The night in the City of Chaos was never truly silent. But tonight, it was unusually tumultuous. The flames at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion had been extinguished, but thick pillars of pitch-black smoke still billowed into the sky, carrying the acrid stench of charred wood and burning flesh. News of the earth-shattering melee and the mysterious disappearance of the Demon General Medallion swept like a tempest through every alley, tavern, and gambling den of this lawless stronghold.
The power dynamics in the open-air market had been drastically reshuffled. The Crazy Sand Gang had suffered heavy casualties, and the Phantom Shadow Pavilion was forced to temporarily pull back its forces. The Black Dragon Stronghold, despite preserving their strength, had become the prime suspects in the theft of the supreme treasure, turning into the target of countless smaller, opportunistic factions. The Myriad Treasures Pavilion, once a symbol of boundless wealth, was now nothing more than a pile of ruins and ashes.
A chaotic chessboard with no victor.
And the one who had leisurely walked away with the entire net had long since vanished from the mortal realm, as if he had never existed.
Within a small courtyard in the blacksmithing district, Tran Kien sat cross-legged in the darkness. He had been here for three days. For three whole days, he had not stepped out the door. The mute man, Elder Ve's loyal gatekeeper, brought him food and water daily, then silently departed without a single word exchanged.
Tran Kien was not cultivating. He was digesting.
Within his mind was the complete legacy of the Blood Hand Demon General: an overbearing demonic cultivation art named the "Blood Demon Heaven-Devouring Art", a vicious saber manual known as the "Asura Blood Slaughter Saber", along with countless combat experiences and demonic secret arts.
Tran Kien had no intention of cultivating these. His Primordial Chaos Qi was upright, brilliant, and unyielding—completely incompatible with demonic arts. However, he used his strategic mindset and analytical abilities to dissect them.
"Know the enemy and know yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat." He wanted to thoroughly understand his enemies, to comprehend the Demonic Path, in order to find ways to counter them.
The Asura Blood Slaughter Saber manual, on the other hand, brought him no small amount of enlightenment. It was ruthless and treacherous; every single stance was aimed at the most lethal vulnerabilities. It was the complete antithesis of his Saber Intent—Hundredfold Tempered. But when he used his own righteous saber intent to analyze and "temper" those wicked stances, he discovered a new path. His saber art didn't have to be merely tyrannical and upright; it could also incorporate the unpredictable and treacherous nature of the demonic path, yet be executed with a righteous aura.
Righteous and Demonic, sometimes, were separated by merely a single thought.
But the greatest harvest of all was the method to summon the army of Blood Fiend Guards.
Back in the day, before his death, the Blood Hand Demon General did not merely seal a remnant soul within the medallion. He had also used a secret art to plant a "Blood Soul Seal" into the bloodlines of his most loyal Blood Fiend Guards. As long as the holder of the Demon General Medallion used their own blood to activate it, they could sense the locations of the survivors and command them.
Tran Kien did not hesitate. He knew this was the only path to building his own faction.
He bit his fingertip and squeezed a drop of fresh blood onto the purified Demon General Medallion. The blood, carrying Dragon Qi, quickly seeped in. The black wooden medallion gave a slight tremor as an invisible, profound connection was established.
Within Tran Kien's mind, a blurry map materialized. Upon it were over twenty crimson specks of light scattered everywhere, some near, some far. Each speck of light represented a surviving Blood Fiend Guard.
He focused his mind, seeking out the closest speck of light. It was located in a mountain range about five hundred li north of the City of Chaos, a place named Black Wind Ridge, infamous as the lair of a ferocious bandit gang.
A Blood Fiend Guard who formed his own bandit gang after his master's death? Tran Kien thought inwardly. Not bad. At the very least, he is someone with capabilities.
The target was set. The plan was formulated. Now, he needed a new identity. The name Tran Kien was far too prominent; he could no longer use it. He needed a name that would command fear and respect in this chaotic world, a name that could represent the imminent army of Blood Fiend Guards.
He looked at the Demon General Medallion in his hand. The bloody character "Sát" (Kill) had vanished, leaving behind an empty space.
He pondered for a long time. Then, he used his own Primordial Chaos Qi, condensing it at his fingertip, and carved a new character into that empty space.
The character "Vô" (Void).
It was not "Vô" as in nameless, but "Vô" as in the eternal void. Formless, shadowless, self-less. A single character, "Vô", yet encompassing the myriad phenomena of the universe. It represented his new identity: one who came from nothingness, with an unknown origin. It also represented his future philosophy of action: remaining unseen, operating from the shadows. And it was a warning to his enemies: those who stood against him would ultimately return to the void.
From this moment forth, within the martial world, there would be no more Tran Kien.
There would only be The Faceless Lord (Vô Diện Tôn Chủ).
On the fourth night, while the City of Chaos was still in an uproar over the fire at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, a black-robed figure wearing a bamboo hat quietly left the blacksmithing district and headed toward the northern gate. The mute man remained standing there; he did not see him off, merely bowing his head in silence.
Tran Kien—or rather, Faceless—did not turn his head back. He blended into the crowd, stepped through the gate adorned with the magical beast's skull, and walked into the endless night to the north.
A new journey—a path to subdue the most ferocious of tigers and forge a mighty faction from the shadows—had officially begun.