Shen Kai and the three elders climbed the wall with purpose, fully aware that fifteen hundred disciples followed at their backs.
Boulders came crashing down from above — and each time, the elders moved to meet them, shattering the rocks mid-air before they could reach the disciples below. A single hit would mean death, or a fall that amounted to the same thing. But for the four elders, this was manageable. Their martial realms were high — they had reached the Martial Peak, the stage at which a warrior's body becomes as hard as stone, where Qi flows freely into weapons and strikes carry the weight of mountains. The boulders were a problem for lesser fighters. Not for them.
Shen Kai stepped forward, his sword moving like a striking serpent. A single slash split two massive boulders clean in half — but even then, the shattered pieces kept falling, tumbling toward the disciples below.
He gritted his teeth and looked up toward the peak.
That was when he saw him.
A figure dressed entirely in black stood at the summit, watching in perfect calm. Their eyes met — and the man gave a faint smile. Not mocking. Prideful. Almost amused.
"One sadistic bastard…" Shen Kai muttered.
"What is it?" Elder Yu asked.
"Nothing. Stay focused."
Elder Yu snorted. "Don't interfere. You specialize in cutting — leave the boulders to us."
With that, she launched herself into the air, a massive hammer in her grip.
"YAAAA!"
One swing. A falling boulder exploded into dust.
The disciples below went quiet for a moment — then broke into murmurs.
"She's one of the strongest in the entire sect, second only to the Sect Leader…"
"With her here, we don't need to worry about the boulders at all."
Another elder laughed as he leapt in, sending a boulder spinning off the path with a kick.
"Hahaha! I'm not letting you have all the fun!"
Elder Yu sighed. "This is not the time to play."
"Agreed," said Elder Bao Can, driving his spiked mace into another boulder and shattering it on impact.
Watching the three elders work, the disciples felt a swell of something close to pride.
The Black Serpent Sect was only twenty years old. Young, as sects went. But it had been built by people like these — the Sect Leader, the Guardian Elders — and because of them, it had grown into something that could not be easily broken.
With the elders clearing the path, Shen Kai took command, directing the disciples upward in tight formation.
Even so — by the time they reached the peak, more than three hundred disciples were gone.
* * *
"They've already made it up — stop the boulders and prepare for battle!" a rebel commander called out, watching Shen Kai crest the summit.
At his word, the rebels shifted — boulders ceased, weapons were drawn.
Shen Kai scanned the peak the moment he stepped onto it.
His eyes found the man in black again.
They outnumbered the rebels by roughly two hundred. And yet — something felt wrong. The rebels were too calm. Too still. They did not look like men bracing for a fight on two fronts.
If Mo Xuan's ambush was coming from behind, these rebels should have split their forces — some to hold the front, others to prepare for the rear attack. But their numbers were all here. Undivided.
They knew. Or they weren't afraid.
Either way, something wasn't right.
Then — movement.
A rebel lunged from the edge, driving a spear through a disciple's head as he crested the wall.
No time to think.
Shen Kai surged forward—
WHOOSH.
An ice crystal shot toward him at blinding speed. He barely got his sword up in time, deflecting it — and looked up.
A girl stood ahead of him, dressed in black. Her hair was white. Her face was almost unearthly — still, sharp, like something carved rather than born.
Shen Kai's expression hardened.
She's strong. At least on my level.
"Move aside," he said coldly. "If you don't want to die."
She said nothing.
Three ice crystals formed from the air around her and launched themselves at him simultaneously.
He deflected the first, rolled under the second, and cut through the third with a clean serpent-slash. He landed in a low stance and looked at her again.
Yeah. She's dangerous.
Someone landed between them.
Elder Yu.
She glanced back at Shen Kai. "Leave her to me. You're the commander — go do your job."
Shen Kai hesitated for only a beat, then nodded.
"Be careful. She's not easy."
He turned and ran.
Behind him, the girl finally spoke — her voice low and cold.
"Who gave you permission… to leave?"
Another wave of ice launched toward his back —
— and Elder Yu stepped in, crushing it with a single blow.
She smirked.
"Why don't you play with me instead… little missy?"
The girl — Wrath — looked at her.
And then they collided.
Their battle erupted across the peak with terrifying force, each exchange sending shockwaves through the air around them.
* * *
Shen Kai, meanwhile, had spotted trouble.
A group of rebels was moving to cut down a disciple still hauling himself over the wall — exposed, vulnerable, not yet on solid ground.
Shen Kai crossed the distance in an instant and swung.
Slash.
The rebel fell in two pieces.
The disciple froze. He stared at what lay on the ground, and something in his face broke — the colour drained out of him, his hands shaking, his body locked between the need to move and the inability to do so.
His first real battle. His first real death, seen up close.
Shen Kai noticed. He said nothing — just gave the boy a firm, steady nod.
Then he raised his voice.
"Disciples still climbing — get to the top and form a front line immediately! Do not let a single rebel through to those behind you!"
The disciples responded fast, snapping into formation, creating a wall of bodies between the rebels and the climbers below.
* * *
From above, Pride watched.
A slow smile crossed his face.
"Break their line," he said, calm and quiet. "Disrupt their formation."
The rebels moved at once — crashing into the Serpent Sect's defense like a wave.
And the disciples began to buckle.
It was not a question of skill. The disciples of the Black Serpent Sect had trained hard — their martial arts were real, their bodies strong. But training and battle were two different worlds.
The smell of blood was not something you could train for.
The sight of a companion's body was not something drills could prepare you for.
The constant, gnawing knowledge that you might be next — that was something else entirely.
To survive in war, you needed a heart that had already made its peace with death.
Most of them had not.
Pride watched all of it with cold, unhurried interest.
Then his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Hm."
On both flanks, his forces were being pushed back.
"So… those are their elites."
The smile returned — slow, and genuinely curious.
"Interesting. They are actually holding their ground."