"It will now begin."
'Let's see what the boy with the demonic Qi can do. No one has successfully harnessed it without either dying, becoming possessed, or going berserk. This malevolent form of Qi originates from the depths of hell itself, brought forth by demons who traverse the planes of existence to sow chaos. At its core, it embodies the essence of demonic beings—a raw and destructive power that, while potent, carries grave risks for any mortal who dares to harness it. Unlike the benign Qi used by traditional cultivators, Demonic Qi tempts the unwary with promises of immense power but at a steep cost. Those who attempt to channel Demonic Qi must contend with its inherently chaotic and evil nature. On the contrast, Celestial Qi forms the essential life force that permeates everything—animate and inanimate. It is this Qi that cultivators across various lands and sects have learned to master, drawing upon it to enhance their own physical and spiritual capacities. This practice, known as cultivation, is foundational to achieving feats of remarkable power. Through the diligent and disciplined channeling of Qi, practitioners can align themselves with one or more of over a hundred known affinities—each associated with distinct elements, animals, or natural phenomena. These affinities range from the common, like fire or water, to the rarer and more revered, such as celestial or void energies; and most are channeled through martial arts.'
As the demonic centaurs charged, the arena erupted into chaos. The air turned electric, buzzing with the raw energy of Qi summoned by the terrified yet determined youths. The ground trembled under the hooves and feet, each step of the monstrous centaurs sounding like a drumbeat heralding war.
As the echoes of the recent brutal trial lingered in the air, the Blood Sect leaders gathered to discuss the promising candidates among the young warriors. Their eyes were drawn to several, but four in particular stood out, each demonstrating exceptional prowess and potential on the battlefield.
Caelan – The first, a boy known for his commanding presence and fiery skills. Caelan was tall and robust, with a mane of wild, flame-red hair that seemed to crackle with the same intensity as the fires he wielded in combat. His eyes, a piercing blue, contrasted starkly against his fiery appearance, giving him a striking look that was hard to ignore. During the battle, Caelan had shown not only raw power but also a tactical mind, trying to destroy the enemies with flaming wraps mixed in with his martial arts.
Torin – The second standout was Torin, whose lean and agile form belied his tremendous strength. His hair was as black as the night, kept short and out of the way of his sharp, hawk-like eyes that shone with a rare silver hue. Torin had agility and speed, moving through the battlefield like a shadow. His expertise lay in summoning spectral entities, his wolves having almost turned the tide of battle. He has a martial arts dance where he can summon spectral devouring wolves with each strike.
Zephyr – The third boy, Zephyr, wielded the wind as naturally as one breathes air. With platinum blonde hair that seemed to float around his face, and eyes of a stormy gray, he appeared almost ethereal. His attacks were fast and furious, his body moving with the grace of a dancer and the precision of a master swordsman. Zephyr's command of the wind was not just for assault; he used it to enhance his movements, darting in and out of combat with unparalleled finesse. Martial arts wind abilities.
Elara – The sole girl among the top prospects, Elara, commanded attention with her ice-cold demeanor and abilities. Her hair was a cascade of dark waves, and her eyes were the color of frost on a winter morning. Petite yet fierce, Elara utilized her control over frost to immobilize and damage her foes. She was a figure of serene concentration amid the chaos, her crystalline projectiles a testament to both her artistic touch and deadly intentions. Martial arts destructive frost abilities.
The Blood Sect leaders, observing from their vantage point, exchanged nods of approval and voiced their assessments.
"The fire within Caelan burns with the potential to forge a leader. His ability to adapt and attempt control tactics, even under dire circumstances, marks him for greatness," one elder commented, stroking his long white beard thoughtfully.
"Indeed," another leader replied, her eyes narrowing slightly as she watched the replay of Torin's maneuvers. "But do not underestimate Torin. His blend of stealth and strength, coupled with those spectral summons, could redefine espionage and infiltration tactics for us."
The third elder, who had been quietly observing the interactions, finally spoke, "Zephyr possesses a rare elegance in his attacks. The way he harnesses the wind—it's both a blade and a shield. His skill set offers versatility, which is invaluable. It's in tune with his martial arts."
"And Elara," the first elder resumed, his tone slightly softer. "Her precision and undeniable control over frost could turn any battlefield into a trap for our enemies. Her potential for strategic combat is immense. She also merged them with her martial arts for greater results. After this first test, we should be able to determine what gate of cultivation they all reside in."
In the structured hierarchy of Qi cultivation across the various sects of the world , practitioners are often ranked based on their mastery and control over Qi. This mastery is typically segmented into successive levels or "Gates", each representing a significant milestone in the cultivator's journey. These Gates, ranked from the least to the greatest in terms of the practitioner's power and ability to manipulate Qi. There are 10 ranks of Qi, 1st to 10th gate. Each of these Gates presents distinct challenges and requires years, often decades, of dedicated practice. Mastery of each successive Gate grants the cultivator not only greater power but also deeper philosophical and spiritual insights into the nature of existence and their own being. Some may not even require years, only based on bloodlines/ancestry, would one be able to achieve such a high ranking at birth.
Caelan smirked, "This is gonna be too easy."
'My big brother Shen Wei…if I'm gonna avenge you for being so damn weak, I gotta start somewhere after you bastards banished me from the sect. Better be lucky, I'm a nice guy. Not really, but you get it.'
The battleground trembled as Caelan stepped forward, his stance wide and hands igniting with combative fury. With a primordial yell, he lunged, delivering a series of explosive fire-enhanced punches. Each hit upon the centaur's tough hide seared and sizzled flesh, the smell of burning filling the air. A roundhouse kick cloaked in flames decimated the creature's front legs, sending it crashing in agony.
Torin's form blurred, phasing through physical attacks with the grace of shadow. As a centaur thrusted towards him, he dodged sideways and executed a tight spin, his leg whipping out in a precise, high-velocity kick. At the apex of his movement, several spectral wolves leapt from his foot, mauling the centaur's face and chest, tearing through sinew and bone in a frenzied dance of death.
"Haha! Eat them! Eat them all!"
Caelan said to Torin, "Are you psycho or something? Get a life."
"I'll summon them on you!"
"Gross."
Just then, Zephyr twirled into action, his every movement generating gusty blades that he sent slicing through the enemies. He performed a series of swift, wind-augmented capoeira kicks, each one slicing the air and generating sharp, cutting gusts. A particularly heavy blow landed, severing a centaur's arm at the shoulder, the limb tossed away by the merciless wind, blood spraying in a violent arc.
He whispered silently, his hands in praying formation, "Darkness cannot prevail."
Elara's ice was not just cold but mercilessly sharp. She stepped gracefully into a melee, her fingers tracing elegant, deadly arcs that left trails of frost in their wake. She twisted in the air and began roundhouse kicking rapidly, and it sent out a flurry of ice shards; they spun like shurikens, embedding deeply into the eyes and throats of her assailants, their blood freezing over even as it poured out. In the blink of an eye, she grabbed a centaurs blunt weapon and bashed all of their heads into the ground at light speed.
Elara looked at Joon, and said, "Pathetic."
Joon watched, thinking, 'Everyone can fight…well some of them…I look useless right now. Why do I have to wait until I survive the first wave to use my skill?'
Caelan, surrounded, blasted the ground beneath him with fire, catapulting himself into the air. Spinning, he slammed his fists down onto a centaur's back, the force enhanced by flames, breaking its spine with a loud, snapping crunch that echoed gruesomely over the battlefield.
Torin performed a series of fluid, taekwondo-inspired blocks and parries, each move transitioning seamlessly into the next. A centaur swung its club, which Torin caught with a spectral hand, twisting and snapping the centaur's wrist before delivering a crushing knee that caved in its ribcage. His moves were an artwork of brutal precision, leaving a trail of crippled foes.
Zephyr swept low, his legs scything through the grass as he dodged a heavy blow, rolling and coming up behind his attacker. He leaped high, delivering a devastating wind-boosted dropkick to the back of a centaur's head, shattering its skull with a sickening crack, before landing lightly on his feet.
Elara, now in the thick of the battle, glided through her opponents, her body swaying effortlessly to dodge high swings. In a fluid motion, she clapped her hands together, creating a massive, spiky ball of ice that she hurled directly into a crowd of charging centaurs. The impact was catastrophic, shattering bodies and leaving a gruesome display of frozen carnage, she then bashed through a ball of ice with her fist, knocking many centaurs away and splatting against the arena walls.
Caelan caught a club with his bare hand, the wood scorching and disintegrating upon his touch. He then delivered a furious uppercut, his fist enveloped in a blaze that literally decapitated a centaur. Its head erupted in flames as it flew off its shoulders, landing amongst its terror-stricken comrades.
"HAHAHA! Shen Wei could never do this."
Torin asked Caelan with a big smile, "Hmmmm? Who is that?!"
"None of your business. I'm talking to myself."
"Okay! So you're like me! We can be friends!"
"Hell no!"
Torin nimbly sidestepped a thrust, closing in to grapple his foe. Channeling his spectral wolves into his fists, he delivered a barrage of rapid strikes. Each punch bore the ferocious energy of his summoned beasts, literally shredding through the muscle and bone of his adversary, leaving it as nothing more than a pulped mass spilling onto the sand.
Zephyr's body moved with the ferocity of a tempest, his every strike augmented by the howling wind. He executed a spinning heel kick high into a centaur's throat, the force amplified by a concentrated vortex, decapitating the creature in a spray of crimson that painted the ground. Elara wove through her foes, her form a blur of motion. Stopping abruptly, she punched the ground, sending a jagged ridge of ice spikes surging forward engulfing a line of centaurs piercing through them like a macabre fence post row, impaling them gruesomely as they tried to advance.
As a centaur loomed over Caelan, he smiled grimly, his hands weaving a complex series of fiery symbols in the air. The ground beneath the centaur erupted, a pillar of flame rocketing it skyward before exploding in a mid-air inferno that rained blood and fire down around him.
Torin, his eyes flashing fiercely, drew deep on his spectral powers, creating a pair of massive, snarling wolf heads around his fists. Each punch now carried a howl of the spectral plane, devastating two centaurs simultaneously with head blows that sent them sprawling headless onto the dirty battlefield.
Finally, Zephyr and Elara combined their efforts. Zephyr summoned a mighty gust, lifting half a dozen centaurs into the air, where Elara encased them in a massive block of translucent ice. The wind hurler, now a frigid tomb, plummeted down, shattering on impact and sending chilled fragments of foe scattering like a grotesque snowfall.
Zephyr nodded, saying in a small tone, "Thank you."
Elara looked away, "Whatever."
Caelan, destroying many other centaurs, said, "Hey, that kid over there isn't doing anything." He pointed at Joon, "Isn't he supposed to be the one with demonic Qi? Looks pretty weak."
Joon pouted in his mind, 'Everyone's judging me, I just never fought before!
Joon, however, found himself outmatched. Without the control of Qi or any specialized training, he threw weak punches and kicks, all of which were either dodged or swatted aside by the horrifyingly agile creatures. One powerful backlash from a centaur's arm sent him crashing against the stone wall, his shoulder dislocating with a gut-wrenching pop. Gritting his teeth, Joon pushed through the pain, trying to understand the rhythm of the battle.
"AGH!"
He was bleeding all over, tears fell from his eyes, "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! I wanna go home!"
Elara saw, thinking, 'This…is the one who's supposed to be merged with demonic Qi? He's frail. It must've been a mistake.'
Joon thought, 'I look pathetic…I can't get revenge in this state….get up…please get up..'
Elsewhere in the arena, two brothers who had been noticed earlier for their synchronous movements now combined their efforts. One summoned a gust of smoke by twisting in mid air to propel the other forward like a missile. The propelled brother, surrounded by a thin layer of sonic energy, crashed into a centaur, the impact resounding through the arena like a cannon blast. The beast staggered but recovered, its equine eyes wild with fury.
Another youth, her eyes wild with fear, found an inner strength she hadn't known she possessed. Shadows seemed to gather around her, and with a desperate scream, she unleashed a dark wave of energy that enveloped a centaur. The creature screamed, its form disintegrating into the shadows that devoured it.
But the centaurs were relentless. For every one that fell, it seemed two more were ready to take its place, their hooves pounding the ground, their breaths heavy with murderous intent. The leaders of the Blood Sect, from their vantage point, watched with keen interest, particularly noting the boy who wielded fire with such expertise. His ability to adapt and effectively counter the beasts marked him as a primary candidate for advanced training.
"The one with demonic Qi, he's a loose end."
Amidst the fray, Joon tried a different tactic. Spotting a fallen branch from one of the decorative trees within the arena, he grabbed it, swinging it with all his might at a passing centaur. The makeshift weapon shattered upon impact, barely making the creature flinch. In retaliation, the centaur backhanded Joon, sending him tumbling across the ground, his arm twisted unnaturally.
As bodies maneuvered and clashed, the ground slick with blood and sweat, another girl, barely fifteen, summoned her Qi to form sharp, crystalline sharp blades. With precise movements, the crystal blades formed on her fists, and she punched a centaur in the face, impaling it through the eye. The beast collapsed with a shuddering moan, twitching as the light faded from its remaining eye.
The fighting continued, each student pushing beyond what they thought were their limits. Cooperation began to form among them as they found strength in unity. Groups of two or three combined their abilities, fire and ice, shadow and light, wind and earth, concocting powerful hybrids of attacks that took down centaurs more efficiently.
Yet, Joon lay on the side, watching, learning, struggling to stand. Each time he rose, he was battered down again, his body screaming in protest, his spirit flickering but not extinguishing. He needed to understand, to find his path in this chaos of blood and power.
'I can't do this…please…'
He kept thinking of his puppies, his mother and father, and even Azazel, which made him even more pissed off. And he thought of the sect leaders alongside Ji-Woo and Hanuel.
'I can't kill that bastard or those sect leaders like this…'
The Blood Sect leaders whispered among themselves, noting the potentials, marking the weak, their eyes cold and calculating as they observed the brutal ballet unfold. This initiation was more than a test of strength; it was a forging process, meant to burn away the weakest while tempering the strongest in the crucible of combat.
The arena, stained with the echoes of battle, the air heavy with the iron tang of blood, bore witness to the birth of warriors. And above all, the relentless pursuit of survival etched itself into the heart of each young fighter, none more so than Joon, who amidst his repeated defeats, found a stubborn resolve to never yield, to rise.
The battle thundered on with no sign of relenting. Among the chaos, new shapes emerged from the dusk-swathed edges of the arena—a fresh onslaught of larger demonic centaurs, larger and more menacing than the last. Their arrival renewed the fury of combat, battering the fortitude of the young initiates.
The fire-wielding teen, Caelan, now recognized as the leader amid the trainees, roared with a ferocity that matched the beasts charging towards him. Flames danced around him more aggressively, morphing into the shapes of predatory beasts that mirrored his strikes against the encroaching horrors. With a cry, he sent a surge of fire roaring towards a pair of centaurs, engulfing them in a devastating inferno that left nothing but charred remains.
Joon, meanwhile, found himself poorly suited for such monstrous opponents. During a desperate scramble to avoid a thundering charge, a centaur's claw caught him across the face, its tip raking painfully to his eye. The impact sent him spinning aside, a trail of blood marking his descent as he crumpled against the arena's wall, trembling as the pain blurred his vision and disoriented him.
He screamed loudly, blood spilling to the floor.
Daze enveloping him, he watched—half-blind and overwhelmed—as his peers adapted and fought with growing synchrony. Their shouts and the sounds of their powers mingling in the violent ballet crushed his spirit further. He felt isolated, ineffective, a spectator in a war he could not hope to influence.
'I'm not like them.'
The centaurs seemed endless, their numbers a dire testament to the Blood Sect's resources—and their willingness to expend such creatures to temper or cull their potential recruits. Every fallen beast was replaced by another, each step shaking the earth, every snarl a fierce promise of pain.
Physically spent and mentally desolate, Joon struggled to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall. Another wave of nausea hit him as he clenched his fists, attempting to summon any vestige of power within him, but there was only the hollow ache of repeated failure.
'Dammit! What was the point of what I went through? Just to still be weak? How much longer do I have to survive?'
The battle raged on, punctuated by harsh cries and the clash of powers. Teams of two or three were now the norm, initiates banding together to combine their abilities in stunning displays. An older girl used her control over water to amplify an ally's electric charge, creating electrified torrents that shocked their opponents mercilessly.
Despite these efforts, injuries accumulated. A young boy was tossed like a ragdoll, his leg bent unnaturally as he cried out upon landing. Rescue came immediately as his nearby team members dragged him to safety, shielding him from further attacks with barriers of dense air and bursts of searing heat.
Joon, stumbling from his secluded spot, tried once more to engage. With a pitiful war cry, he charged at a smaller centaur, only to be knocked aside easily as if he were nothing more than a bothersome insect. His body impacted the arena floor hard, dust billowing around him.
Exhaustion clawing at him, Joon lifted his head to see Caelan, Torin, Zephyr, and Elara locking gazes with a particularly giant dark portal.
Some other wounded and bloody prospects saw, saying:
"Another enemy?"
"The summoning portal looks different from the other ones."
"Will this finally be over?!"
"A final boss…"
At that moment, a monstrous roar shook the very foundations of the arena. Emerging from a dark portal at the far end was a colossal demon centaur, eclipsing his brethren in size and exuding an aura so malevolent that it sent shivers down the spines of the most intrepid fighters. His eyes burned like fiery coals, and his muscular frame seemed impenetrable, armored not just in flesh but in an ethereal, dark energy.
The once chaotic energy of the arena shifted to numbing terror. The fighters, already battered and bruised, summoned the remnants of their strength.
"Let's kill this thing! We wanna survive right?! See our families?"
"We were abandoned or banished. Why would we wanna go back anyway?"
The discussions continued, and Elara interrupted saying, "Everyone shut up. We're all in the same predicament, most of us dream of revenge, and this is the best chance to get it."
Caelan yawned, "Yeah she's right I guess."
Torin smiled, "Yeah! We can destroy sects after this!"
Zephyr, in praying formation, said, "Violence shall be necessary."
Caelan then looked at Joon, saying, "But you're weak, here we thought you could be of use since these blood sect bastards were hyping you up. You were our ticket to an easy win."
They rallied, launching a fresh assault on this new, towering enemy. This time, their attacks were more elaborate combining martial prowess with the raw mystic energies they could muster.
Joon, his eye bleeding heavily, hugged himself, saying, "I'm sorry."
One youth channeled his Qi into a series of rapid, high-velocity punches that resonated with the force of thunder, each strike aiming to shatter the earth beneath them.Torin summoned his spectral wolves, ethereal and snarling, that leapt towards the demon centaur, their teeth seeking to tear into supernatural flesh. Yet another warrior danced through the battlefield, her movements a blur, leaving trails of luminous energy that exploded upon contact with the beast, although it seemed to merely ruffle its fur.
Caelan scoffed, "Tch! Nothings working on this damn thing!"
Every attack, no matter how visually impressive or strategically conceived, failed to even stagger the beast.
Observing this unstoppable force, the teens grew desperate, but it was Caelan and Elara who paused, analyzing the creature more closely. Amidst the flurry of action, he noticed a small, almost invisible sigil glowing faintly on the demon centaur's chest—a symbol that resembled the ancient hieroglyphs for—"sacrifice."
A blood sect member said behind him, putting his arms around Caelan and Elara.
He continued, "These Centaurs were once deities, but demonic Qi polluted their bodies and homes, in which it weakened them, making them mere centaur beings. Now that they are influenced by it, they demand a sacrifice, which will empower them, but it will keep them from having a bloodlust and it takes away their will to fight for a certain amount of time. Before they were Influenced, they accepted offerings from those that worshiped them, mainly sects who hid these beings from the world, and the centaurs would gain the offerings and they would bless their lands with nourishment, but the demonic Qi flipped it around."
Caelan asked, "You want us to sacrifice one of these people?"
Elara stayed silent.
The sect leader continued, a grim smile under his hood, "Give up the weakest link."
Caelan and Elara looked at Joon, and then everyone else did.
Joon staggered back, "Wait.."
Elara said to Caelan, "Hold up—."
Caelan smirked, "Sorry, but he has to go. He'll only hold us back."
With a decisive motion, he grabbed Joon, who was still recovering from his previous ordeals and visibly the weakest link. Caelan then hurled Joon towards the massive demon.
Joon's body flew through the air, a silent arc towards certain doom.
"AGH!" He yelled, The centaur's massive jaws opened, and in a moment that seemed to freeze time itself, it swallowed him whole. A shockwave of silence hit the arena, and then, just as suddenly, the demon centaur gave a shuddering groan and began to dissipate, melting away into nothingness like a nightmare fading at dawn.
Some people were shocked, some said:
"It was for the best."
"We have to survive. It was the only way."
Zephyr said, "Have mercy…"
Torin smiled, "I wanna go next!"
Elara thought, 'Without hesitation they gave him up…'
The arena, now eerily quiet, turned its eyes towards Caelan. Murmurs filled the air, each participant grappling with the mixture of horror, relief, and disbelief. Above, the Blood Sect leaders stood, expressions unreadable yet undeniably shocked. That the boy had discerned such an arcane and morbid requirement was both impressive and terrifying.
As the portal closed behind the vanished demon, the realization that they had survived something truly horrendous began to sink in for every present fighter. Yet, the cost of their survival hung heavily in the air, marked by the empty space where Joon had last stood, a stark reminder of the brutal world they were being initiated into.
As the Blood Sect leaders began to discuss the surprising aptitude of their young prospects, the ground trembled beneath their feet—a rumbling that suggested the ordeal might not be as concluded as they had presumed. As if in response to the unseen depths of the Abyss, a low, guttural murmur echoed through the arena, originating from the dissipating form of the demon centaur.
"I'm not done yet…"
The voice was unmistakably Joon's, but it bore a timbre heavy with newfound power and dark promise. The air stilled as the remnants of the centaur began to quiver and bulge unnaturally. Those assembled watched in stunned silence, their eyes wide, their breaths caught in their throats.
Suddenly, an arm burst forth from the carcass of the demon, not just any arm, but one cloaked in black and red flames, adorned with spiraling hound-like red eyes and vicious red spikes. It tore through the creature in a gory spectacle, rending flesh and sinew with ferocious intensity. This gruesome emergence was followed by the rest of Joon, who stood with a chilling aura that sent involuntary tremors through the cadre of onlookers. He was smiling the entire time he ascended out of the centaur.
Everyone was saying:
"What?!"
"He's alive?!"
"Look at his arm!"
"Is that the effect of having demonic Qi?!"
The sect leaders, though shocked, some grinned under their hoods.
Torin celebrated, "Yes! He's alive! My turn now!"
Zephyr said, "..He lives once again."
Elara thought, 'The dark energy coming from his body, that form…he's completely drowned in demonic qi..'
Caelan clenched his fists, saying, "Tch…he's not all that special. He's just a possessed brat. Can we get this test over with?"
Circling Joon's head was a black halo, his teeth were unnaturally sharp, and from his left eye which was bleeding out burst black flames, which added a terrifying splendor to his visage. He drooled a substance that sizzled ominously upon hitting the ground, his very presence exuding a palpable menace, and steam came from his nose.
The sudden transformation caused a gust of powerful wind that knocked everyone back, friends and foes alike. Silence reigned, punctuated only by the eerie crackling of Joon's flaming appendage. It was then he noticed his system window flashing a notification:
[You have unlocked Assassin of Gluttony]
His flaming, eye-covered arm seemed to quiver with vitality, as if alive with its own malevolent intelligence. The eyes on the arm blinked eerily, their gaze devouring the remnants of the demon centaur with a voracity that was bone-chilling. Another message popped up in his system interface:
[You have devoured the demon centaur Hyrkanos. You have gained all of his abilities, speed, and strength, all multiplied by 2.]
Joon smiled, "Yes…so this is what it was. The longer I waited for this, the longer I yearned to be powerful..I see it was necessary."
Everyone else said:
"He devoured the centaur?!"
"He's not gonna devour us, is he?"
A heavy silence hung over the arena, everyone processing the horrific rebirth they had just witnessed. The sect leaders, originally composed, now exchanged glances filled with a mix of fear, intrigue, and calculating foresight. They realized that what they had witnessed was not just the birth of a warrior but potentially a cataclysmic shift in power dynamics.
Joon, now more monster than man, stood amidst the carnage, the black and red flames of his arm flickering as if feeding off the fear around him. His transformation marked a pivotal moment, not just for himself but for all who bore witness. The portal behind him remained ominously open, as if hinting at more horrors, or perhaps opportunities, that lay beyond.
'So this is what real power feels like…? It feels great..'
The arena, now cloaked in a heavier silence than before, seemed to hold its breath as the newly transformed Joon stood defiantly, the air around him crackling with untold power. The sect leaders, those venerable figures of immense prowess and authority, shared a look of unspoken concern that bordered on alarm.
One of the sect leaders, known for his mastery of the ancient and secretive Blood Eye technique—an ability reputed to measure the Qi level of any being—stepped forward. His eyes, usually a calm shade of grey, flickered red as he activated his power, focusing intently on Joon. The usual procedure was a formality, for their eyes had discerned Qi levels far and wide, from the lowest acolyte to the highest elder demons they had subdued, In which the Qi levels determined what gate a person cultivates in.
He narrowed his eyes, the red deepening to a near crimson glow. His gaze bore into Joon, attempting to penetrate the enigma of power radiating from him. Once, twice, thrice—he directed his blood-tinged vision upon the figure before him, yet each attempt met with an unprecedented resistance. The words echoed in his mind, stark and implacable:
"Failed to discern level."
'Impossible…I can't discern his level?! It's never failed me before..:'
The wind began to pick up around Joon, swirling dust and debris in a dance of chaotic energy, as if nature itself reacted to his immense power.
"Failed to discern level."
'What? Something has to be wrong. I've discerned the level of even demons before, something's not right..'
The sect leader's brow furrowed, his focus intensifying with each failed attempt—the Blood Eye had never encountered such defiance. The energy around Joon seemed to pulse, growing in intensity, visibly straining against the invisible boundaries of the ancient ability.
"Failed to discern level."
With a final, determined effort, the sect leader channeled all his energy, the red in his eyes blazing like twin stars. The air crackled around them, a visible tension building between the eye of the sect leader and the chaotic, demonic aura emanating from Joon. And then, finally, a reading came through—but it was unlike anything they had anticipated. Displayed in an elegant, almost taunting cursive, the result was simply:
"???"
A gasp escaped collectively from the crowd and the other sect leaders. Even the sect leader with the Blood Eye staggered back, shock written across his features—a stark contrast to the usual composure he maintained. He turned to his fellow leaders, his voice barely more than a whisper, yet carrying a weight of disbelief mingled with dread.
"This...this is unprecedented. Even the deepest abyss of demonic Qi levels have succumbed to the Blood Eye. But his power—it displays as '???'... It's beyond our current understanding."
Another leader, her robes billowing as the winds grew wilder around the now formidable figure of Joon, clenched her fists. "Demonic Qi... This intensity suggests a depth to his corruption we've never seen. It's as if the very essence of the Abyss has claimed him."
A third leader, older, his voice steady yet tinged with a rare trace of unease, added, "We knew the potential for demonic influence was significant, but this... It surpasses all our predictions. The Blood Eye has never failed to number a power level—not until today."