Ye Xiaotian waited for some time, he looked around the hut, there was a large black cauldron at the centre of the hut, it had black smoke coming out of it like something burning in it.
But when Ye Xiotian closely looked at the cauldron, he got shivered, because it was not black smoke, it was a black creepy face which was like a soul it had a reluctant expression on his face like it was escaping from something, but everytime it come out of the cauldron and tried to escape out of the cauldron it got sucked inside it by some invisible forces.
Finally, the old man slowly opened his eyes and frightened Ye Xiaotian. His eyes had more black than white. While flashing out a black light, they were just like the eyes of something evil - truly evil!.
"An Evil cultivator… Damn."
Ye Xiaotian muttered under his breath. He had read about them in ancient books of Celestial Phoenix Sect, but knowing of their existence was vastly different from encountering one.
Unlike righteous cultivators who walked on the path of discipline, enlightenment, and harmony with the heavens, these wretched beings had long abandoned such constraints. They thrived on suffering, consuming human souls, lifeblood and the lingering resentment of the dead to fuel their twisted cultivation. Each life they extinguished only made them stronger, their bodies steeped in an aura of death and malevolence.
Their mere existence was a curse upon the world, like a walking nightmare with insatiable hunger for power and destruction. Wherever they tread, villages turned into graveyards, and the wails of the innocent echoed in the night.
Ye Xiaotian had heard about a legend, it was about a time when Evil reigned the world.
There was a time when the True Mortal World was shrouded in darkness, a time when evil cultivators outnumbered the righteous and ruled the lands with an iron grip. They slaughtered the innocent without hesitation, growing stronger by feeding on blood, resentment, and human souls. Their power was unmatched, and at the heart of their dominion stood a mighty sect the largest and most feared gathering of evil cultivators in history.
This sect was so powerful that no force dared to challenge them. Their influence spread across the world like an unholy plague, and even the greatest righteous sects cowered in fear. One by one, they were forced into submission, until at last, they had no choice but to unite. Every righteous faction, once divided by petty rivalries, formed an alliance, knowing that if they did not stand together, the world itself would be consumed by darkness.
At the pinnacle of this dark era stood the leader of the evil sect, a man who claimed to have reached the peak of cultivation. He boasted that he stood at the very top of the world, his power so immense that it was said to have surpassed the Energy Mastery Realm, reaching an unimaginable height that no mortal could fathom. He was untouchable, unstoppable a true overlord of the mortal realm.
But then, the heavens responded.
One fateful day, a god-like being descended from the skies, its presence shaking the very fabric of reality itself. The world trembled as it set foot upon the earth, its power radiating with divine majesty. And so, the final battle began a battle between the unrivaled leader of evil and the celestial being from beyond the heavens. Their clash tore apart mountains, sundered the skies, and caused the very earth to split beneath their might. For days, their fight raged, shaking the world to its core.
And then, at last, the heavens prevailed.
The god-like being struck down the leader of the evil sect, severing his dominion and breaking his reign of terror. With his death, the tides turned. The righteous sects, now united under one cause, launched a massacre against the remnants of darkness. They cleansed the world of evil, hunting down and eradicating every last dark cultivator, ensuring that not even their ashes remained.
Thus, the age of darkness ended, and the True Mortal World was freed from the grasp of corruption.
Since then, True Mortal World had never heard about the Evil cultivators again.
Even though Ye Xiaotian haven't seen any Evil cultivator in his life, but after looking at the black eyes of the old man and the black soul on the cauldron, he is sure that this old man was one of them who follows the unothrodox path, because as the evil cultivator devour the resments and soul of other beings their mind became full of evil and eyes became ghastly black.
"You are finally here." The old man slowly turned towards him and slowly said with a deep and long voice. It was like an old ghost from hell, like two metals scratching each other, struggling to speak. Even his voice creeped Ye Xiaotian.
Ye Xiaotian's brows furrowed as a chilling sensation crawled down his spine. The old man's voice was like a whisper from the abyss, echoing with an eerie resonance that made the air feel heavier. Even the dim glow of the lanterns in the room flickered as if afraid of his presence.
Ye Xiaotian narrowed his eyes, his voice calm but wary. "You were waiting for me? Do you know me?"
The old man let out a low, raspy chuckle. His head tilted slightly, and beneath the shadow of his hood, two sunken eyes gleamed with an eerie light.
"Know you?" he repeated, his voice stretching unnaturally, as if savoring the words. "Heh… I have known you before you even knew yourself."
Ye Xiaotian's expression darkened. His instincts screamed that this was no ordinary encounter. His muscles tensed, ready to react at the slightest sign of hostility.
The old man slowly raised his withered hand, his bony fingers trembling slightly as he pointed toward Ye Xiaotian. His voice, hoarse and ancient, echoed through the dimly lit chamber.
"I have waited for a long, long time for you."
His words carried a weight that seemed to press down on the very air, filling the room with an eerie stillness. Ye Xiaotian's gaze sharpened, his mind racing.
"Why?" Ye Xiaotian asked cautiously, his sharp gaze locked onto the old man. "Who are you?"
The old man remained still, his withered hand hovering in the air as if time itself had paused around him.
Ye Xiaotian's expression darkened. A cold aura radiated from the figure before him, an aura tainted with something vile, something that did not belong to the righteous path.
His voice turned colder. "You are one of those who doesn't follow the orthodoxy and instead walks the evil path, no?"
Before the old man could respond, Ye Xiaotian pressed further. "Are you an evil cultivator?"
A deep silence settled in the room, the dim candlelight flickering violently as if responding to an unseen force. The air grew heavier, thick with an unnatural pressure.
Then, the old man laughed a dry, rasping chuckle that sent a chill down Ye Xiaotian's spine. It was not the laugh of amusement, nor of arrogance, but one that carried the weight of countless years.
"Evil?" the old man finally spoke, his voice dripping with something unreadable. "You speak of good and evil as if they are truths carved in stone. Tell me, child, what is evil to you?"
Ye Xiaotian frowned. He had heard these kinds of twisted justifications before many so-called "cultivators" who strayed from the righteous path would justify their acts as mere "choices" rather than sins. He had no patience for such games.
"Evil is slaughtering the innocent. Devouring souls. Sacrificing others for your own gain." His voice was firm, unwavering. "Evil cultivators abandon humanity in pursuit of forbidden power. And your very aura reeks of it."