Bing Yuxia watched speechlessly at the table, which was now, for the most part, colored a deep red. Not a single drop of blood had landed on herself throughout the whole ordeal. Who she had sensed and thought to be a mere mortal had….. What in the world? In particularly the strangest way possible, caught experienced cultivators at the Warrior Canopy stage by complete and utter surprise and slaughtered them efficiently in under a minute.

 

And then in the confusion, he had easily dispatched the head cultist of sorts, a haggard frightening woman at the early Heavens Primal stage with a blast of lightning and a gruesome strike to the head. An ordinary human with the ability to wield immense strength along with blood and lightning… A formidable opponent to say the least.

 

She watched in curiosity as he waved his sword about in the air, blood splattering about as he retched. Seemed that this guy was more of the cleanly type. An eccentric figure to be sure. Her lips curved a little in amusement, though her eyes were still filled with a bountiful amount of confusion.

 

But…. Yuxia looked towards the doorway, which in the depths of the shadow-blanketed night, seemed quite eerie. There was still something lurking outside.

 

==========

Yun Xie slowly stepped onto a still partially intact table, groaning a little as the giant stab wound upon his chest leaked blood.

 

<Physique: Zombieman>

 

He felt his body tingle coldly and watched as his skin began to pale dramatically. Below upon his chest, the wound began to mend itself, skin bones, and flesh squelching and straining as they mended together perfectly.

 

The customers watched in both horror and fascination as this happened, not daring to even breathe.

 

Looking down upon them, Yun Xie began to speak:

 

"Listen here, everyone~ If you couldn't tell, the tavern is in quite some disarray after a small commotion occurred. In this chaotic mess, a few friends sadly perished due to… Who knows what."

 

"But those are the minor details. As much as I don't want to bring it up, let's talk about the…. The small part that led to me stabbing myself. To make things clear, we are in a World Of Cultivation, with many legends and mysteries."

 

"That weird voice that came from my general direction was one of these mysteries, and not from my vocal cords. In fact, it was something much more sinister…. Of a terror beyond your imagination. Let us just leave it at that."

 

"But before I leave, there is something I must say-"

 

Yun Xie stood on the blood-drenched table, corpses, and organs littering the floor below him in a banquet of gore and blood.

 

The various customers, be they lavishly dressed to ragged cloth felt sweat trickle down their necks.

 

A blinding flash filled the room.

 

===========

 

Two Minutes Earlier….

 

A singular cultist made his way out of the tavern, unheeded by the bloody missiles felling all of his comrades. Below his hood, those eyes appeared…. Soulless. As if he had been possessed.

 

Taking a slow look around, the cultist called out into the night with his gnarled jagged teeth in that scratchy spindly voice of his.

 

"Gather, one of our hollowed Cult!"

 

As soon as he said, thirty or so figures appeared around the seemingly possessed cultist. At the head, a lanky hooded figure, wielding long oriental daggers in both hands spat.

 

"Gu Yitang! You are a member of the assault squadron. Your disobedience from our Sacred Lord's command shall be met with death if not justified… Tread carefully."

 

The now revealed Yitang took a quick glance back, before cupping his hands.

 

"The Commander has decreed it be to send forth a message with haste in the success of our mission. At the moment, our comrades are bathing in the glory of our success and removing all remaining…. Ants."

 

The lanky figure growled in distaste. The leader of this team charged with the capture of the "key" and his companion was a psychotic all-powerful witch of sorts that was not to be trifled with. Everyone obeyed her, as she was of the third highest cultivation among the whole Cult.

 

"Tch. Any remaining orders?" He said in annoyance, clenching his fingers along the dagger hilts as bloodlust and madness rose in his mind.

 

"We are to escort out in arrowhead formation. That was all she said. Wait in the front of the building."

 

Gu Yitang had one last bow of acknowledgment, before he lunged off into the distance, disappearing into the plains, leaving the rest of the cultists outside.

 

Within the tavern, agonizing screams of pain and suffering rang out as people were cut down and tortured in agony.

 

The lanky cultist raised his hand, barking orders as the group formed an arrowhead. Their commander was an eccentric hag to be sure. He would reach her position one day… a long spindly beetle scuttled up and into his hollowed left eye.

 

But for now, they waited for the cultists to leave the tavern triumphant. With the "Key", they would seize control of their ancestor's great legacy and truly become a monstrous Cult unlike any other.

 

=========

 

Meanwhile….. (Present Time)

 

"Gu Yitang" peeked out of the grassy brush, staring at the orange glow of the tavern and the unwavering silhouettes of the cult formation. Perfectly set up.

 

Nearby, crickets chirped frantically throughout the grass, and the sliver-moon gave a luminous silver glow over the havoc-ridden tavern.

 

But….. if one was to look ever so closely, it felt as if something was off. There was something about the tavern that just did not seem normal.

 

It was the most distinct ripple that even the skilled battle-hardened cultists and their parasites could not sense.

 

<Cursed Technique: Barrier>

 

That had been the simple set-up to deal with any… Suspicious patrolling cultists who felt something was off. There were certain technicalities and such to creating a stalwart barrier, so Yun Xie messed around for a while and got it working.

 

With his unorthodox and rather scuffed methods, he'd improvised. It had been a tad bit derailed by the whole…. Voice fiasco, but everything was now in place. He'd dealt with the cultists inside with a bit of blood, as for the ones outside, he'd lined them up just perfectly using the cultist group's overconfidence and a brainwashed member.

 

All he had to do was just blow these guys away and create a dramatic, climactic ending. Completely and utterly planned.

 

"Gu Yitang" brushed aside some dirt off his sleeves as he raised his right arm, index and middle finger pointing out straight.

 

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

 

<Full-Nelson Special Beam Cannon>

 

---

 

I tried to do cringe cultivator talk. Sort succeded? Dunno.