Feng Wuqing raised an arm and spoke slowly, "...Xin is missing. In the capital of the Fang State, we were thrown into battle and he vanished after taking a near fatal blow. A squad of the Yan attacked us."
Her voice was narrow and low, yet rang clear in the minds of those around her.
Heads raised, they looked to her, their only leader left, with questioning gazes, wondering what was to happen, whilst others had already caught on.
She spoke in a solemn, slow tone, "The burden of the oath is heavy. I will not think less of anyone who wishes to stay behind."
"Where will you go, Elder Sister?" Xiao Wun looked up from his dizzied stupor, the thought of war still heavy on his mind despite the resolve he'd gathered just moments ago.
Liu Gang and Yui Luo had a feeling as to what was to come, exchanging glances they clearly knew.
War.
And not just war of some paltry kind, but a war to settle a blood debt.
One side had to be destroyed, they could not breath the same air any longer!
Yui Luo who'd been in charge of the treasury and by extension it's uses, knew a great deal since the city had become a popular place for young scions of the Flying Isles to visit, "The empires of the surface were the ones who attacked. They have Peak Law Experts and even Unchained Experts. Some rumors say that even Half-Step Dao Establishment Expert's reside within them."
"The Silver Feather, Western Plains Bull were the coalition of fighters which came here enmasse. Though, other races experts assisted in the shadows to cripple the formation." Liu Gang remembered how easily the formation had fallen and how devastating it was when it did, how they had to run for their lives to the gate and how many died because of it.
He would never forget the faces of those who attacked.
"The Shattered Sands, a place where all races of the deserts reside under one empire. Their experts were involved as well but as mercenaries." Yui Luo nodded slightly, hoping that she would not attack the Shattered Sands.
To try and keep the fighting to a minimum.
Naturally, Feng Wuqing could see their weariness at the mere mention of battle.
The devastating victory that day had instilled a fear of war, but not of battle.
To lose ones own life in the pursuit of their goals was a valiant thing, but those one cared about losing their lives… she could still remember the moment Shou Xin was taken away by Fukkatsu.
"...Your punishment is to keep the clan safe." Her aura slowly spread outwards like cracks.
A vast sense of warmth and calm.
She took out the other half of the necklace which could activate the Warship.
It had fallen from Shou Xin's neck when that attack landed upon him and almost took his life.
Putting them together, the warship began to slowly change, and those cannon formations began to appear alongside a powerful shielding.
Xiao Wun slowly stood up, his eyes filling with a strange light, "If we allow them to think that only our experts are willing to do anything, then we will only be bullied."
Liu Gang smiled lightly, "And, what will the next generation we are currently training think of us who cower? How can we show our backs to them with pride?"
Yui Luo waved a hand, the sounds of interceptors taking off strung the air, "It's a tragic thing, our poor juniors will have a heavy shadow to climb out of."
Cao Yue watched in awe.
Her grandfather had always said, "Cultivators, Immortals, Demons, Gods, they're all after one thing, and they'll do anything to get it, even spill blood among brothers!"
Yet, as she stood watching as the entirety of the clan had began to mobilize, she felt that perhaps her grandfather was not wrong, but rather mistaken.
It was not all Cultivators, nor all Immortals or Demons or Gods, but rather, most.
"Not all, but most." She smiled gently, "I am Cao Yue, disciple of Master Feng."
"I am Xiao Wun. Elder brother Shou is my teacher and master." Xiao Wun's eyes revolved slightly as he watched Cao Yue before quietly giving a slight bow, "It is a pleasure to meet you, junior sister."
Cao Yue cupped her fist, "Likewise, senior brother Xiao."
"Mm."
—
Lightning struck the earth, cracking it's exterior to reveal the thousands of small, useless lives moving beneath.
Humans.
His empty gaze searched through them and their terrified exteriors.
Their mouths moved, and eyes watered yet he did not see.
Swords appeared covering the sky. "Where is she?"
They continued to speak, but he could not hear them.
He could not hear her name.
"Who are you?!" Amid the brutal storm of sword energy rumbling through the sky, a voice vaguely pierced him.
The edges of his mouth curved upwards in something akin to a gentle smile as he spoke the name, "Death."
The swords fell.
Neither woman, children nor even dogs could escape his wrath.
The Yan began this conflict by trying to harm him and his clan, they would not let him go and went as far as to even destroy the entirety of Sea Spring.
"Where was your mercy then?" He whispered cruelly as he slew hundreds below, reminded of the destruction of his hometown.
He did not turn his gaze away, "I never cared much for that place, but it was my place, and no one can touch my things."
Bursts of Qi rippled through the hidden underground from which they'd been pretending to be of his clan, in the destruction he could see signs made to look like his clans signs.
Clearly being used as a means for propaganda to incriminate them.
A calm fire burned in his void-like eyes.
"You all thought I was harmless and could be used. How many died due to that? How many lives was I forced to take? I am finished with mercy." He was reminded of the many mines he'd liberated and how many he'd let escape under his nose, thinking of their families like his own.
Those who didn't fight could leave.
Yet, he was tired of it.
Let the cub live, and a wolf will come back.
He raised a hand, "You all sinned gravely against me. Tried to take the life of my beloved, how can I appear before her if not bearing your hearts?"
When his hand dropped, the battle ended.
The mangled corpses of children clutched by mothers, fathers dead with swords in their hand and the elderly gathered around an array to try and defend.
Limbs both little and large, laid around.
This was the truth of the path of cultivation.
Insanity rolled in his eyes, an ocean of sludge.
"Only fools seek out the path, was it?" He paused in contemplation, looking upwards to the sky, "There is much to do before I can return."
Yet, suddenly something moved above him, his back alighted by the moons eye.
A figure clad completely in purple robes, a general of the Exiled Court.
She slowly raised a hand, "By decree of the Exiled Court, Shou Xin is to be taken alongside Hu Ji, away to the central for training and re-education."
In her hand, a golden scroll flew out wrapping around him, yet he simply glanced down at it, and a golden fire ripped through it like a lightning bolt, shattering the scrolls magic directly.
"Why can't you all just leave us alone?" His brows furrowed, frustration covered his face, "Can we not just be allowed to live?"
That general slowly raised her other hand, and a bell revealed itself.
Her lips moved, "All those who walk the path are subject to it. Cripple yourself if you seek a life away from it's fickle nature."
The bell flew from her hand, and a barrier was erected over the entire area.
"Is that it?" Fukkatsu flew out from it's sheath, and the Yong slowly sank into the currents of the world as though a shark swimming just as the surface causing ripples, "Is this the will of the Exiled Court?"
The bell flew out and began to ring, "Unfortunately, we must use everything that we can."
His heart beat in his ears, his veins pulsed loudly like a fierce river.
Fog fell off his body in waves creating a misty apparition with shining golden eyes, his Tyrannical Sword Qi diffused in all directions creating the Primordial Tyrant Domain.
His gaze however, was somber as he drew his blade.
Fukkatsu let out a low humming groan like a large gate being pushed open.
He sensed the presence of the Great Path, it's powers interfering and touching his curse once again.
Beast roars could be heard from hundreds of leagues away, powerful entities awakening to heed the call of the Great Path.
He looked into the sky, wondering.
"Is this what you want?"
A pulse radiated from that little presence of the Great Path.
Behind it, he could feel a much clearer, far more powerful energy.
The Heavenly Court.
He looked into the sky, searching.
"Is this the future you seek?"
Fukkatsu materialized, becoming large enough to blot out the sun in the sky.
Thunder clouds gathered, scorching the earth with golden lightning.
The Tribulation power circulated within his body, something he'd subdued and obtained.
It was vicious, and out for blood.
He was serene.