Even through the chaos, he could still feel Mei's Yin pouring into him and trying to cleanse the resentment but it wasn't enough. There were too many voices, too much poison.
She can't save me. Not from this.
I took too much, went too far and this is the price.
GREED...
His vision darkened and the voices grew louder.
Then... Immediately came a different sensation. With the scripture pressed against his chest, suddenly grew warmer.
New pages appearing, unlocked by his advancement or his near death or maybe something else entirely.
Information flooding his mind, not just words but pure understanding.
THE CRIMSON LADDER.
Blood cultivators ranked by accumulated power.
You are Rank #9,847.
9,846 souls stronger than you, 9,846 potential rivals.
Welcome to the Hunt.
"What is..." Longwei gasped through the pain. "What is this?"
Mei was still trying to stabilize him, but he barely felt it. All his attention was on the scripture, on the glowing list appearing before his inner vision:
THE CRIMSON LADDER
Blood Cultivators Ranked by Power
Rank #1: Immortal Wuji [ASCENDED]
Rank #2: The Devouring Saint - 847,293 kills
Rank #3: Crimson Empress - 392,847 kills
...
Rank #847: [REDACTED] - 23,847 kills
...
Rank #9,847: Shen Longwei - 5 kills
Total Active Blood Cultivators: 9,847
```
Five kills. He'd killed five cultivators, and somehow that put him near the bottom of a global ranking of blood cultivators.
There are almost ten thousand others like me.
But how is that possible? The sects said blood cultivation was rare, nearly extinct...
More information poured in. The Ladder's rules, its purpose, its history:
- Every blood cultivator is automatically tracked
- Rank determined by total accumulated power
- Killing advances your rank
- Killing another blood cultivator gives massive advancement
- Higher ranks unlock stronger techniques in the scripture
- Every 1000 ranks = new tier of power
- At Rank #5,000: You become "viable prey" for serious hunters
- At Rank #1,000: Access to Immortal-grade techniques
- At Rank #100: You shape the world
- At Rank #1: Ascension
"Longwei!" Mei's voice finally cut through. "What's happening to you?"
He blinked and found himself lying in her arms, with the canyon around them and the morning sun above. The battle was over and bodies were now cooling, but inside him...
The voices were still there but a bit organized now, contained. The Ladder had done something, restructured the resentment made it manageable.
Not gone, just bearable.
"I'm okay," he managed. "I think, the scripture... it showed me something."
"What?"
He pulled the black book from his robes. It was glowing faintly, breathing with power as he opened it.
New pages, dozens of them and all were describing the Ladder, its mechanisms, its implications.
And at the bottom of one page was a message in Wuji's handwriting:
Congratulations on your first kills, you are now part of the oldest, most dangerous game in existence. The Crimson Ladder has claimed countless lives across millennia, most don't survive past Rank #5,000.*
Some advice: Trust no one. Every blood cultivator is your potential killer. Every ally today might be your murderer tomorrow.
Except your bonded partners. The partnership bonds are the only relationships the Ladder respects. Betray a bond and the Ladder itself will hunt you.
Good luck, newcomer. Because you'll need it.
- Immortal Wuji, Rank #1
Longwei stared at the words, then he checked the active ranking again.
His name had moved, he was no longer #9,847.
Rank #7,342: Shen Longwei - 5 kills
Status: ACTIVE
Region: Azure Cloud Domain
Threat Level: LOW
Bond Status: 1 ACTIVE (Mei Xuefeng)
```
He'd jumped over 2,000 ranks from killing a Core Formation Stage Five elder.
And at the bottom of the page, a new notification glowed:
WARNING: Blood Cultivator Rank #8,234 detected in your region.
Name: Lian Xue ("Blood Lotus")
Kills: 73
Threat Level: EXTREME
Distance: 50 li and closing
Recommendation: FLEE OR PREPARE FOR COMBAT
Longwei's blood went cold.
Another blood cultivator, who was stronger than him. Hunting in the same region.
Coming for me?
He showed Mei the scripture and watched her face turn pale as she read.
"There are thousands of them," she whispered. "Thousands of blood cultivators and you're all ranked and Tracked."
"And someone is coming here." Longwei closed the book. "Someone named Lian Xue. The Blood Lotus, who has killed 73 people."
"Can we run?"
"From a blood cultivator? I don't know." He checked the notification again. "50 miles, that's hours away maybe less if she's using movement techniques."
"Then we move. Now." Mei struggled to stand, leaning on him. "We find somewhere defensible somewhere we can..."
A new notification appeared, not from the scripture but from the Ladder itself, burning directly into his consciousness:
``
PROXIMITY ALERT
Blood Cultivator Rank #8,234 has detected you.
She is aware of your location.
Challenge incoming.
```
"Too late," Longwei said. "She knows where we are."
Mei's hand found his, fingers interlacing. He could feel her fear and also her determination.
"Then we fight," she said. "If she comes. Together, like we always do."
Longwei nodded. He could still feel the 200+ voices in his head screaming at him, could feel the weight of the Ladder's attention, 9,846 other blood cultivators suddenly aware he existed.
He'd wanted power, wanted to survive, wanted to carry out his revenge.
But now he had power, Core Formation Stage Four and he had achieved it in days instead of decades.
But it came with a cost...
And the cost was becoming part of something far larger and more dangerous than he'd ever imagined.
The Crimson Ladder.
The Hunt.
9,846 predators, all climbing over each other's corpses toward immortality.
And he'd just been added to the food chain.
"But for now, we need to move," Mei said, pulling him up. "Find help or allies, or..."
"There's no help," Longwei interrupted her gently. "Not from sects or from the righteous. We're alone in this."
"Then we find other outcasts." She gripped his hand tighter. "We can't do this alone."
He could feel her certainty, not naive hope but realistic determination. They'd survived this long and they will survive longer.
Together.
Longwei pulled up the Ladder ranking one more time. Rank #7,342 out of 9,847.
That means 7,341 blood cultivators are stronger than me.
7,341 potential enemies.
And I killed five cultivators jumping 2,000 ranks in doing so and attracted the attention of someone who probably wants to drain him.
He looked at Mei, at her beautiful face... her wounded shoulder then her icy blue eyes that had chosen to stay despite everything.
"Okay," he said. "We run and we survive."
"Together?"
"Together."
They left the canyon behind. Left the bodies, the blood, and the evidence of what Longwei was becoming.
As the sun climbed higher, somewhere to the north a blood cultivator named Lian Xue was following their trail, and across the cultivation world, 9,845 other blood cultivators had just received a notification:
```
NEW BLOOD CULTIVATOR DETECTED
Rank #7,342: Shen Longwei
Advancement Rate: EXTREME
Threat Assessment: RISING
Status: VIABLE TARGET
```
The world had acknowledged Longwei as a "maybe" threat.
And the Crimson Ladder had begun keeping score.