The door splintered inward. Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Mo Jue did not look up from the parchment. He completed the character he was writing, placed the quill into the ceramic inkwell, and aligned it parallel to the desk's edge.
Only then did he turn his head.
Thirty men stood in the entryway. They wore the dark gray armor of the Mo Clan's Law Enforcement Division. Their collective soul energies saturated the place. These were the graduates of the previous batches. All stabilized at Rank 1 Middle to Late Stage.
Behind the wall of armored men stood Mo Tian. His face was pale, armor pitted, and scarred from the previous trap. Beside him stood the Head Enforcer, a man whose left arm was entirely replaced by a grafted Rank 3 Mantis limb.
"By the edict of Clan Head Mo Chen," the Head Enforcer stated, his voice a flat, mechanical drone. "Mo Jue of the outer branch is charged with the murder of Mo Lin and the sabotage of Clan assets. The order is immediate capture. Sever his limbs. Pierce his Reliquary. Bring his torso to the Interrogation Hall."
Clan authority did not ask questions. It applied overwhelming force. This was the clan standard.
Mo Jue paused.
A tool that breaks other tools is only discarded if it cannot be repurposed for a greater task.
Innocence was a concept for the weak. Utility was the absolute truth.
"Compliance is inefficient," Mo Jue said as he stepped away from the desk.
"Take him," the Head Enforcer commanded.
The first wave initiated their assault. Ten men stepped forward. They moved in standard clan formation. Five men activated their Bronze Palm Phantoms.
As for the other five, they supported behind as they manifested Spitting Spider Phantoms. Their cheeks bulged while they prepare to spit sticky web.
Mo Jue did not manifest the Howling Shadow. He did not activate the Shapeshifter's Heart.
He stepped into the five vanguard Enforcers.
The lead Enforcer swung his bronze palm toward Mo Jue's temple.
Mo Jue leaned his head inches to the left. The palm displaced the air beside his ear. Simultaneously, Mo Jue extended his right hand. He formed a half-fist and targeted the Enforcer's collarbone.
Impact.
The sound was a sharp crack. Mo Jue's bones were substantially denser than the Enforcer's defense. The strike severed the nerve pathway. The Enforcer's arm went entirely limp, and the bronze palm receded.
Mo Jue did not pause. He grabbed the falling Enforcer by the throat and utilized him as a shield.
The five supports released their sticky web. However, it all struck the Enforcer's back.
Mo Jue threw his shield into the center of the formation. The heavy impact knocked two other men off balance.
"Average" Mo Jue observed aloud.
He stepped into the gap. He delivered a sweeping kick to the knee joint of the third Enforcer. The man collapsed.
Taking advantage, the fourth Enforcer channeled his strength to his elbow and charged forth. Mo Jue caught the bronze elbow with bare hand. The friction burned his palm slightly, but the vitality of the Shapeshifter's Heart began repairing the damage.
Mo Jue pushed forward and drove his left knees into the man's sternum. The ribcage fractured inward. The man dropped to the stone floor while clutching his chest.
Within seconds, the first wave was defeated.
"Surround and attack!" the Head Enforcer barked. His mechanical mantis arm pointed.
Ten more men deployed. These specialists utilized Binding Vine Phantoms. They extended their hands, and large green vines shot across the room, attaching to the shelves, the pillars, and attempting to wrap around Mo Jue's limbs.
A vine coiled around Mo Jue's right wrist. Another wrapped around his left ankle. They attempted to suspend him in the center of the room.
Mo Jue felt the tension. The vines were sturdy.
Mo Jue did not pull away. That would result in lacerations. Instead, he stepped toward the Enforcer holding his right wrist. He stepped forward. The Enforcer, losing the resistance, stumbled backward.
Mo Jue closed the distance. He drove the heel of his palm and attacked the base of the Enforcer's chin. The jawbone broke. The kinetic force transferred to the brain stem.
With his right hand free, Mo Jue grabbed the vine attached to his ankle. He wrapped it around his own forearm, and pulled with his entire core strength.
The three Enforcers on the other end of the vine were violently jerked forward.
They collided with a heavy oak bookshelf.
The wood splintered.
Scrolls rained down upon them.
Mo Jue walked through the disoriented group.
He stepped on a knee. It broke.
He delivered a punch. It fractured.
And he crushed a windpipe just enough to incapacitate.
"Kill him!" Mo Tian screamed from the back. He was losing his composure.
The final ten men did not use formations. They drew their steel blades and charged simultaneously.
Mo Jue sighed internally. A chaotic charge was the hallmark of poor discipline.
He finally drew upon a fraction of his Reliquary. He channeled the necrotic power of the Howling Shadow, but he did not let it manifest externally. He coated his own fists and forearms with a layer.
A blade swung at his neck. Mo Jue raised his forearm.
The steel edge struck his arm. Instead of cutting flesh, the metal met resistance. The blade rapidly rusted. It turned brittle and shattered into multiple pieces.
Mo Jue stepped inside the guard of the attacker and drove a fist into his solar plexus. The necrotic essence transferred into the man's Dantian, causing chaos in his Reliquary.
The Grafter fell as he vomited.
Mo Jue moved with minimal steps, utilizing the center of gravity to adjust his stance and strike.
He ruptured spleens, injured tendons, and broke arms.
The space was filled with the sound of impacts.
Thirty seconds later, the room was quiet again.
Enforcers lay on the ground. Some were unconscious. Some were screaming softly. None were capable anymore.
Only the Head Enforcer remained standing beside Mo Tian.
Mo Jue stood in the center of the carnage. His breathing was even.
"A waste of resources" Mo Jue said.
"You dare!" Mo Tian drew his notched Rank 3 halberd. "I will end you myself."
Before Mo Tian could step forward, the Clan Head, appeared
He did not speak. He raised a hand. Everyone stopped. His primary phantom was Ancestral Legacy Phantom. It was derived and passed down from the founder, Mo Yuan. It was said Mo Yuan had refined and merged with the Black Silt Ridge.
Mo Chen looked at the broken Enforcers. He did not look angry.
"Clan Head," the Head Enforcer said, bowing stiffly. "The target exhibited suspicious fighting capabilities"
"I have eyes, Commander," Mo Chen said. He walked toward Mo Jue. The ancestral authority followed his footsteps.
Mo Jue stood his ground. He maintained a posture of respect.
Then, he analyzed the Rank 4 pressure emitted by the Ancestral Legacy Phantom.
"Mo Tian reported that you helped outsider murder his son" Mo Chen locked onto Mo Jue. "He demanded your execution. I authorized your apprehension."
"The evidence is currently on the floor, Clan Head," Mo Jue replied evenly.
"Preposterous."
"Is the demonstration sufficient?" Mo Jue voice rang clearly.
Mo Chen was silent.
Truth was dictated by the victor. If Mo Jue had been captured and dragged to the Interrogation Hall, he would have been guilty by default.
However, he had elevated his status through his strength. A boy who could defeat thirty men was a resource.
"You killed my son!" Mo Tian screamed as he fought against the Rank 4 pressure. "Clan Head, he is a murderer! You cannot let this stand!"
Mo Chen did not look at Mo Tian. "Your son is dead. You lost. The Mo Clan does not subsidize weakness."
Mo Tian choked, his face turning purple. The pragmatism of the crushed his grief under its heel.
Mo Chen looked back at Mo Jue. "You claim innocence through superiority. It is an acceptable argument. However, you need to be controlled."
"I await the Clan Head's directive"
"The Autumn Harvest Expedition," Mo Chen stated.
A ripple of fear passed through the scene.
The Autumn Harvest was the Mo Clan's annual descent into the deepest sectors of the southern frontier. The goal was to secure fresh soul veins and capture wild Phantoms.
To ensure the success, the expedition required a Vanguard Unit. The Vanguard's job was to walk ahead, absorb the attacks of wild Phantoms, and carve a safe path through the wild.
Historically, the Vanguard Unit suffered a 70% mortality rate. It was a death sentence disguised as a clan honor.
"The Vanguard will discipline you" Mo Chen continued. "Authority stands above."
Mo Jue analyzed the proposal.
"It is a logical assignment," Mo Jue said. "I accept the role of Vanguard."
Mo Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. The boy's lack of fear was unsettling. Most men were disgruntled when assigned to the Vanguard.
"You agree too quickly"
Mo Chen raised his right hand. A small crimson Phantom crawled out from beneath his sleeve. It looked like a centipede.
"Spine Lock Parasite" Mo Chen explained coldly. "A Rank 2 that will nest at the base of your cervical spine."
Mo Tian laughed. "Accept your leash. Die for the clan!"
Mo Jue looked at the crimson centipede.