Hong Yan stood atop one of the mountains in the Chi Yan Tian Mai, a vast mountain range filled with volcanoes. This was Hong Yan's home. There were few joys in his life, but one of the few he still had was meditating to the gentle sound of the wind and the cold brushing against his decaying flesh.
Memories slowly resurfaced, memories of his youth in these lands where he had been born. At an early age, he was abandoned by his parents when they discovered their son had been born with a curse: a divine punishment in the form of leprosy.
Since then, his life had been nothing but misery and constant struggle.
Hong Yan never had a wife.
Hong Yan never received the embrace of a friend.
Hong Yan was never comforted by his mother.
Hong Yan could never be human.
He survived on charity his entire life until one day he had a chance encounter with a demonic cultivator. Over time, he adapted, even as his body was torn apart day by day as his illness slowly tore him apart. Through blood rituals and the right kind of monster souls, he kept what little remained of him intact.
With time, he rose above his master and did not stop there. Hong Yan killed, stole, kidnapped, and tortured anyone who stood in his way. In the end, that was all his life could be.
His power grew, as did his cruelty, but the stronger he became, the more he felt that something was missing. Eating, sleeping, and even touching anything was nothing but pain.
Hong Yan longed for a body with which he could enjoy the pleasures of this life.
What was the point of power if he could not enjoy a good meal?
What was the point of power if he could not sleep with the woman he desired?
What was the point of power if his own body shackled his very existence?
Hong Yan smiled. His hand tightened around the thing he held. That thing was a gift.
Today, something unusual, though not unexpected for someone like him, had happened: Hong Yan had visitors. It was just that some guests had arrived ahead of schedule, but he had already dealt with them. Now, he would greet the major party.
He had spent a long time cultivating and increasing his power. He had even obtained Grade B monster souls. His cultivation had reached the pinnacle of the third realm; many never even made it past the late stage of the first realm.
Yet Hong Yan, the leper, had stood on equal footing with the greatest sect leaders.
That was why he dared embark on a profane path into forbidden knowledge. Not only had he made enemies among the righteous cultivators, but even the demonic cultivators despised him.
But neither righteous nor demonic could stop what would happen today.
Because the ritual was already complete. Now, only one last step remained: to rid himself of this prison of flesh. And that was something his guests would gladly help him with.
"HAHAHAHA!"
Hong Yan burst into manic laughter. He was happy; his greatest wish would finally be fulfilled. At last, the leper would become a human being.
"Hong Yan, wretch, we have come to punish you."
"Monster, this is the day your crimes end."
"Demon, I still remember how you killed my father. Your crimes are countless; if you have any dignity left, you will kill yourself this instant."
The Celestial Thunder Sect, the Divine Sword Sect, and the Serpent Cult.
All of them were here today to punish Hong Yan.
His gaze swept over the elders, the most important figures of the clans, sects, and cults. Behind them stood the younger generation, promising talents who would one day rise to take their place.
How tragic it would be if they all perished here.
Hong Yan smiled, and the cloth covering him unraveled, revealing his decaying body. With his left hand, he removed the mask that concealed his disfigured face.
He had lived his entire life as a leper; yet in the hour of his death, he wished to face his fate as a dignified human being.
The elders and disciples recoiled in horror upon seeing the state of his body.
"MONSTER!"
"Your body is a heavenly punishment meant to keep you humble, and yet you still choose to do evil!"
Punishment…
Hong Yan had been punished his entire life. Even with great power, he had to remain alone, hiding from the world. Everything he had gained, he had taken by force. What did they know of punishment?
Of course, Hong Yan knew the answer: they understood nothing. But today, he would make them understand.
He reached into his pouch and took out his 'gift'.
A viciously mutilated head appeared. Hong Yan held it up for all to see.
The first to react were members of the Divine Sword Sect.
"I-IT'S THE CLAN LEADER!"
"Monster! Kill him immediately!"
"Tear his body apart until nothing remains!"
The younger generation charged forward like a raging storm toward Hong Yan, determined to avenge their clan leader. Only the elders were wise enough not to fall for the provocation, holding themselves back despite their boiling rage at Hong Yan's insult.
"Stop, you fools! Do not approach that demon!"
Hong Yan took a deep breath. Something within him changed. His eyes turned red as steam poured from his body.
Many young disciples surged forward on flying swords, preparing their battle souls. Some wielded souls that allowed them to fire sword auras from afar; others were prepared to cut Hong Yan down.
But when the first attack came within twenty meters of Hong Yan, it evaporated instantly, along with even the surrounding snow. The head of their sect leader vanished, reduced to ashes.
The elders of the Divine Sword Sect gasped.
"That damned demon refined the monster soul of an Ash Tyrant."
The elder was right. The monster soul of an Ash Tyrant could be refined into a powerful battle soul, which, in its most basic form, allowed the user to control the surrounding temperature through steam when combined with that of a Wind Angel.
The result: Hong Yan sacrificed two Grade C monster souls but got a Grade B battle soul.
The young disciples had finally entered his killing zone. Hong Yan waved his arm as though casting the wind toward them.
The air around those promising youths rapidly heated to extreme temperatures. The stronger ones in the late first realm, or those with defensive battle souls, felt their skin blister and boil; the weaker, and more fortunate were instantly reduced to nothing but hot vapor.
One elder of the Divine Sword Sect vomited blood as he watched all of his clan's youths annihilated in a single move.
"Let's attack together! That demon stands no chance if we unite!"
"Kill the demon!"
"Destroy his body!"
However, that was not the end of Hong Yan's assault. Today, he was determined to unleash decades of frustration.
Hong Yan vanished from everyone's sight and appeared before one of the Divine Sword Sect elders, delivering a blow carrying all his pent-up fury.
The elder never even realized when he had been attacked; his skull exploded from the sheer power of the strike.
However, something had changed in Hong Yan's body. He felt lighter on his right side. When he looked, he realized the force of his own strike had torn his arm off.
Instead of finding it grotesque, Hong Yan laughed. He was truly happy to shed his prison of flesh. He would destroy himself and get the perfect body he had longed for.
Another of the three elders could no longer hold back and rushed at Hong Yan. But Hong Yan understood all the techniques of these sword-loving fools. He hardened his skin with a defensive battle soul and drove his arm straight through the elder's chest, certain his defenses could not be broken.
The last elder retreated, certain he would meet the same fate.
"What's wrong? Weren't you here to punish me?"
Hong Yan mocked the other sects, who watched as their supposed allies were destroyed doing nothing.
The remaining elder of the Divine Sword Sect could no longer contain himself and lost his composure.
"Cowards! Aren't you here to fight alongside my sect? I've already lost all my members and my leader! If we don't attack now, the demon will survive!"
At last, the Celestial Thunder Sect made its move alongside the Serpent Cult.
But only their elders stepped forward to surround Hong Yan. From his severed arm, steam rapidly poured out; a monstrous hand, burning at thousands of degrees, formed, replacing his lost limb.
Thunder crashed against his body while the Serpent Cult's poison spread through the air.
Hong Yan was careful not to harm the elders of the Celestial Thunder Sect, while he eliminated those of the Serpent Cult whenever he had the chance.
After a few exchanges, half of the Serpent Cult elders were dead.
"Hong Yan, you damned demon, stop! You won't harm another member of the cult!"
At last, the Old Woman of a Hundred Poisons appeared.
"Hong Yan, today I will put an end to your demonic path."
A clear and resounding voice echoed through the lightning: the Storm Monarch had arrived.
At last, the stage he had set was reaching its end. Now he would unleash everything, hold nothing back. A fitting finale for the leper cultivator.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
Hong Yan laughed maniacally and charged at the Old Woman of a Hundred Poisons, a youthful beauty who was in truth over a hundred years old.
She looked at him with disdain as she drew a rare serpent-shaped sword. She knew her poison would do nothing to Hong Yan's decaying, half-dead body.
Hong Yan unleashed another wave of steam, attempting to incinerate her, but she expelled a massive cloud of poison that halted the boiling vapor. Yet Hong Yan pushed through it with his body and clashed with her. His fists struck against her blade as she deflected every one of his attacks.
Suddenly, thunder roared, and a brutal bolt of lightning struck Hong Yan's body.
"HAHAHA," the Old Woman laughed. "There you have it, Old Yan. Well done, Lei Lei."
A beautiful young woman in the prime of her life approached, black-haired, slender, wearing a wide conical straw hat and a black-and-white silk robe.
Despite her beauty, her cold expression revealed nothing of her thoughts.
At last, everything was ending. Hong Yan had set all the pieces on the board. His body heated, emitting steam, as he prepared to face both cultivators.
"DIIIIIEEEEEE, OLD YAAAAAN!"
The Old Woman of a Hundred Poisons charged frantically, intent on killing him.
"Once I kill you, your legacy will be mine."
She licked her lips at the thought.
Hong Yan received her attack, but something strange happened immediately after.
She did not understand. Hong Yan had deflected the attack, but he had never counterattacked. Then why was she lying on the ground, split in half?
Blood spilled from her mouth. She looked up in confusion and saw Tian Lei, her expression as cold as ever. In her last moments, she realized Tian Lei had struck her from behind.
Her eyes remained open in eternal shock.
"Heh… heh… heh… hahh…"
Hong Yan could no longer endure it. Holding his body together without his wrappings, which were a magical artifact that kept him intact, meant he was slowly but surely dying.
For the first time, Tian Lei's gaze showed something beyond indifference: concern and fear.
She reached out her hands toward Hong Yan.
"Little Lei, don't you dare. You know very well what you must do now."
Hong Yan spoke between coughs, bits of flesh falling from his face.
Tian Lei lowered her gaze; her expression revealed her pain at seeing him like this.
"Yes, Master."
A fierce explosion erupted. Tian Lei's cultivation surged.
Hong Yan smiled. He was proud that his first and only disciple had reached the fourth cultivation rank.
But it was also painful. She had begun as a mere project born of his pride, before he discovered the forbidden rebirth technique. Back then, he had thought that if the world was so determined to punish him, he would create a genius capable of leaving a mark upon this world that had rejected him.
It was beautiful to see this flower bloom in spring, but it was also painful to witness a peak he could never reach in this life.
Tian Lei drew her curved sword, ready to fulfill his last request: one last worthy battle.
"COME, TIAN LEI!"
"MASTERRR!"
Tian Lei roared in anguish as thunder crashed around them.
Hong Yan's body flared with light. If he wanted to withstand even three moves against a fourth-rank cultivator, he would have to burn the rest of his life as fuel, pushing his battle souls to their limit, even to the point of breaking them.
"RRAAAAAAH!"
Hong Yan roared. His monstrous steam hand stretched toward Tian Lei, who received the attack head-on without stopping. Her arms burned to where her skin vanished, leaving only red-hot muscle exposed.
Yet her gaze remained locked on every movement of her master. This was a battle to the death. Hong Yan would accept nothing less; even if she was his disciple, if this was his farewell to the world, she had to give everything, or she would die, and his last gift would be meaningless.
The space where Tian Lei stood flickered, and she suddenly vanished. Hong Yan knew she was directly behind him. He reinforced his left arm and blocked her strike, but her sword cleanly severed it.
Another monstrous steam arm grew in its place and struck at her abdomen, aiming to pierce through it.
But his attack proved useless as Tian Lei vanished once more. She reappeared in front of him, driving her sword into his chest. Before she could follow up, Hong Yan turned incorporeal for a moment, then returned to solid form to strike her across the face with his hardened arm.
The girl was sent flying, but she quickly rose again. Blood ran from her nose, but that was all.
Hong Yan could feel his life slipping away rapidly.
The battle was nearing its end.
Tian Lei stood before her master and raised her sword. This was her last attack, one she had perfected herself, combining her offensive battle soul with her fourth-rank cultivation. Hong Yan would be the first to witness it in this realm.
The clouds above turned black, covering everything as they descended toward Tian Lei's sword.
She looked at him one last time, sorrow in her eyes.
"Goodbye, Master… I… love you."
She smiled, a smile filled with more pain than Hong Yan had ever seen.
Spring had arrived. His little flower had finally bloomed. He wondered what she would experience before his rebirth… if the heavens allowed it, they would meet again. But the heavens had always been unjust to him.
"Goodbye, Tian Lei… I really appreciate you in the end…"
Tian Lei brought down her sword, and the storm descended upon Hong Yan as he released all the steam from his body.
At last, the attack faded.
The only one left standing was a young woman, her arms burned and her nose bleeding, weeping for the death of her master.