Somewhere in the Wildlands far away.
*SCRWAHESSSF*
A creature screeched at the top of its lungs or something like lungs, as piles of corpses lay before it fashioned into a tree.
A young woman with dried blood around her eyes and a hood over her head bowed before the creature.
She was the only living being there.
"Great one, I beg for your grace." she whispered as she bled from her ears, the screech had not been kind to her.
She then proceeded to pick up various limbs that lay around her and began to juggle them.
The creature which was still a dark mass of indescribable properties had now developed something like glowing red eyes.
*HEHAHSDNHSD*
This time the screech was more subdued and held a more amused tone.
The creature then moved forward and pushed the woman to the ground.
She fell over but did not complain and stood back up before continuing.
*AHAHSWUNMI*
It once again screeched, this time the screech seemed to convey annoyance.
The creature pushed her again with more force.
This time however she did not fall, at the mere application of that force she evaporated or disappeared, there wasn't even a trace of blood remaining.
The Creature was surprised.
*SJNFJSIDMSAKDLOF*
It screeched again, this time the woman reappeared, for a moment she was dead and the next she was alive again.
The woman held a tired expression on her face, this was the twentieth time the creature had decided to kill her.
Her eyes began to bleed once more after laying eyes on the creature.
She inspected her bleeding and found that her blood had slowly begun to turn black.
"By the Great Dao." she thought as she held back tears, while continuing to juggle.
She repeated the cycle repeatedly, die, be reborn, suffer and die again, only to change a little each time she returned.
Just what was she becoming?
…
Feng Zhiming stood before an army of five thousand cultivators as he took center stage at the sect.
He had discarded his desert coloured robe for one that was black and gold, given to him by Tian Yu.
Tian Yu had been bowing before him this morning, telling him that not everyone agreed with the war and that forcing them was the only option.
Naturally Feng Zhiming would never accept half hearted performances from his tools.
He had personally gathered the disciples to give a speech.
"I want to start by saying, this fight is not mandatory, no one will force you to go."
The disciples looked up at him with a confused expression, Tian Yu also stood behind him dumbstruck.
"I do not hold the hypocrisy of the orthodox thus I gave you the option to withdraw from this battle."
He released his aura which had qualitatively changed since his dream, his red was now a far brighter shade, resembling a flame.
"Why are we going to war you may ask, why are we going to destroy the Flowing River Sect? The answer is simple, because I will it, and that is enough."
His gaze while not pointed at any specific person but was felt by all members of the sect.
"None of you are going to battle today because I am sending you to battle, you are going to battle because you want to battle, the moment you stepped on to the path of demonic cultivation you made a choice, a choice to become powerful no matter the method, a choice to throw away mortality, a choice to become one who uses his opponents as a ladder."
His voice reverberated throughout the sect.
"The why is not important, it is the who. Who are you, are you a victim, a coward, a deserter, a weakling."
Some of the disciples fell into deep contemplation.
"Or are you, a warrior, a victor, a future pillar of the sect, a conqueror."
He retrieved his fan from his storage ring and raised it into the sky.
"Let loose the chains of hesitation, break free from the shackles of fear, Let the blood of the orthodoxy act as the elixir that gives you courage and use their heads as whetstones."
The disciples began to cheer.
He looked at Anissa and she nodded.
She unsheathed her sword for the first time in a long time.
She brought the sword above her shoulder and swung down.
"Ocean splitting sword first form, Slash of the Sea." she whispered.
The sheer sword intent that the slash released would have been enough to kill anyone who was not a Spiritual Awakener.
Even Feng Zhiming was impressed as he gazed upon it in awe, this was the overwhelming offensive advantage sword cultivators possessed.
The slash itself was so powerful that it nearly caused an earthquake, the force that emerged from the sword flew up the sky and actually collided with a cloud.
The cloud that had blocked the sun from shining on Feng Zhiming was split into half and the rays fell upon him. Illuminating him made him shine even more than he had been before.
Anissa sheathed her sword before exhaling and looking at Feng Zhiming.
"Is this what it means to be blessed by divinity." she thought as she gazed upon Feng Zhiming's back.
The group of five thousand disciples nearly blew each other's ear drums from how hard they were shouting, not to mention the look of reverence they had in their eyes for Feng Zhiming and Anissa.
"Death to the doves! Death to the doves! Death to the doves!" Chants began to emerge.
Feng Zhiming smiled, blood thirst had taken hold of the disciples, the type of blood lust that would ensure no survivors escaped from the Flowing River Sect.
Tian Yu and the two elders could only stare at his back.
"Charisma like that, with intelligence like that, with strength like that." Tian Yu could only think about where this monster of a cultivator had truly crawled out of.
"I shall see you soon." Feng Zhiming spoke to himself as he looked into the distance.