Snow sat in the dimly lit cave, his mind racing as the remnants of his master's memories faded. The weight of his newfound inheritance settled upon him like a cloak of destiny. He clenched his fists, feeling the power coursing through his meridians. Though his cultivation had returned, he was still too weak to challenge all the guards and wardens alone head-on. He needed to be patient, to wait for the perfect time to escape.
As the slaves around him slept, their bodies exhausted from endless toil ,Snow closed his eyes and entered a meditative state..he wasn't cultivating as the qi in the cave was too murky almost inexistent,he was waiting for the opportune time to escape. He had already memorized the guards schedule from the endless time he was thinking of escaping but didn't have the capability to do so. That is the change of shift when there would be less guards and the wardens would be asleep.
A few hours later the time came..Snow heard the guards moving ,preparing to change shifts.He knew his time was near .he waited for the guards to settle before starting..
The dim light of the torches flickered, casting long shadows in the cavern. Snow moved with ghostly silence, approaching the first of his targets-Bran, a particularly cruel slave who had beaten him before.
Bran lay curled up on the ground, snoring lightly. Snow crouched beside him, his hand moving swiftly. Before Bran could wake, Snow covered his mouth and drove a sharpened rock into his throat. Blood gushed out, and Bran's body convulsed before going still.
Snow wiped the blood on Bran's ragged clothing and moved on.
One by one, the bullies who had tormented him died in their sleep, their pitiful whimpers fading into the night. By the time he was finished, a dozen bodies lay cold on the ground, and not a single soul had noticed.
"This is only the beginning " he said
Now came the real test.
Snow crouched behind a pile of rocks, watching a lone guard patrolling the tunnels. The man yawned, bored and unaware of the danger lurking in the shadows.
Snow sprang forward, his hand clamping over the guard's mouth. Before the man could struggle, Snow twisted his neck with a sharp crack. He dragged the body into the darkness, absorbing the man's cultivation with Chaotic Essence.
A wave of energy surged through his body. His dantian expanded, his qi becoming denser.
"One down."
He continued his silent massacre.Each guard fell without a sound making Snow's cultivation stronger with each death..
His cultivation rose with each kill-4th level... 5th level... 7th level...
By the time he reached the last guard, he had ascended to the 9th level of Qi Absorption Realm. His body pulsed with power, stronger than he had ever felt before.
But he wasn't done..He wasn't out of danger yet .He still have to eliminate the guards at the entrance and hope that the wardens and the manager don't come to the mine unexpectedly.
He change into the clothes of one of the guards he had eliminated and took his sword and searched for anything useful but there were none.
Dressed in a guard's uniform, Snow approached the entrance of the mine. The two guards stationed there eyed him with suspicion.
"Hey, you! Why are you out here?" one of them asked, gripping his spear.
Snow kept his expression calm." I heard some noises coming from here so i was coming to see if there was anything suspiciousgoing on."
The guards exchanged glances, still wary.
"That so?" the second guard narrowed his eyes. "We haven't heard anything..are you sure its not in your mind..we have been here the whole time and there was nothing abnormal ?"
Then the first guard said suspicion clear on his face "Are you new ?..I know pretty much every guard working here and I don't recognize you..But I also don't remember new guards coming lately."
Snow didn't answer. Instead, he struck.
With a flick of his wrist, he drew the sword he had taken and slashed across the first guard's throat. Blood sprayed as the man gurgled and collapsed
The second guard reacted, swinging his spear. Snow ducked under it and drove his blade into the man's chest.
The bodies hit the ground. But the noise had drawn attention.
From the distant barracks , shouts echoed. Alerted by the noise more guards were coming and snow was sure at least one warden would come and he was not prepared to face them
Knowing this Snow didn't hesitate,through the darkness he turned and sprinted into the nearby forest, vanishing into the bushes.
By the time the guards arrived Snow was already long gone and all there was were the guards dead bodies along the mine.
The night was thick with tension as the remaining guards who had retired to the barracks for the night, alerted by the clamor of conflict, hastened to investigate. Their footsteps echoed on the stone floor as they turned the corner, only to confront a grim scene. Scattered on the cold ground lay the lifeless bodies of their comrades—each one a testament to a brutal, unseen savagery.
"By the heavens… what in the world happened here?" one guard whispered, his voice trembling as he knelt beside the first body. He brushed his fingers against a wound still glistening with dried blood.
Another guard, eyes wide with disbelief, scanned the area. "It wasn't an accident, I'm telling you. Someone was here. Someone… ruthless." His hand instinctively tightened around his spear.
A heavy silence fell over the entrance as more footsteps echoed from deep within the mine. The slaves having heard the noises were making their way from deep inside the mine clearly panicked and afraid having seen some of them had been assassinated. The guards exchanged uneasy glances and readied their weapons but they did not enter the mines waiting for orders from the wardens who had not yet arrived..