The grand plaza of the Sword of Radiance Sect hummed with its usual evening vigor as hundreds of outer and inner disciples cultivated beneath the pale moonlight.
Ancient oak trees swayed with the chilling night wind, and the towering stone statues of the sect’s founding ancestors stood steadfast, silently watching over the grounds.
Yet this routine serenity shattered entirely within moments, replaced by absolute chaos and bone-chilling silence the second an uninvited anomaly breached the boundaries.
Dark walked with slow, deliberate steps, moving as if strolling through a private garden rather than the inner sanctum of one of the region’s premier martial sects.
Moonlight grazed his pristine white hair, which cascaded like spun silver over his broad shoulders, while his crimson, pearl-like eyes—swirling with distant cosmic nebulae—scanned the surroundings with an indifferent gaze that looked down upon the entire world.
Right behind him walked Qing’er, her steps steady and assured, the initial tremor completely gone, replaced by an intensifying, ice-cold aura belonging to her budding Cold Wind meridian lineage.
Trailing at the rear in utter disgrace was Ling Zhan, crawling like a broken, beaten hound after having his arrogance completely pulverized by a single breath of pressure from this mysterious entity.
The disciples froze mid-sentence, hundreds of gazes locking onto the scene in sheer disbelief.
Was this truly Ling Zhan, the pompous scion who used to strut through the sect relying on his family’s influence?
How had he been reduced to a weeping insect dragging itself through the dirt?
And who was this white-haired youth leading the procession, carrying the absolute dominion of a ruler descended from the seven heavens?
Deep within Dark’s sea of consciousness, the luxurious golden-arched screen pulsed with a steady, confident glow, logging the continuous influx of energy:
========================================
[ Connection & Continuous Activity Report ]
• Primary Linked Target: Qing’er
• Multiplied Spiritual Flow (100x):
* Absorbed Energy: Surpassed the complete Body Tempering threshold.
* Cold Wind Meridian Stability: 100%
• Newly Awakened Cells in the Overwhelming Divine Elephant Technique: [ 21 / 840,000,000 cells ]
• Sovereign Immunity Status: Active and shielded (Fate and cosmic surveillance completely blocked).
========================================
A fresh surge of pure vitality and physical might flooded Dark’s muscle fibers with every breath Qing’er drew behind him.
Thanks to the linking network, the girl’s training translated into a torrential stream of purified energy feeding directly into Dark, rousing more dormant cells of the “Overwhelming Divine Elephant Technique.” Every awakened cell acted as a physical explosion, hardening his veins to rival divine steel and granting him combat might capable of crushing opponents far beyond the Foundation Establishment realm.
“Look!
That’s the intruder who dared violate the sect’s sacred grounds!” shouted an outer disciple in a trembling voice, pointing a terrified finger at Dark.
Suddenly, the atmosphere above the grand plaza violently quaked.
A terrifying, oppressive spiritual pressure erupted from the Enforcement Hall located on the rear hill, forcing every disciple present to buckle and drop to their knees involuntarily.
A dark yellow flash tore across the sky as an elderly man descended, clad in a black robe embroidered with golden threads denoting a supreme elder.
His long beard whipped in the gale, and his eyes burned with a murderous glare.
This was Elder Zhang, the chief enforcer responsible for maintaining sect law through sword and blood.
Elder Zhang landed heavily on the stone plaza, cracking the tiles in a wide radius.
His burning gaze swept from the ruined form of Ling Zhan on the ground up to the unbothered, crimson-eyed youth.
“Audacious scoundrel!” Elder Zhang roared, his voice sounding like a crashing thunderclap that shook the White Bone Mountains.
“How dare you raise your hand against our disciples and drag our dignity through the mud in such a disgraceful manner?
Have you lost your mind and courted death?
Kneel immediately and confess your crimes, and perhaps we shall grant you a quick, merciful demise!”
Dark did not take a single step.
He didn’t even bat an eye, his hands resting calmly inside his robes.
He met Elder Zhang’s gaze with empty indifference, akin to a human looking at an annoying insect buzzing before a raging storm.
Instantly, the system screen materialized before Dark, logging the incoming target:
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[ Target Analysis – System Scan ]
• Name: Zhang Huan (Chief Elder of the Enforcement Hall)
• Cultivation Level: [Core Formation Stage – Level 5]
• Carried Techniques & Resources:
* Scorching Lightning Sword Technique (Upper-Middle Tier)
* 300 High-Grade Spirit Stones
* Silver Soul Purification Pill
• Suggested Action: Assimilate sword technique, plunder resources, and subjugate or crush target immediately.
========================================
Dark smiled coldly, a trace of supreme mockery crossing his lips.
Core Formation Stage – Level 5?
To the disciples of this minor sect, this elder was akin to an untouchable deity.
But to Dark—harboring the Divine Elephant technique and absolute immunity to mental or spiritual attacks—this elder was merely a practice dummy to test out a refined technique formulated within his sovereign mind.
“Kneel?” Dark finally spoke, his voice calm, deep, and carrying a cosmic resonance that made everyone’s heart skip a beat.
“You do not yet realize in whose presence you stand, you foolish old man.
Your sect, with all its elders, disciples, and secrets, is worth less than the dust beneath my boot.”
Blood rushed to Elder Zhang’s face in blinding fury.
In decades of service, no one had ever dared address him with such absolute arrogance.
He shrieked in rage: “Arrogant bastard!
I shall let you taste the absolute agony of sword hell today!”
The elder swept his right hand forward, materializing hundreds of razor-sharp, yellow sword lights in the air like a swarm of locusts, shooting toward Dark at supersonic speed to shred him into a thousand pieces.
Disciples gasped, some closing their eyes to avoid witnessing the impending bloodshed.
Yet what followed left everyone in absolute, paralyzed silence.
Dark did not move, drew no weapon, and cast no defensive spell.
He merely unleashed a single exhale of the “Overwhelming Divine Elephant Technique,” his cell count rising to 22 alongside his sovereign aura shield.
BOOM!
The space within a ten-meter radius around Dark violently detonated.
The hundreds of light-swords unleashed by Elder Zhang couldn’t even get close; they shattered and disintegrated into microscopic photonic dust upon striking his bodily aura, as if hitting a wall of absolute cosmic steel!
Furthermore, the recoil of the pressure wave rebounded outward with doubled force.
Elder Zhang’s eyes widened in horror and disbelief he had never experienced in his life.
He felt as though a mountain-sized hammer had crashed directly onto his chest, instantly fracturing his Core Formation barriers like fragile glass.
CRACK!
A thick mouthful of blood mixed with pulverized flesh erupted from Elder Zhang’s lips.
His body buckled violently under the immense weight, his knees slamming into the stone plaza with a terrifying shockwave that cracked the ground across vast distances.
He collapsed face-first into unconsciousness, leaving the entire plaza drowning in an eerie, deathly quiet.
Simultaneously, the Eternal Copy feature harvested the Scorching Lightning Sword Technique from the fallen elder, instantly optimizing and rewriting it within Dark’s mind, while the spirit pills and energy stones vanished from his storage pouch into Dark’s hidden inventory.
========================================
• Successfully Copied & Plundered: [Scorching Lightning Sword Technique] -> Evolved into [Chaotic Destructive Lightning Sword]
• Plundered Resources: [300 High-Grade Spirit Stones + Silver Soul Purification Pill]
• Updated Divine Elephant Cells: [ 25 / 840,000,000 cells ]
Dark stepped leisurely over the fallen elder’s body, paying no heed to the trembling, wide-eyed stares around him.
He turned to Qing’er, who trailed behind him with a mixture of awe and fierce pride, and spoke in a calm voice:
“Come, Qing’er.
We are done with this minor village.
It is time we move toward the true center of this province, where far more valuable harvests await.”
The two walked away calmly, leaving the Sword of Radiance Sect in a state of utter psychological collapse, as the name “Dark” began carving itself in blood and fire as the greatest nightmare in martial history.
”Thank you for reading Chapter 5!
Will Elder Zhang and the sect find themselves bowing to the sovereign or wiped from existence?
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