Its body suddenly brimmed with a golden shine before flashing forward while actively decreasing its altitude. A few seconds into its retreat, a---***[Reader]***--- The storyline was almost interrupted by the [Reader], causing the [Author] to ro- ***[Reader]: Hey! Stop that! Why are you weaving what I'm about to say into the storyline!!!
[Author]: I'm an artist, okay? This is what I do. Anyways, what did you wanna talk about?
[Reader]: Well, first of all, fuck off; and secondly, you can't keep jumbling up four words and use them as titles!!!
[Author]: Oh buzz off, I'm doing it on purpose... Since these chapters are all connected, instead of saying part 1, part 2, yada yada yada, why not try something different??
[Reader]: Well, that's acceptable but you can't keep making things up like that without warning...
[Author]: Fair, fair...
* * *
Shortly after the staff blitzed away, chunks of meteorite blasted through where the trio had been. That wasn't the only one tho as the staff kept dodging left and right, swaying the occupants of the chariot in the same direction, dodging innumerable meteorites. Thankfully for the teen, he was unconscious and didn't have to experience such a rollercoaster; but for Yuno, this was extremely terrifying! At one point in their flight, she saw a blob of molten rock landed on the part of her robe that was flailing about.
Seeing the blob go through her robe like it was nothing, she was left with her mouth agape.
'My robe!!!'
'I can't believe the robe was melted through like that! This was supposed to be my first line of defense!!!'
Fortunately for her, that was the only time that that happened. What was even more relieving was the moment they escaped past the reach of the void. It was a strange feeling being met with sunlight after being in the shade of the void for a while. She squinted her eyes, trying to shield them from the sun's glare; but once out of danger, the only thought she could think of was, "What now?"
Their seemingly bright future was not left in ruins by Han Sen's attack. Although the Sect didn't seem to be completely destroyed, it wasn't suitable for learning and membership anymore. This lack of safety and security made Yuno feel as if they had been placed back catapulted back to square one. Back to that shitty town; back in that shitty apartment.
* * *
A couple of minutes had passed before the meteor shower finally stopped. The overall damage it caused was unimaginable. The Sect Master stood afloat in the sky and watched his entire Sect in ruins. Even the nine guardian beasts had been heavily injured, their life hanging on a thread.
'This-This wasn't supposed to happen!'
Sect Master Lei looked on with anger as all his years of preparation had been ruined in a single day. Granted the Sect was only a means to an end for him, being relatively new having only existed for a hundred or so years, even an infantile Sect like this one had its uses... though, now, all of that has disappeared like a puff of smoke. Looking around the formation, he saw around a dozen cultivators still reeling from the damages. The rest having been killed by the endless barrage of the shattered celestial body.
The survivors were in extremely bad shape as blood could be seen trickling out of strenuous wounds, staining their tattered clothes; Elder Ming was one of those people. Having lost most of her combat strength, as well as an arm, she staggered her way towards the Sect Master in pain before asking, "Master Lei, what do we do now? The Sect, it's- it's gone..."
She waited with battered breaths hoping the Sect Master had a plan to somehow fix all of this. But instead, what she heard was, "Now?... Now, YOU DIE!"
Before she had the chance to process what he had said, a dark red spear had pierced through her head, coming out on the other side covered in blood, gore, and brain matter.
The Sect Master stood there with his left hand holding onto the spear, and under the shocked gazes of all his followers he uttered, "Drain." His word prompted the very essence contained within Elder Ming to be drained out of her lifeless corpse in the form of black ooze, shriveling up her muscles and draining both her blood and qi. This black ooze seeped into the spear, before being passed onto Sect Master Lei's body.
Absorbing the ooze, he let out a satisfied smile as certain physical abnormalities appeared on his body. Firstly, his skin turned pale as strange markings appeared on his forehead and the back side of his hands. These markings didn't have definite shape as they constantly kept changing but the eerie feeling they left persisted. These changes were complimented by the sclera of his eyes turning pitch black, almost as black as the deepest crevasse of the abyss; they gave off the same feeling of eerie emptiness.
His red-eyed held a piercing cold gaze most commonly found in apex predators. The others in the formation stood frozen under his gave, they also had witnessed their comrade's demise at the hands of their trusted leader. They were uncertain of how to proceed as they felt death keeping through their spines, causing them to let out cold sweats.
One of the cultivators clenched his fist deliberating whether he should attack or not; not knowing that simple action of his had already sealed his fate. As he was contemplating his actions, all of a sudden, his vision went haywire. He felt a sharp pain coming from his neck which was followed by the sight of his headless body. Yes, Martial Master Lei had made his move!
Immediately after, he flashed towards another cultivator thrusting his spear towards his head, puncturing clean through his skull. And of course, since this is a Wuxia novel all this had happened in a split second. The others hadn't even reacted by the time their comrade had died, and when they finally did, they either attacked or retreated in a bid to escape. But of course, both options led to the same result... DEATH! The instant kind at that!!!
Watching all these attacks launched at him, Martial Master Lei let out an arrogant sneer before whispering, Demon's Stride! Everything slowed down to a standstill! Not a single cultivator could perceive what was happening as it transcended their senses. Martial Master Lei stepped forward and instantly a dozen shadowy afterimages appeared wielding their spears, each a step away from a cultivator.
When the afterimages disappeared, Martial Master Lei was located on the opposite side of the cultivators; his spear dripping with blood! behind him, the decapitated corpses of the cultivators could be seen plummeting into fluffy oblivion.
Finally addressing the stalking feeling he had been getting since earlier, he turned towards one of the islands and narrowed his eyes, within his heightened sight was Han Sen sitting atop the rubble, his eyes staring dead at Lei. The tension was palpable, the fighting intent was rising; ladies and gentlemen, the final showdown was nigh!