Chapter 1. Mo Canghai

In the middle of Southeast Wasteland…

In the territories occupied by Fiery Cloud Empire…

In one of the seven countries of the outer empire,in Mines Country…

Where the majestic White Tree City is located...

Under the pale moonlight, the equally majestic Mansion of the Mo Clan was drowning in blood and burning in flames. The courtyard of the luxurious mansion presently became a battlefield, and Mo clan was losing this battle. Amidst the chaos, the bloodied elderly Mo Canghai stood surrounded by seven warriors in black. He turned angrily to the leader of his enemies.

"Wang Ming, damn you! I, Mo Canghai, solemnly swear as long as heaven obtain my witness! The day will come, and you will recognize the retribution for your misdeeds! And with you, all your accomplices will perceive it! The reaper with bloody eyes will visit everyone involved in this bloodshed, and death hour will strike under your pitiful pleas for mercy, but do not expect mercy, he will haul all of you with him! The life of every murdered member of my family will be paid for by a dozen lives of you and your loved ones. The destruction of Mo Clan will not go unpunished for anyone!"

In response, one of them took a step forward and laughter burst out from under the black hood.

"Ah-ha-ha, don't make me laugh, Mo Canghai! After this night, will you have any chance to take revenge? Look around, can't you see? Today, Mo clan will become a story along with you! One of those stories that no one will ever remember!"

All around in the mansion, one could see pictures of the battle that broke out between the men in black and Mo clan.

The attackers outnumbered Mo Clan by a head, both numerically and qualitatively. And no matter how desperately the latter fought back, they had no chance to resist.

Rage and sadness mixed inside Mo Canghai, as if a storm of daggers was mercilessly tormenting his soul. It was unbearable to witness the death of loved ones without being able to aid them. Everything that his family created for generations and everything that he had raised through years of effort was crumbling before his eyes. And he himself was surrounded by the strongest of enemies who would never allow him to support anyone.

At the same moment, a wounded young man closes in age to his thirties ran up to him. His blood-stained white robes and the wounds on his body made it clear that he had experienced a desperate battle some time ago.

"Father!" he shouted to the old man, "Grandfather!"

"Dead!" a mockingly harsh voice sounded, which was given to another man in black, who arrived after the young man and flaunted with a unsheathed sword, from the long blade of which he defiantly wiped fresh blood.

"You!" Mo Canghai yelled, "Whoever you are and whatever it costs me, you will not leave here alive today!"

After learning about the death of his father, he could no longer maintain sanity and a spark of madness flashed in his emerald eyes. This last drop completely exasperated Mo Canghai, who was famous for his prudence.

"Yuantian, get Xiaolin and Qinghai out of here, and get out of the city as soon as possible!"

"Father, but you…"

"You dare to defy your father?! Now!" the old man barked.

Mo Yuantian clenched his fists with force and gritted his teeth from a feeling of helplessness longing in his chest. He left his father behind, rushing into the depths of the mansion to have time to take his family away from here.

"Ah-ha-ha, where are you going, kid! No one from the Mo Clan will leave here alive today!" the man who took the life of Grand Elder Mo Chen, Mo Canghai's father, shouted with laughter.

And brandishing his sword, he rushed in pursuit of Mo Yuantian, but suddenly Mo Canghai appeared in front of him with a raised sword and flames dancing around him.

«Dissecting Fiery Stream!»

Along with the sword, a wave of searing flames moved to encounter the man in black.

"Stubborn old man! Just die already!"

«Spinning Fierce Wind!»

The flames met with gusts of wind, but immediately after the collision, the difference in strength between them became noticeable. Mo Canghai was at a distinct advantage.

"What are you all standing for? Help me already!" he shouted to his companions, who in turn immediately used martial techniques and showered Mo Canghai from all sides.

«Palm of the Seething Sea!»

«Tree Bonds!»

«Golden Chains!»

The water palm that flew in with a characteristic hiss extinguished his fiery stream and together with the gusts of wind, threw the old man a few steps away. As soon as Mo Canghai managed to stabilize on his feet, tree roots suddenly grew out of the ground around him and entangled him up to the waist, immobilizing him. Chains appeared out of nowhere and tightened his hands tightly, as if they were going quartering him. But the old man did not release the sword from his palm.

Wang Ming, who had not initiated any action before, slowly approached Mo Canghai and said with feigned surprise.

"Did you really think you could overcome us alone?"

"I still think so!" Mo Canghai replied to him with a predatory grin and showed a purple pill clenched in his teeth, and then he immediately consumed it.

Wang Ming experienced an uncomfortable feeling in his heart at the same moment, and he immediately shouted to the others.

"Kill him! Now!"

Being closest to Mo Canghai, he acted most decisively and attacked first.

Aiming the sword at the immobilized old man, he was preparing to pierce his heart with it, but at the last moment old man miraculously managed to slightly move to the side so that Wang Ming's blow did not achieve the target. The blade of the sword passed through the chest and struck his lung, but did not strike the heart.

«Crimson Bell Seal!»

«Striking Stone Pikes!»

A moment later, a seal in the shape of a huge bell was about to fall on top of Mo Canghai, and stone spikes were already rushing out of the ground into his back from behind.

"It's too late!" Mo Canghai said faintly, but his voice sounded like a sentence in the ears of the others.

«Flame Storm!»

Lines of searing flame curled around Mo Canghai, pushing Wang Ming away and defended him from landed on him the martial techniques. Even the golden chains binding his hands were destroyed, and the tree roots were burned.

The freed Mo Canghai emitted a terrifying and powerful fiery energy around him. He created a flame in his palm and employed it to cauterize the wound on his chest and avoid blood loss.

"What's going on? Why did such a terrifying aura suddenly start emanating from him?! Almost on the same level as the Spiritual King! Did he suddenly breakthrough?" one of them exclaimed.

"No, but he swalowed some strange pill!" Wang Ming replied.

"This is a Rank 4 Spiritual Filling Pill! Not so long ago I managed to get it and all by a lucky chance, I did not expect it come handily to me so s... ha..." Mo Canghai suddenly coughed with a blood, and his face turned very red.

"You're an old fool if you think your flabby body can withstand the might of a Spiritual King! You're merely delaying the inevitable! At this rate, you will die without our participation! You better give up in a good way, and I'll leave your body with a whole corpse!"

"This old man is ready to die! I have long wanted to reunite with my beloved wife on the heavens! And you, Wang Ming? Are you prepared to meet your death?"

"Retreat! Until the effect of the pill runs out, even together we are not opponents for him! After the time of its action ends, he will be on the verge of death, then we will take care of him!"

"Do you think you can step on my land whenever you want and leaven it whenever you want? Like hell!"

«Flaming Prison!»

Flaming walls formed around the eight of them, including Mo Canghai, from all sides above and below, completely blocking their escape routes. They were locked in the same cage with a distraught Mo Canghai.

"This old man still has time in reserve, and I will use it to arrange a massacre and kill each of you! Your heads will represent a welcome gift to my beloved wife on the heavens, and I'll be supposed to start with you!" he said, glaring murderously at the man responsible for Mo Chen's death.

«Dissecting Fiery Stream!»

Mo Canghai whirled his sword and launched a wave of fire in the enemy, just like the previous time, only after consuming the pill, the strength of his flame increased tenfold.

"Help me!" The desperate cry of a man who had become a victim of Mo Canghai's righteous anger sounded.

«Earth Barrier!»

One of his accomplices demonstrated martial technique to help the man, but even the wall that rose from the ground in the blink of an eye could not protect him from the punishing fire. A stream of flame cut through the wall like tofu and struck the man.

The limited space in the cage did not allow him to escape, so he was forced to resist Mo Canghai's martial technique directly. However, even a desperate struggle with life on the line and with the help of the wind martial technique did not save him in any way. His figure drowned in the fire, burning alive under the heart-rending screams.

"Who's next?" Mo Canghai asked, taking a step forward towards the remaining enemies. However, as soon as he moved, he instantly fell to one knee and coughed up blood again. His face began looking even worse, now it was so scarlet and red-hot that it seemed as if he himself was being burned from the inside by a flame. In fact, that's exactly how he felt.

"Attack immediately! He had lost control of his inner energy!" Wang Ming shouted, encouraging his companions, but his face changed before they could barely do anything, because he saw Mo Canghai standing up against everything.

"Do you think so? Nonetheless i have enough fire to deal with all of you! Burn in hell for your sins!"

«Flame Storm!»

The flames around Mo Canghai began to swirl in a whirlwind, generating a firestorm that was growing every moment and preparing to engulf the entire space in the fire cage.

"Wang Ming, use the formation! Otherwise, we'll all be fried to coals here!"

"Damn it!" Wang Ming gritted his teeth and tossed up a disk rotating at high speed, which split into four parts in flight, three of which landed on the ground, leaving the last one hanging in the air. Lines of green light suddenly flew out of the separate parts, connecting with each other and forming a pyramid-shaped barrier around six of them.

A second later, the flames completely engulfed the fire cage, but they were unable to break through this protective barrier.

Wang Ming was forced to use a formation disk with a Rank 4 defensive formation installed in it. The rarity of such a disk even surpassed the rarity of the Spiritual Filling Pill eaten by Mo Canghai.

It was possible to be used only once, after which the disk fell into disrepair. It was acutely painful for Wang Ming to part with such a treasure, because in its own way it was a hidden trump card for him, which guaranteed him an extra life.

Now, because of the damn Mo Canghai, who did not want to die peacefully, he lost it.

After a minute, the flames enveloping the barrier from all sides began subsiding, and after a while it completely disappeared along with the flaming prison holding them back. Only the crazed old man was nowhere to be seen.

"Did he burn to the ground in his own flame?" one of them proposed a foolish question.

An unpleasant expression appeared on Wang Ming's face.

"What a nonsense! Naturally he escaped! Spread out and pursue him! We can't have lost Mo Canghai trace! As soon as you encounter him, then immediately attack! Presently in his an exhausted state it will not be difficult for you to kill him! Do not spare anything! If we allow him, leave right away, then we will suffer significant problems later!" Wang Ming replied irritably and was the first to disappear in search.

He is the person that Mo Canghai hates the most, and he is the one who risks the most if crazy old man manages to escape.

"I'll go after Mo Yuantian, in the future he may cause as much trouble as Mo Canghai!" said another one and point in another direction.

"Go ahead!" one of the remaining ones commanded, and they also scattered in other directions to find Mo Canghai, who in turn had already managed to leave the boundaries of White Tree City. With the hope in his heart that his son and his family were safe and unharmed, he rushed in the direction of the Hills Country.