Spiritual Tide

"When the Mountains crumble and the Seas dry, I will remain eternal."

That's a line from "The Musings of Lu Ya," where the Elder Wyrm explains to the Celestial Ancestor Wu Heng his reason for cultivating.

Honestly speaking it's a pretty cool take on life, if you ignore the fact that Lu Ya got his head chopped off by the Celestial Emperor and his corpse got refined into a sect protecting treasure (my sect's treasure, in fact).

And to add insult to injury, the Mountains and Seas Realm that I inhabit is currently fragmenting into tons of pieces, and the dude's corpse couldn't even resist the first wave of damage. What a shame.

Dammit, got lost in thought again. In hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to zone out when the members of your sect are begging you to save them from their impending demise.

Honestly, do they think that someone of my strength can do something about a natural phenomenon that can literally fragment reality? If so, then the Longevity Sect has really lost its standards for disciples. Well, I guess I should say something to ease the tension. Hm, what would grab their attention?

"Don't worry everybody, I have a great plan!"

Nice, the general response seems pretty positive.

"I, Li Anjing, in my amazing wisdom, have planned for this exact situation!"

And I really did, although not in the way they expect. I pause for a moment for dramatic effect, edge out the creases on my robes, then proceed to blast the head off of Elder Chen Fan who is standing to my left.

Sorry Elder Chen, but even if I'm stronger than you our strength is pretty close, so if I don't kill you first it will make the rest of this a hassle.

Wow, he actually survived. I guess it was wishful thinking to one shot a Spirit Circle Stage expert who condensed a First Class Life Circle, even if I was stronger by quite a bit and condensed a Second Class Slaughter Circle. Welp, one more blast to the head it is.

There, now that the biggest thorn is out of the way I can focus on my real target, Saintess Yuan Rang. And while we're at it, let's kill the rest too.

My eyes slowly light up with glee as a pale gold crown with crimson gemstones appears above my head, only to shatter into pieces and enter my body. This is going to be so much fun.

**************************************

Ouch, that crazy bitch was stronger than I thought. Also, how did Elder Chen survive that second blast? Even for someone with a Life Circle, he shouldn't have been able to tank all of those energy blasts. Whatever, at least he's dead now.

"Why are you doing this, Sect Master Li? Even if we are from opposing factions, in the end we are all members of the same Sect! You didn't even let off the other disciples!"

Wow, this lady is even more of a cockroach then I thought! I blasted 12 holes through her chest, cut off both her arms, and even bisected her head yet she can still talk! Well, since she's about to die (and so am I, you try fighting 5 Spirit Circle Stage and 23 Form Sublimation Stage experts without getting mortal injuries), I don't really mind answering her question.

"Well, I guess its a small thing to you, considering the fact that you regularly sacrifice hundreds of thousands of mortals to maintain your youth. And I can't exactly fault you for that since I've also killed thousands to master my Artistic Slaughter cultivation technique. But what can I say, I'm a huge hypocrite, especially when this DAMN SECT DESTROYED MY VILLAGE UNDER YOUR ORDERS YOU BIT-!"

Whew, almost lost my composure there for a minute. Huh, even without the top half of her face she can still see the changes in my expression. Seriously, if I didn't hate this bitch to the point where I abandoned my life as an ascetic and created an era of bloodshed just to one day kill her and her entire sect, I would admire her abilities. But I do hate her, so... yeah.

"All, for the sake of some mortals, you would destroy one of the greatest cultivation sects of the Mountain and Seas Realm?"

Seriously? Does she really expect to rationalize with a guy who literally explained his tragic backstory to her just a few seconds ago? Sigh, whatever, I'm losing too much life force to continue this pointless conversation.

"Well, Yuan Rang, I would love to keep chatting with you all day like this, except for the fact that I'm slowly dying and that I absolutely hate your guts. So I'm just going to go lay down and die in the next room over, so that my last breath isn't the foul air that you excrete just by existing."

I slowly drag my body towards the room next door (minus my left leg, thank you again Yuan Rang), and upon reaching it I slowly black out. Or at least that's what should have happened, but the moment I close my eyes I come face to face with a glowing orb of white light.

"Tell me, Li Anjing, do you wish to live on?"

I smile brightly towards the orb, then give my honest response.

"Nope, thanks for trying."