I glance back at the ridiculous arsenal packed inside my warehouse. Sure, I haven't run the numbers. Never officially compared interstellar firepower to cultivation realm strength. But taking down one Nascent Soul stage master honestly should be a walk in the park.
I step onto my flying sword and head straight for the discipline hall. The moment I cross the threshold, an invisible pressure slams down and drives me to my knees.
The master's ice cold voice drops from above like a falling hammer. "Ash, you deliberately injured your fellow disciples. What do you have to say for yourself?"
I clench my jaw and push back hard against the crushing pressure, mentally flipping through my warehouse, trying to pick the right weapon for later, while firing back out loud. "I'm not aware of any wrongdoing on my part. Please enlighten me, Master."
Vera stands nearby, propping up Eli, whose eyes are swollen red from crying. They make quite the picture.
Eli's arm is already bandaged, the bullet punched clean through the flesh and vanished somewhere. What's left are a few gaping, ugly holes. For someone who has spent years pampered inside the sect, this kind of pain is completely uncharted territory. Most of the tendons in his arm are severed. Even if it heals, swinging a sword will never come easy again.
My healing serum back in the warehouse could fix a gunshot wound like this, completely clean and instant. But why would I ever waste that on him?
Vera can't hold it in any longer. She drops to her knees and bows her head to the floor. "Master, I am betrothed to Ash. It's true. But this man is cruel and cold-hearted. He is not someone I can spend my life with. I am begging you today. Please grant us permission to break this engagement. From this day forward, let us each go our separate ways."
She finishes with a look of pure revulsion thrown in my direction.
I stand there completely stunned. Every part of me goes rigid. I turn and stare hard at Vera. "Did you just say you want to break off our engagement?"
Hearing the tremor in my voice, the satisfaction in Vera's eyes intensifies. That insufferable arrogance reclaims its place on her face. Like a goddess looking down from the heavens at a tiny, pathetic ant.
"That engagement was just a childish arrangement our parents made when we were too young to know better. No matter how much you chase after me, Ash, I will never give you a second glance." She turns to Eli with warm, devoted eyes. "Only the kindest soul in the world is worthy of someone like me."
My jaw drops even further. I point at Vera, fingers trembling. "Wait. Let me get this straight. I was actually engaged to you? I was betrothed to someone like you? A person who only scraped into Gold Core stage at thirty?"
Vera stiffens for a moment. She has absolutely nothing to say.
Clara recovers fast and cuts in viciously. "How could a toxic man like you ever compare to Eli? It makes perfect sense that Vera wants nothing to do with you."
I press a hand to my chest, visibly shaken with relief. "A defeated failure like that, I wouldn't want her even for free. She'd just take up space. At least she has enough self-awareness to call this off herself. That actually saves me a lot of trouble. The last thing I need is someone like that dragging me down."
Inside the discipline hall, the room drops into a strange, suffocating silence. Everyone here knows that Vera is the sect's golden child, the one everyone scrambles to impress, the undisputed top disciple of her generation. But everyone also just watched me take her down without using a single drop of spirit energy. Their golden child, seriously injured.
Eli sees all eyes shifting toward me. He bites his lip and forces out a few soft sobs, rushing to reclaim the spotlight.
"Master, this is all my fault. Over something as small as a jade spirit mushroom, I let things get this far with senior brother. I am willing to be punished. I only hope our sect can be at peace."
He finishes with a perfectly performed bow to the floor, then presses a hand over his still bleeding arm, brow furrowed in practiced suffering. This performance successfully has several female disciples tearing up on cue.
Clara, ever the first in line, jumps in to tear me apart. "Ash, you call yourself a senior brother? How can you be this unreasonable? Eli has barely been here three years and he handles things better than you."
I stare at this creature in genuine disbelief. Something has clearly gone very wrong with her brain. Eli was the one who demanded the mushroom. Eli was the one who blew everything up. And somehow I am the one holding the blame.
The master's expression hardens as he speaks. "Ash, it's just one jade spirit mushroom. I am ordering you to hand it over to Eli."
I spread my hands open. "Master, on my way back, a spirit beast snatched it right out of my hands. I'm afraid I have nothing left to give."
"Impossible. You're just too stingy to hand it over. Stop making up stories about spirit beasts."
"Well, Clara, since you seem to think it's so easy to get, why don't you go yourself and bring one back for Eli?"
The color drains completely from Clara's face. The jade spirit mushroom grows only in the frozen wastes, a place swarming with spirit beasts, where going in is practically a death sentence. But she has backed herself into a corner. She has no choice but to puff up her chest and swear on the spot that she will personally go and bring one back for Eli.
Eli's tears dry up instantly, replaced by a bright smile. He shoots me one last gloating look.
The master, eager to comfort his precious little darling, turns on me. "Ash, as the senior brother of this sect, you have shown no brotherly love whatsoever. Get out of my sight and go reflect on your behavior at Frost Cliff."
For once, I don't argue. I agree happily and walk straight out.
Eli follows me out, playing the gracious host. He leans close and whispers with quiet satisfaction. "Senior brother, in this sect, everyone only ever sees me. You can never beat me. No one will ever stand on your side."
I look at him with genuine bewilderment. "They're all just dead weight. Why would I ever want them behind me? Do I look like I have nothing better to do than play the selfless martyr?"
Ten years surviving the apocalypse taught me one ironclad truth. Dead weight should be cut loose early. Keeping them alive only slows you down.
Frost Cliff is frozen solid year round. A weak cultivator would be a block of ice in minutes. I lazily flick on my energy shield and dial the temperature up to a comfortable seventy-seven degrees.
The system is practically sobbing with relief. "Player, you're finally following the script. This is amazing. Those interstellar weapons might not be enough against high level cultivators. Just lay low, survive to the end, wait for them to regret everything, and the mission completes itself."