In the very heart of the Forbidden Alliance lands, a sprawling sect could be seen. The sect existed within a large, expansive mountain range, and thousands upon thousands of large buildings could be seen weaving their ways between the mountain valleys, and resting on the mountain peaks.
The sect was every bit the equal of the Heavenly Lightning Sect in size and grandeur, but carried a completely different atmosphere about it. The large, grand buildings had a more gothic design to them, with dark colored walls and tall, sharp spires piercing into the sky. Resting between the high mountains, a perpetual darkness seemed to cover the sect, making it even more ominous.
This place was the Bloodfiend Sect, the cornerstone of the Forbidden Alliance powers of the Yuan Continent. Within the streets, thousands of cultivators could be seen roaming about. Some walked, some flew, and some rode atop large, powerful beasts.
Each wore blood red robes, and each emanated a dark, sinister aura.
At the front entrance, a hooded figure could be seen walking towards the entrance and falling into the line attempting to enter the sect.
On one of the main streets at the front entrance of the sect, a group of disciples were gathered. They were first and second years, and their cultivations ranged from the Early Core Formation Realm to the Early Meridian Forging Realm. Only one of them had a cultivation at the Early Meridian Forging Realm, a second year who was known fairly well within the sect.
He had long black hair, grey eyes, and a fairly formidable aura around him. He was one of the second year Core Disciples.
"Have you heard the recent rumors brewing within the sect?" one of the first years spoke up. He was a boy around sixteen years of age, with short black hair and black eyes.
"Rumors? There's plenty of rumors about plenty of things. Which rumor are you talking about specifically?" one of the second years, a female of average features, scoffed.
"The one about the mysterious person who had been travelling towards our sect over the past few weeks," the first year disciple replied.
"That one! I've also heard about it. Apparently the rumors are that one of our disciples had been causing quite a commotion out towards the borderlands," another first year replied.
"Commotion? What commotion?" the Early Meridian Forging disciple couldn't help but ask, his curiosity piqued.
"Again, these are just rumors, but apparently one of our disciples has been conquering some small cities and clans over the past few weeks, and claiming them as under his leadership. What do you think, Jacob?" a first year disciple replied.
"Such a thing has happened?" Jacob, the Meridian Forging disciple, replied.
Even him, with his cultivation at the Early Meridian Forging Realm, would find such a task to be quite difficult. Not only did some of the powers in the land have cultivations at the Meridian Forging Realm as well, but one needed to be very careful in how they went about conquering those cities and clans.
"The rumors are most likely false, but even if they are true, whoever it is, is quite an idiot. How does he expect to rule over those cities when he's returning to the Bloodfiend Sect?" the disciple spoke out.
Based on the rumors, it was clear that whoever it was, was making their way back to the sect.
"True, but it's still quite interesting. I wonder who the disciple could be?" one of the first years replied.
"Who cares," the Meridian Forging disciple replied, as if he had lost interest in the topic. His eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had spotted something amusing.
"Is that who I think it is?" Jacob yelled out in a loud, boisterous voice.
The eyes of all in the group looked over to the direction Jacob was looking, at which point they spotted who he was talking about. Their eyes too lit up, as if they had found something amusing to watch.
Jacob walked over to the person he was talking about, who completely ignored him. Jacob frowned, and moved in front of the person to stop them from proceeding forward.
"What? You go to the borderlands to capture some slaves for a few days, and now you've grown some balls?" Jacob mocked as he stared at the boy before him.
John stood there in silence, staring back at the boy who had stepped in front of his path. After many weeks, he had finally reached the Bloodfiend Sect. His weeks had been quite busy and adventurous, and he had added several more cities under his dominion. The total number of controlled cities now stood at four.
Much like the first, most of these powers had sought to take advantage of him being alone and full of wealth, and so John had taught each power a lesson. However, he eventually reached the powers that were too strong to conquer, and had at that point proceeded straight towards the Bloodfiend Sect.
"Is that John?" the rest of the disciples walked up to where John and Jacob were standing, and surrounded him.
"John? Didn't you go to the borderlands, but you somehow managed to fail even at that. I heard that your entire squadron got wiped out, yet you somehow live. Did you flee from battle?" another disciple mocked.
John frowned as he heard the group speak to him.
'Seems like this John was considered to be quite pathetic within the sect. It seems he had a much higher opinion of himself than the rest of his sect.'
"Get out of my way," John replied calmly as he tried to walk forward.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jacob snickered as he pushed John backwards. "I knew you were useless, but this is pathetic even for you. Not only did you fail the first mission you joined, but you also fled from battle. I'm sure even someone as useless as you knows what the consequences of that are."
"Get out of my way," John once again replied calmly.
Jacob's smile grew larger as he heard John's reply. "The Elder's will surely execute you for your actions, so you might as well just give me all your possessions now. At least this way, you'll be useful for something in your life," Jacob mocked.
Several other mocking comments erupted from the crowd surrounding John.
John's eyes locked onto Jacob, as his cold glare pierced straight at him. The mocking smile on Jacob's face instantly vanished, as he instinctively took a step backwards.
Bang!
John's fist pierced out like lightning, landing against Jacob's chest in an instant, who was completely unprepared for an attack. The assumed identity of John had always been easily bullied and intimidated, and so none thought he would ever lash out like this.
"Gah!"
Jacob cried out as his body was sent flying backwards. He tumbled head over heels several times, and slammed into a nearby wall, coming to an abrupt stop.
Bang!
Before he could stand up, a loud sound echoed out once again, as a large battle hammer slammed down on one of Jacob's legs. A shattering sound rang out, causing everyone who witnessed the scene to wince in pain.
"Ahhhhhh!"
A pained cry escaped Jacobs mouth as he shouted out in agony. John stared down at Jacob with cold eyes for a moment, before turning and walking away, proceeding deeper into the sect.
The stunned group eventually snapped out of their daze, and rushed towards Jacob to aid him. Several of them helped him up, and escorted him to the medical ward of the sect. Those rest stood there in stunned silence as they looked at each other.
"You don't think...that he is the one the rumors are about?" a first year disciple suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.
Surprise appeared on the faces of all as they thought of the possibility, but each quickly shook their head in disagreement.
"Surely such a thing is impossible, right?"