Elder Tong swept his gaze across the surroundings, and for the first time, a flicker of shock crossed his face. The air was thick-unnaturally so. Mist coiled and twisted around them like something alive, swallowing thend in silence.
"Everyone... this is an illusion formation."
His voice cut through the haze with certainty. He had seen too many traps like this to be deceived for long. Still, the scale of it... was impressive.
"I''ll lead the way. All of you follow me!"
His shout rang out as his inner force surged. Power gathered within him, dense and violent, before erupting outward in a single, crushing strike. The force tore through the mist like a de, scattering it in all directions.
In an instant, the illusion shattered.
Blue sky returned.
rity returned.
And there-standing at the front was Jun Jiu.
Elder Tong''s eyes sharpened. "The illusion is gone. Attack!"
Themand exploded into motion.
Hundreds surged forward at once, their killing intent flooding the air as they charged straight toward Jun Jiu and the Thousand Herbs disciples.
"Capture every Thousand Herbs disciple,” Elder Tong ordered coldly. “Burn their gardens."
His lips curled into something merciless.
"And anyone who dares resist... cut off their arms. Destroy their cultivation. How dare they defy the Discipline Department."
"Yes, Elder!"
Over five hundred disciples answered in unison, their voices thunderous as they rushed forward like a tidal wave.
"The formation is destroyed!" Lu Piao shouted, panic breaking through his voice. "Everyone-run!"
"We failed to stop them-run!" others echoed, fear spreading like wildfire.
But there was no escape.
The invading disciples showed no mercy.
Those who dropped to their knees had their arms severed without hesitation.
Those who refused... were cut down where they stood.
Blood soaked into the earth.
Cries of pain filled the once-peaceful grounds.
Still-some resisted.
Some refused to kneel.
"You''re nothing but gardeners from Thousand Herbs Peak," one attacker sneered, sword gleaming with fresh blood. "While you were tending nts, we were training our des. And you dare to fight us?"
Elder Tong himself moved into the battlefield, his figure like a storm unleashed. He struck the nearest disciples without pause, his attacks ruthless and overwhelming.
But then-
Several senior disciples of Thousand Herbs rushed forward, intercepting him.
Their presence shifted the air.
Elder Tong''s expression flickered-just slightly.
"So... you''re at the early stage of Foundation Establishment?" he said, a hint of surprise slipping through.
He hadn''t expected resistance at this level.
But the shocksted only a moment.
A cold smile spread across his face.
“Unfortunately..... I''ve already reached the greater stage of Foundation Establishment."
His aura exploded.
"To me you are nothing."
He lunged forward.
And the killing began.
Bones shattered beneath his strikes.
Arms were severed mid-motion.
His attacks were relentless-brutal-unstoppable.
Elder Tong didn''t slow down. He didn''t hesitate. He didn''t show mercy.
And yet...
The disciples of Thousand Herbs refused to yield.
Even as they bled.
Even as their bodies broke.
They fought.
With everything they had.
The battle raged on-for three long hours.
By the end...
The ground was covered in bodies.
Every Thousand Herbs discipley scattered across the earth, soaked in blood,
broken, unable to move.
Around them, the gardens burned.
mes roared high into the sky, devouring everything-years of care, of cultivation,
of quiet life-reduced to ash.
Elder Tong stood amidst the destruction.
And heughed.
"When I gave you a chance to surrender... you refused."
His voice dripped with cruel satisfaction as he looked over the fallen.
"Now look at you."
He stepped forward slowly, his shadow stretching over the broken bodies.
"Bones shattered. Arms severed."
He tilted his head slightly, smiling.
"Have you finally learned... what fear feels like?"
Elder Tong stood alone against hundreds of disciples—and even after exhausting most of his strength, he still won.
He had fought like a madman.
Every strike had been brutal. Every movement driven by instinct and fury. His breath had grown heavy, his body weighed down by fatigue, yet he had not stopped. Not
once.
Victory... had seemed absolute.
But then-
Something shifted.
The Thousand Herbs disciples he had cut down... the bodies scattered across the
ground... the fire that had consumed the gardens-
All of it vanished.
In an instant.
Like a mirage dissolving under sunlight.
Like it had never existed at all.
Elder Tong froze.
"What...?"
The battlefield was gone.
The blood was gone.
The mes were gone.
And what stood before him instead—
Was Alex''s courtyard.
Clean. Intact. Untouched.
The Thousand Herbs disciples stood all around him, staring—wide-eyed, shocked...
but unharmed. Not a single wound on their bodies. Not a trace of blood.
All of them... perfectly fine.
Elder Tong''s heart dropped.
At the center, Alex stood calmly, facing him.
And for the first time-Elder Tong felt something unfamiliar.
Confusion.
No... something worse.
Doubt.
"That''s impossible..." Elder Tong muttered, his voice trembling despite himself. “I
clearly... I defeated them. I injured them—"
His mind raced.
If they were all unharmed...
Then who—
Who had he been fighting?
A chill crawled up his spine.
Slowly, he turned his head.
And what he saw made his blood run cold.
Behind him his own disciples.
Five hundred of them.
And the five leaders he had brought with him.
All of themy sprawled across the ground-groaning, broken, covered in blood.
Some clutched shattered limbs. Others struggled to breathe. Their bodies were twisted in pain.
They looked like... the enemy he thought he had just defeated.
Elder Tong staggered back a step.
"No... no..."
The truth hit him all at once.
He hadn''t been fighting the Thousand Herbs disciples.
He had been fighting his own people.
They had been destroying each other.
His vision blurred.
Shock gave way to horror.
"Did I...?" His lips trembled. "Did I really... destroy my own disciples?"
A quiet step echoed forward.
Alex.
He moved calmly, stopping just a few paces away, his gaze steady and unreadable.
"All of you were trapped inside my double illusion formation,” Alex said evenly.
"What you saw... what you believed... was never real."
His eyes flicked briefly toward the fallen.
"You attacked your own disciples. Injured them. Crippled them. Some of them may
die... if they aren''t treated soon."
A pause.
"And as for their cultivation..." his voice lowered slightly, almost cold, "you''ve
already destroyed parts of it."
"No!" Elder Tong roared, shaking his head violently. "This is your illusion! You''re the
one who caused all of this!"
His voice cracked with desperation.
Alex shook his head. "What you
intended to do to the Thousand Herbs disciples... you ended up doing to your own people. If you had
let us@o, none of this would have
ham But you chose to harm
us so this... this is on you.
His gaze hardened.
"This is karma. You destroyed your own disciples."
Around them, the five hundred disciples stared in stunned silence.
Their minds reeled.
They had believed they were fighting Jun Jiu.
But the truth-
They had been fighting their own elder.
And some of them... had paid a devastating price.
Several clutched their cores, their faces pale with fear.
Their cultivation had regressed.
Especially the five leaders.
Their foundations-ruined.
Destroyed by Elder Tong himself.
"Don''t resent me," Alex said quietly.
"Again, You''re only reaping what you sowed."
The words fell like a verdict.
Elder Tong''s face twisted-rage, guilt, disbelief all colliding at once.
"I''ll kill you!" he roared, his voice breaking into madness.
With a surge of what strength he had left, he lunged forward-
Straight at Alex.
Elder Tong barely managed two steps toward Alex before his body betrayed him.
His movements slowed abruptly-like his strength had been drained in an instant.
Then-
He coughed.
A mouthful of blood spilled from his lips.
His eyes widened in shock.
“What..... what did you do to me?” Elder Tong gasped, his voice trembling.
Alex didn''t answer immediately.
He stepped forward calmly... and pped him.
The sound cracked sharply across the courtyard.
"How dare you act arrogant in front
of me?” Alex said. "You''ve already exhausted most of your inner force, and yet you still dared to step closer."
He leaned in slightly, his gaze piercing.
"Did you not notice? The air around me is filled with poison."
Elder Tong''s pupils shrank.
"You... you poisoned me?" he choked, panic creeping into his voice.
"No." Alex shook his head.
"I stood still. You rushed toward me." A faint, cruel edge touched his lips. "You
poisoned yourself."
Elder Tong''s breathing grew uneven.
"And since you''re already affected..." Alex continued, almost casually, "I might as
well tell you."
"That poison is called Cultivation Destroying Poison."
,
The wordsnded like a death sentence.
“The more you breathe... the faster it eats away at your cultivation."
"By the time this is over-you''ll be crippled."
Elder Tong froze.
Then-
He felt it.
Deep within his body... his cultivation core trembled.
Cracks began to spread.
Energy—his power, his very foundation—started leaking uncontrobly.
His face turned pale.
This... wasn''t just injury.
This was ruin.
What he had thought would be an easy victory... had be a fatal mistake.
Not only had he failed-
He was about to lose everything.
His position.
His power.
His future.
And worst of all—
His protection.
He had made enemies within the Wudang Sect.
Many of them.
If they discovered he had lost his cultivation...
They wouldn''t hesitate.
They would crush him.
Or kill him.
"Jun Jiu!" Elder Tong shouted, desperation breaking through his voice. "I only intended to discipline
you! How dare you treat me like this and these disciples, dont you remember we are all from the
Wudang Sect?!"
“Really?” Alex replied, almost amused.
"Then you should ask yourself something."
He gestured lightly toward the fallen.
"You attacked them with your own hands. You believed they were Thousand Herbs
disciples... and you didn''t hesitate."
"So everything that happened here... is because of you."
Elder Tong''s face flushed red with fury and humiliation.
Alex continued, his tone cutting deeper.
"This all started when you used me of cutting off the arms of Sword Peak
disciples."
"Without even knowing who started cutting ours first."
His gaze hardened.
"And you held onto that mistake... until now."
"If you want to me someone..."
“me yourself for choosing to stand with injustice."
Elder Tong''s body trembled.
Another wave of blood surged up-
He vomited again, staggering backward.
His condition was worsening rapidly.
He had already fought hundreds of disciples.
His strength was nearly gone.
And now-
The poison was finishing what the battle had started.
He was at his limit.
At the edge.
At copse.
Elder Tong''s knees weakened.
His pride-his arrogance-everything shattered in that moment.
“Please.....” he said, his voice hoarse, almost unrecognizable. "Help me..."
He looked at Alex-not as an enemy.
But as a lifeline.
"I am your elder..."