Fifteen years ago.
An eighteen-year-old boy was waving his stick, and sweat covered his body. Every movement, every strike was perfect. This boy had mastered the skill of stick art to its limits and had deepened his understanding of its secrets and unraveled its hidden secrets.
"Singh, your fighting style is amazing. Even without mentioning your law, just by reaching the maximum skill level, none of our generations will be able to stand in front of you, and you will win the youth competition."
His companion in training spoke, his expression mixed between admiration and jealousy. At the same time, a smile of satisfaction appeared on Singh's face. This was the fruit of years' efforts and struggles. However, his stick spirit form was considered weak, but this did not discourage him. He mastered the Dao of the stick and was one step closer to fulfilling his dream, but fate wasn't on his side.
"Singh Hao, come with us."
Soldiers in sun-embossed shields and shining weapons surrounded Singh. They dragged him to the royal palace, the boy found himself tied on his knees in front of the new king.
The new king said as he looked at Singh Hao bound in front of him.
"Singh Hao, being the nephew of Tian Hao who sided with the deposed King Sao, against us Han family, your spirit form will be sealed until you a prove your loyalty to the royal family."
"What is my fault for what my uncle Tian did? Why am I being punished for a crime I didn't commit?" Singh Hao shouted, trying to defend himself.
One of the attendees interrupted him and shouted at him haughty.
"Shut up. Is this how you respond to the king's mercy and kindness? His Majesty has agreed to give you a chance to survive instead of killing you, this is a special type seal and won't slow your training, but you won't be able to release energy beyond the soul realm, and after you prove your loyalty to the royal family, His Majesty, not only we will take off the seal, but we will reward you as well."
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*Real-Time*
Singh, who was bound by magic and being dragged by the two masked persons, his eyes turned black as he shouted at the guards who led him across the academy grounds toward the prison.
"Where are you taking me to? Do you want to seal my strength? I won't let you do that again."
One of the guards grabbed Singh's arm tightly, not knowing that he was raving about memories from his past.
"Stop pretending to be crazy and go ahea—"
The guard didn't finish his word before a black line pierced his chest and started drawing his blood to the last drop.
His blood was sucked out at a frantic speed, and only a stiff corpse remained on the ground. The mask fell from the guard's face, revealing a terrified face with a mouth and eyes wide open.
That was the face of a man who had died most horrific way, while the second guard took a few steps back, in disbelief at the disgusting way his colleague had died.
*haha*
Singh let out a mad laugh as he retrieved the black lines into his hand, which had doubled in size after absorbing the blood, and then the black lines fused with Singh's aura, forming a long stick in his hand.
Singh's stick had gathered the blood around it and formed a red blade, turning the stick into a huge sickle. Then, with a swing of his hand, the upper half of the second guard's body fell, blood surging into the sky like a spring of water exploding before the lower part fell to the ground.
In front of this horrible sight and the smell of blood filling the air, everyone in the place retreated backward with fearful expressions on their faces.
'What's going on? How did things get this far.'
The head of the Punishment Committee wondered to himself, then signaled to the elders and students to move away while releasing his energy.
Meanwhile, Singh was still raving audibly.
"Why?...why is the damned seal still on my chest, fifteen years ago, and all those services, contributions, and sacrifices are not enough? What more should I do for you? Should I exhume my uncle's grave and rip his body? What do you want me to do? One of you, you damned ones, answers me!"
The situation calmed down for a few seconds, and Singh, who was raving, started to turn left and right as he regained part of his consciousness.
"What happened? Did I pass out and kill someone again?, Ah… the more nervous I got, the more the seed on my chest got out of control."
From the view of the bodies in front of him and the old man's crushing aura that was suppressing him, he finally realized what had happened. Yet, his crazy laugh returned on his face, his eyes had turned red staring at his opponent.
"Old man, you broke through to the fusion realm, congratulations."
The Head of the Punishment Committee shouted angrily as he looked at Singh like he was a crazy person.
"Singh, what are you doing? Why are you using a forbidden technique and betraying our kingdom?"
"Even though I didn't do anything wrong, that king considered me an enemy and sealed my power, and even after all these years, nothing has changed. If they didn't want me in this kingdom, they could have banished me from the kingdom or even killed me, but instead, they gave me false hope so that they could keep me as their slave."
When Singh finished speaking, he looked at the sky and shouted as loud as possible.
**** Bastards ****
Singh cried out in pain as he tore his shirt, revealing a magic circle on his chest from the side of the heart, that was the Royal Punishment Seal which allows you to train and raise your level but would make him unable to unleash a power higher than the soul realm, it was the punishment for someone whose loyalty is questionable.
"Old man, you're accusing me of betrayal now? ... Tell me ... Why won't I betray this damned kingdom? At least, this time, I'll be held responsible for a sin I actually committed."
Above the seal, there was a strange-shaped seed that was undoubtedly the source of the black lines which was intertwined with his aura.
The old man sighed when he saw what the king's misjudgment had done to an innocent person. Singh Hao was a good young man who trusted in the cunning promises of the Royal family. Still, they kept pressing him and throwing him aside to turn him against them in the end.
His betrayal, which was an illusion in the past, has now become a reality.
The old man was touched by Singh's words and felt a little distressed about his situation as his aura decreased.
"Don't be like a whore who claims to be honorable. I don't know what you have suffered in your life, but as a person who has felt injustice, you should know more than anyone else the suffering of the common people and the poor, so what was their guilt toward you for trying to destroy their dreams and force them to suffer?"
Jin commented sarcastically, as Singh's story didn't shake a hair off his head.
"Bastard, what does a bastard like you know about my suffering?" Singh gritted his teeth in anger.
"I know that you were planting the same hatred in your heart in the minds of the common people so that they would later fall easy prey to the people who gave you this seed."
Singh's expression was shaken when he heard Jin's words, which made Jin know that his guess was correct and then continued saying.
"Your expression now is the best proof of my words, not like you got that seed from the granary, You were on a mission to recruit more people to your organization, and people whose hearts were filled with hatred and anger would be a breeding ground for the seeds of the dark laws, what do you think? Old man, are you still sympathetic with him now?"
The old man's eyes changed as he looked at Singh now. Messing with the minds and hearts of the young men against their kingdom was unforgivable. Even though the ruling family made Singh suffer injustice, it does not give him the right to start a rebellion and destroy the children's future. As one of the strongest men of the Star Haven kingdom and one of its protectors, this was an unforgivable crime.
"Singh, your guilt is unforgivable. Accept your fate."
The old man shouted in a booming voice, and at the same time, a giant red hand appeared in the sky towards Singh. The shadow of the giant palm blocked the sunlight from the area, and its intense pressure made those present feel as if there were heavy stones on their chests. It made their breath heavy and unable to move.
His hand formed from the aura of the fusion realm was part of his spirit form and capable of crushing rocks into dust. Yet, Singh's laughing face and angry expression didn't change. Instead, he sent his energy toward his sickle to double its size by dozens of times until it was several meters in size.
The giant sickle moved at the will of its owner. It struck the palm that was descending from the sky once, two, and three.
Every time the palm and the sickle collided, a part of the palm's aura was fading and weakening its momentum. When the giant palm reached its target, it had lost half of its strength.
*boom*
A smoke cloud filled the place, but Singh remained unharmed while carrying his giant sickle, evading the attack easily.
"Your aura alone is not enough to stop my blood sickle. Come on, old man, show me more of the power of the fusion realm."
Singh's sneer made the old man angry, so he immediately activated his earth law, "Oh Earth, hear my voice and heed my call."
The ground beneath them quivered. Dust and rocks rose, merging with his spirit aura, forming a gigantic fist of rock.
The old man swung his fist, and with it, the rocky fist moved as he delivered a punch with crazy energy.
The wind pressure that was caused by the giant fist knocked those close to it to the ground.
Although the fist was huge, it didn't lose a single bit of its speed. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough to injure Singh with his blood sickle, whose blade was smashing rock every time it collided with the fist.
"Damn, that's bad. The committee head cannot use his full strength because of the lack of space and the fear of hurting the students."
The Punishment Committee Head's spirit form was more effective in open areas and against multiple opponents. But here in the academy, he cannot unleash his full power without harming those around him.