The moment Arjun's palm touched Elder Jian's chest—
the air went silent.
Not calm silence.
Dead silence.
The kind that comes before a massacre.
Elder Jian's face was pale.
Blood ran from his lips.
His sword was still in his hand…
but his grip was shaking.
His spine had cracked.
His legs trembled like they didn't belong to him anymore.
Yet his eyes remained sharp.
A true sword cultivator.
Even dying…
he refused to beg.
Elder Jian whispered:
"If you devour me…"
"…you won't control what you take."
Arjun smiled faintly.
"That's the point."
The system pulsed.
🔊 [TRUE DEVOURING BODY: FULL DEVOUR AVAILABLE]
✅ Target: Elder Jian
✅ Technique: VOID-CUT SWORD ART (High Grade)
✅ Risk: mental corruption (moderate)
✅ Reward: massive growth
Proceed? (YES/NO)
Arjun didn't hesitate.
"YES."
🩸 TRUE DEVOURING BODY — FULL DEVOUR!
A crimson aura burst out of Arjun's palm like a hungry beast.
It didn't drain Elder Jian slowly like before.
It ripped him apart spiritually.
Elder Jian's eyes widened.
Not from pain.
From realization.
Because he felt it—
his cultivation being torn away.
His sword intent being eaten.
His very understanding of the blade being ripped out of his soul.
Elder Jian's lips moved.
A whisper full of hatred and awe.
"…Monster…"
Arjun leaned closer.
His voice was quiet.
"Correct."
Then Arjun's devouring intensified.
Elder Jian's sword aura flickered violently.
The black aura around his blade trembled.
The technique tried to protect itself.
Tried to resist being stolen.
But Arjun's Devouring Body didn't care about dignity.
Or ownership.
Or fate.
It only cared about hunger.
Elder Jian's body began drying out.
Not aging.
Not shrinking.
Drying.
Like all the water of life was being sucked away.
His skin turned gray.
His eyes hollowed.
His sword hand trembled.
Then—
his sword fell from his fingers.
CLANG.
The sound echoed through the courtyard like a funeral bell.
The sect disciples watching screamed.
"Elder Jian dropped his sword!!"
"No… he can't…!"
Arjun continued devouring.
Elder Jian tried to speak one last time.
But his throat didn't have strength.
His lips cracked.
His eyes dimmed.
And finally—
his body collapsed.
Not like a corpse.
Like an empty shell.
Like a human-shaped container that had been scraped clean.
Arjun released him.
Elder Jian fell to the ground like dead wood.
THUD.
Then Arjun's eyes shook slightly.
His veins glowed.
His bones hummed louder.
His mind filled with something sharp.
Something cold.
Something that wanted to cut.
Not punch.
Not crush.
Cut.
The system chimed.
🔊 [FULL DEVOUR COMPLETE!]
🎁 +12,000 Points
🎁 Learned Technique: VOID-CUT SWORD ART (Fragment 1/3)
🎁 Bonus: Sword Intent Seed (Unstable)
✅ Iron Body Stage: 4.2/10 → 6.5/10
Arjun's breath became heavier for one second.
A black line flickered across his pupils.
Like a blade passing through his eyes.
He smiled.
But the smile wasn't Arjun's anymore.
It was something else smiling through him.
Then Arjun slowly picked up Elder Jian's black sword.
The weapon trembled.
Like it knew it was being held by death.
Arjun held it loosely.
Not like a swordsman.
Like someone holding a tool.
And then—
he swung once.
Just once.
No technique.
No fancy move.
Only a simple slash.
Yet the air…
split.
A thin black cut appeared in space.
The stone wall behind it…
separated smoothly.
Like the world had been sliced open.
Outer disciples screamed and ran.
Even the elders' faces changed.
Elder Yue—still alive—staggered back.
Her frost poison aura trembled.
"Y-you… learned it instantly?!"
Arjun looked at her.
His eyes were calm again.
But now something was layered underneath.
A silent blade inside his soul.
Arjun whispered:
"I didn't learn."
"I ate."
Then he raised the sword.
⚫ VOID-CUT SWORD ART (FRAGMENT) — FIRST CUT
Elder Yue screamed and threw up a wall of poison frost.
A defense technique strong enough to block inner disciple attacks.
The black slash passed through it.
No resistance.
No slowing.
It cut the poison.
Cut the frost.
Cut the defense.
Then it reached Elder Yue's body.
She froze.
Her eyes widened.
She looked down.
A thin line had appeared across her waist.
Her lips trembled.
"N-no…"
Then—
her body split in two.
Blood sprayed across the courtyard.
She collapsed like broken meat.
Dead.
The remaining elders panicked.
Elder Lin crawled away screaming with one arm missing.
Elder Bao—crippled—dragged himself back, eyes full of terror.
They weren't thinking about killing Arjun anymore.
They were thinking only one thing:
RUN.
Because now…
the "outer disciple" wasn't a cultivator.
He was a disaster that learned by feeding.
Arjun stepped forward.
Sword dragging lightly across stone.
SCRRRRR…
He looked down at Elder Bao.
Elder Bao coughed blood, begging.
"D-don't… I… I'll give you everything…"
Arjun stared at him.
Then he asked calmly:
"Everything?"
Elder Bao nodded desperately.
"Yes! Pills! Spirit stones! Techniques! I—"
Arjun nodded.
"Good."
Then Arjun raised the black sword.
Elder Bao cried.
"WAIT!!"
Arjun whispered:
"You already gave me something better."
"Fear."
Then he slashed.
⚫ VOID-CUT.
Elder Bao's head fell off cleanly.
His body collapsed.
Arjun didn't even blink.
Then he looked toward Elder Lin.
Still crawling.
Still screaming.
Still trying to live.
Arjun walked slowly toward him.
Elder Lin cried loudly, voice broken:
"PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I WAS FOLLOWING ORDERS!"
Arjun smiled.
"Exactly."
He stepped over him.
And whispered:
"Then die as an example."
Arjun placed his palm on Elder Lin's head.
🩸 TRUE DEVOURING BODY — PARTIAL DEVOUR
Elder Lin's cultivation collapsed.
His eyes rolled back.
He fell unconscious.
Not dead.
Not alive.
Just… ruined.
Arjun wanted someone to crawl away.
Someone to spread the story.
Someone to poison the sect with terror.
Arjun stood up and turned slowly toward the sect hall.
The elders were destroyed.
The courtyard was covered in blood.
The air smelled like burnt spirit energy.
The entire Iron Mountain Sect was silent.
Then a new voice echoed from above.
Cold.
Calm.
Satisfied.
"Well done."
Arjun's eyes narrowed.
Because he recognized that voice.
Elder Vayu.
He descended slowly from the rooftop like a god stepping down from heaven.
His hands were behind his back.
He looked at the bodies.
At the ruined courtyard.
At Arjun holding a black sword.
Then he smiled faintly.
"You surpassed my expectations."
Arjun stared at him.
"Your expectations?"
Elder Vayu nodded.
"Yes."
He stepped closer.
"Rudra was a tool."
"Those elders were tools."
"This sect…"
"…was a cage."
Arjun's aura flared.
"Speak clearly."
Elder Vayu smiled.
Then he finally said it:
"I wanted you to become strong enough…"
"…to kill the enemies outside the sect."
Arjun's eyes narrowed.
"And why would I obey you?"
Elder Vayu's smile deepened.
"Because you already took my pill."
Arjun's gaze sharpened.
Elder Vayu whispered:
"That wasn't just a Soul Binding Pill."
"It was a Soul Mark."
"It doesn't control you."
"It tracks you."
Arjun's grip on the sword tightened.
The air trembled.
His voice became ice.
"You used me."
Elder Vayu nodded calmly.
"Yes."
Arjun stepped forward.
His killing intent exploded like a tsunami.
🩸 CRIMSON KILLING INTENT!
Disciples in the distance fainted instantly.
Walls cracked.
Lanterns shattered.
Arjun lifted his sword.
⚫ VOID-CUT SWORD ART (FRAGMENT) — SECOND CUT
Elder Vayu didn't move.
He didn't dodge.
He didn't block.
He simply raised one finger.
And the air stopped.
The black slash froze.
Suspended in front of him like a paused nightmare.
Elder Vayu smiled softly.
"You're not ready to kill me yet."
Arjun's eyes burned.
"But you will be."
Elder Vayu leaned forward slightly and whispered:
"And when you are…"
"…I will either crown you…"
"…or erase you."