All the sound in the world was replaced with a high pitched shriek. Blinded by a sea of nothing but white Han Bei could barely see past the length of his arm, his senses in total disarray he struggled to even stand straight. Still, when he sensed that something flew in his direction, Han Bei dodged in a timely manner, his instinct sharpened in countless fights allowed him to react even when several of his senses were restricted. With the same precision, he dodged another object.

" The bastard must have good senses if he can still detect me in this mess." Han Bei's stomach twisted as he remembered the second thing that flew at him. It stood out in the white backdrop, like a drop of ink on an otherwise blank page. Seconds passed and nothing else was thrown his way. Soon sound and color returned to the world. When Han Bei tried to find Fang Ming his apprehension proved to be true. In the spot where Fang Ming just stood was nothing but a single corpse puppet that waved at him in a cheerful manner, or at least as cheerful as a dead body could be. Han Bei looked back to the undead horde and there among the white cloaks, he saw the black thing that flew past him.

Fang Ming clutched his injured shoulder when his eyes locked with Han Bei. His face instantly lit up. " Many thanks, fellow cultivator, had you not moved out of the way, I would have cracked open like an egg thrown against a cliff. " Fang Ming enjoyed seeing the brief tinge of regret on Han Bei's face when the latter figured out how close he was to ending the battle, but it was the young masters turn to be surprised next.

With the white light now gone, there was another barrier that surrounded the sect. One that was smaller, but also looked much sturdier.4 thick walls of light that reached up to the heavens encompassed the sect, cutting it away from the outside world. But Fang Ming's surprise didn't end there. The walls of the sturdy barrier gently rippled and 2 figures passed through from the outside. They flew through the air, each one surrounded by a colorful light, clearly they were higher realm experts. The only problem was, they were not experts from the Fang clan.

One of them was a muscular middle-aged man, with scarlet shoulder long hair, the other one was an elderly man with thick grey eyebrows and a shrewd face. Both of them flew to the square where Fang Ming and Han Bei had their battle. Once they got closer it became apparent that the pair returned from a battle of their own.  Their yellow robes now in tatters, various cuts, bites, and bruises decorated their bodies from head to toe. The old man, in particular, had a nasty wound on his side, that rotted away his flesh and gave off foul air.

Fang Ming felt pleased. " Hmph, this is what you get for tangling with the noble Fang Clan. " His mood further improved when he remembered that it wasn't just two experts that met his elders in battle during the initial clash. " And now only two pitiful pieces of meat remain, how tragic. " Of course, he didn't say what he thought out loud, neither did his face betray any joy or pleasure, he knew better than to incur the rage of a higher realm cultivator.

The middle-aged man briefly stopped above the square, gave both Han Bei and Fang Ming a glance. He then barked out an order in a strict manner, " Han Bei, to the hall, NOW! " And quickly flew to the same building where the disciples gathered beforehand while the older man silently followed behind him.

Han Bei helplessly called out, " But what about those that are still not here. There still should martial brothers and sisters hiding in their lodgings hoping for the storm to pass. And the ones that died, will we leave them to those fucking vultures? " The strict voice from before seemed to pass through solid matter as it answered Han Bei's plea, " I'm not going to repeat my order twice. "

Fang Ming could see his foe go through several different emotions in a matter of seconds: despair, helplessness, sadness, anger and in the end, setting on cold and hard determination.

Han Bei wrapped his palm around his fist, bowed in the direction of the central temple, and shouted, " MASTER, THIS DISCIPLE REQUESTS TO STAY BEHIND AND DEFEND THE HONOR OF THE SECT! "

The sturdy walls of light surrounding the sect trembled and creaked. From time to time large cracks spread through the barrier before quickly the walls resealed themselves. Someone very obviously was trying to get inside.
The strict voice from before returned again, now much less patient, " It is your duty both to me and your fellow disciples to return RIGHT NOW." 

But Han Bei didn't move a muscle, his head still bowed down, fists clenched. Han Bei wouldn't budge until he heard what he wanted. The strict voice finally relented. " Good, good do whatever you want. I just hope you can deal with the consequences of your actions. " Han Bei silently muttered, " That's what I was planning to do from the beginning. " Before lifting his head.

*CLAP*
*CLAP*
*CLAP*

Fang Ming clapped his hands again, but this time his face of mockery replaced with one of genuine respect. " Wow, I must say I never expected to see a man willing to face certain death and in this backwater sect of all places. You convinced me, I'm going to turn you into my masterpiece, it shall be your greatest honor to become my greatest puppet. "

Faced with such an honor Han Bei simply sneered, " Young master stop daydreaming after I'm done with you won't be capable of making much of anything. " Red madness hid in Han Bei's eyes and Fang Ming felt a chill pass him.

Fang Ming watched in shock as his foe underwent a small transformation. Han Bei's lively brown hair gradually turned to a dead grey and the yellow qi that surrounded him now turned to an ominous scarlet. Fang Ming took a step backward as Han Bei's cold gaze fell upon him. " You spilled so much blood tonight, so it shouldn't matter if spill a bit more, right? "

While his foe still gathered power, Fang Ming commanded the solitary puppet that threw him beforehand, to sneak attack Han Bei. With machine-like precision control by Fang Ming, the puppet attempted to pierce its arm through Han Bei's chest and rip out his heart.

Without even looking Han Bei swayed to the side in a lazy manner, easily avoiding the attack. With an indifferent look on his face and with a chop of his hand he severed the pale arm that tried to take his life. Unwilling to stop Han Bei continued the assault, red Qi gathered onto his arms as he bisected the corpse first horizontally then vertically. He allowed the chunks of meat to fall to the ground, after a few seconds there was no movement, no signs that the puppet might rearrange or heal itself. With a mad gleam in his eyes, Han Bei faced the young noble and asked, " Is that it? "

Fang Ming's already pale face paled even more, as he received backlash from having his puppet destroyed. It felt like a minuscule part of him had died, but he couldn't afford to treat his injuries. Before him stood not a man but beast, one that would attack at the first sign of weakness. " The bastard must have sacrificed his vitality to gain so much power, currently he feels dangerously close to the boundary of the 3rd realm, maybe even past that. No way in hell can he keep that level of power. He is bound to burn out, I just have to hold out till then. " Fang Ming smiled, he felt excited to have an uphill battle for once.

Han Bei, on the other hand, was getting impatient. " If the young master isn't coming anymore, allow this one to make a move instead. " Scarlet qi gathered above his hand forming an apple-sized orb of light, he closed his fist around it and tossed it with all his strength.

Fang Ming pupils shrank, he immediately commanded his puppets to create a wall of bodies in front of him, seconds seemed to stretch out to hours, as he waited for the inevitable impact.

*BOOM*

With an explosion of scarlet light, Fang Ming's little horde was pushed back leaving deep marks on the ground and several puppets received various levels of injury. The one puppet that received the blow directly had it the worst, its arm was blown off down to the shoulder, leaving behind only torn flesh and jagged bones, as if an angry giant had taken a bite out of it. The damage was not as bad Fang Ming expected, yet his expression froze as he saw Han Bei prepare another scarlet orb.

*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*

Foul flesh and pale limbs scattered through the air as the wall of undead held against Han Bei's relentless barrage. Each attack pushed them back as one orb after another tore them to pieces and their numbers slowly dwindled. Pain from backlash wrecked Fang Ming body as blood seeped from all of his orifices, yet behind a cover of blood, his eyes still burned with excitement.

Han Bei's irritation only grew as he didn't deal as much damage as he expected. " Damn turtle." 7 corpse puppets still remained, torn up and injured but they still stood strong. " If this continues I will run out of time.  We'll decide this in close quarters then. " Ground beneath him shattered and his figure blurred.

Fang Ming's pupils shrank at the increased speed of his foe and before he could react Han Bei appeared in front of the wall of dead bodies immediately ready to strike.

*POOOW*

With scarlet light Han Bei's palm tore through one of the puppets like it was made of paper, after he destroyed the first of his roadblocks he counted out loud how many obstacles remain until Fang Ming's fate would be in his hands.

" Six. "

Fang Ming quickly launched a counter-attack, his puppets usually precise instruments of death, now could only awkwardly swing their arms through the air, their foe always just outside their reach. Another puppet had its head crushed like an apple yet it still soldiered on. It attempted to grab onto Han Bei and slow him down, but he effortlessly sent it flying with a brutal,bone-breaking kick to the chest.

" Five. "

Han Bei created another orb and blasted a corpse that tried to grab Fang Ming and flee, Only a severed arm still latched to the young master's sleeve remained. Han Bei's body screamed in pain still unadjusted to his new level of power. It felt like scarlet Qi tore him apart as much as his foes.

" Four. "

With a well-placed elbow strike, Han Bei smashed a corpse puppet into the ground, he could feel his vitality fade, he had to hurry up.

" Three. "

A corpse puppet sailed through the air crashing into one of the distant buildings.

" Two. "

A corpse puppet lay unmoving, its body torn in 2.

" One. "

Despite the pain, a smile spread across Han Bei's face, for victory was close at hand, and he will tear through any obstacles that still stood in his way. Coated in scarlet light Han Bei unleashed a torrent of blows upon the last puppet, the scarlet Qi spread throughout the puppet's body destroying it inside out. Its body broke apart until only unrecognizable pieces of rotten meat remained.

" Uaah. " Fang Ming fell to his knees while his mouth filled with blood. He shivered as backlash ravaged his body. With no strength to stand up he could only kneel and stare at the ground.

In a slow manner, Han Bei walked over and stood in front of Fang Ming. " It was a great battle, young master. " Fang Ming responded in a weak voice. " Yes, it was. " There was a tense silence between the two as Han Bei stretched out his hand, ready to wrap his finger around Fang Ming frail neck. " Unfortunately this isn't just a spar, and there will be consequences. " Fang Ming looked up his expression sad and disappointed yet his next word didn't match his facial expression. " Yes, such a shame that you lost. "

Before Han Bei could question anything an invisible force smashed onto him, his knees buckled, and the next second he was on the ground. Surprised and shocked he craned his neck with great effort, and only then he noticed that the second barrier protecting the sect was gone, and there were several men in black cloaks floating above him.

He could only mutter a single "Fuck" before he was lifted from the ground and smashed back down again like he was some sort of a toy in hands of a giant.

*BAAM*
*BAAM*
*BAAM*

A dust cloud rose into the air as Han Bei was smashed against the ground, again and again, creating a small crater. From there cracks spread and destroyed what little there was left of the sect. The power he gained from his vitality faded. With no protection left his bones broke and organs ruptured. The attacks only stopped when he was halfway over the yellow springs. Barely breathing and drowning in his own blood he could only hope for a quick death.

The doors of the central temple opened and Fang Ming's younger brother walked out. " There's nobody there. Nothing but a broken teleportation formation. "

" Doesn't matter."  Under the eyes of his elders, Fang Ming crawled beside Han Bei. " I already found everything worth having in this trash heap. " He got as close as possible to Han Bei and then gently whispered into his ear, " Don't worry I'll be sure to add a little bit from all your martial brothers and sisters when you become my masterpiece. "

Han Bei didn't retort he feebly looked around the place he recently called his home and the dead bodies that just this morning called him senior brother.

" Haaaa." Han Bei let out a single forlorn sigh, he felt anger, fear, betrayal but not regret, he would not regret his path, and if given a second chance he would make the same decisions, he simply closed his eyes and made peace with his choices. If his path led to hell so be it.

And so years would pass and rumors would spread of Fang Ming and his new fearsome puppet.