CHAPTER 36: DISCIPLE

The cold earth gave way beneath Kyrian’s hands. The metallic stench still lingered in the air.

Each handful of soil he threw over the bodies seemed heavier than the last.

Kyrian did not know how much time had passed since everyone had fallen. He simply continued doing what he thought he should.

He buried Lina’s body first. Her body was even lighter, even more fragile, without the life that once shone in her eyes.

Then came Harken, then Elyria, Kael, Darien... one by one, until the ground before him had become a small field of improvised graves.

He did not cry. He did not feel the urge. He only felt once again a void. A strange calm that suffocated him more than anything else.

’So this was it...’

Kyrian thought as he gave one final pat to the soil, arranging the garden.

’We were dead from the moment the smoke appeared. Just by being in the city. We simply didn’t know it.’

’The red smoke, the dome, the force that tore the blood from everyone... it wasn’t something I, nor anyone here, could face.’

’It wouldn’t have mattered if Elyria shouted orders if Harken tried to protect everyone. If the traitorous guards, the invaders, and all the citizens joined to try to escape. Or if I used every last particle to try to flee.’

’Nothing would have worked. In the end, we were weak. All of us are far too weak.’

Kyrian was lost in thought, sighing as he looked at the improvised graves.

Silence was his only companion. Only the faint sound of the wind passing through the city streets and the sound of his own breathing.

Then he heard it.

A distant sound suddenly appeared, rhythmic. Footsteps he heard from far away.

Kyrian lifted his head. On the horizon, a figure was approaching. It didn’t seem to be running, yet it was still drawing closer at extreme speed.

Its speed was even greater than the horses he had once ridden.

Kyrian simply stood still, watching the silhouette approach. There was no sense in running or trying to hide.

’So all of this really was caused by a person.’

’Someone strong... someone who ended everyone in the capital as if it were nothing.’

The footsteps echoed closer and closer. After a few moments, he was there.

An old man stopped a few meters away. Staring at Kyrian as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He was as tall as Rurik but thin and sickly in appearance. He had almost no muscle. His hair was long and gray, along with a small gray beard.

The old man was missing one eye, which remained shut. The other glowed a red color, but a lighter red than Kyrian’s eyes. His clothes, once white, were stained with the stinking red of blood encrusted for many years.

The presence of this old man was something entirely different from anything Kyrian had ever felt.

Kyrian could sense, just by looking at him, danger, an instinctive warning. But he remained still, his expression impassive.

Then, a hoarse voice came.

"A child...?" murmured Wei Feng.

"And he doesn’t seem to care about me, nor is he horrified as a child should be. Traumatized?"

The old man kept speaking, looking at unmoving Kyrian. Assessing him as if he were a rare piece. Then, in just a second, he furrowed his brow.

"Huh? That...?"

Wei Feng took a step forward, and at that moment, Kyrian felt an invisible pressure. His bones ached, and his breathing grew heavy. Just that alone was enough for him to know that, if Wei Feng wished, he could kill him effortlessly.

Then, the deep voice echoed again.

"Mortal child. How in the world are you in the first cultivation realm?"

Kyrian stared back in silence, his hands dirty with earth and his thoughts racing.

"Are you deaf, brat?" The old man narrowed his single eye.

"How can a mortal like you have entered the Body Refinement Realm?"

After asking, the old man fell silent for a moment. His gaze traveled from head to toe over Kyrian.

Kyrian felt as if he were being completely seen. As if the man had looked at his bones, his blood, every part of his body.

Then Kyrian saw the old man’s expression change from confusion to his gaze widening. A slightly mad smile spread across his face.

’I can’t see through the boy’s eyes. This...’ Wei Feng thought of something.

"So that’s it..."

Wei Feng laughed, a dry laugh, yet full of excitement. His gaze locked onto Kyrian’s eyes.

"Brat. Your eyes... Unbelievable, indeed. I truly found a mortal with an innate talent." Wei Feng murmured as he stepped closer.

Until he was only a few steps from Kyrian. Who had to look up to see him.

"Brat. Become my disciple from now on."

The words sounded like an order, not a question. The hoarse voice was firm and undeniable.

"If you accept, you will have everything you never imagined. Power, fame, riches, everything could be in your hands. But above all, strength, a strength capable of destroying an entire city with just one hand."

Wei Feng leaned forward. His gaze burned with excitement.

"You have the necessary talent. And with me as your master, you will soar far beyond these inhospitable mortal lands. To the true continent beyond the mountains."

Kyrian simply remained silent. He did not answer immediately. But he continued looking at the old man.

Then, his voice came out for the first time. A voice cold with feeling, yet still childish.

"Was it you who did all this?"

Wei Feng’s smile did not falter.

"Yes. If you’re talking about the blood dome, it was a plan to restore some of my strength. I was wounded when I arrived in this place. Dying before recovering wasn’t an option. So everyone had to die."

He lifted his chin as if it were obvious.

"I am stronger. More important than mere mortal lives. Their blood essences and their lives gave me a few more years. They should be grateful."

Kyrian clenched his fists but released them soon after, along with a long sigh. There was nothing he could do about it. Avenging the others didn’t even cross his mind, it would be impossible. Reviving the dead was also impossible.

He had nothing he could do about it. At least not now...

"Do you know what this is?" Kyrian asked, raising his hand.

Then, a drop slid from his finger. The particles burned in his eyes. A thin, crimson needle formed and flew toward the wall of a nearby house, piercing through without effort.

At that moment, the old man’s eyes widened again.

"Intention... blood intention. How? I spent my whole life comprehending only fragments... and this brat... this boy..."

Wei Feng smiled like a madman.

"You truly are a genius. Brat."

Kyrian didn’t care, he simply continued.

"I’ve always seen these particles. What are they?"

"Particles?" Wei Feng thought and then burst out laughing.

"You must be talking about the Qi of Heaven and Earth. The source of everything, of the world and of our strength. But here in this miserable place, the concentration is so low that it would take countless years for someone to advance even the initial realms."

Then, his gaze shone again.

"Brat. What is your name?"

"Kyrian."

Wei Feng then raised his chin with arrogance.

"Kyrian. You will be my first disciple. Do you accept?"

Kyrian kept staring at that man. He was a monster. A cold-blooded killer who slaughtered everyone he knew in the city. But also someone who represented what he had always desired.

And what he needed, strength. A strength he did not have but now had a way to obtain.

In the end, he had no choice either. It was this or death, and Kyrian still had to fulfill his mother’s wishes.

He then lowered his head slightly, accepting.

"I accept."

"..."

After three seconds of silence, suddenly a hoarse and strange laugh sounded. Wei Feng laughed, extremely satisfied.

It was then that Kyrian suddenly felt a pain in his forehead. He saw, in an instant, the old man before him had sent a drop of blood toward his forehead.

His body couldn’t react and dodge in time, even with his eyes catching the movement. He thought of stopping the drop of blood and controlling it with the Qi present in his eyes, but in the end, he did nothing.

He did not feel a sense of death from the drop, so he decided to follow the old man, he would think about it in the future.

The drop entered his forehead and dissolved inside his brain. Kyrian did not feel any change. When he concentrated, he could faintly sense the presence of something in his head. But it did not seem to affect anything for now.

"Good, from now on call me Master Wei. Wait here until I finish my business in the city."

Wei Feng turned, walking toward the moonflowers.