31 No Matter the Cos (1/2)

Inside the Red Desert, near the Red Stone Basin, there was the Red Mountain. Aside from its location and its inauspicious reputation, the only remarkable thing about this mountain was that it was split in two. A deep chasm separated the two sides of the mountain. Around the perimeter, there were powerful illusory formations that even a Transcendent master couldn't see through. This was the location of the Silent Silhouette Sect.

At the west side of the chasm, inside a completely black palace, was a man sitting alone with simple-looking prayer beads in his right hand. After nearly two months of secluded meditation, the man finally opened his eyes. He had finally finished healing his soul. With his black eyes, he gave a deep look at the unassuming prayer beads, then carefully stored it inside his storage ring. It was time to initiate the final stage of his plan.

Outside cultivation chambers a disciple was nervously pacing near the door. While his master was in seclusion he was the one in charge of the preparations for the next stage. Unfortunately for him, ever since his master entered seclusion it was one setback after the other. While lamenting the uselessness of his juniors, he noticed a change in the air. Spiritual waves that were chaotic for a long time suddenly became still. His master was finally coming out of the seclusion. Disciple didn't dare wait and respectfully requested an audience.

He entered the simple but elegant looking chambers. His master was still sitting in the middle of the room with his back facing the door. If Han De were here he would've given at least 8 points for the Xianxia contemplative boss pose.

”How goes the search?”

Disciple reflexively gulped.

”We found four, there were setbacks with three… And… We lost one…”

An uncomfortable silence ensued. Disciple couldn't see the master's face, this was a blessing and a curse for him at the same time. A moment later the master asked.

”Lost?”

Bracing himself, disciple gathered his courage and spoke.

”It-It seems Han De from the Starfall Mountain bought it from the Brass Stallion auction.”

Disciple couldn't see or feel it, but the master was dumbfounded. He thought 'Han De? What Han De?'. Master quickly asked.

”Han De?”

”Y-Yes, master. Han De.”

”Han De, son of Han Wei?”

”Y-Y-Yes. M-Master. T-That Han De.”

”Han De. The heir of the Starfall Mountain and the Han family. The one I killed. That Han De?”

As the conversation continued, the air became more and more oppressive. This wasn't aura, neither was it killing intent. Spiritual energy was just responding to the palace master's mood. Even though the disciple was at the Spirit Origin realm he was still getting suppressed.

”Y-Yes, master. W-We confirmed that h-he somehow didn't die. H-He also made moves a-against us.”

The master, Yuan Zemin, was dumbfounded again. He knew his disciple wouldn't dare lie to him. Yet the situation was too out of the ordinary. He had killed Han De through a true soul search. He witnessed how Han De's soul burned as he searched through it. In the end, all that was left of Han De's soul was a tiny sliver.

Normally Yuan Zemin would've just eradicated everything, even if it was only a tiny sliver of a soul. But during the true soul search his own soul was deeply wounded. Therefore he didn't bother with the remains and hastily left along with his apprentice to heal himself.

Wounds in his soul weren't normal. He was an Ancient Realm expert, there were 6 major realms between him and Han De. True soul search would always damage both parties, but the difference in their cultivation was just too huge. At the time Yuan Zemin thought it was due to the residual effect of the prayer beads. His subsequent seclusion supported this theory, it was through the prayer beads he was able to so quickly heal his wounds.

Soul had special characteristics. As long as a tiny sliver of it survived it could be restored. It would take a monumental effort, but it could be done. Such a feat was impossible for the incomplete prayer beads, let alone through a residual effect. Yuan Zemin narrowed his eyes. He felt uncomfortable. His cultivator intuition was warning him.

”Explain!”

Disciple flinched, but quickly summarized the events that happened during his master's seclusion. Han De selecting a disciple, Blazing Sun Scripture, deal with the Ming Emperor, Zhao family, capturing and deaths of their sect members by Han De, the Mysterious Bead. He didn't miss anything. After listening, Yuan Zemin was silent for some time.

”Plague-Devouring Demon and the Hell Beast. Are you really sure? There were no containment breaches both times?”

”Yes, there are no doubts about those. Our contact in the Zhao faction died during the attack so we have no way of knowing if more appeared.”

Yuan Zemin closed his eyes. His knowledge about souls and demons was nearly unmatched save for the few monsters of his sect. If at this point he didn't recognize what was going on, he wouldn't be worthy of being an elder of Silent Silhouette Sect.

'They dared to calculate against me… How did they know?'

'Blazing Sun was the Void Flame Sect's scripture, only Xin family left from it now, stuck in that hidden realm. Ming Empire holds the few remaining weak spots. If they made a deal…'

Yuan Zemin came to the inevitable conclusion and sucked in a cold breath.

'That damn brother of mine! How could you do this?!'

Silent Silhouette Sect was a demonic sect. Betrayal was a fact of life for them. Yuan Zemin wasn't angry about his own brother betraying him, how could he? He was about to betray that brother of his in the first place.

'How much of an idiot can you be to cause a new intersection!?'

Yuan Zemin's face darkened. For his brother to act in such a way, he had to have the support from the sect. Everything became clear in his mind. Han De was a trap for him from the beginning. While he was licking his wounds they made their move. Yuan Zemin felt trapped. He never would've imagined getting outplayed to this extent.

He couldn't trust the sect anymore. Yuan Zemin was certain that he was isolated. He was a decisive man, after understanding the situation he didn't hesitate.

”Get everyone trustworthy to the palace. Discreetly. Instruct 5th through 12th to go to the Royal Maw and kill anyone that comes in or out. They have to cut the Xin family from the continent as long as they can. Contact Chu and tell him to break everything.”

Disciple was shocked. He didn't understand why they were splitting away from the sect. Despite that, he didn't question his master. He bowed and swiftly left.

Yuan Zemin was in deep thought. The weight on his shoulders increased tremendously.

'I will never allow another Breach. No matter the cost.'

* * *

In the middle of the endless Sea of Fire and immense heat, was an island. On this island, one could see many settlements spread around a single mountain. On top of the mountain was the True Flame Pavillion, where the Xin family matriarch resided.

Matriarch, Xin Meili, was in deep thought. She had received a message from her favorite disciple nearly half a day ago.

In the message, Xin Qiang had described the events that happened between her and Han De. How they met, Ning Bi's peculiarity, Han De's threat, and his following actions during the auction. Xin Qiang's conjecture was that Ning Bi was practicing a superior version of the Blazing Sun Scripture.

Xin Meili's eyes finally left the communication jade. She stood up and looked at the endless Sea of Fire.

This place, this hidden realm, was found hundreds of thousands of years ago by the Void Flame Sect. They didn't know who created it, or for what purpose. They realized it was an ideal place for their cultivation method and moved into the hidden realm. Over the years disasters struck, Void Flame Sect disappeared and only Xin family remained.

Matriarch of the time had to sacrifice her soul to seal the hidden dimension from the continent. Xin family spent the last 50 thousand years in isolation. They could only use a small natural gateway every few hundred years to send and receive a limited amount of people between the hidden realm and the continent. Just getting new blood to the family was an ordeal thanks to the strict requirements of the Blazing Sun Scripture.