Damned Healer

It was early morning when the gates of the Wilding Kin Sect opened and twenty thousand disciples slowly marched out. At the front of them all were Darian and his three loyal followers.

Eleven thousand were old sect members, with different cycle counts. Among them were Zaen and Marli, but every single one of them had been picked through an extremely strict selection by the Elders.

The group moved with the help of the Elders to a region on the Yang side of the Wild World. This time, they didn't wait until the last moment, since mid-level eruptions happened over a wide area.

In the past, when the current High Elders of the sect were still weak, they had to risk everything to steal a bit of energy from these eruptions, because it was nearly impossible for a single sect to claim it all.

In those attempts, 99% of them died, since you needed to succeed several times to reach the level they had. Because they survived, the 20 current High Elders and the Leader were people with survival instincts and above-average intelligence.

That's why, in this eruption, if they wanted to take everything, they needed to clear and control the whole area long before it happened. Luckily, this one was in an open, simple spot, between mountains.

The Wilding Kin Sect's army arrived within a few hours. At the site, four other sects were already holding position. When they saw the newcomers, everyone swallowed hard and grew tense.

"Wilding Kin Sect!" Suddenly, one of the High Elders roared seriously, "In the name of the nine founders of the sects, we must have a fair and honorable contest!"

"Oh? Really now?" A mocking voice echoed from the front of the army.

All eyes locked on Darian, who stepped forward, followed by the three youths.

A High Elder snorted harshly: "The fight over eruptions has always been fair, not the wild bloodbath you caused the last two times. Do you think you're the Emperor of this world, and that everyone has to submit to you or die?"

"Cut the cheap morality. I don't give a damn what you think of me. If you're pissed, come and get me. It'll be a good warm-up." Darian answered with a bloody gleam in his eyes.

"You…" The High Elder clenched his fists, furious.

Behind the army, the Elders of the Wilding Kin Sect were on edge. If all the sects attacked with full force now, the cornered sect would surely bare its fangs and burn all their resources. And that was exactly what nobody wanted at the moment.

"Why don't we do this in a fair way?" Someone from within those sects stepped forward. It was a slender woman with long bluish hair.

Seeing her, Eleri clenched her fists. That woman was a Heavenly Elemental Spirit born of water, just like her.

"What do you want?" Darian replied dryly.

She smiled faintly, meeting his gaze. For some reason she couldn't explain, she felt a closeness to him, along with discomfort at being on opposite sides.

"There are five sects who want this eruption. Even the weaker disciples deserve a chance to get a little. Since there are still a few hours left, why don't we settle it with a small fight? Each sect sends one representative. If you win, everyone else leaves. That way, nobody else has to die."

The woman spoke softly. Darian stared into her eyes… and only one thought popped into his head. Was she an idiot?

Darian had already shown he could kill a High Elder with ease. How could they beat him, even with four at the same level together? But…

He looked at the woman and noticed a genuine innocence and expectation in her. She added, "That way everything can be settled peacefully, right?"

Hearing that, Darian exhaled heavily, understanding. The people of the eight sects knew he had gathered many Heavenly Elemental Spirits and had sympathy for them. So, they had sent this not-so-bright woman, probably just an ordinary disciple. All to make him accept a proposal that, on paper, seemed fair.

It was rare for someone of her race to get this far, but that depended on luck and fighting talent, not so much on brains. That race was naturally powerful at birth, and if lucky enough to survive until adulthood, they could advance even without much cleverness.

Why did they want Darian to accept so badly? He'd find out soon enough.

As for that woman, she surely had no idea she was being used. Sadly, there were many Heavenly Elemental Spirits in the other sects who weren't to blame for anything.

"Fine, come on then." He said indifferently, waving his hand and stepping forward alone.

The High Elders of the four sects smiled faintly. They signaled for the woman to step back, and then four figures emerged from the enemy army.

Three were men, two beasts and one Fiendgod. The last was a tall Demoness with six wings, radiating a powerful aura.

The four calmly approached Darian, all with confident looks.

Darian gave a cold smile. These sects knew they had no chance, so they had set up a desperate gamble. They really thought he was just an arrogant Young Master who loved feeling powerful by crushing everyone alone.

They sent a woman from the race he clearly sympathized with, all to bait him in. It was an obvious trap, one a dumb arrogant fool would fall for, thinking nothing could beat him.

Did they want to catch him off guard? Darian thought, activating his ring and quickly sensing the energy of the four. It didn't take long for him to understand their plan.

At that moment, he pulled out a simple dagger, marked at the center of the blade.

Darian looked at the four and put on exactly the expression they expected.

"So? Come at me all together, that way I can wrap this up quick." He spoke slowly, dripping arrogance.

The four narrowed their eyes coldly, while everyone from the four sects was certain their plan had worked.

The Demoness spat, full of resentment: "You can already kill a High Elder, of course we'll attack together. But I still want to keep a bit of honor. Why don't you strike once first?"

Everyone waited for an even more arrogant reply, the kind you'd expect from a dumb Young Master. Obviously, someone like him wouldn't agree to strike first—he'd want to put on the biggest show possible.

But… Darian snorted, and the more powerful ones felt a subtle fluctuation of the winds.

Then, he vanished right before everyone's eyes.

"Careful!" A High Elder shouted, "Activate everything!"

*Pierce*

Suddenly, the Demoness felt blood rise in her throat. Behind her, a dagger had pierced straight into her waist, hitting a vital point.

Her eyes — and everyone else's — went wide. That was where the dantian and the primordial core were located.

[Almighty Law activated]

A window popped up in front of Darian, and the power kicked in.

The system acted straight in his favor. In a second, the Demoness felt her whole body go limp.

Darian yanked the dagger out without mercy, and she collapsed to the ground unconscious. A grayish mass floated in front of him, and with just a wave, it vanished into his inventory.

"How dare you!" one of the three finally roared.

All the chaos power inside him burned without hesitation. That was the sect's plan: they burned the resources from their diagrams to stuff these disciples full of power.

For others, it was impossible to notice that thing hidden inside them. But Darian caught it instantly and wiped one of them out... no, he actually stole all that chaos power for himself, feeling pretty damn pleased with the offering.

"Quiet." Darian turned coldly.

Suddenly, he seemed to teleport and appeared right in front of the guy who had shouted, slamming his fist into him violently.

*BANG!*

The sound of bones shattering echoed, but the man wasn't thrown back. The body defenses from burning primordial power were no joke. He didn't have time to fully activate it, but it was enough to hold on.

Without delay, in a second move, Darian drove his dagger straight into the man's dantian.

[Almighty Law activated]

"YOU BASTARD!"

The other two roared, their bodies pulsing with terrifying power. Everyone was shocked as they finally understood and recognized that abnormal strength.

It wasn't just a bit of chaos power, like what everyone usually had available — these kids had their cores completely filled!

Even someone on the level of a High Elder would have to be extremely cautious or risk being killed by people like that. It didn't last long since they were weak, but in that short window, those two were like unstoppable, invincible dragons!

Darian didn't move, and that was the precious moment they needed. It only took three seconds for them to fully activate everything and attack.

In that same second, the guy Darian had stabbed lost all his chaos power and passed out. Everything was stored in the inventory, and Darian turned to the other two, completely indifferent.

His eyes gleamed. The dagger's blade gave off a faint synchronized glow. With a light motion, he cut down at the enemy in front of him.

The High Elders smiled. Attacking head-on? Now that the two had fully activated everything, not even if ten High Elders attacked together could they scratch him. To them, Darian was already dead.

But...

*Slash!*

Right before everyone's eyes, that man was struck by the clean slash of the dagger. Then, they all watched his body get split in half in a spray of blood.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

Trying to block head-on against a weapon carrying a sharpening rune seal? Darian could only find such stupidity hilarious.

But then came the attack from the other one, which would definitely hit him.

"WATCH OUT!"

Marli, just behind him, cried out desperately. But before her voice even echoed, Darian had already made a calm, simple sidestep.

He didn't even look at the attack, just slipped past it like magic, making his opponent — a big, strong Fiendgod — strike nothing but empty air.

Then, his dagger slashed again.

*Slash!*

Another body was split in half, blood and gore scattering everywhere right before everyone's eyes.

A deathly silence filled the place.

All the Heavenly Elemental Spirits from the sect had their eyes shining. They were barely holding themselves back from screaming in excitement. But they restrained themselves, knowing Darian wasn't comfortable with that.

"Happy now?" Darian said flatly, staring at the High Elders. "Did you really think cheap tricks would work? Whatever."

Silence.

Suddenly, he pointed the dagger at all the High Elders, who were drenched in cold sweat. "That wasn't even a warm-up. Are you coming too?"

Darian was quite satisfied. Those idiots had just handed him a damn good gift for free.