"T-This is the Flying Sword Sect…?" Yuan stood before where the sect should have been located with a clear look of disbelief on his face.
However, the Flying Sword Sect was nowhere to be seen. Instead, destroyed buildings and dried blood scattered the place.
"The scenery is what it would look like after a long and brutal war had just finished…" Yuan mumbled in a low voice.
"Thousands of lives perished here for what? What does the Blood Sect achieve by doing this horrible thing? It won't bring back their Sect Master's dead son."
"Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality of the cultivation world— the real cultivation world, where people do unreasonable things, and there's nothing we can do about it." Xiao Hua sighed.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Yuan said, "Let's take a look around this place."
"Are you sure, Brother Yuan? There will be a lot of blood and corpses. It won't be a pretty sight."
Yuan nodded, "Even so, I want to see it."
They proceeded to walk around the unrecognizable and destroyed Flying Sword Sect, passing by many corpses and separated body parts.
Yuan stopped walking in front of three large stone tablets, which were the only things not completely destroyed there.
He looked at the stone tablet in the middle, and on the very top, there was a name he was familiar with.
"Mo Zhou… So you have managed to become rank one, huh? Congratulations…" Yuan congratulated him in a dispirited voice.
He then clasped his hands together and bowed to the stone tablet, paying his respects.
"Brother Yuan, there are people around us." Xiao Hua suddenly said.
"The Blood Sect?" Yuan asked.
"Probably not. They are all Spirit Apprentices," she said.
"Why would they be here?"
"When a sect is destroyed, it is common for people to try and salvage everything they can find. These people hope to be lucky and find valuable things such as cultivation techniques and treasures."
Yuan frowned, "An entire sect is destroyed and these people are in the mood to look for treasures? Do they have no respect at all?"
"Most people doing this have nothing to lose, and finding even a single cultivation technique could change their lives forever. There would usually be more people. It's probably because of the Blood Sect's presence. Nobody wants to run into them, after all."
Hearing Xiao Hua's explanation, Yuan merely shook his head in silence. Although he cannot blame these people for wanting a better life, it still leaves a bad taste in his mouth.
Suddenly, a loud scream resounded.
"AHHHH! HELP! THE BLOOD SECT IS HERE!"
Yuan immediately turned to look in the direction of the voice, and without hesitation, started running towards the voice.
A few moments later, Yuan arrived before a group of individuals being surrounded by these people that were fully cloaked in black robes with black masks covering their faces.
"Please! Spare us!"
The individuals being surrounded got onto their knees and began begging for their lives.
However, the masked cultivators responded by drawing their weapons.
When Yuan saw this, he shouted, "Stop!"
Whoosh!
Yuan's Spirit Grandmaster cultivation base exploded, instantly halting the masked cultivators and forcing them onto their knees just like those surrounded.
"W-Who are you?! Do you have any idea who we are?!" One of the masked figures shouted at Yuan, but he was clearly terrified.
"The Blood Sect, right?" Yuan responded in a calm voice.
"Hmph! If you already know, then let us go! Unless you want the entire Blood Sect to hunt you down!" The masked figure sneered.
"Let you go…? So you can kill more innocent people? I'd rather be hunted than let you kill more innocent people!" Yuan looked at them with an angry frown on his face.
"Tell me! Why did you destroy the Flying Sword Sect?! Why did you kill all these innocent disciples?!"
"Why? Why not? They were weak and unfortunate, so they were targeted by Lord Blood. We're only following our orders," said one of them in an indifferent voice.
"And you followed such ridiculous orders?! What do you achieve from it besides guilt and blood on your hands?!"
"Hah! Guilt? What kind of nonsense is that? We don't regret our actions! In fact, we enjoyed every moment of it! Killing these weak disciples and being covered in their blood— it makes my body shiver just thinking about it! This is why we joined the Blood Sect!"
"You're all insane…" Yuan was left speechless by this individual's lack of humanity.
"Brother Yuan, you should save your breath and just kill them all already. Everyone in evil sects is like this— bloodthirsty and insane." Xiao Hua said to him.
Yuan gritted his teeth and clenched his hands into fists.
Despite all the horrible things they have done, he still hesitates on killing them. After all, they are not just mere NPCs but real people. If he kills them, that would be akin to killing a real human, and he has never even thought about killing another human before!
Seeing his hesitation, Xiao Hua continued to speak, "Brother Yuan, it's okay to kill these kinds of people. The world will be better off without them, too. If you don't kill them, they will just go on and kill other innocent people."
"When that happens… You'll also bear the guilt of their death since you allowed it to happen by not killing these evil cultivators..."
Hearing Xiao Hua's words, Yuan felt less hesitant on killing them.
However, before he could make up his mind, a familiar voice suddenly resounded inside his head.
"Why are you hesitating? They are just a couple of useless ants. You can kill them as easily as breathing. I know you want to kill them. Let me show you…"
Yuan suddenly closed his eyes.
Once he reopened them, his eyes were resolute and filled with killing intent, and they were even slightly glowing red.
The Empyrean Overlord appeared in his hand the next moment.
"W-What do you think you're doing?! Our Sect Master is a Spirit Grandmaster! He'll kill you as easy as breathing!" The Blood Sect disciples began shivering uncontrollably as they watched Yuan slowly approach them with a sadistic grin on his face.
"As a killer, you should know very well what I am about to do, right?" Yuan responded, his aura gushing with killing intent.