Sovereign of the Nine Heavens

CHAPTER 4 — THE FIRST KILLING INTENT

The disciple attacking John never realized that he was moments away from death.

The iron pickaxe came hurtling toward the back of John’s skull with enough force to crush bone and scatter fragments across the frozen tunnel. Only instinct saved him. John twisted sideways at the last possible moment, and the weapon sliced past his face before crashing into the cave wall behind him. Sparks burst through the darkness as iron struck stone.

A furious curse echoed immediately afterward. “He moved!”

John staggered backward, boots scraping across the icy ground as three figures emerged from the shadows of the sect mines Outer disciples All armed All smiling.

Cold air drifted endlessly through the underground tunnels while dim spirit lanterns flickered overhead, barely pushing back the darkness. Jagged black crystals protruded from the cave walls like the teeth of some ancient beast, pulsing faintly with traces of spiritual energy.

The corpse mines The lowest labor grounds within the Sky Burial Sect Any disciple assigned there was considered disposable long before death finally claimed them.

John forced his breathing to steady as he recognized the men surrounding him Riven Holt, Markus Vale And standing between the Derek Vane.

The inner court disciple whose younger brother had nearly died during the previous night’s disturbance Derek rolled his shoulders slowly while spiritual energy flowed around his fists in faint ripples. Unlike the others, he wore the dark silver robes of the inner court, and that alone made him dangerous.

“You’re harder to kill than expected,” Derek said calmly.

John’s eyes shifted toward the tunnel entrance behind them Blocked Of course it was This entire ambush had been carefully planned from the beginning. The corpse mines sat far beneath the main sect grounds, isolated from the rest of the mountain. Screams rarely traveled far enough for anyone to care.

Markus smirked darkly as he cracked his knuckles. “You embarrassed Riven yesterday.”

Riven’s face twisted with lingering humiliation and rage. “You touched my spiritual core, you freak.”

John said nothing Deep inside him, the Void Scripture stirred uneasily Hungry It was always hungry now.

John hated that feeling more than he wanted to admit.

Derek stepped closer, his boots crunching softly against frozen stone. “Do you know how many favors I had to trade just to enter these mines personally?” he asked. “My family doesn’t appreciate seeing one of our blood humiliated by outer court trash.”

John finally spoke, though his voice remained calm. “I didn’t ask him to attack me.”

Riven spat onto the cave floor. “You drained me!” The spiritual crystals embedded in the walls flickered violently for a brief moment.

John noticed immediately The energy inside the cave reacted whenever his emotions shifted That realization unsettled him deeply Unfortunately, Derek noticed it too The inner disciple’s eyes narrowed slightly as suspicion crept across his face.“There really is something wrong with you.”

John’s fists tightened instinctively. “No,” the woman’s voice whispered softly inside his mind. Dangerous John ignored her at once. He still had not fully accepted that the voice was real Or perhaps he simply refused to.

Derek slowly drew a curved blade from his waist. Spiritual inscriptions shimmered faintly across the steel as blue light danced along its edge A spirit weapon Far beyond anything an outer disciple should possess. “You should feel honored,” Derek said softly. “Inner court disciples rarely dirty their hands personally.”

John glanced toward the blade, then toward the narrow tunnel walls surrounding them Three against one One armed spirit cultivator. Two outer disciples. And himself, a cripple carrying a forbidden scripture he barely understood. Fear twisted through his stomach like ice. Yet beneath that fear, something darker slowly surfaced. Excitement. The realization horrified him. “You’re smiling,” Markus muttered nervously.

John stiffened immediately. He had not even realized it himself.

Derek’s expression darkened. “Enough.” Spiritual pressure exploded outward without warning. The inner disciple moved first, faster than John had expected.

The curved blade slashed toward his throat in a brilliant silver arc. John barely managed to duck beneath it. The weapon sliced through strands of his hair before smashing into the cave wall behind him hard enough to shatter stone. Fragments exploded through the tunnel.

Pain erupted across John’s shoulder a second later as Markus drove a brutal kick into his side. The impact hurled him across the frozen ground.

Riven lunged immediately afterward, swinging his pickaxe downward with savage force.

John rolled away just before the weapon struck. The iron head slammed into the stone where his skull had been moments earlier, sending cracks spreading across the floor. “Hold him down!” Derek barked. The three disciples attacked together without hesitation. Brutal Precise Coordinated This was no ordinary beating. It was an execution.

John barely blocked Markus’s punch before Derek’s blade carved across his ribs from the side. Blood splashed across the cave floor. Instantly, pain exploded through his body.

John stumbled backward, breathing heavily as warmth spread beneath his torn robes. The disciples advanced slowly after him, confident. Because why wouldn’t they be? John was weaker Outnumbered Broken.

Derek wiped blood from his blade casually. “You should’ve stayed quiet,” he said coldly.

John’s vision blurred for a moment. Beneath his skin, the Void Scripture pulsed violently. Hungry Hungry Hungry. The nearby crystals dimmed as spiritual energy drifted unconsciously toward him.

John felt it entering his body. Warm, addictive. “No,” he whispered.

Derek frowned. “What?”

John’s breathing became uneven as the scripture writhed inside him like a living thing. It wanted more. The woman’s voice echoed softly through his mind. “They came here to cripple you.”

John gritted his teeth. “I know.”

“So why hesitate?” Markus charged him again.

This time, John reacted instinctively. His hand shot outward. The moment his fingers closed around Markus’s wrist, everything changed. Darkness exploded through John’s meridians.

Markus screamed instantly. Spiritual energy poured from his body in visible streams of pale light, rushing directly into John’s arm like water disappearing into a bottomless abyss.

John gasped sharply. The sensation overwhelmed him completely. Strength flooded through his damaged meridians like wildfire. The exhaustion crushing his body vanished instantly, while the wounds across his ribs began healing before his eyes.

Markus collapsed to his knees, shrieking in terror. “My spiritual energy!”

Riven froze.

Derek’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What the hell?”

John released Markus immediately. The connection snapped apart violently. Markus crashed face-first against the stone floor, trembling uncontrollably.

John stared at his own hand in horror. He could still feel the stolen energy moving inside him, alive. The Void Scripture devoured it, and somewhere deep within himself—

John enjoyed it. That realization terrified him more than the attack itself.

Derek recovered first. “KILL HIM!”

Spiritual energy erupted around the inner disciple as blue flames ignited along his blade. John moved instinctively, faster than before. The world suddenly felt slower around him, as though time itself had weakened. He sidestepped Derek’s slash by inches before driving his elbow into the disciple’s ribs. A sickening crack echoed through the tunnel.

Derek coughed up blood instantly. Shock flashed across his face. Impossible. An outer cripple should never possess this kind of strength.

Riven panicked completely. “He’s using a devil art!” Fear overcame loyalty immediately. Riven turned and ran deeper into the mines without looking back.

John barely noticed Derek attacked again, but this time, genuine fear burned behind his eyes. The curved blade descended toward John’s chest. This time.

John caught it barehanded. The entire cave fell silent. Even Derek froze. Black energy wrapped around John’s fingers while the spirit blade trembled violently in his grasp. Then cracks spread slowly across the weapon.

Derek’s face lost all color. “That’s impossible…” The blade shattered. Fragments of enchanted steel rained across the frozen ground as John stared at them in stunned silence. The strength surging through his body no longer felt human. The scripture pulsed again. Hungry, consume him.

John stepped backward immediately. “No.”

Derek looked up sharply. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth while fear finally replaced arrogance. “What are you?”

John wanted to answer, but he no longer knew. Derek suddenly reached toward a communication talisman hanging from his waist. John reacted without thinking. His hand closed around Derek’s throat. The Void Scripture awakened completely. Black veins spread across John’s arm instantly.

Derek screamed. Spiritual energy erupted violently as the devouring began. This time, John could not stop it. Energy flooded into him in endless waves. Cultivation Life force Fragments of memory Visions flashed behind John’s eyes in rapid succession. A noble family compound, Inner court lessons, Cruel laughter.

Derek beat weaker disciples simply because he could. Then, in pain, Terror Death Derek clawed desperately at John’s arm. “What… what are you?” His voice sounded broken now.

John’s golden-black eyes locked onto him coldly. “Someone you should’ve left alone.”

The scripture devoured everything. Derek’s body began shriveling rapidly as skin tightened against bone. His spiritual aura vanished completely, erased as though it had never existed.

John tried to release him. He couldn’t. The hunger consumed reason itself. Consume Devour Ascend. The whispers flooded his mind endlessly.

Derek’s screams weakened, then stopped. An oppressive silence swallowed the cave whole.

John staggered backward at last. The corpse collapsed onto the frozen stone floor with a hollow sound. John stared at it in horror. The body barely looked human anymore. Dry skin, sunken eyes, empty meridians. It looked as though something ancient and monstrous had fed on him completely.

John’s stomach twisted violently. He dropped to one knee and vomited onto the cave floor. “What did I do…?”

The woman answered calmly.“You survived.”

“That wasn’t survival!” His voice cracked sharply through the tunnel.

“I killed him!”

“He came here intending to cripple you permanently.” John slammed his fist against the frozen ground hard enough to split the ice. “I didn’t have to”

“Yes,” the woman interrupted softly.

“You did.”

John froze. The cold certainty in her voice unsettled him more than the corpse lying nearby. “This world was built by predators,” she continued quietly. “Weakness invites cruelty. Mercy invites death.”

John looked toward Derek’s body again. His hands trembled uncontrollably. Part of him felt sickened by what he had done. Another part, a darker and far more terrifying part, felt satisfied. The disciple who had looked down on him, the man who entered these mines believing John was beneath him, dead, gone, powerless.

John hated himself for how good that felt. Then footsteps echoed through the tunnel. Fast, panicked.

Riven’s terrified voice screamed from somewhere deeper within the mines. “Elder! Elder Morvane!”

John’s blood ran cold instantly. No, no, no, no. The pressure arrived before the elder himself. Cold spiritual energy flooded the tunnels like the arrival of winter death. Then Elder Morvane emerged from the darkness. The old man stopped walking. His pale eyes immediately landed on Derek’s corpse. A suffocating silence filled the cave. For the first time since John had known him—

Elder Morvane looked afraid. The elder approached the shriveled corpse slowly, his expression darkening with every step. Finally, he crouched beside the body and pressed two fingers against its hollow chest. His face became pale.

“No…”

Riven trembled nearby. “E-Elder… he killed him…” But Morvane barely seemed to hear him. His eyes remained fixed on the corpse. Recognition Horror Memory.

John saw all three emotions flicker across the elder’s face. Then Morvane slowly lifted his gaze toward him. For the first time, the elder no longer looked at John like worthless trash. He looked at him like a nightmare returning from the dead.