116.

"I... WILL... KILL... YOU..."

"What the fuck!?" Yang Ze's eyes narrowed to slits. The appearance of the man in front of him had changed drastically. At this moment, he was standing there stark naked, without a piece of clothing on his body.

The earlier injuries to his body were now nowhere to be seen. The only difference this time was that the previous markings on his body were now gone, completely replaced by red skin. His burly figure too was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a thin body that seemed to be so weak, that it could blow away just by the gust of wind.

Yet, it was this seemingly fragile body that was giving off a sense of oppression. Clenching his fist, the man looked at Yang Ze with eyes full of hate. If gaze could kill, then Yang Ze would have died a thousand times.

"BECAUSE OF YOU... BECAUSE OF YOU, I HAVE TO DO THIS." Even his voice became stiff at this moment sounding like it came out of a robot.

"IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT." With a shout, the man bent both his knees and with one hand touching the ground, he looked at Yang Ze like a wild animal looking at its prey. His eyes that had a shred of sanity a moment ago were now tainted with madness, ready to tear apart anyone in its path.

Just like before, the man shot out like an arrow, and within a few moments reached in front of Yang Ze. Yang Ze was still standing there silently with a grave expression on his face. Looking at the incoming figure, he seemed to have lost any resistance.

"HAHAHAHAHA." With a burst of wild laughter, the man punched Yang Ze's chest.

"BOOM." The figure of Yang Ze blasted out with that, followed by another red figure.

"NOT OVER." Lost in the madness of his newfound strength, the man didn't even realize the changes to his body. With every passing second, his body was growing thinner and thinner but, the excitement on his face was growing stronger and stronger.

Following Yang Ze who was sent flying back, the man clenched his fist. As soon as he did that, the aura of heaven and earth trembled violently before gathering like a cyclone with his fist as the center. The aura of heaven and earth condensed into his fist with a tinge of red. It was completely different from the usual colorless, odorless aura. The smell of blood overwhelmed Yang Ze. It was as if, in front of him, hundreds of people were lying dead, and their blood has formed this vile repulsive smell.

"BOOOOMMMMMM..." The sound of a massive explosion shook the entire valley. Even Xia Xueqi who was lying on the ground unconscious was flung up in the air. if not for the protective rune Yang Ze put on her, just the shockwaves would have killed her. Even the thin membrane of the protective layer on her body was full of cracks that could crumble at any moment.

"HAAAAH! HAAAAH!" Panting on the ground heavily, the man looked at the huge crater on the ground. This was the strongest move that he ever made in his life. Looking at the valley that was changed beyond recognization, he started laughing maniacally.

"HAhaahahhahahahahahaah..."

"...."

"....."

This laughter of his lasted for a long time until it was stopped by an emotionless voice.

"Tch, now you have done it."

"You... How... How is this possible." Looking at the figure of the boy who was standing there with a nonchalant expression, the man didn't even know how to react. Other than his clothes which were in complete ruin, there was no other harm on his body. Even the strongest punch that he ever threw couldn't put a scratch on him. Yet, this lasted for a fraction of a second. Clenching his teeth, he wanted to plunge at Yang Ze, but the moment he tried to stand up, his entire body shuddered before he fell to the ground.

"During my time as the student, learning about formations, there was once I came across the rumors of a branch of Arrays. A branch that makes runes that are empowered by human sacrifices. Even though the power they burst out with is amazing, unfortunately, the cost is not something we humans could pay."

Shaking his head, Yang Ze walked in front of the man slowly and slowly sat beside him whose body was twitching on the ground constantly.

"The thing you painted all over your body is something I have never seen before, but you see... Unless it is a large-scale formation spanning miles, every small formation has a weakness. And yours... It is no different."

With this, Yang Ze raised his hand and plunged it into his stomach, tearing it wide.

"There it is." Grabbing one of his kidneys, Yang Ze pulled it out, severing it from his body.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..." A heart-wrenching cry, more miserable than anything before echoed throughout the valley. If it were any other person, they would have run away in terror. After all, to shout in such misery means one has to go through inhuman pain.

Unfortunately for the man, the person beside him was Yang Ze. Not only did he not run away, he even had the time to play with the kidney on his hand.

After writhing in pain for a long time, the man's eyes slowly became clear. At this moment, there was no madness like before, but the clarity that Yang Ze hadn't seen since the start.

The man didn't speak but looked around. Looking at his stomach which was supported by the aura of heaven and earth, the man let out a sigh.

"Thank you fellow Daoist."

"Huh!?" Startled by this sudden change, Yang Ze didn't know how to answer. He only thought about removing the kidney as a way to completely remove that array and let this man despair at his own powerlessness. But contrary to his expectations, the man didn't even bother about the loss of strength but even thanked him. At this moment, his voice was filled with gratitude and dignity which were worthy of an Innate powerhouse.

"What is going on!?" With a frown, Yang Ze questioned the man lying in front of him.

"Sigh... It is a long story." Looking at his stomach, the man smiled bitterly. In his heart, he knew these were his last moments, but instead of panicking, he took a deep breath and looked at Yang Ze. At this moment, he didn't think about how the boy in front of him became an Innate powerhouse or what treasures he might possess. At this moment, he only wanted to talk with someone. Someone, who could understand him, listens to him... But alas! He could only support his body with the aura for so long.

Just when he was in deep thoughts, a gentle stream of aura rushed into his body, gradually supporting his organs and stopping the bleeding momentarily.

"Thank you." The man gave out a smile. After taking a deep breath, he slowly started speaking.

"My name is Tao Chen, meaning a new morning." With a short pause, the man continued. "I am the sixth elder of the Leihui Sect. In case you don't know what the Leihui sect is, it is just like your Xuanwu Academy, but bigger and better."

"You guys have your own area? I mean the area under your protection, the one that you control, just like this city of Mehull." Tilting his head, Yang Ze asked his question.

"Under our protection huh..." Tao Chen gave out a self-deprecating smile. "Those are some big words... Yes, we had cities, towns, and villages under protection. But..."

After a short pause, he closed his eyes, as two drops of tear slowly fell down.

"But everything is gone now... We destroyed everything..."

Yang Ze didn't interrupt him but kept on using the aura to support his body.

"It all started twelve years ago. On a fateful night, we got news about the existence of a treasure. A treasure that could alter the course of power throughout these lands. You could imagine our excitement when we first found out about it. So, without wasting a second, our leader and a few grand elders made their way towards the said place."

"It didn't take long for them to come back with the said treasure. At first, everyone was excited. After all, it was a moment of glory for our sect. A significant event that would shape the future of those lands."

"So, after a grand celebration, the leader took out the said treasure in front of everyone. To this day, I still don't know why he did that. I mean, it was one thing to announce the news, but why the need to take it out in open!?"

"Either way, the treasure he took out was a book. And after taking out the book, he made an announcement of keeping it in the library where everyone could read it. As soon as this decision was made, the entire sect went crazy. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie, so you could imagine the unrest that followed. The grand elders were the first to read this book and soon, they made out copies of some of the chapters and distributed them."

"Soon, everyone was happy. I mean, everyone was getting something out of these, and it didn't take long before the disciples themselves started to make copies of those chapters and distributed them. Within a span of a few months, every single person in the sect had a book in their hand."

"At first everything was going on smoothly, but soon, the situation started going downhill. The content of the books was highly effective. They could let anyone achieve a higher realm without much effort or wasting a long time. One could even step into late-stage Qi Guiding before the age of thirty. You could imagine the sensation it caused..."

"However, there was one catch. Even though the strength you get was overwhelming, it demanded sacrifices. At first, it started with small animals like chickens and other birds. Then it was cats and dogs, then came big animals like horses and cows. Even then, it was not enough, so, the members of the Leihui sect resorted to the Monster beasts.

Slowly, the strength of the entire sect was rising at an alarming rate. But, just like how everything has a limit, the strength gained from the monster beasts hit a ceiling too. And at that moment, someone from the sect sacrificed a human. And with that... Everything changed..."