Yun Lei couldn't believe his own senses. He checked and rechecked, only to receive the same result over and over. The five people standing before the, now stationary, carriage were undoubtedly in the Blood Cleansing Realm.
To understand just how unbelievable that was, you would have to consider the fact that Ether Cloud City was one of the most powerful entities not only in the Eastern Region but the entire kingdom simply because the Patriarch of the Yun Family and the Grand Elder were both in the Blood Cleansing Realm.
But for five mighty experts at this rank to appear in Ether Cloud, seemingly targeting him, how could he think that it was anything but unbelievable?
Yun Lei's mind began racing. When faced with cultivators, the fact that he was a cripple was somewhat beneficial since they couldn't locate his presence by simply sensing the profound energy in his body.
Should I just run? Yun lei dismissed that thought quickly. He almost died facing Ren Feng, there was no way he could escape from five Blood Cleansing Realm cultivators.
But what should I do then? Yun Lei asked in his head. No answers appeared. He truly seemed stuck, with no way to move forward or backwards. The worst part was that he didn't even know what these people wanted from him.
Did they just want to kill him? If so, why? He had been a bit overbearing at times but nothing that would prompt five Blood Cleansing Realm Cultivators to attack him. Did they want to hold him hostage for ransom? But what could the Ether Cloud City give them that they couldn't get for themselves?
Yun Lei pulled out the jade box from his pocket and opened it, looking down at the tightly packed ingredients within it.
It didn't matter to him the reason these experts had, he wouldn't go down without a fight. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he did.
"What a waste." He softly muttered as he began breaking the breakable herbs in half and tearing up the rest in tiny pieces. He had already used one of the profound crystals that he always kept with him to form a small bubble of profound energy around the whole box.
It was entirely possible to extract the medical efficacy, or the so-called aura, of a herb without an alchemical cauldron. But of course, this process was highly inefficient since only ten percent of the total efficacy could be extracted, the rest was simply lost.
Yun Lei compressed his energy barrier, causing the individual auras of the herbs to come into contact. Even without any external influences, the auras of different herbs tended to interact with each other. However, this process was extremely slow. Heat was a catalyst that sped it up.
Although most cultivators knew how to start a fire with just profound energy, Yun Lei didn't. And even if he did, starting a fire in the carriage was an easy way to alert his enemies that he was up to something. Thus, he chose a reliable, albeit uncreative way to give the auras some heat.
He divided his energy barrier into two halves, making them rotate in opposite directions as fast as he could. The friction between them began heating up the entire system, causing the auras to interact even faster.
Normally, some sort of base would be used to create a solid pill that could house the intermingled aura within it. But since he had no cauldron or even water, it was like he was creating a pill that was made entirely of aura.
Yun Lei had no doubts in his mind that the cultivators outside had detected the profound energy the moment he had extracted it from the crystal. However, he didn't think they would suspect it was his work.
After he was done with his aura pill, he slowly stepped out of the carriage.
"Well, well, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He spoke while looking towards the five cultivators. All of them wore plain, white robes that made it difficult to determine their affiliation.
"Come with us." The one in the middle spoke while taking a step forward. He seemed to be the oldest of the bunch, his long beard had already completely greyed.
"Come with you, huh?" Yun Lei let out a chuckle before his voice turned cold. "Why should I?"
Even as he spoke, he was preparing to make his move. Creating a small hole in the profound energy barrier, he carefully extracted the efficacies within it, making it slowly disperse throughout his own aura. Although cultivators could easily sense profound energy, they could only sense aura if it was touching them.
"It is for your own good." The same person said again, to which Yun Lei let out a scoff.
"Your words are amusing." Yun Lei said, fully unleashing all of his aura. He was going all out, not holding back even a tiny bit. In response, the five cultivators unleashed their own auras, causing him to instantly feel like a mountain had been placed upon his back.
But instead of feeling discomfort like anyone would have expected him to, the Young Master let out a laugh, revealing two rows of brilliant white teeth. He had to constantly keep seven mountains lifted up with just his soul strength to even move his body. What was one more?
In fact, in response to the cultivators' aura, Yun Lei's seemed to become even more potent, turning so sharp that it would shred anything that came in contact with it, so cold that it could freeze fire itself. Like a hungry beast, it rushed straight towards the five men, as if it intended to rip them apart and consume them.
Of course, the opponents didn't just stand by idly. They let out even more aura than they previously had, completely suppressing Yun Lei. Although his soul was stronger than all of theirs, they had him beat in quantity.
"Ha!" Yun Lei's laugh began filling up the quiet city street. "Five Blood Cleansing Realm Cultivators, needing to unleash all of their aura just to suppress a cripple. How laughable."
All of the grace the Young Master usually carried with him was nowhere to be found. His noble and elegant baring was replaced with the gaze of a beast that had neither caution nor fear.
Yun Lei's pitch-black eyes slowly turned red as his presence changed, becoming wild and unrestrained yet cold and indifferent at the same time. He could feel the burden on his soul increase massively, he could smell the blood that was beginning to stream down his face from his eyes but he did not care about any of it. That day, he would truly let loose.
In just moments, even the very nature of his aura seemed to have changed. It was still as cold and sharp as usual but there was now a sense of starvation that seemed to fill up its very being. Hungrily consuming everything it could get its hands on, his aura easily ate through the cultivators'. It guzzled up not just their aura but even the profound energy in the surroundings.
"Yun Lei, stop! Let us explain!" The old cultivator spoke once more, panic filling up his voice. But the Young Master had heard nothing. By that time, he was beginning to lose control of his body, he could still see but he had already lost his sense of hearing.
In that quiet autumn afternoon, a howl was heard in Ether Cloud. A howl that echoed throughout the entire city, being heard by every man, woman and child. But that wasn't all, the howl seemed to cover the very sky and all underneath it could only behold its majesty.
As if in response to it, the earth began to rumble and shake and the clear skies began filling up with thunder clouds that were nowhere in sight before.
Boom!
With a loud crash, several thunderbolts began raining down upon the shaking earth. The thunderbolts had caused fires to break out in several parts of the city while the earthquake demolished hundreds of buildings. Many had already lost their lives while many more were injured. However, that was only the beginning as soon, a chilling cold began permeating through the air.
Any mortal that came in contact with the cold was instantly paralysed, unable to even breathe while the cultivators would begin to violently cough up blood until they were barely even alive. Chaos began spreading throughout the city as mortals and cultivators alike were desperately trying to get away from the cold while the fires and earthquakes continued to ravage everything in their sight.
It was a disaster, in the truest sense of the word. The terrified people could do nothing but stare with hopeless eyes as their lives inched ever closer to death. Even being able to run away was a privilege only a few got to enjoy.
Yun Lei, who was responsible for causing all of this, was completely unaware of everything that was happening around him. He was barely even conscious anymore but his eyes were still trained upon the five cultivators. Escape was the only thing on his mind.
The cultivators had watched everything that had happened with eyes full of shock. They had watched as Yun Lei let out a howl escape from his lips, they had watched as the heavens and the earth themselves had responded to his howl and they had watched as his aura, laced with the poisonous pill he had created, spread through the air like wildfire through a dry forest.
"We were too late." The old cultivator said while shaking his head. There was a solemn and regretful look on his face. "The Wolf has already awoken."
Boom!
Another thunderbolt crashed down from the sky, right in front of the cultivators, causing them to recoil from the impact. They immediately sent out all of the profound energy from their body in an attempt to protect themselves.
"First Elder! We have to kill him! You must make the decision immediately!" A cultivator shouted loudly.
The old cultivator shook his head once more before speaking, "We can't."
"What do you mean, First Elder? We must kill him here before he can cause any more harm." Another added while looking into the blood-red eyes of the young man in front of them. "The prophecy must be stopped at all costs!"
"It is not that I don't wish to, we simply are unable to. We might be able to injure him but we don't have the capability of killing him."
"Five of us not being able to kill a cripple? How absur—"
Before the cultivator had finished the sentence, a cold chill began running down his spine. He felt Yun Lei's aura rush towards him with incredible speed and he was unable to do anything about it. His aura seemed to behave like a scared kitten while the profound energy protecting his body was as flimsy as paper. The young man's aura ate through all of it as it made its way towards his body.
And it wasn't just him who was experiencing this. Every single one of them was. The weakest of them was already on his knees, coughing up blood. He barely even looked alive anymore.
"What!?" Even the oldest of the cultivators was shocked at what was happening. He had already known that Yun Lei's aura was quite abnormal from how the carriage driver had reacted upon being attacked by it. Yet even he couldn't anticipate that it could bring down a cultivator so easily.
"Whatever you do, do not let that aura reach you!" He shouted at his companions. The cultivators didn't need to be told more. The moment they felt that aura penetrate through the layer of profound energy surrounding their body, they quickly relocated, getting away from it.
Unfortunately, not all of them could have reacted so quickly. Leaving the First Elder and one more cultivator aside, everyone else fell victim to the poisonous aura and were violently coughing up blood.
While they were busy trying to get away from his aura, Yun Lei made his move, dashing as fast as he could towards the city walls. He completely emptied the profound energy from one of the crystals in his pocket before using it to reinforce his legs. He moved as swiftly as the wind itself, easily clearing the massive walls with a single jump.
The cultivators could only watch as Yun Lei ran into the trees and swiftly disappeared, leaving behind not even a single trace of his existence.