Naked Sword Art

"My name is Zhao Ren. Don't forget it."

"You think you're going to survive?" Xiao Fang almost laughed. This guy had guts. "Zhao Ren, you're honest and ambitious. I'll give you that. But you tried to kill me just because I had something you wanted. Maybe, if you'd lived an honest life… you could've had an honest end."

"An honest end?" Zhao Ren scoffed. "Don't make me laugh. We cultivators walk a path against the heavens. If we want something, we take it—steal it, fight for it, or die trying. That's the only truth."

"Perhaps, but with no moral compass, you're just a monster," Xiao Fang replied coldly.

"Then what are you?" Zhao Ren shot back.

"What am I?" Xiao Fang murmured, lowering his sword as the words echoed in his mind.

He didn't have an answer. Not a real one. By his own definition, he was already a monster—too deep in the blood and darkness to pretend otherwise.

The question lingered.

While Xiao Fang was lost in thought, the girl suddenly bolted, sprinting into the woods. The Cannibal Abnormal Beast looked to Xiao Fang for orders, but he gave none.

Then, one by one, the others fled too—leaving Zhao Ren standing alone.

"So what? You're just gonna let me go?" Zhao Ren asked, genuinely curious.

"Mn. You showed me the error of my ways… and brought me this sword. I suppose I owe you for that. I'll spare you this time. Let's call it even."

"Hahaha… You know I'll fucking kill you next time I see you, right?" Zhao Ren said with a crooked grin.

"Again with your honesty. Just hurry up and scram, before I change my mind."

Zhao Ren turned to leave, but took a long pause to engrain Xiao Fang's image in his mind.

'Now that I look at him, he's kind of a good looking guy. I bet he's getting so much action in the Black Paradise sect. Fuck my luck…' Zhao Ren thought.

Not wanting to be anywhere near Xiao Fang any longer, he quickly fled.

…

Xiao Fang stood quietly in the forest clearing, the tension of battle melting into a strange, unsettling calm.

'Then what are you?' Zhao Ren's words echoed in his mind.

Xiao Fang lowered the swords to his sides and looked at his reflection in the lake. His blindfold concealed his eyes, but he could feel the weight behind them—like something in him had shifted.

'A monster, huh?'

He didn't deny it. But if being a monster meant survival... then maybe he had to be one. That was the truth of the cultivation world. Yet deep down, something in him resisted—something that hadn't been broken yet.

He let out a breath. The Cannibal Abnormal Beast returned to his side, dragging the spear lazily across the ground like a child after a tantrum.

A breeze passed through the trees, unnaturally cold. He wasn't alone…

Then he felt it—a shift in the air, a disturbance.

His head slowly turned to the familiar figure in the sky. The man stood with his arms behind his back looking down at Xiao Fang with a serene but overwhelming gaze.

The man that had been following him ever since he entered Jadepeak city, was now in the sky looking down at him.

[ Spirit Perception ]

'Heavenly realm,' Xiao Fang thought.

"You did a noble thing just now, but one good deed won't atone for your sins," the burly man finally said.

He wore a sleeveless, tiger-patterned battle vest that stopped just above his waist, revealing a torso chiseled like stone and veined with power. Loose-fitting black pants tucked into worn leather boots gave him the look of a wandering warlord, while a thick sash at his waist held a pair of beast fang charms that swayed with each step. With muscles that rippled beneath his bronze skin and an aura that crackled like thunderclouds, he didn't look like a man—he looked like a savage beast wearing the shape of one.

"Can I ask why you've been following me these past couple days."

"I'm an investigator, and I was investigating the annihilation of the Scavenger's sect. The reason I'm confronting you now is because I've seen enough… Blood must be paid with blood. I'll be taking you back to the city, where you will be put on trial then killed, if you resist, I'll just kill you where you stand."

"Was my act not one of retribution?" Xiao Fang asked.

"It wasn't," the man replied calmly. "You killed them for greed—then wrapped it in the illusion of justice. That doesn't make you righteous. It makes you just as monstrous as they were."

Xiao Fang narrowed his eyes. "Then what about you? Aren't you doing the exact same thing now?"

"I am," the man admitted without hesitation. "I am a monster. But I've accepted that. Someone needs to be."

Xiao Fang sighed, the conversation going in circles.

"So you've already made up your mind," he said. "Then come, catch me if you can."

He raised his twin blades, falling into a low stance, and the cannibal abnormal beast did the same.

The man didn't move. He simply observed Xiao Fang in silence, then spoke with calm authority.

"It's clear you've never faced a Heavenly Realm cultivator before. Let me show you the gap between the Heavenly and the Mortal realms."

Suddenly, the atmosphere thickened—[ Oppressive Might ] slammed down like the weight of a mountain.

The earth beneath Xiao Fang's feet cracked, veins of broken stone webbing outward. His knees trembled under the invisible force, but he didn't fall. He stood tall, sweat trailing down his face.

At his side, the Cannibal Abnormal Beast growled lowly, crouching defensively. It was affected too—but not as much.

The man raised a brow. "Your spirit is strong. But you don't seriously think you can fight me like that, do you?"

"You talk too much," Xiao Fang snapped.

He released everything.

Qi surged from within, but not just his own—

His Curse Energy erupted like a shadowy inferno. To his surprise, the moment it flared to life, the man's [ Oppressive Might ] vanished—dispelled as if blown away by a violent gust.

The man's eyes narrowed. The power Xiao Fang was using was not of the Mortal realm. It was dark and sinister, it made his frown deepen.