Throne Of The Forbidden God

Silent Sabotage continued

Argh! Damn it, don’t slash at me!" the guard being used as a shield screamed before his own comrade’s sword pierced his chest.

"Two," Ravian said flatly.

The two remaining elite guards began to feel real fear. They realized that the masked figure before them was no ordinary cultivator. His techniques bore no trace of the spirit energy known on the Astral Continent. Everything felt dark, cold, and lethal.

"Who are you, really? What technique is this?" the lead guard asked with a trembling voice.

"Something you created yourselves," Ravian answered.

He lunged forward, his speed increasing drastically. This time, he didn't hold back. The energy of the Hell Meridian exploded from his body, creating air pressure so heavy that the ship's timbers began to crack.

In two swift strikes, the last two guards fell with black burn marks on their necks. No blood flowed onto the floor of the hold; the hell energy had sealed the wounds by instantly cauterizing the flesh.

[Master, all targets in the hold have been neutralized. The harbor alarms are starting to sound. It is advised to leave the location immediately.]

Ravian turned toward the logistics supervisor, who was still sitting limply on the stairs, staring at the entire scene with a blank gaze. The man seemed to have lost his sanity from fear.

"Deliver this message to your master," Ravian said as he walked past the man. "Tell him that a shadow from the past has come to collect its interest."

"P-please... don't..." the man could only ramble.

Ravian ignored him. He leaped out through the hatch, landing on the main deck, which was now bustling with the sound of guards' footsteps from the dock. Dozens of torches were approaching the ship.

"Stop right there, bastard!" a guard commander shouted from the dock. "You’re surrounded! Drop your weapon!"

Ravian stood at the edge of the ship, his black cloak fluttering in the sea breeze. Under the reddish light of the torches, his black mask looked even more terrifying.

"You want to catch me?" Ravian chuckled, a laugh that echoed throughout the docks. "Feel free to try."

He leaped from the ship, but instead of landing on the dock, he seemingly vanished into thin air before his body touched the ground.

[Shadow Vanishing Technique activated. Success rate: one hundred percent.]

The guards ran to the edge of the dock, but they found no one. There were only the quietly rippling seawater and the 'Azure Wings,' which was now beginning to tilt under the weight of the corrosive energy within it.

"Quickly, check the hold!" the commander ordered.

A few moments later, hysterical screams were heard from inside the ship.

"Commander! Everything is destroyed! The artifacts... they’ve all turned to ash! The heavenly fragments are gone too!"

The commander sat limply on the dock. He knew what this meant. The economic loss suffered by the Arkana Clan tonight was not just material, but also the destruction of their long-term plans for Lin Xuelan’s ceremony. This was the greatest disaster in the last decade.

Meanwhile, several kilometers from the docks, Ravian stood atop an abandoned bell tower. He looked toward the harbor, which was now brightly lit by the fires starting to blaze from the ship.

"How do you feel, System? Did the fragment purification provide a power boost?" Ravian asked.

[Purification process complete. Master, the integration of the energy fragment has unlocked another one percent of the Hell Meridian. Your cultivation level is now stable at the Perfect Body Refinement Stage. Physical strength increased by twenty percent.]

"Still not enough," Ravian muttered. He touched his chest, feeling the warmth returning to its place of origin. "But this is a good start. By tomorrow morning, all of Azure City will know that the Arkana Clan is not an untouchable god."

[Master, the clan's economic department will soon realize the pattern of this attack. They will begin to suspect an internal enemy or a high-level spy.]

"Let them suspect each other," Ravian replied. "Suspicion is the slowest and most painful poison. They will start hunting their own shadows, while I will remain ahead of them, step by step."

Ravian sat leaning against the large, rusted bell. He closed his eyes, enjoying the gust of night wind that no longer felt so cold to him.

"One logistics route destroyed," he calculated. "Tomorrow, Kaelan’s reputation will be my target. I want to see how his arrogant face changes when he realizes his clan’s wealth is starting to evaporate like morning dew."

[Warning: Detection of a strong aura moving from the direction of the Arkana Main Tower toward the harbor. The energy signature is likely one of the Core Elders.]

"Let him see the ruins," Ravian smiled coldly. "Let him feel the helplessness I felt when I was at the edge of that abyss. The stronger they are, the harder they will fall."

Ravian stood up, pulling his hood deeper. He leaped from the bell tower, moving nimbly across the roofs of the houses where the residents were still fast asleep. The world might still consider him "trash" that was already dead, but for those standing at the peak, the darkness had only just begun to crawl up to drag them down.

"Xuelan... can you sleep soundly tonight?" Ravian whispered as he passed the luxurious residence of the Blue Cloud Sect in the distance. "I hope you have sweet dreams, because when you wake up tomorrow, the world you know will begin to crack."

The next morning, Azure City woke up in a state of uproar. News of the destruction of the Arkana Clan’s artifact shipment spread like wildfire. Merchants in the market, nobles in tea houses, and cultivators on the streets everyone was talking about only one thing: the "Dock Demon."

Inside the Arkana Main Tower, the atmosphere was incredibly tense. The economic meeting room was filled with elders whose faces were flushed red with rage.

"How is it possible for one person to destroy a shipment worth millions in gold without being detected by the ship's defensive formations?" barked a red-robed elder. "Are you all blind? Are all our elite guards just decorations?"

"Elder, the report says the energy used by the intruder was very foreign," a subordinate replied with a trembling voice. "There was no trace of spirit energy. Everything looked like... natural decay accelerated a million times."

"Lies! There is no such thing!" The elder slammed the table until it shattered. "This must be sabotage from one of the rival sects. Perhaps the Lin Clan or the Blue Cloud Sect is trying to pressure us before the alliance is ratified!"

"But Elder... Lin Xuelan also needs those artifacts for her ceremony. Why would they destroy their own future bride's property?" another chimed in.

Silence enveloped the room. The question had no logical answer. They began to stare at each other with deep suspicion, exactly as Ravian had planned.

In another corner of the city, at a small inn different from the previous one, Ravian was enjoying a simple breakfast. He listened to the conversations of the people around him with a smile hidden behind his teacup.

"I heard the Arkana Clan had to cancel several major contracts with out-of-town merchants because of last night’s incident," whispered a man at the next table.

"Not just that," his companion added. "Their trading shares on the Azure City exchange plummeted this morning. Many investors are starting to withdraw their capital for fear of the security of Arkana’s logistics routes."

Ravian set down his cup. "Just the beginning," he murmured softly.

[Master, the next mission is available: Humiliate Kaelan Arkana at the Azure Auction House. Reward: Mid-Level Hell Illusion Technique.]

"The auction house, huh?" Ravian leaned back. "Kaelan loves luxury goods. He’ll definitely be there to try and restore his clan’s reputation by buying rare artifacts."

[Probability of target presence: ninety-five percent.]

"Perfect. Let’s see how thick his wallet is after last night’s incident." Ravian stood up and walked out of the shop.

He passed the main street, which was now filled with Arkana Clan guard patrols looking frustrated. They strictly checked every stranger, but not one of them glanced at this youth in shabby clothes with a wide bamboo hat.

Ravian paused for a moment in front of a large announcement that had just been posted. It was a poster for Lin Xuelan’s status elevation ceremony. The woman’s beautiful face was displayed there, looking so holy and majestic.

"So beautiful," said a pedestrian who stopped beside Ravian. "She’s truly like a goddess descended from the heavens."

Ravian only stared at the poster with a flat gaze. "A goddess, huh?" he whispered to himself. "I hope she knows that a goddess’s throne is built upon a pile of corpses."

He continued his walk toward the elite trading district. There, a magnificent building with classical architecture stood proudly. That was the Azure Auction House, a place where wealth and power were displayed in the most vulgar way.

Ravian felt his pocket, where several high-level essence stones he had taken from the ship's hold last night were located. He had transformed the energy within them into something very valuable yet also very deceptive.

"Today, Kaelan will learn that not everything can be bought with money," Ravian said as he stepped into the auction registration hall.

In the crowd of wealthy people dressed in silk, Ravian looked like a black stain on white cloth. However, he didn't care. His eyes were fixed on only one area: the VIP balcony on the second floor, where a small flag with a blue sun symbol fluttered.

There, a young man in very luxurious clothes sat sipping wine, seemingly speaking in a high-pitched tone to his servants. That was Kaelan. His face looked slightly pale, perhaps from the stress of last night’s news, but his arrogance had not diminished in the slightest.

Enjoy your last moments as a rich man, cousin, Ravian thought. Because today, I will make you the most pathetic laughingstock in the entire Astral Continent.

Ravian approached the auction item registration desk. The clerk there looked at him with a dismissive gaze.

"What do you want to auction, beggar?" the clerk asked curtly.

Ravian didn't answer. He simply placed a small box on the table. As soon as he opened it, a purplish-black light radiated out, filling the room with an aura that was incredibly powerful yet calming.

The clerk’s eyes widened until they almost popped out of their sockets. "T-this... is this the legendary Dark Dragon Core?"

"It’s none of your business what it is," Ravian replied coldly. "Register this as the peak item for today’s auction. And make sure Kaelan Arkana knows that this item can only be bought for a fitting price."

The clerk trembled as he took the box. He knew that this item would change the history of today’s auction. He immediately ran toward the auction house manager, leaving Ravian standing calmly in the middle of the hall.

[Master, your plan is very risky. If Kaelan realizes that it is an item made by the Hell Meridian, he might attack you here.]

"He won’t realize it, System. His arrogance and greed will blind his eyes." Ravian walked toward a seat in the back of the hall. "He’s too desperate to prove that his clan is still strong. And that is his greatest weakness."

The auction bell rang, signaling the start of the main event. Ravian sat in the darkness, his eyes glinting with calculation. Up there, Kaelan began to pay attention to the items on display, unaware that in the darkest corner, the shadow of his demise sat smiling.

The stage was set. The trap was laid. And Ravian was ready to pull the string.

"Let the show begin," Ravian whispered as the auctioneer began to introduce the first item.