**Forty years ago, in the Central Province of Murim, specifically in the City of the Golden River, there lived an elder named Xing Lan.**
Elder Xing was a relatively wealthy merchant. One day, he decided to establish a headquarters for himself and his fellow merchants.
After a period of discussion, they agreed to found a sect.
Thus, the **[Clear Cloud Sect]** was established, and Elder Xing became its sect leader.
The sect remained stable, its affairs prosperous, and many martial artists joined its ranks.
Things continued this way for a long time, but…
Twenty-five years after its founding, Elder Xing passed away, and his eldest son inherited the position of sect leader.
For a while, the situation remained good. However, eight years later, the sect began facing numerous crises and growing problems.
In order to survive these hardships, the sect took a loan from a massive organization known as the **[Golden Alliance]**.
But… even after that, misfortune continued to plague the sect.
Their caravans were robbed repeatedly, trade routes were cut off in many regions, and the debt kept growing.
This continued for six years.
Eventually, the Alliance threatened to confiscate the sect's assets if the debt was not repaid within a year.
And of course… when that year passed, the debt remained unpaid.
The Alliance came.
The Alliance was known to be lawful due to its presence within Murim Alliance territory, but… standing behind this Alliance was a catastrophic butcher feared throughout all of Jianghu—
**The Blade Demon.**
On that day, the Blade Demon and the leaders of the Alliance looted everything and destroyed the sect entirely.
The incident was recorded as a massacre carried out by the Blade Demon alone, and the Golden Alliance was completely removed from the narrative.
That day, only one person survived the sect.
A child, fifteen years old.
The child fled… but not before witnessing his parents, his siblings, and everyone he had lived with being slaughtered before his eyes.
On that day, something inside the child changed.
Perhaps this was always his true nature, now unleashed.
Perhaps his mind simply broke.
Because after that day, he began to treat killing as permissible.
He no longer acknowledged any boundaries and violated every taboo.
The terrifying part was that the child's talent surpassed that of ordinary humans.
And he had only one goal—
**Revenge.**
That child was…
---
**Five years later**
In front of one of the small sects at the far western edge of the Central Province, the Blade Demon and one of the Alliance's leaders stood, watching the destruction of that sect.
**B/D:** This is wonderful… but I feel that something is wrong.
**Leader:** Come on, what could possibly worry you? None of the major sect leaders or the Alliance are making a move, no matter what happens.
By the way, who is that young man? He's incredibly skilled—killing people like flies. And why are his eyes so blood-red?
**B/D:** He's the other miracle that appeared in the sect a year ago.
He managed to learn the **Lesser Heavenly Demon Art**.
Proper mastery of the Heavenly Demon techniques grants one an overwhelming red aura and turns the eyes blood-colored.
It's similar to the Crimson Eye mutation seen in those with Fire Attributes.
But… something is strange.
I'm certain he's only at the early Ascension Realm, around the Five-Star Stage… yet he feels far stronger than that.
**Leader:** That's impressive. Since you didn't detect an abnormal amount of energy in his dantian, you must be imagining things.
But… what is that gloomy energy being drawn toward him?
**B/D:** That… honestly, I don't know.
The boy stopped after killing everyone in the area.
That gloomy, somber energy was being drawn into his hand.
He stood there with an eerily cold posture, utterly unfitting for such a scene.
The Blade Demon and the leader approached him.
**Blade Demon:** Well done… Xing Yuan.
What is this energy gathering around you?
Yuan turned and looked at him.
His facial features were disturbingly lifeless, and his eyes had turned a striking blood-red.
They were not natural like his friend Jin's eyes,
nor were they crimson eyes filled with vitality like those of Fire magic users.
They were something heavier…
as if they belonged to a true demon.
Yuan spoke with a cold gaze:
**"Energy? I don't know what you're talking about."**
The Blade Demon fell silent for a moment, then looked at him suspiciously and said:
**"Fine… let's leave."**
The Blade Demon turned to depart, with Yuan following behind him.
But Yuan was staring at him with a strange gaze.
It was a sharply focused stare, yet chillingly cold as well…
like that of a predator observing its prey.
As the Blade Demon walked, he thought to himself:
*This boy… I'm certain he's watching me.
But no matter how hard I try, I can't sense him at all.*
*I will uncover the secret behind him soon…
I definitely will.*
**End of Chapter.**