1 The Challenger Long Ao Tian

"This day next year will be your death anniversary, evil-doer!"

I sighed and shook my head in exasperation as I leaned against the gate. Folding my arms, I studied the latest group of "orthodox" cultivators who were stupid and audacious enough to challenge the Heaven and Earth Sect.

Yeah, the Heaven and Earth Sect. The most powerful demonic sect in the Tian Xuan Continent, our leader was known as the Supreme Overlord. The Sage of Heaven and Earth. The Demon King. Take your pick, there were so many bloody titles I couldn't keep track of all of them and couldn't be bothered to remember beyond three of them.

Thanks to that reputation, we had a bunch of orthodox sects ganging up on us. Today was just another day, and I was actually surprised that this particular group penetrated this far into the territory of our sect. My Human Peak was right in front of the Earth Peak, which was in turn the only thing separating my spot from the Heaven Peak – the location of the sect leader.

I was privileged enough to be given the Human Peak because I was the direct disciple of the sect leader. Master had personally trained me, hammering the Heaven and Earth Formula into my marrow for years. No matter how weak or talentless I started out with, under his guidance, I was able to develop skills that rivaled the sect leader of even powerful orthodox sects.

That must be why they were making their moves.

But before they could reach my Human Peak, the orthodox cultivators would have to fight through hundreds of demonic cultivators, spirit beasts and arrays. I was surprised that they could get this far in. If they could make it here, then they were definitely no ordinary cultivators.

I studied the members carefully. They were being led by a relatively handsome young man brimming with potent qi and surrounded by nothing but girls. I raised an eyebrow at that. They looked more like his harem than an actual army. The guy in the lead had dark hair, sharp red eyes and a crimson sword that blazed.

Was that True Fire? I had heard of the legendary essence flame, but this was the first time I had actually seen it. They said it was precious for alchemists who wanted to refine high quality pills. So this guy wasn't just a martial artist, he was also an alchemist. The bulging pouches by his side probably indicated that, stocked to the brim with pills.

No wonder they could make it this far. They were doping on pills that improved their cultivation and boosted their strength, as well as consuming elixirs that automatically healed their wounds and restored their qi. Cheat items, if I were to use the term in my previous world.

"Let's not waste time," the guy said arrogantly as he pointed his sword at me. "Gather all of your subordinates. All of you come at me at once."

"Uh…subordinates?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. The guy narrowed his eyes.

"Are you playing me for a fool?"

"Long Ao Tian," one of the beautiful girls whispered into his ear. She had very pale skin the color of snow, which made me wonder if she was sick or something. Perhaps somebody might describe her as a "jade beauty," but she simply looked like a patient who had just lost several liters of blood. Dressed in a scanty dress that revealed most of her thighs and the top part of her huge breasts, she looked more like a whore than an "immortal fairy." Apparently the people in the Tian Xuan Continent had strange fashion sense. The girl ignored my curious look and continued. "He's telling the truth. I don't sense anyone here."

"Be careful, Brother Ao Tian!" Another girl – one with long, flowing black hair and dressed in a silky blue dress – blurted out. She was wielding a sapphire-colored sword and emanating icy qi. Probably one of those super geniuses with a special snowflake constitution that allowed her to hit the pinnacle of ice techniques. Also, judging from the yin qi she emitted and the yang qi that billowed from Long Ao Tian like a furnace, I would bet my entire peak that they regularly indulged in dual cultivation. She glared at me. "This might be a trap!"

"Even so, we have no choice but to proceed forward. Tian Di attacked my family and crippled my father. The whole Heaven and Earth Sect must die!"

"…wait, what? Who is Tian Di?" I blurted out. Long Ao Tian scowled.

"Stop pretending. Tian Di is a member of your Heaven and Earth Sect. He and a bunch of his flunkies came to my Long family to create trouble. Now your sect must pay the price!"

…I honestly had never heard of Tian Di. Not surprising – there were hundreds, if not thousands of disciples and masters in the Heaven and Earth Sect. I had no way of knowing every single one of them.

Still, I was taken aback. So this Long Ao Tian fella wasn't attacking the Heaven and Earth Sect out of justice. He wanted to wipe us out because of revenge. Thanks to the idiot named Tian Di, he dragged the entire sect into his mess.

"Let me find Tian Di. You can do whatever you want with him."

Long Ao Tian began laughing. I raised an eyebrow.

"What's so funny?"

"Tian Di is already dead! Do you really not know?"

"Uh…no. Like I said, I don't know who he is." I sighed. "Now that you have your revenge, then why are you still attacking us?"

"Are you an idiot? The whole Heaven and Earth Sect must die."

"Because of a few guys' actions? And even though you already killed all those guys?"

"To be kind to one's enemies is to be cruel to oneself. Also, you all share the blame because you're all from the same sect! Now shut up and die!"

Long Ao Tian lunged forward, his sword igniting in a blaze. True Fire covered his blade and he swung it, unleashing the flames in the form of a gigantic dragon. Roaring silently, it pounced on me, transforming into a deadly inferno that blackened the granite stone used to pave the road and gate leading toward my peak.

"Ouch, that's hot."

Waving my hand, I extinguished the flames. Long Ao Tian's jaw dropped.

"H…how did you do that?! Impossible! That's True Fire! It's a divine essence flame that can purge all evil!"

"Don't talk so much nonsense! Keep attacking!" The girl with black hair, blue dress and sapphire sword attacked. She opened up her Frozen Realm, turning the entire place into a tundra. My breath misted in front of me and my glasses turned foggy. Even though my vision was obscured, I was able to see the torrent of azure qi that streaked across the place like a phoenix, intent on freezing me.

I stepped to the side and dodged it. Then I stomped on the ground.

In the next instant, the entire Frozen Realm shattered, the frost breaking apart and scattering all over the place before melting.

"No way…!"

Scratching my head, I took off my glasses, wiped the smudges off the lenses, and put them back on.

"Look, I apologize for what Tian Di and whoever did to your family, but the rest of us have nothing to do with it. I understand your anger, but you've already avenged your father, right?"

"Just these small tricks and you think you've won?" Long Ao Tian sneered. He lunged forward. "Your sect will have to pay the price! You've offended someone you can't afford to offend!"

I dodged his flaming sword and then threw out a hand. Long Ao Tian's lip curled.

"Do you think that such an attack will…?"

Heaven and Earth Strike.

Black and white qi exploded into a single point before rushing out of his back like a maelstrom. Blood spurted from Long Ao Tian's mouth before he fell to the ground. He writhed and rolled to his feet, his hands immediately going to one of those void or spatial pouches to grab a life-saving treasure, but I stomped on his wrist, breaking it.

Long Ao Tian shrieked.

I didn't wait for his plot armor or Deus Ex Machina to save him. Drawing my sword, I beheaded him in a single stroke. His harem watched in horror as his head flew into the air, a red line of blood trailing it, and then landed on the ground.

The headless body of Long Ao Tian, the favored son of Heaven, a former "trash" turned super genius, swayed for a moment before finally toppling over, as if finally realizing that it was dead.

The girls screamed. Even though they were supposed to be unprecedented geniuses and peerless beauties (despite being peers with each other), they had been overly relying on Long Ao Tian for a long time now and had forgotten how to fight. All I needed to do was send a single glance in their direction and they all fell to their knees in fright.

"How dare you kill Brother Ao Tian? I will kill you!"

Crying, the girl with the sapphire sword and frost constitution body leaped at me, her icy qi coalescing in the shape of a phoenix. At least one of them still had a backbone. That said, I was an advocate of gender equality. I didn't care if she was a girl. If she tried to kill me, then obviously I was going to fight back. Spinning my sword about, I swung it and executed another Heaven and Earth Strike. The immense blast annihilated the frosty yin qi that covered the girl, killing the supposedly immortal phoenix, and disintegrated her body into atoms.

The rest of the girls turned to flee. They had nowhere to go. I could see the other disciples and masters of the Heaven and Earth Sect closing in on my peak. They must have sensed me killing the two strongest members of the group. The girl with "jade-colored" skin and dressed like a whore was immediately surrounded and captured by a group of laughing demonic cultivators, who tore at her dress with impunity. To be honest, given how scanty the dress was, she didn't look much different with or without it.

I turned my eyes away from her before she disappeared under a mountain of sex-crazed men. The other ladies were also being hunted down and captured one by one, unable to flee. The bastards in the sect had held back this entire time, hoping that I would do their work for them. Maybe I should kick their asses later.

However, I was surprised to see that a single girl had remained behind, still standing in front of me. She had long, blue hair that reminded me of the sky, and was dressed in white, flowing robes that reminded me of a priestess. Or a cleric. She held a single staff in her hand determinedly but resignedly, as if she knew she was going to die here.

I stared into her lavender, jewel-like eyes, mesmerized by her beauty. She was probably another member of Long Ao Tian's harem, but she seemed different from the rest. Perhaps it was her courage, her refusal to run away despite the odds. Or her resolution – unlike the rest, she was prepared to die. Even so, she was determined to fight to the very end.

Pushing my glasses up my nose, I nodded thoughtfully and waited. But she didn't move. We both stared at each other for a moment, and I cocked my head to the side.

"Um…what are you doing?"

"If you're going to attack, then hurry up," the girl said fiercely, planting her staff in front of her. "Aren't you going to kill me?"

"I will if you try to kill me," I replied. The girl looked puzzled, but she glanced at her comrades.

"You have no intention of letting me go, right?"

"The moment you walked into the territory of the Heaven and Earth Sect, don't you think you should have been prepared for the consequences?"

"You are right. But it was your disciples who made the first move."

"Yeah, but didn't you already kill the people responsible for that? Why are you attacking other people uninvolved in this affair?"

The girl frowned. "You're demonic cultivators. You're not uninvolved. There's no way you'll not let us go after we killed your disciples."

I snorted. "I didn't even know you killed them. Honestly, demonic cultivators kill each other all the time. It doesn't make a difference to us who killed who, who died at whose hands. If Tian Di and his gang died, then it meant they were too weak. Why should we care about them? They are just fodder. Not worth taking revenge for."

The girl stared at me, horrified. "You treat even your own sect members so callously?"

"Uh, you do realize we're a demonic sect, right?"

"…that's true." The girl sighed. Then she narrowed her eyes, gripping her staff tightly. "What do you plan to do to me?"

"Well, first of all…mind telling me your name?"

The girl regarded me suspiciously, but at least she didn't reject me outright. "Lan Bei Er, of the White Herb Sect."

"Nice to meet you, Lady Lan." I bowed. "I'm Hei Ye of the Heaven and Earth Sect."