The clash of weapons and the roar of flame turned the tranquil courtyard into a battlefield.
Kai moved like a force of nature—his blade a streak of light, the Ascendant Flame burning along its edge. Every strike he made scattered the enemy, every motion reinforced by the hard-earned strength of his trials.
The rogue cultivators fought with precision and venom, clearly trained to strike hard and fast. But they hadn't counted on one thing—
Kai's return.
Disciples rallied behind him. Encouraged by his presence, core students like Liang Chen and the spear-wielding Shen Mei moved to flank the attackers. The tide was turning.
Yet, amid the chaos, something felt wrong.
Kai's senses, sharpened by the Obsidian Path, caught a flicker of spirit energy—one that moved with too much familiarity.
A Crimson Phoenix technique.
Used… wrongly.
His eyes darted to the outer wall, where one of the defending disciples unleashed a flaming talisman—not at the enemy, but at the sect's own barrier runes, weakening them.
"Traitor!" Kai bellowed, already in motion.
The disciple turned at the shout, but too late. Kai's flame burst through the air, coiling around the traitor like a golden serpent. The spy screamed as the fire restrained him, burning away his illusions. His disguise shattered, revealing the dark robes of the Serpent Moon Pavilion beneath.
Gasps echoed.
"He's one of us—was one of us!"
The young man laughed bitterly even as the flames seared his skin. "Fools. The sect is already falling from within. Do you think your return changes the fate written in blood?"
Kai strode forward, eyes like cold steel.
"I change everything."
With a sharp twist of his palm, the flames surged once more—sealing the traitor's energy before knocking him unconscious. He turned to Liang.
"Bind him. We'll get answers once this is over."
More enemies fell. The attack was fierce, but it lacked coordination. As Kai's flame burned brighter, the enemy line finally broke, retreating into the mist beyond the outer walls.
Kai didn't pursue.
Not yet.
He knew this wasn't just a raid.
It was a message.
And behind that message was someone who knew the sect from the inside.
He returned to the courtyard, where disciples gathered—bloodied but alive, looking to him not as a peer… but as a leader.
"Brother Kai," Shen Mei said, her spear still dripping with spirit blood, "they targeted the defensive runes first. Someone from inside had to give them the sequence."
Kai nodded grimly.
"There's more than one traitor."
He turned to the sect's tower, where the elders once held their council.
He had seen darkness creeping into the sect's heart before.
Now it had names.
Faces.
And he was done being a student in its shadow.