyes,] Crul answered solemnly. [Playing with karma is something not even Ancestral Lord Amethyst dared to do lightly. Your current power is far too insignificant to face the direct punishment of karma.]
"Well, I trust you," Ethan said, turning his gaze back to the two men before him. "Now I must finish what I started. These two are the main ones responsible for the tragedy of my home... but death is too simple a punishment for them. I want them to suffer for eternity. I want to make them suffer so much that they crave death, and it never comes to them."
[There is a curse that you cannot activate on your own yet], Crul suggested in Ethan’s mind, [but you can have Lord Vel’Kha’Lems execute it. It is called Soul Extraction. You can rip their souls from their bodies and bind them to a vessel. Furthermore, if you add a bit of the lich’s essence flames, their souls will burn eternally until you decide to release them... They will remain in infinite suffering, far worse than death itself.]
Ethan flashed an ice-cold smile upon hearing the proposal.
"That sounds excellent," Ethan said in a low voice. "It is just what I need. I will take them with me, but before that, I should prevent them from trying anything funny."
Without giving them the slightest chance to react, Ethan moved like lightning. With precise and ruthless slashes, he severed both men’s arms and legs. Before they could let out a full scream, he ripped out their tongues in one swift motion, and extending a fine, sharp Sword Aura from the tip of his index finger, he pierced their spiritual cores in a single strike, sealing and shattering their cultivation.
Unable to speak, move their limbs, or use their spiritual energy to self-destruct, both men were reduced to mere bleeding torsos on the ground, trembling in horror.
"With this, I will prevent them from trying to commit suicide," Ethan muttered, wiping his hands. He then turned toward one of his servants. "Watch over them. I will return shortly."
The Death Knight bowed in silence, taking its position beside the dying leaders.
Ethan walked toward the center of the headquarters, surveying the imposing floating structures and the sect’s docking bays.
"Crul, find the largest ship in this place," Ethan ordered him, looking toward the sky. "I will take it as a war trophy... Or better yet, let’s take all the ships. How many ships can you control at once?"
[I can control every ship you acquire, Master,] Crul replied in a serene and confident tone. [The systems of these sects are far too primitive to prevent us from hacking them effortlessly.]
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From this moment forward, to avoid confusion regarding cultivation ranks, I will include this footer with the current established levels.
Note: These are only the ranks mentioned so far to avoid spoilers.
Body Refinement Realm
Skin Refinement / Bone Refinement / Organ Refinement
Spiritual Gathering Realm
Spiritual Perception / Spiritual Mist / Spiritual Condensation
Spiritual Core Realm
Core Solidification / Core Awakening / Spiritual Collapse (Half-step Spiritual Core)
Spiritual Soul Realm
Spiritual Soul Awakening / Soul Nourishing / Soul-Core Fusion
Golden Core Realm
Prime Fusion / Core Perfection / Core Destruction
Spiritual Sea Realm
The Melting Tide / The Tidal Horizon / The Sea Mist Ascension
Dao Manifestation Realm
The Incipient Dawn / Laws of the Domain / Reality Shatter
Spiritual Transcendence
Stage 1 ?? / Stage 2 ?? / Stage 3 ??
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Sword mastery levels
Sword Intent.
Sword Aura.