Horror crept over the Elders one by one. Even without the radiance of Noire's gaze, no one dared make unnecessary movements.
As Noire approached them, the Elders began to involuntarily bend the knee, some even fully submitted to kowtow and wail for mercy.
Noire simply ignored their plea as if he applied a background noise cancellation filter, his only goal was to replenish his depleted energy.
Although he appeared collected on the surface, Noire was akin to a hollow tree log at the moment.
The only thing keeping him conscious was his absurd spiritual prowess and some lingering Qi essence through his physique.
One must know that Noire's Qi is thrice as dense as a normal cultivator.
After assimilating his Dragon Force, Qi Essence, and Silver Eclipse Blessing, he acquired his Spiral Ecliptic Virtue.
This means that even though his dantian is the size of an Ether realm cultivator, the compressed essence is comparable to someone an entire great realm above his stage.
Therefore, if wanted to replenish his prowess as soon as possible, he has no other option from consuming Grand Elder Xin's Qi essence.
"Tianshi," Noire called out lightly, pulling Tianshi out of her daze.
"Ah! Leave it to me, darling!" Tianshi instantly understood his signal.
Looking at Noire's performance, he was aiming for Elder Xin, so she will help him by killing the remaining ten Elders.
They have already lost their will to fight, not to mention the fact both her cultivation and elemental mastery far surpassed their own, dealing with them should be effortless.
Tianshi tapped her space ring to summon two scimitar short-swords and licked her bottom lip in delight.
Now that she has already mounted a long sailed ship, might as well enjoy the sailing.
Lady Feng already joined up the ranks of Yue and Ning'er, mainly because she didn't want to stand out like a sore thumb in the distance.
She wanted to inquire more about Noire's origin while she's at it, but the girls were already staring blankly at Noire approaching the Grand Elder.
Especially Ning'er, who was baffled and ecstatic about the transformation of events.
...
By the time Noire adjusted his breath in front of the still shocked Grand Elder, Tianshi had already contaminated the soil in the blood of her prey. She didn't play around one bit, swift and vicious.
Elder Xin's face was as blank as a wall of jade, he looked into Noire's direct gaze that seemed to be a spiraling labyrinth of endless depths.
If he was told that the entire operation of oppression would turn into a massacre within less than ten breaths of time, he'd certainly castrate whatever fool that tried to deter him.
Now, standing one step away from Noire, he couldn't muster up the courage to even use the name of Four Seasons as a deterrence to save his pitiful life.
Noire didn't plan to procrastinate, the Sect Master should arrive within less than a tea cup's time, the events should spread like wildfire and the Sect must be attempting to activate the defensive mechanisms of the formation arrays.
He wasn't worried about himself or Tianshi, but Yue and Ning'er were another stories.
Without delay, he lengthened his right palm that was encased with a shimmer of silver hue.
His hand entered an ethereal state as if penetrated the flesh and resided inside Elder Xin's dantian.
Spectators might not know what was unfolding within the Grand Elder's body, but the victim himself can feel it!
The flow of his Qi essence turned chaotic, disordered, and then proceeded to flow in reverse.
His meridians visibly depleted from Qi essence and the energies were drawn towards the dantian by a frightening suction force.
Silver Eclipse's Blessing is known as a curse due to how it could suppress Qi essence.
Explosive Dominance physique is the only constitution that can refine the blessing and allow it to co-exist with opposing energies as a complementary factor.
Unless one can overwhelm the host of the Explosive Dominance Physique before they initiate the suppression, the battle is already decided.
This is the main reason that Celestial God Palace did everything in their power to exterminate such a heaven-defying plague.
By circulating his Spiral Ecliptic Virtue, Noire began to reverse the flow of Elder Xin's Qi essence back to the dantian before madly extracting it.
Elder Xin's accumulation of Qi essence began to drop like a yellow leaf in the autumn wind, his cultivation base began to regress along with his supply of fire Qi essence.
Behind the mask, Noire had an ecstatic expression as he felt his dantian accumulate Qi essence steadily, and an equally divided amount nestled in his physique.
Within ten breaths of time, Noire exhausted the entirety of Elder Xin's accumulation, he would require a tremendous amount of resources to recuperate back to his peak.
Alas, life is hideous nine times out of ten.
Noire was still adamant about cutting grass and burning roots, so, he ignited Elder Xin's dantian and meridians from inside out, turning his body into a lump of burning coal without blinking.
...
"Seems like we need to speed up our schedule yet again," Noire gave a dejected sigh as he looked at the ashen corpse of Grand Elder Xin.
His howls of pain as he burnt on a molecular level were still vividly fresh in his memory, and the onlookers weren't exempt.
"What are we going to do now, Master?"
Yue asked as she approached Noire, Ning'er and Tianshi followed in tow.
Only Lady Feng remained behind, she didn't know how to proceed from this point onwards.
When Noire looked her way, she instantly flinched, scared he would finish her off as well.
Much to her pleasant surprise, he didn't say much, only that she should return to the Phoenix Household until the clouds clear up from the mountain.
He then brought his attention back to the group of women.
"We are leaving this continent. As to where exactly, I'm not sure yet, first let us leave this city." Noire then turned to face Tianshi.
"You take Yue, I'll carry Ning'er. Don't hold back in your speed, I can easily catch up with you in my current state."
Tianshi nodded, there wasn't much time for idle chatter as the entire sect has been alarmed by now.
She took Yue onto her back and utilized her Qi essence to strap Yue tightly, "Hold onto my neck tightly, as if your life depends on it, literally."
Yue nodded, because their skins were similar in the aspect of a light tan, seeing them cling so close to each other was a sight to behold.
Especially with the contrast in character, one was practically naked whilst the other had her body confined in cloth from head to toe.
Noire carried Ning'er in a princess-carry posture before receiving his mask, with a gentle smile, he kissed Ning'er on her lips softly before saying, "Consider it a reward for exceeding my expectations in your match."
Ning'er instantly felt all the shame and pain from her loss fade away, if she knew, she'd have persisted to stay conscious for a while longer during that torturous trial.
Noire's and Tianshi's cultivation bases exploded with a horrific momentum before they sped into the distance, leaving behind a massive crevice, and countless fissures spread like a spider-web.
- - - -
For the following two weeks, the entire Four Seasons City was in an uproar.
Noire's actions spread like wildfire.
When the locals learned the hideous truth behind the serene gust of refreshing tidal waves, many of the citizens began to evacuate in horror.
"This time we were lucky, what about next time?"
"How could the top sect in the continent offend such a monster? Do they have no recollection about the millions of lives underneath them?"
"I heard that even Lady Feng evacuated back to the Phoenix Household! Why should we stay?!"
Just like that, the reputation and moral standing of the Four Seasons Sect began to plummet.
Okay, you can study the four basic elements, but who cares about elements if you're dead?
There are sub-elements, quasi-elements, heck, there are many martial skills that don't even rely on elements.
The sky is vast, heaven is endless, one needs to be alive to enjoy its splendor.
At this rate, it wouldn't take half a year before the Four Seasons City turns into a desolate battlefield.
Many powers and top families will converge to covet the treasures and heritage of a crumbling sect.
That night will be written down in history as 'Prosperity To Dystopia.'