After a few moments, the empty ground resounded with anguished cries of agony, pleas for mercy, and was littered with blood and severed limbs.
With bloodshot eyes, Michael's heart swelled with rage and killing intent. The more he chopped off their legs, the angrier he became, releasing all the pent-up anger from burying those little children onto these disciples. He completely ignored their pleas for mercy and threats.
He understood that these were nothing more than savage beings roaming this planet, deserving nothing but death. He knew he had to make them experience the pain and terror the villagers and the little children had felt before their deaths.
Simultaneously, his mind was bombarded with a continuous stream of sounds and alerts from the system.
"I WILL KILL YOU, BASTARD!!!"
Ralphy could no longer contain his anger as he gazed upon his crippled disciples, lying in their own pools of blood.
The elders, although shocked by Michael's strange spells and techniques, realized that if they didn't act quickly, Ralphy would kill them.
"Bring it on!"
Michael laughed loudly, clutching his axe as he charged toward the elders, who were filled with fear and surprise. They halted in shock, frozen in place, unable to move an inch.
It was only at the very last moment that the elders managed to regain their senses and began conjuring various spells in a desperate attempt to defend themselves. However, they were still paralyzed by fear.
No matter what spells or skills they attempted, they couldn't breach his shield.
Following their futile efforts to harm him, they stared in horror at the gleaming blade of the axe as excruciating pain coursed through their bodies. In the next moment, their lifeless forms crumpled to the ground, with a few bloody stumps of legs scattered before them.
How could their feeble spells harm him? He had invested 2500 badass points in his shield, making him invulnerable among body-refining stage cultivators.
Klara's group watched in wide-eyed astonishment and growing fear.
"He's too powerful and fast. The elders didn't even have a chance to cast a defense spell."
One of the boys whispered to his friend.
"He's incredibly strong. He must have been concealing his true cultivation level from everyone else!"
"Did you see how he breakthrough from the foundation level to the body-refining stage so effortlessly?"
"He must be using some sort of concealing spell to hide his true cultivation level and toying with their minds. Could he be a body-strengthening cultivator?"
"Considering his powers, it's highly likely!"
Michael continued severing the legs of the remaining disciples while Ralphy hesitated to attack. The system repeatedly informed him of the rewards he had earned.
Cling!
Finally, Michael slammed his axe into the ground. He stood amidst the half-dead disciples and scattered limbs, then shouted at Ralphy, "Are you going to attack me or not?"
Despite his fury, Ralphy couldn't ignore his instincts, which told him that this youth was immensely powerful. Ralphy had an unsettling feeling as he glared at Michael and demanded, "Who are you?"
"You don't have the right to know my name," Michael smiled, but his eyes were filled with a deadly intent aimed at Ralphy.
"Why the hell did you do this?"
Ralphy pointed at the disciples and the elders crawling on the ground, his anger evident.
"Rosewood Village." Michael only uttered two words, but his tone was grave and solemn.
"Isn't that the name of the small village nearby?" The girl behind Klara furrowed her brow, and hearing her voice, Ralphy also recalled the village.
"So what?"
Klara and her group leaned in, awaiting his answer, but instead of speaking, Michael burst into maniacal laughter.
After a few seconds, he abruptly stopped laughing and glared at Ralphy.
"So what? So what, huh? You used the villagers, the little kids, as guinea pigs for your spell practice, and then you burnt the entire village. For what? A few hundred coins!"
Ralphy clenched his fists, and veins bulged on his forearm. He wore an ashen expression as he laughed out furiously.
"Good, very good. You did this because of those insignificant ants. Since the establishment of the Blood and Bone sect, no one has dared to oppose us until now. You are the first and will be the last."
Without hesitation, he unsheathed his sword and charged at Michael, tossing the golden tablet aside.
"He did all of this for a few mortals?" One of the boys in the group asked as if it weren't a significant issue.
"Klara, what should we do?" another girl asked, visibly concerned.
Klara sighed and retrieved the golden tablet from the ground. "Let's see how this unfolds. I doubt he can kill Sect Master Ralphy."
After all, Ralphy was a cultivator of the body-strengthening stage, which had a significant power gap compared to the body-refining stage. It was unlikely that a body-refining stage cultivator could defeat a body-strengthening stage cultivator in a direct battle.
However, Klara's expression froze when she witnessed Michael lifting Ralphy by his neck.
Ralphy's limbs had been transformed into metal through some kind of spell, yet he couldn't make any headway against the blue shield enveloping Michael.
"How did you... What the hell?" Gaya was utterly astonished by his power. She had expected a confrontation between Michael and Ralphy, but now the level 2 body-strengthening stage cultivator was struggling for breath in the hands of a seemingly inferior body-refining stage human.
"I'll make you watch them suffer," Michael declared.
He dropped his axe and drew his knife, which had a green sheen on its blade. Gaya noticed the strange coloration as Michael continued.
"Release... me..." Ralphy struggled to speak, his body immobilized except for his mouth.
With calculated precision, Michael plunged his knife into Ralphy's right chest, avoiding vital arteries and veins. As the blade pierced his flesh, a chilling sensation coursed through Ralphy's body, rendering him numb except for his ability to speak. After paralyzing Ralphy, Michael gently set him down, prompting the old man to demand answers.
"What did you do?"
"You should worry more about what I'm GOING to do. Can you guess?" Michael replied with a tilted head, a cold laugh escaping his lips as he delivered a kick to Ralphy's abdomen.
"Bastard," Ralphy uttered through his paralyzed state.
"I'm going to burn your precious sect members alive."
The moment those words left Michael's lips, everyone in attendance froze, struck by shock and disbelief. The scene before them left some disciples and elders crawling away in agony, their legs severed, yet fear overshadowed their pain.
The girls behind Klara were equally horrified, their voices filled with anxiety as they pleaded, "Brother, don't act recklessly!"
"Please, stay calm and think rationally!"
"You've already spilled enough blood and crippled their cultivation. That's a fate worse than death for cultivators."
"If you kill and burn them, you'll be no different from the Blood and Bone sect."
Klara nodded, raising her voice without stepping onto the blood-soaked ground.
But Michael had already transformed into a bolt of lightning, leaving a trail of disciples' bodies piled up in the center of the ground.
Ignoring the pleas of the girls, Gaya goaded him, saying, "Don't listen to these voices, human. You're right; we must slow-roast them in the fire, like chickens."
"You're wrong," Michael replied when he ceased his movements. The group from Morning Star Sect sensed an ominous shift as they gazed upon his face and perceived the mounting killing intent in his eyes.
"I'm far worse than them."
He produced a red oil can in his hand, and the girls cringed at the pungent odor that filled the air as he began pouring the liquid onto the groaning bodies of the elders and disciples.
"NO!"
Ralphy screamed out in terror just before a single lightning bolt from Michael's hand struck the pile.
The group, including Klara's companions, watched in sheer horror as dark-red flames roared to life, burning as high as a full-grown tree. The intense heat radiating from the flames was palpable.
Even Klara, who had been through numerous battles, and the boys were horrified. It took them a considerable amount of time to regain their composure.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 200 badass points.]
[Ding! Congrats to the host for killing a Body refining stage, level 6 cultivator. The reward is 4500 experience points as well as 200 Badass points.]
[Ding! Congrats to the host for killing a Body refining stage, level 7 cultivator. The reward is 5000 experience points as well as 200 Badass points.]
[Ding! Congrats to the host for killing a Body refining stage, level 8 cultivator. The reward is 6000 experience points as well as 200 Badass points.]
[Ding! Congrats to the host for killing a Body refining stage, level 10 cultivator. The reward is 7000 experience points as well as 200 Badass points.]
...
Several beeps of the system kept ringing in his mind as his gaze landed on the main culprit, Ralphy.