I was in heaven.

Books were piled everywhere around me, with shelves taller than most buildings now completely empty.

Stacks rose up like towers, unsteady, threatening to topple at any moment. And honestly? Even if I were some brittle mortal who’d die if they collapsed on me, I’d be okay with that kind of death.

So much knowledge. So much everything. I felt like an addict riding their biggest high. All my problems? Melted away.

Every answer spawned a hundred questions. And I wanted to know them all.

I lay on the wooden floor of the building, a thick book in hand, tearing through it in minutes. Normally, this would’ve been shelved on one of the upper floors. It was about heavenly calamities, and it had a lot of detailed records.

Strangely enough, many heavenly calamities came in the form of poison-based monstrous beasts or things like divine poison fogs designed to kill immortals.

Made sense. The heavens couldn’t exactly use immortal beings as their executioners. Even heaven’s chosen only ever reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm. That was the ceiling.

Though there were no official records of it happening, there were notes of rumors and warnings that if a heaven’s chosen broke past Nascent Soul, the heavens would stop favoring them. Their luck would invert. Turn to rot.

I skimmed faster, activating my first Foundation Establishment technique to boost my mental processing.

I’d also learned not to run it at full power anymore, at least not unless I wanted my eyes to literally bleed from trying to keep up.

In a few minutes, I finished the book and tossed it onto my ever-growing “done” pile.

Then, I picked up another one that had caught my attention. An Earth Grade technique:

Untimely Death Technique.

Ironic name for a technique that essentially turned the user into a zombie.

It was barely tested, even by its creator.

As I read, I learned the technique was strange and full of drawbacks. But fascinating. It touched on deep concepts of death and reanimation. The creator, nearing the end of his lifespan, finally used it…

What he hadn’t accounted for was the rapid mental deterioration post-revival.

He hadn’t even been able to say more than a few words before his consciousness dissolved, and he became a mindless corpse. A zombie.

Still, now that we knew the risk, there were ways to potentially stop it. Specifically, mental techniques.

Would that deterioration be stopped by a Sky Grade technique?

Theoretically, yes. For example, if someone like me used Eight Mind Phantoms even in a decaying body, then that Sky Grade mental technique could overpower the side effects of an inferior technique.

That was the theory, anyway.

Not something I was eager to test. Yet.

Maybe someday, when I couldn’t progress further in cultivation and my lifespan was almost gone, I’d try it.

Just to see what it felt like.

Honestly?

I was kind of looking forward to that moment.

The idea of my death… it didn’t frighten me. Because it would be the only time I could test all the unhinged techniques without consequence.

But my thoughts were interrupted.

A weak mental presence entered my range. A mouse scurrying through the library’s entrance.

I didn’t even move. Just glanced its way and sent a wave of mental force.

Eight Mind Phantoms.

The rodent’s mind caved in instantly. Its body twitched once, then stopped.

The arrays around the Sect had been destroyed during the calamity, and the ones that kept animals out weren't exactly a top priority for restoration. So now, some rodents were crawling around the grounds. Still rare, but they were here.

Then again, this was a burnt mountain. There was not enough food for most creatures to survive here long-term.

Still, with the rat now under my control, I decided to send it on a little errand. Just to prove a point.

Because really, this whole situation screamed security breach. The rat had entered the Inner Sect library without anyone even noticing.

If I could do this, then so could others.

Even a weak, Mortal Grade hypnosis technique could control a rat. That was all it would take.

And that wasn't even considering the possibility of one of these rats evolving naturally or, worse, forcefully into a poison-type monstrous beast. Then, it could just sit in the water supply and slowly kill off disciples without anyone realizing it.

"Go live up to your destiny, Rat King," I muttered.

With a flicker of thought, I implanted a mental virus into it, something I'd just designed recently. An idea from how the book holding the Sky Grade Technique sent information to someone's head. But in this case, I was just transferring a type of mental insanity. It would work only on weaker creatures, sort of like magical rabies. When this rat touched another one, it would infect them and bring them under control.

Basically, he'd turn into a Rat King.

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And since I controlled him… I guess that made me the Rat God?

Either that or any rat he touched would just go crazy. Hard to say.

Now that I'd found the right angle to push Eight Mind Phantoms, I was going to test its absolute limits in manipulation. This technique had terrifying potential.

Technically, my other Sky Grade technique was more dangerous in a direct fight, but this one? With its absolute mind control?

This one was horrifying in the long game.

I sighed.

Sadly, there weren't many rats around right now, so the Rat King's conquest would have to wait.

Still, I had him sprinting back toward my house on the other side of the mountain.

I was planning to scare the shit out of Fu Yating.

After giving him the mental order and a rough map of the area, I let the little creature go.

…

After some more reading, I checked on the rat, which was already approaching my home.

But at the same time, I sensed something.

An invisible presence slipped past my arrays. It was human-shaped… meaning someone had entered my territory, but I hadn’t sensed them directly.

My sensory range was strong enough to cover my house clearly. Yet I hadn’t felt anyone cross the perimeter. But the array had. A humanoid figure had entered. And there was only one person I knew of who had a technique that could suppress their presence like that.

Should I go confront him?

No.

Let’s see what this guy’s up to first.

If he was after Wu Yan… I’d get Zun Gon’s help and kill him. No hesitation.

I closed my book as a chilling weight settled in my chest.

What if he had learned about Wu Yan, really knew her condition, and had told anyone else?

Then I’d kill everyone who knew. Every single person who even thought about touching her.

I placed the book down, stood, and walked out of the library. I levitated straight to the roof and formed a hand seal.

Using a simple Mortal Grade technique, I shaped a circle with my thumb and index finger, raising it to my eye. My vision sharpened instantly like a telescope zooming in.

I focused on my home, a pair of stone and wooden houses facing each other.

A figure had entered the yard. It was a man in a porcelain mask, one of the Core Elders from the recent meeting.

Wu Yan was cultivating and training her Qi control in the wooden house. She hadn’t noticed him yet.

Fu Yating, on the other hand, was sitting on the porch in a rocking chair. The moment she saw the masked figure, her expression darkened.

She stood up, and it looked like she was about to speak, so I activated one of the many arrays I’d placed around the house to listen to.

“This is the house of an elder,” Fu Yating warned in an even voice.

The porcelain-masked man nodded.

“Yes. I know,” he said. “I also know a bit about you. Fu Yating of the Fu Clan.”

“Am I supposed to be impressed that you know my name?” Fu Yating raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“I know your entire clan was massacred. By Liu Feng,” he said like it was supposed to be some grand reveal.

Maybe he thought she didn’t know, and I had kept her in the dark, which was why she still followed me.

It wasn’t a bad assumption. In fact, it was probably the most logical one.

But…

“Well, sorry to say, you’ve got the wrong information,” Fu Yating dismissed him with a shrug. “That guy’s too soft. He literally has to suppress his emotions during fights. Only a kind man has to do that.”

The masked man stared at her for a long moment, saying nothing.

He was analyzing her. Likely realized she already knew.

“Your entire family was killed,” he repeated. “And directly or indirectly, Liu Feng was involved.”

“That’s true,” Fu Yating said, still unfazed.

If the guy had come expecting her to fall apart, he’d picked the wrong person to mess with.

“If you’re here to kill me,” she said, smirking in that infuriating way she always did, “then get it over with. Just make it quick before Liu Feng shows up.”

There was a pause.

“You must have your reasons for coming now while he’s gone,” she added. “What, are you scared of him?”

Damn.

She was ruthless with her words. And brave, braver than I expected.

But the masked man didn’t flinch. He reached into his pocket.

Immediately, I formed a hand seal and prepped the activation key for all the defensive arrays around the house.

It probably wouldn’t do much to a Core Formation cultivator like him. Still, the array activation would be enough to notify the Sect and draw attention. At the very least, Zun Gon would show up to keep the peace.

Usually, they’d sacrifice someone like me to appease a Core Formation expert. But I was the one who had spoken with the Blazing Sun Immortal.

That alone gave me unprecedented authority.

Still, the guy didn’t attack. Didn’t make a sudden move. He simply reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small glass vial, the size of a pinky, half-filled with shimmering purple liquid.

“This is a personal poison of mine,” he said. “It only activates when the target’s Qi drops below fifty percent. It could trigger ten years from now or tomorrow on the battlefield. And no one would suspect a thing.”

He tilted the vial slightly. “It’ll kill him instantly. The blame will go to some monstrous beast or enemy cultivator.”

That was no ordinary poison. The kind of thing made by someone who had an advanced stealth technique, and a deep understanding of poison.

I knew someone like that quite well.

Fu Yating stared at the vial. He didn’t give her time to hesitate. He tossed it toward her.

She caught it and turned it over in her palm, running her thumb along the glass.

“So,” the masked man asked, “what’s your choice? In… or out?”

Fu Yating didn’t answer right away. She studied the vial like it was just a fancy trinket from a street merchant.

Then she sighed and looked at him.

“Sure,” she said.

The tone in her voice… it sounded like she was agreeing just to shut down a door-to-door salesman.

But to the masked elder, that was all he needed.

Perfect timing. Perfect opportunity. Backed by a Core Formation cultivator. Minimal risk, maximum payout.

Even if he killed me, he couldn’t afford to kill her right after as it would bring too much suspicion.

Though I couldn’t see his face, I would’ve bet everything on there being a smirk under that mask.

As for Fu Yating…

It was a shame. Just when I’d let my guard down enough to actually like her.

Still, I didn’t hate her. I understood the pain. I understood the temptation. But her choice just meant I had to kill her.

“Good,” the man said, stepping off the porch. “The choice of revenge is in your hands.”

I ended the surveillance, cut the enhanced sight, and felt him leave the array perimeter.

I closed my eyes. Thought about all the good times.

She’d been annoying at first, way too arrogant, and sharp-tongued. But fun. Real. Someone to talk to. Someone to irritate in the mornings just to pass the time.

Despite how it ended… I didn’t regret saving her.

I opened my eyes, bottling up whatever remained of those memories.

Then, I blasted off toward my home like a rocket.

Ready to do what needed to be done.