The Crimson Edict
The night was still thick with blood.
Jiang Chen stood amidst the wreckage of the Crimson Blade outpost, his spear dripping with crimson, the scent of death lingering in the cold air. The bodies of assassins, enforcers, and rogue disciples lay scattered like broken dolls, their limbs twisted in unnatural angles, their faces etched with terror.
The city of Ironhollow had no idea what had just taken place in its shadows.
But the Crimson Blade Sect would.
This was no longer a simple clash of pride.
This was war.
Jiang Chen exhaled, rolling his shoulders. His Chaos Core pulsed, absorbing the lingering energy from the battle, strengthening him further. His understanding of Compression had deepened, his strikes now leaving delayed ruptures in the air, as if the force of his blows still lingered long after the strike itself had landed.
But that wasn't the only thing stirring within him.
His body ached, but not from exhaustion—from growth.
A powerful surge of energy rumbled through his meridians, and his Chaos Core flared with unrestrained hunger. The essence of the battle, the raw combat experience, the forces he had compressed and unleashed—it all condensed inside him, pushing him beyond his current limits.
Then—
BOOM.
A silent explosion echoed within his being, like the shattering of unseen chains.
He had broken through.
Jiang Chen felt his muscles tighten, his bones harden, and his meridians expand as if a floodgate had burst open inside him. The once-faint barriers keeping him at the Late Stage of Body Tempering crumbled instantly, ushering him into the Peak Stage.
His entire body vibrated with power.
His skin became even more refined, radiating an almost imperceptible glow, and his physique became leaner yet more explosive—a perfect balance of speed and strength. His veins pulsed with chaotic energy, reforging him in ways most cultivators could only dream of.
His senses expanded.
The flow of Qi in the air became visible, the movement of energy around him clearer. He could feel the faint ripples of forces that shaped reality, the subtle tremors that governed motion, impact, and destruction.
His understanding of Compression, his mastery over Force Intent, and his adaptability in battle—it had all combined into something more. His mastery of these aspects of cultivation is what allowed for his unimaginable strength. Most cultivators didn't have the ability to scratch the surface of the Law of Force, or any of the other paths until the Core Formation Stage. Even then, they would be considered a freakish genius.
He clenched his fist.
It felt as if a single punch could now tear through steel with ease.
"Good. This is the pace I need."
He had no sect, no elders, no ancient techniques passed down through generations.
His cultivation was forged through battle.
And he had no intention of stopping.
The Crimson Blade Sect - The Next Morning
The main hall of the Crimson Blade Sect was dead silent.
Ten bodies, wrapped in bloodstained white cloth, lay in a perfect row before the assembled elders and disciples.
The air was thick with fury.
At the center of it all, seated atop a throne of black iron, was Second Elder Bai Tianhong—a Core Formation cultivator, and one of the most feared warriors in Ironhollow. His gaze was sharp enough to cut steel, his crimson robes fluttering slightly, despite the absence of wind.
His fingers tapped against the armrest, slow, measured.
The surviving Foundation Establishment disciple who had escaped last night was kneeling before him, his entire body trembling.
"Explain." Bai Tianhong's voice was like grinding stone, barely containing his killing intent.
The disciple swallowed hard, sweat rolling down his face.
"It was him… J-Jiang Chen. The one who humiliated us before."
Bai Tianhong's expression remained still, but the pressure in the room intensified.
The disciple continued, his voice shaking. "H-He came alone. We thought it was just another reckless attack, but… b-but he…"
He hesitated.
The watching disciples leaned in.
"But what?" Bai Tianhong said, his tone flat.
The disciple clenched his fists. "He killed all of them. Every single one. Like they were nothing."
A murmur rippled through the room.
A single man had wiped out an entire outpost of elite Crimson Blade enforcers?
Impossible.
But the evidence lay before them—ten lifeless corpses, each bearing signs of a merciless, brutal end.
The disciple bowed his head lower, his voice barely a whisper.
"…Elder, he's not normal. His body moved like a phantom, his strikes broke bones before they even landed. He—"
CRACK!
The disciple's body collapsed to the floor, headless, lifeless.
The entire room froze.
Bai Tianhong rose from his throne, his crimson robes flowing behind him like a tide of blood. His expression was calm, but the pressure radiating from him was anything but.
"It seems we underestimated him—this brat, Jiang Chen."
Murmurs spread through the assembled elders, uncertainty flickering in their gazes.
One of them, a sharp-eyed elder with streaks of silver in his beard, spoke first.
"This boy… he must possess something unnatural. No ordinary cultivator at his level could wipe out an entire outpost alone."
"Could it be an Elemental Affinity?" another elder suggested, his voice tinged with unease.
Bai Tianhong's scowl deepened.
"The only elemental affinities capable of such feats are those tied to Space, Time, and a handful of exceptionally rare elements. If he possessed such a gift, that old bastard Feng Tianlan would have stolen him away the moment he stepped into Ironhollow."
A heavy silence settled over the room.
Another elder, this one ancient and long-bearded, narrowed his eyes.
"Then… could it be the Daoist Path?"
Bai Tianhong's expression darkened further.
"Even less likely," he growled. "Unless he was born with a divine constitution, no one below the Nascent Soul Realm could even begin to comprehend the Laws of the Daoist Path."
The elders exchanged glances, the weight of their uncertainty settling like iron chains.
"The only other possibility is… Martial Technique," the long-bearded elder murmured, his brows furrowing in thought.
Bai Tianhong's eyes flashed with fury.
"BASTARDS!" His voice boomed through the hall, shaking the very walls. "My enforcers are dead, and the best my so-called elders can offer me are guesses and speculations?"
A wave of killing intent exploded from him, crashing over the elders like an unstoppable tide. The very air trembled, and for a brief moment, the temperature in the hall seemed to plummet.
The elders shivered involuntarily, their bodies stiffening under the unbearable weight of a Core Formation cultivator's rage.
Bai Tianhong took a single step forward, and the pressure doubled.
"This… cannot be ignored."
His voice was calm again—but that calmness carried the promise of blood.
He turned toward the assembled elders.
"Send word to the sect master. The Crimson Edict is issued."
The watching disciples stiffened.
The Crimson Edict.
A decree issued only twice before in the sect's history.
A command that meant absolute annihilation.
Jiang Chen… was now an enemy of the sect.
There would be no negotiations. No mercy.
Only death.
Ironhollow City - The Storm Looms
Jiang Chen stood atop a lone rooftop, watching as the city below began to stir.
The sun had barely risen, but already, there was movement.
Messengers from the Crimson Blade Sect were racing through the streets, their faces grim. Tension was thick in the air, like an oncoming storm.
He smirked.
"That was faster than I expected."
He could already tell.
The sect had issued a kill order.
By midday, bounty hunters, mercenaries, rogue cultivators, and sect disciples would all be looking for him.
"How predictable."
Jiang Chen closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply. The chaotic energy inside him had settled, but the battle last night had left him hungry.
Not for food.
For power.
His Chaos Core pulsed, whispering to him. He could feel something deeper inside it, something waiting to be unlocked.
He needed more.
More battles. More opponents. More insights.
His fists clenched.
"Let them come."
He was done being hunted.
Now?
He was the one who would hunt.