Jin Xiao stood over the broken bodies of his enemies, his cold eyes devoid of emotion. Blood dripped from his fingers as he surveyed the battlefield—a ruined temple where his latest scheme had come to fruition. The so-called heroes of the sect had walked straight into his trap, their arrogance blinding them to the truth.
"Fools," he murmured, stepping over a dying elder who gurgled in disbelief. "Did you really think I would fight you on your terms?"
Bai Ling knelt beside him, her once-defiant eyes now filled with admiration and submission. "Master, their forces are broken. What shall we do with the survivors?"
Jin Xiao smiled, a slow, predatory expression. "We break them further. Turn their disciples against them, make them curse the names of their ancestors, and when they have nothing left—only then do we kill them."
The surviving female disciples of the sect, their minds shattered, now kneeled before Jin Xiao. Their former masters—sect leaders who once stood tall—lay before them, helpless and bound. The disciples had been forced to choose: obey their new master or suffer the same fate as the corpses surrounding them.
"I once thought loyalty was unbreakable," Jin Xiao mused, watching as the eldest disciple hesitated before delivering the fatal blow to her former mentor. "But everything crumbles under the right pressure."
His hand reached under Bai Ling's chin, tilting her face up. "You understand this well, don't you?"
"Yes, master," she whispered, eyes filled with devotion and madness.
Jin Xiao turned back to the remaining elders. "Now, watch as everything you built crumbles."
A new enemy had taken notice of Jin Xiao's growing influence. A powerful sect from beyond the Eastern Realms had sent an envoy to investigate the destruction. They arrived at the ruins of the once-mighty temple, only to find it transformed into something unrecognizable.
"This...this was a place of wisdom!" one elder gasped, staring at the defiled statues of their ancestors.
Jin Xiao stepped forward, his smile cold. "And now it is a monument to reality. The strong consume the weak. Your ancestors should have known better."
The envoy leader unsheathed his sword. "Demon! You think you can destroy history without consequence?"
Jin Xiao merely raised a hand. "History is written by the victors. You are already dead."
The battle was over before it began. His new slaves moved with lethal precision, cutting down the so-called righteous men before they could even understand what was happening.
Jin Xiao turned to Bai Ling. "It is time we set our sights on something greater."