Demonic Peak

Time passed quickly as the four men sat upon the back of the colossal crow, and the flapping of its mighty wings became like a rhythmic drumbeat to pass the time.

They flew a vast distance indeed, over great lakes that were tens of meters wide. Across great chasms that burrowed deep and across a mighty mountain range that divided the central plains and the Kingdom of Zi.

As Sha Ku flew further and further south, he found that the weather had become far warmer and the sun even seemed brighter.

Eventually, they even flew across an inland sea the size of a country itself!

Just like this, three months passed, seeing wonder after wonder, not stopping once. The group didn't need to eat, sleep or defecate. Qi Core practitioners and above can go years without eating, feeding off the Spiritual Energy of the Universe. Sha Ku, on the other hand, was getting a continuous supply of this energy through servant one and two who were taking turns intermittent-ly, injecting it into his body.

Sha Ku wasn't bothered by this though, instead, he was deeply immersed in the 'Heavenly Demon Soul' scroll. It was profound, the likes of which he'd never encountered before. If he were to grade it, it'd be even higher than his techniques, making him wonder two questions: Who wrote such a thing? And how did it get to a lower world?

Too many things were suspicious about this place, the myriad of things that were out of place for a lower plane couldn't help but raise Sha Ku's inquiries. Unfortunately for him, he lacked the power to investigate these thoughts… "In time thought." He whispered to himself.

As he was continuing to think further, he was suddenly given a sharp wakeup call, the piercing cry of the giant crow awoke him, they'd arrived!

In the distance, growing increasingly larger was a mountain range, surrounded by a hilly region, littered with all sorts of wildlife.

This mountain range was spectacular to behold, in total five peaks were stretching into the sky, each large enough to hold ten of the Yang Clan mountains!

"Here we are, the Spirit Sword Sect!" An Mo's grievous voice lightened, filled with delight.

"The five mountains, these have been our home for millennia, training, flighting, living…" An Mo sighed with delight.

"Why are there five peaks, not four?" Sha Ku suddenly interrupted An Mo's monologue, causing him to frown.

"Indeed, there are five. The smallest belongs to the Vanquishing Hall, justly named Vanquishing Peak. The next is out Demonic Peak after that is the Righteous Peak and then the behemoth – Elemental Peak!" An Mo pointed out four of the mountains, each bigger than the last, and the last dwarfing the first.

"What about the fifth?" Sha Ku pointed to the mountain in the centre of them all, with a titanic sword emerging from the tip, seemingly grander than the entire mountain itself.

"That's Spirit Sword Peak, the place where the Sect Master and Elders reside; it also includes the Prime Disciples of the Sect."

"Prime Disciples, what are they?"

An Mo smiled at this sentence as if saying, "You'll find out… in time."

"There will be no shortcuts when you join the sect; you'll have to join the lower demonic peak and work your way up." An Mo interrupted Sha Ku's train of thought.

"The lower peak, how does one join the upper and middle peaks then?"

"Excellent question. Cultivation or becoming proficient in a secondary skill."

"Oh, secondary skills?" Sha Ku said cunningly, wondering what sort of arts demonic peak practised.

"Rune forging and Demonisis, these are the secondary skills we practice."

Sha Ku felt a stark shiver fall down his spine, he knew what these things were, and they weren't good by any point of view, they'd sow terrible karma into the practitioner.

Rune forging, simple enough, all it is, is carving runes and inscriptions into armour or weapons. Not so bad? Well, how about tearing out the soul of a practitioner and shoving them in the rune to power it up?!

And better yet, a particularly cowardly rune forger could do something as despicable as harvest the souls of tens-of-thousands of innocent mortals, creating a devilish artefact!

Demonisis, now that was a different ballgame altogether. The process of extracting souls, tearing them out of the living practitioner, no remorse, no mercy! Taking that soul and twisting it within the hands of the Demonisis master, infusing it with demonic energy, causing an incomparable pain rushing throughout their very being!

Then after they've been through a fate comparable to an ordeal of karmic flames, there's only one path left, a sickening loyalty to their corrupter. Following their every order, possessing the bodies of the living at command and raising them like puppets, creating a dark army for the Demonisis Master!

Sha Ku knew of such things from his previous life… he'd done similar things in the past. Although with wailing souls whose mortal bodies were failing them.

"Eh Demonisis, nasty business." The voice from his purple lion ring emerged.

"I remember the Ashkaga Cult; they had a Super Demonisis Master as their cult leader… he created an army in the millions, none of them was weaker than a fallen immortal!"

"None of them were weaker than a false immortal? Millions?!" Sha Ku sent his thoughts in shock to the Yan Huang.

"Yes, not to worry though. He's dead now. Some man in a snow-white robe appeared one day, slaying legions upon legions with his mighty axe. Sauntering, he annihilated everyone in the sect, until he approached that old cult leader who was shaking in his boots… hehe," Yan Huang laughed.

"That evil old man, he was put under the headman's axe. I wish I could have been there to see it." The old man trapped in the ring chuckled, mischievously.

Thinking about his words Sha Ku couldn't help but be curious, to destroy a sect with a million False Immortal slaves, even if they were only puppets for souls would require a level of strength beyond that of an Immortal, or even True Immortal…

"Perhaps, a go-"

"Time to get off!" An Mo interrupted his train of thought, while Servant One pushed him off the top of the giant crow where they were sat.

In an instant Sha Ku found himself whooshing through the air, the fast winds burning his skin. The ground growing ever closer and closer, as the once small mountain from the skies grew larger and larger. A tingling feeling felt like pins sticking into Sha Ku's hands and feet, while the air pressure on his chest caused him to be unable to breathe!

"Fuck." He managed to let out in inexplicable horror.