Ye Tian moved steadily down the dimly lit hospital hallway, each step an exercise in controlled patience.
His eyes flicked from side to side, noting the empty chairs, the pale walls, and the way the shadows stretched and shrank as he passed by.
Reaching the window at the corridor's end, he paused, looking at the moonlight spilling through like liquid silver.
Without a second thought, he opened it, feeling the cool breath of the night wash over his face.
The city below sparkled and glowed, a maze of neon signs and streetlamps that made the world seem alive and unaware of what lurked on the 19th floor.
He stepped out, balancing on the thin brick ledge that traced the building's exterior.
The wind howled around him, whispering warnings and daring him to make a misstep.
The height was daunting... one wrong move and he would plummet to his death, a thought that might have unsettled him once.
But now, in this weakened shell, it only steeled his resolve.
"Thank god this broken body still remembers how to hold on..." he muttered with a faint smile.
"Otherwise, even a lifetime of climbing experience would be useless."
He moved along the ledge, each step a calculated risk.
The city lights below seemed to stretch out endlessly, a sea of oblivious lives continuing without knowledge of the silent specter perched high above them.
The cold wind bit at his skin, tugging at his hair and clothes as if trying to pull him down.
He pressed against the wall, feeling the rough texture of the bricks scrape his palms.
"Third room..." he murmured, eyes narrowing as he counted the windows.
The first window revealed a bald man with a massive build, tattoos winding across his arms and chest like inked rivers.
The man lay unconscious, his body connected to a network of medical machines that beeped with a steady, indifferent rhythm.
Ye Tian spared him no more than a glance before pressing on.
The second window was dark, heavy curtains drawn shut and concealing whatever lay inside.
His heart thrummed in time with his controlled breathing as he moved past it.
At last, he reached the third window. He paused, pressing his back against the cold wall as he peered inside.
The room was small, lit only by the faint glow of a heart monitor that cast rhythmic pulses of light across the walls.
On the bed lay a man whose body was a mess of bandages and straps.
An oxygen mask covered his face, and thick chains crossed over his torso and limbs, binding him to the bed like a prisoner.
Ye Tian's gaze shifted to the door. A strip of light leaked through the gap at its base, outlining the shadows of two guards standing outside.
Their low voices occasionally broke the silence, but they seemed unconcerned, their words blending into a distant hum.
'Guards guarding him even though he's strapped onto the bed with these heavy chains...?' he thought, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
'This rat must be worth something.'
He unlatched the window and slipped inside, landing with practiced silence.
The sterile scent of antiseptic stung his nostrils as he moved towards the small desk near the bed.
A pile of documents lay scattered, along with a bag of mana stones that glimmered faintly under the dim light.
'Even here, the touch of corruption reaches far...' he mused, fingers brushing the rough cloth of the bag.
But it was the papers that drew his attention. He picked up the top document and scanned the words, each one slicing into him like a blade.
Name: Josh
Grade: B
Crimes: Murders, human trafficking, smuggling of mana stones, kidnapping.
Most Recent Offense: Assault and rape of an 18-year-old non-hunter, taking incriminating photos and blackmailing her, leading to her suicide.
The paper crumpled in his hand, creases biting into his skin as his jaw clenched.
His eyes turned darker, pupils narrowing to slits as the rage he kept buried surfaced.
Memories of countless rulers and false gods who exploited power to ruin lives surged within him, each memory a spark that added to the flame of his fury.
'For millennia, I was the villain of stories. Conqueror, tyrant, demon. But even in my darkest days, I upheld certain boundaries...' he thought, a shadow crossing his expression.
'I never preyed on the weak or shattered the innocent for sport.'
He remembered the faces of those who had committed such sins in other realms, their arrogance shattered when they met him.
Each of them had thought themselves invincible until they tasted annihilation.
"Money-hungry filth and depraved monsters..." he whispered, the venom in his voice cold and lethal.
The room seemed to grow colder, the soft beeping of the machines like a countdown.
"They've always deserved only one fate."
The man on the bed stirred, a muffled groan escaping the mask as if his body sensed the predator looming above him.
Ye Tian leaned in, his shadow stretching over the bed like a specter of death.
"I was going to let this world sort itself out..." he murmured, voice low enough to send a shiver through the air.
"But you, motherfucker, have sealed your fate."
He placed his hand at the center of his chest, searching for any remnants of power.
The pulse of mana flickered within him, faint and erratic, more akin to a trembling spark than the controlled blaze of qi.
The sensation was harsh, almost painful, as if touching ice-cold fire.
'Mana...' he thought, lips curling into a half-smile. It was weaker, less refined than qi, but its core was similar.
The pathways it flowed through mimicked qi vessels but lacked the elegance of meridians and the governing vessel that channeled true power.
At its center, a small vortex spun, maintaining the unstable flow.
"This is the point of origin..." he whispered, eyes glinting as he understood.
The mana was a degraded form of qi... a shadow cast by the true source of power. It lacked balance, control, but it would have to do.
"But this might suffice..." he said, his voice growing colder, a prelude to the storm. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a brief moment before opening them with a deadly focus.
"Nine Heavens Devouring Technique"