The transition through the portal was disorienting. Space warped, and gravity returned with a punishing slam.
Mo Tian, Yan Luo, and the unconscious Ye Chen tumbled out of the rift, landing on the soft grass of the Azure Cloud Sect's staging area.
Around them, hundreds of other survivors from various sects were appearing. Some were cheering, kissing the ground. Others were weeping for the fallen.
"We made it!" a disciple sobbed. "We survived!"
Mo Tian lay on his back, feigning exhaustion. But his eyes were wide open, scanning the perimeter.
The staging area was a large valley surrounded by the encampments of the participating sects. Flags of the Iron Fist Sect, Violet Sword Sect, and Azure Cloud Sect fluttered in the wind.
But standing in the center of the valley, blocking the path to the camps, was a phalanx of fifty cultivators.
They wore pristine white robes embroidered with golden clouds. Their faces were covered by white veils. They radiated an aura of holy, blinding light.
"The Heavenly Dao Sect?" An Iron Fist elder frowned, stepping forward. "Why are the Enforcers here? We are welcoming our disciples back."
The leader of the white-robed figure—a tall man whose aura felt strangely familiar to Mo Tian—stepped forward. It was Gu Sha, the Blood Devil Emissary, disguised.
"The Trial Grounds were corrupted," Gu Sha announced, his voice amplified by a sound array. "We have detected a massive Demonic infestation. By the order of Heaven, all survivors are to be purged to prevent the spread of infection."
"What?!" The sect elders gasped. "Purged? You mean executed? These are our children!"
"They are carriers," Gu Sha raised a hand. A ball of white light formed. "And the Heavenly Dao allows no stain."
"Purge."
The fifty white-robed figures raised their hands.
Beams of white light shot out.
But when the light hit the survivors, it didn't burn like holy fire. It rotted them.
"AAAAHH!"
An Iron Fist disciple screamed as his skin melted off his bones. The "Light" was actually highly compressed Corrosive Blood Qi, disguised by a simple illusion layer.
"They are attacking! Defend the disciples!"
Chaos erupted.
The elders of the minor sects charged, but the "Heavenly Dao" enforcers were fast. They moved with suicidal recklessness, detonating themselves when cornered to spread a red mist that dissolved spiritual shields.
Mo Tian watched from the ground, shielding his face with his sleeve.
"Beautiful," he whispered. "Ghost One has trained them well. They fight like fanatics."
"We have to move!" Yan Luo grabbed Mo Tian and the unconscious Ye Chen. "They are killing everyone!"
"This way!" Mo Tian pointed to a narrow ravine.
As they dragged Ye Chen toward cover, a massive pressure descended from the sky.
"INSOLENCE!"
The clouds parted. A giant hand made of blue energy slammed down, crushing ten of the fake enforcers instantly.
An old man with long white eyebrows descended. He wore the real robes of the Heavenly Dao Sect. He was floating, his aura warping the air around him.
Elder Xuan (Nascent Soul - Early Stage).
"Who dares impersonate the Heavenly Dao Sect?!" Elder Xuan roared. "You use Blood Arts disguised as Light! You are Blood Devil filth!"
Gu Sha, standing amidst the slaughter, looked up at the Nascent Soul powerhouse. He didn't run. He smiled behind his veil.
"The Blood Devil?" Gu Sha laughed, ripping off his white robe to reveal the crimson armor underneath. "No, old man. We are the Karma you forgot to pay!"
Gu Sha crushed a jade token in his hand.
"Blood Sacrifice Formation: Detonate!"
The remaining forty fake enforcers didn't attack Elder Xuan. They attacked themselves. They plunged their weapons into their own hearts.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
They exploded into pillars of blood mist. The mist didn't dissipate. It coalesced into a massive, crimson rune in the sky.
The Mark of the Blood Monarch.
The rune pulsed, sending a shockwave of corruption across the valley. It infected the surviving disciples, staining their meridians with demonic energy.
"No!" Elder Xuan waved his sleeves, trying to disperse the mist. "They are contaminating the survivors!"
In the chaos, Mo Tian smiled.
The corruption wasn't fatal. It was just... incriminating.
Now, every survivor of the trial carried the aura of the Blood Devil. The Heavenly Dao Sect would have to quarantine them, investigate them, and treat them like criminals. The trust between the sects would be shattered.
"Masterpiece," Mo Tian thought.
He looked at Ye Chen, who was groaning in his sleep. The corruption mist settled on Ye Chen's skin, seeping into his cracked foundation.
"And a little gift for you, Hero," Mo Tian whispered.
Elder Xuan looked down at the carnage. The fake enforcers were dead. The survivors were tainted. The reputation of the Heavenly Dao Sect—since the attackers wore their robes initially—was tarnished by confusion.
"Azure Cloud Sect!" Elder Xuan barked at the trembling elders. "Gather your disciples! This valley is under quarantine!"
Mo Tian slumped his shoulders, putting on his "terrified victim" mask.
"It worked," he whispered to Yan Luo. "We survived."
Yan Luo looked at the blood-soaked valley, then at the white robes of the attackers.
"Is nowhere safe?" she whispered, her voice hollow.
"Only in the dark," Mo Tian replied. "Only in the dark."