The courtyard turned into a storm.
Four elders attacked at once.
Flames roared like dragons.
Blades of wind screamed through the air.
Poison mist spread like a living curse.
A sword of light descended from above like divine punishment.
Any normal disciple would have been erased instantly.
But Arjun…
Arjun walked into it.
Like a monster stepping into rain.
🩸 CRIMSON KILLING INTENT (Intermediate)
The air thickened.
The weaker disciples watching fainted instantly.
Some vomited blood.
Some crawled away sobbing.
Even the elders' eyes twitched as their instincts screamed at them:
THIS THING IS NOT HUMAN.
One elder—thin and sharp-eyed—formed rapid hand signs.
This was Elder Lin.
His voice was cold.
"Wind Severing Blades!"
Hundreds of invisible blades sliced toward Arjun from every direction.
They didn't aim for his body.
They aimed for his meridians.
To cripple him.
To make him suffer.
Arjun smiled faintly.
"Try."
His Bone King Bloodline hummed.
🦴 Bone Resonance Sensing!
The world changed in his perception.
He could feel where the blades would land.
He could sense which ones were lethal.
He moved—
not fast.
Perfect.
A single tilt of the shoulder.
A step forward.
A slight lean.
Blades missed.
Blades grazed.
Blades struck his hardened skin and bounced off with sparks.
CLANG—CLANG—CLANG!
The elders' eyes widened.
"He's reading the attacks?!"
"He's predicting the wind blades?!"
Arjun stepped closer.
Then vanished.
✨ SHADOW STEP!
He appeared directly in front of Elder Lin.
So close that Elder Lin could smell blood on him.
Elder Lin panicked and tried to retreat—
But Arjun's hand grabbed his wrist.
And his grip tightened.
CRACK!!
Elder Lin screamed as his wrist bones shattered instantly.
Arjun leaned close and whispered:
"You want to cripple me?"
Then Arjun pulled hard.
RIPPP!!
Elder Lin's entire arm tore off.
Blood sprayed across the courtyard like rain.
Elder Lin collapsed screaming like an animal.
Arjun didn't finish him yet.
Instead, he turned his head slightly.
Because another elder had already attacked.
A heavy aura slammed down.
A huge hammer made of spirit energy fell from above.
This was Elder Bao.
A brute.
A mountain of muscle in elder robes.
"DIE!"
The hammer descended to crush Arjun.
But Arjun didn't dodge.
He raised his hand calmly.
Palm open.
Not fist.
Palm.
And the devoured fragments inside him pulsed.
🔊 [Technique Fragment assimilating…]
âś… Mountain-Splitting Palm (Incomplete)
đź“Ś Compatibility: HIGH
đź“Ś Devouring Body support: YES
đź“Ś Learn now?
(YES/NO)
Arjun whispered:
"Yes."
A burning knowledge flooded into his bones.
Not his mind.
His bones.
Like the technique was engraved into his skeleton itself.
He lifted his palm.
And for the first time…
Arjun used an elder-level technique.
🔥 MOUNTAIN-SPLITTING PALM (STOLEN — IMPURE)
His palm struck upward.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The descending hammer cracked in half.
The shockwave blasted into the sky.
Elder Bao's eyes widened.
He staggered back.
"Impossible… that's Elder Hong's technique!"
Arjun smiled.
"I ate him."
Elder Bao's face turned pale.
The words hit him harder than any punch.
Because it wasn't a threat.
It was a fact.
Arjun stepped forward.
Palm raised.
Again.
🔥 MOUNTAIN-SPLITTING PALM!
This time, it wasn't impure.
It was sharper.
Colder.
More violent.
Because Arjun didn't use spirit energy like a cultivator.
He used it like hunger.
The palm-wave slammed into Elder Bao's chest.
KRAAAASH!!!
His ribs collapsed instantly.
He flew backward, smashing into a stone pillar.
The pillar shattered.
Elder Bao slid down coughing blood, eyes wide.
Arjun walked toward him slowly.
Like death walking to collect payment.
Elder Bao raised shaking hands.
"W-wait… don't—!"
Arjun placed his palm on Elder Bao's chest.
Softly.
Almost gently.
Then he whispered:
"Thank you."
🩸 TRUE DEVOURING BODY — PARTIAL DEVOUR!
Elder Bao screamed.
His cultivation began draining.
But Arjun didn't take it all.
Not yet.
He stopped at the edge.
Elder Bao collapsed, alive but crippled.
Arjun wanted him to live…
to spread terror.
To prove that resisting was pointless.
Arjun turned his head.
Now only two elders remained standing.
Elder Lin was on the ground screaming with one arm missing.
Elder Bao was half-dead and crippled.
Two elders remained.
One was a woman with icy eyes—Elder Yue.
Her technique was poison and spirit frost.
The other was a silent elder holding a long black sword—Elder Jian.
A pure sword cultivator.
A killer.
Elder Jian stepped forward slowly.
His sword aura was clean, sharp, and deadly.
Unlike the others…
he did not panic.
He did not rage.
He simply said:
"You are not a disciple."
Arjun stared at him.
Elder Jian continued:
"You are a calamity."
Arjun smiled faintly.
"Correct."
Elder Jian raised his sword.
The sword didn't shine.
It didn't glow.
It swallowed light.
A black line formed in the air.
A technique that cut without sound.
âš« VOID-CUT SWORD ART
The air split.
The attack arrived instantly.
This wasn't speed.
It was deletion.
The crowd couldn't even see it.
But Arjun felt it.
His Bone King bloodline screamed.
His devouring body warned him.
His instincts screamed:
THIS WILL KILL YOU.
Arjun's eyes narrowed.
He didn't block.
He didn't counter.
He stepped sideways—
the blade cut past his shoulder.
SHHHK!
Blood sprayed.
His arm was nearly severed.
Pain exploded like fire.
Arjun's expression didn't change.
He looked at the bleeding wound.
Then he smiled wider.
"…Good."
He swallowed one recovery pill.
Warmth exploded through his veins.
His bones hummed.
The wound began closing slowly.
Arjun lifted his eyes back to Elder Jian.
"Your sword is real."
Elder Jian's eyes narrowed.
"So you understand."
Arjun nodded.
"Yes."
Then Arjun took one step forward.
"And that's why…"
"…you'll be the first elder I fully devour after I break you."
Elder Jian's aura rose.
Elder Yue's poison frost spread across the ground, trying to freeze Arjun's feet in place.
But Arjun's killing intent expanded.
The frost trembled.
The poison mist hesitated.
Because Arjun's presence itself…
was stronger than fear.
It was domination.
Arjun raised his palm again.
The stolen technique pulsed in him.
🔥 MOUNTAIN-SPLITTING PALM!
This time, Arjun combined it with Bone King energy.
The palm-wave carried a cracking resonance.
Like it wasn't hitting flesh.
It was hitting skeleton.
Elder Jian slashed again.
âš« VOID-CUT!
Palm-wave split.
But the resonance still struck his bones.
CRACK!
Elder Jian's arm trembled slightly.
For the first time…
his sword grip loosened.
Arjun saw it.
And smiled.
"Found your weakness."
Then he disappeared.
✨ SHADOW STEP!
Arjun appeared at Elder Jian's blind spot.
His fist rose.
🦴💥 BONE KING FIST — SPINE BREAKER!
Elder Jian tried to twist—
But Arjun's fist landed.
KRAK!!!
The sound was terrifying.
Elder Jian coughed blood.
His spine cracked.
He didn't fall.
But his legs trembled.
Arjun leaned close.
And whispered:
"Now you can't run."
Elder Jian's eyes widened.
Because he understood what Arjun meant.
Not escape.
Not retreat.
Not survival.
Only death.
Arjun's palm pressed to Elder Jian's chest.
🩸 TRUE DEVOURING BODY — FULL DEVOUR READY
The system chimed softly.
🔊 [Elder technique detected: VOID-CUT SWORD ART]
âś… High value target
âś… Devouring will grant: technique fragment + massive points
Arjun smiled.
"Perfect."