"How wicked!" Xue Wei swore when he learned the truth about the priestess and her bloodline. She nodded in response. "In the oath that the villagers swear, they also have to swear that they will make their descendants swear the same oath."

"Once upon a time, a young man refused to take the oath and ran away, resulting in his father dying through the destruction of his soul. Since then, no one has even thought about escaping from this fate." 

"What about you?" Xue Wei asked curiously. "Don't you have to swear an oath as well? Are you not going against that oath right now?"

Jiang Fengmian shook her head sadly. "I don't have to swear the oath. The experts who made all of this happen were certain that the villagers would be able to keep me, and my ancestors, in check." 

"It is the same with the women and the children; they are not forced to make the same oath, because the experts were certain that they would just do their best to support their spouses and friends."

"At the same time, if they try to escape, they will be found again. Don’t forget, the experts placed down quite a few formations, where the Thousand Mist Formation is the most prominent. Those who try to escape will wander through the formation for the rest of their lives and eventually perish, sooner or later."

Xue Wei was silent and contemplative. The sword in his hand was known as an evil spirit, but he felt differently about its actions prior to the big battle.

The only thing this sword wanted was to achieve immortality. As to how it went from being an expert at the apex to a sword spirit, Xue Wei was unsure, but he was confident it had something to do with the experiments made by Bai Tianyi. 

These other experts had wanted to acquire his methods and resorted to such ruthless means to ensure that he would never again be free. It was apparent to Xue Wei who the evil ones were, on a personal level. 

Xue Wei and Tianyi’s minds were connected after establis.h.i.+ng their soul contract, so the former could vaguely understand the latter’s mindset. The sword spirit could sense not only Xue Wei’s need for answers, but also a hatred towards the apex experts that had caused all of this to happen to begin with. 

Not because he felt sorry for the sword, but because generations of villagers had been treated as slaves.

"Don't think like that!" Tianyi suddenly said with a stern voice. "Do not feel sorry for them. They are our targets. If you want to do them a favor, then kill them! Then their descendants will finally be free, and they can once again live a life of freedom."

"The ones who have already taken the oath have no chance of ever tasting freedom again. The best we can do is exterminate them to the very last person."

Tianyi was harsh, but Xue Wei understood that he was correct. If they allowed just one person to return to the village, then the next generation would also be forced into taking the oath and the cycle would remain unbroken. 

Xue Wei nodded his head. His heart, which had wavered slightly, was now firm again, and his eyes were narrowed with decisiveness as he returned to the task at hand. 

Hei Gou had no thoughts of pity towards the villagers. He was a beast, and he did not care for others than himself and his dear ones. 

Xue Wei did not feel that Hei Gou was inhuman. He was just following his nature, and it was not possible to change his views on things, so why even bother trying? 

"I will mind control the strongest person in the group and make him cause as much ruckus as possible," Xue Wei briefed the others on their first move. "I leave all the Sky Warriors to you. Don't let them rush over and focus me," Xue Wei warned Hei Gou.

"I will try to deal with all the Earth Warriors, but since I have quite a few more experts to deal with than you, come to a.s.sist me as soon as you can!" 

They had no in-depth plan. Their only hope was to take the oath-sworn warriors from the village by surprise with internal turmoil and attack them with the element of surprise, blitzing through their numbers . 

Xue Wei and Hei Gou left the priestess at a safe location inside a cave nearby before they snuck up to the large group of experts. The priestess was not someone they wished to risk in the free-for-all that the battle would turn into later on. 

It did not take them long to locate the big group. They were around forty experts, so they moved quite slowly. Especially since they were focusing on their surroundings to locate Xue Wei and Hei Gou. 

They saw no signs of their two targets, but what they did find was one corpse after another. Now that they were turning the forest upside down, every single body was being discovered.

Some of them had already been partially eaten by wild beasts, but most were fresh with wounds all over and blood still about to coagulate. 

These experts from the village knew that what they were doing was suicide. They had already acknowledged that if they moved together, the sword could annihilate them through one of its secrets, but moving alone would also lead them to their deaths. 

Since this was the case, they decided to gamble on moving together, but all of them had long since given up on actually winning this battle.

Their eyes were listless, and their moods became more and more depressed with each corpse they found. 

It was currently night, and the Vermilion Forest had a dark and menacing appearance. 

The large group of experts stopped in their tracks, set up a makes.h.i.+ft camp, and started to eat their rations. But none of them spoke, each and every one in deep thought. 

Xue Wei and Hei Gou used the cover of the darkness to arrive next to the group. They were so close that one would be able to find them instantly if it had been during the day. 

That's when they launched their attacks! Mind Infestation was the first skill Xue Wei used. He targeted a ninth layer Sky Warrior who started running rampant in the middle of the group, and then he drew Tianyi and slipped into the fray.

This battle was chaotic. As soon as the Sky Warrior had gone mad, the rest ran at him to try and calm him down, but at the same time Xue Wei and Hei Gou appeared from behind them.

Xue Wei had not had enough time to understand the Windwolf Sword Slash fully, so he could only use the close-combat attacks he already knew. 

Azure Light Finger was unleashed at full power towards a fleeing Earth Warrior. 

As the beam continued on its trajectory towards its target, Xue Wei immediately turned to swing Tianyi at another Earth Warrior. Both died instantly, at the same time. But by now, the warriors were aware that it was an ambush, so their eyes narrowed as they grasped their weapons with cold composure.

Although they had been listless from staring death in the eyes, the sight of Tianyi gave them hope and invigorated them, so they pounced at Xue Wei, its wielder. 

Hei Gou was dealing with the Sky Warriors, but he spent most of his time running around. These experts were not dumb either; they were aware that they were not the black dog’s opponent, but it was different with Xue Wei. 

Xue Wei was also the one who held Tianyi in his hands, so in their eyes, Hei Gou was nothing more than an annoying fly that continued to hara.s.s them. 

In an attempt to get Tianyi back, these Sky Warriors selected three of their strongest to fight it out against Hei Gou and the controlled expert. 

The rest instantly turned on their feet and rushed towards Xue Wei, who was already swamped with Earth Warriors. 

These Earth Warriors were easy to kill for someone who possessed the strength to kill a Sky Warrior, but it was different when they came at him like a flood, turning it into a battle of attrition. 

Xue Wei conserved as much Qi as he could, sending slashes out with the sword instead, but even so, a bit of Qi was still needed to efficiently wield the sword, coating and infusing it. Only then would he be strong enough to cause damage to these experts.

Tianyi continued to absorb souls. Every time someone died, their soul would be consumed by Tianyi. Considering their depressing lives, this was an even more depressing end, but Xue Wei did not stop him. 

These villagers had always treated Tianyi with disgust, hatred, and disdain. Now it was his turn to show them just how powerful he was. Although it was not their fault, these experts had ultimately willingly continued the tradition of making their descendants swear the oath just to save their own hide.

As the Sky Warriors reached Xue Wei, the young man had no other option than to run for his life. He could not run far away, but he could still maneuver around the battlefield and take out Earth Warriors. 

Forbidden Rus.h.!.+

The movement technique let Xue Wei dance around the battlefield like a leaf in the midst of a hurricane. He was not fleeing aimlessly but aiming for the places where he could find an Earth Warrior, and then a bright sword light would flutter before yet another expert would fall. 

Unfortunately, these Sky Warriors did not give up. They soon understood his plans and tried taking precautions. They started guessing where Xue Wei would show up next and hurried there to try and guard their compatriots, returning fire when possible. 

Two of the Sky Warriors had made the correct judgment, and the moment Xue Wei materialized in front of them, they swung out their weapons, giving him two wounds; one was a slash on his chest, the other was a stab on his arm. 

Blood flowed, and the battle became even more chaotic. Minor wounds continued to riddle Xue Wei's body, but he did not give up and continued rus.h.i.+ng for the Earth Warriors. 

Eventually, only a few of the Earth Warriors remained, each guarded by a Sky Warrior. That was when Xue Wei’s rampage ended, leaving him clueless as to his next move. He came to a standstill, and both sides observed the other, spying for an opportunity to make the first move.

"Let me take over!" Tianyi's voice resounded in Xue Wei's mind. "I could not handle their numbers initially because it would exhaust the rest of my remaining soul energy, but these few ones should be within my ability!"

Having said this, the sword moved on its own, taking flight. It expanded in size as if it was made from Qi, and then it sent out four ma.s.sive light beams towards four of the Sky Warriors. 

The speed of these light beams was so fast that even Xue Wei had trouble seeing them, and then they collided with the Sky Warriors.

One of them had managed to lift his sword to try and block it. But he was incapable of doing so, his sword was cut through like a hot knife through b.u.t.ter, ending his life the instant after. 

The other three were the same. They died instantly. When the dead Sky Warriors started collapsing to the ground, Xue Wei used the Forbidden Rush to swiftly dispatch the Earth Warriors that had lost their guards.

Shattering Mountain Palm!

Arcane Fist!

Kick of Forgotten Kings!

Azure Light Finger!

Four attacks were used in a row, all of which were each aimed at one of the surviving Earth Warriors, killing them in quick succession. 

Tianyi consumed his soul energy unreservedly, sending out more attacks to eradicate the rest of the experts.

Every single person involved in this battle was unaware of it, but something happened in the outside world at the same time as Tianyi had begun unleas.h.i.+ng his power 

Stars were falling. From every inch of sky above.