## Liam''s Perspective
"One million spirit stones for information on Liam Knight''s whereabouts!" Josiah Hale''s voice boomed through The Warrior''s Scroll, the cultivation world''s primary newswork. "I, Martial Marquis Josiah Hale, will personally capture and execute this criminal!"
I smirked as I watched the projection. His desperation was showing.
"He seems upset," I remarked to Fifth Elder Lin, who stood beside me in the secure chamber of the Celestial Apothecary Guild.
"You destroyed his ancestralpound and killed hundreds of his disciples," she responded dryly. "What did you expect?"
I closed the projection with a wave of my hand. "He''s dangerous, but predictable. That makes him vulnerable."
"And you''re not concerned?" Elder Lin raised an eyebrow.
"I''ve been preparing for this confrontation." I stood, stretching my newly strengthened limbs. The breakthrough to half-step Martial Marquis had transformed me. "But Josiah Hale isn''t my immediate target."
"Then who is?"
"The remnants of the Ascendant Saints Order," I replied. "Cut off the snake''s body before going for the head."
Elder Lin''s eyes widened slightly. "You''re going after their allied families?"
"Exactly." I pulled out a scroll listing eight aristocratic families. "Each one harbors Ascendant Saints disciples and contributes resources to the Order."
"That''s suicide! Each family has at least one Grandmaster protector!"
I smiled coldly. "Perfect."
---
The Chen family estate burned brightly against the night sky. Their Grandmaster protectory dead at my feet, his chest torn open by my Dragon w technique.
"Please..." Chen Weilong, the family patriarch, crawled backward across the marble floor, leaving a trail of blood. "We can negotiate!"
"Did the Ascendant Saints Order negotiate when they kidnapped Mariana Valerius?" I asked quietly, advancing toward him. "Did they negotiate when they tortured her?"
"We just provided funding! We weren''t directly involved!"
"Funding that paid for the torture chambers." I grabbed him by the throat. "Funding that bought the poison they used on her."
His eyes bulged as I tightened my grip.
"Tell your ancestors that Liam Knight sent you to meet them."
---
Two nightster, the Liu family suffered the same fate. Then the Wang family. Three powerful aristocratic ns wiped out in less than a week.
After the fifth family fell, I made a public deration on The Warrior''s Scroll:
"To all who support the Ascendant Saints Order: I aming for you. For every day Mariana Valerius remains captive, another family will fall. Every disciple, every ally, every servant who stands with them will die. This is not a threat. This is a promise."
My cold voice echoed across the projectionworks, reaching every corner of the cultivation world.
---
In the grand hall of what remained of the Ascendant Saints Order''s secondarypound, Josiah Hale smashed a table to splinters.
"How?!" he roared at the trembling disciples before him. "How does he keep evading us?!"
One brave disciple stepped forward. "Supreme Elder, we''ve increased patrols around all remaining allied families. We''ve hired additional Grandmaster guards—"
"And yet five families are already DEAD!" Josiah hurled a chunk of the broken table across the room. "Five families! Fifteen Grandmasters! All killed by ONE MAN!"
"The allied families are demanding protection," another disciple reported. "The Zhang family has already withdrawn their support and closed theirpounds to our disciples."
Josiah''s face darkened. "Cowards."
"Supreme Elder," a third disciple said hesitantly, "perhaps we should consider releasing Pavilion Master Valerius... as a gesture of—"
He never finished his sentence. Josiah''s hand shot out, and the disciple''s head exploded in a spray of blood.
"We do NOT negotiate with terrorists," Josiah hissed, blood dripping from his fingers. "Double the bounty on Liam Knight. I want him brought to me alive so I can peel the skin from his body inch by inch!"
---
I stood invisible atop a nearby building, watching the chaos unfold at the Zhao familypound. Mytest attack had been particrly vicious – I hadn''t just killed the family members but had systematically destroyed every artifact, every treasure, every heirloom they possessed.
Fear was spreading like wildfire through the cultivation world. No one felt safe. The once-mighty Ascendant Saints Order was hemorrhaging allies by the day.
Perfect.
I teleported back to my temporary hideout, a small cave system I''d warded with powerful concealment arrays. There, I meditated briefly before nning my next move.
Themunication crystal at my waist vibrated. Elder Zhou''s voice came through:
"Liam, the news is all over The Warrior''s Scroll. Seven families in seven days. They''re calling you ''The Ghost'' because no one sees youing or going."
"Good," I replied. "Fear will make them careless."
"Josiah Hale has doubled the bounty on your head. Two million spirit stones now."
I chuckled. "Is that all I''m worth?"
"This isn''t a joke, Liam," Zhou''s voice grew serious. "He''s desperate, which makes him unpredictable."
"That''s exactly what I want," I said. "Tell me, is he still at the secondarypound?"
A pause. "Yes, but he''s been dispatching search parties in all directions. Why?"
I smiled grimly. "Because it''s time for the final act."
---
The Ascendant Saints Order''s secondarypound was significantly smaller than their main headquarters, but still impressive – a sprawlingplex of training fields, meditation halls, and dormitories.
Or at least, it had been. <var ss="meta-ref-static">For character sheets and glossaries, visit *.</var>
I struck at noon, when most disciples were gathered in the dining hall. No stealth this time. No careful assassinations. Just raw, overwhelming power.
The Dragon''s energy surged through my meridians as I descended from the sky like a meteor, golden light streaking behind me. My first attack demolished the central hall, burying hundreds of disciples under tons of rubble.
Those who escaped the copse met my Dragon w. Those who fled met my Phantom Step technique as I appeared before them, crushing their cultivation bases with precise strikes.
Blood soaked the training fields. Screams echoed across thepound. By sunset, the secondarypound of the Ascendant Saints Order was nothing but smoking ruins.
I left one disciple alive – a young man barely into his twenties.
"Tell Josiah Hale," I said, my voice eerily calm, "that I''ming for him next."
---
Josiah Hale received the news while meeting with the few remaining elders of the Order. His face, already pale, turned ashen.
"Three hundred and forty-six disciples," Elder Foster reported grimly. "All dead. The entire secondarypound destroyed."
Josiah sank into his chair. "How? How is one man doing this to us?"
Elder Foster leaned forward. "Supreme Elder, I believe I have a way to trap Liam Knight."
Josiah''s eyes snapped up. "Speak."
"He believes he''s winning," Foster exined. "He thinks we''re desperate and breaking. Let''s use that against him."
"How?"
A cruel smile spread across Foster''s face. "We offer to negotiate. We suggest a meeting to discuss terms for releasing Pavilion Master Valerius."
"And when he arrives..." Josiah''s eyes gleamed with understanding.
"We spring the trap," Foster finished. "With you and the remaining elders present, even Liam Knight cannot escape."
For the first time in days, Josiah Hale smiled. "Make the arrangements immediately."
Little did they know, I was already nning my own trap – one that would bring Josiah Hale exactly where I wanted him.
The hunt was about to be much more interesting.