Chapter Four: The Decision

The sky was pitch black, an endless, suffocating void from which raindrops fell, accompanied by the howling of a northern wind. The earth was shrouded in a gray mist, and the drizzling rain mirrored the dismal, deathly shade of the night. Dark silhouettes moved silently through the gloom.

The Cloud Realm had been utterly annihilated by those so-called prestigious clans.

The young man stood there, his mind teetering on the edge of madness, his body trembling as he bit his lip until it bled. He was consumed by a suffocating, pent-up rage, his eyes burning like embers as he scanned his surroundings, as if trying to devour everything in his search for something—anything.

"Don't give in to this grief," Fang Yu pleaded, struggling to suppress her own emotions. "Look at you! How are you supposed to avenge our people like this?"

Elder Jian stepped forward and took her arm, whispering, "Let him be."

"Very well," she sighed.

Rain, or Yufan, felt a storm of conflicting emotions within. Despite decades of ridicule, his resolve had never wavered; he possessed a tenacity that no one could crush. Yet, this current catastrophe forced him to realize that only by becoming stronger could he protect what he cherished and exact his vengeance.

"Ahhh!" he roared at the sky, his fists clenched, his teeth chattering in agony. A powerful, alien energy erupted from his chest and back, and flames flickered in his eyes. Elder Jian and Senior Sister Fang were left stunned, unable to process the sight.

"What is this?" Elder Jian murmured. "I can feel that his pulse energy is extraordinary. It does not belong to the Righteous Realm."

A vast, incomparable, and strange energy radiated from the boy, but it was so overwhelming that his own body could not sustain its immense pressure. With a dull thud, the boy finally collapsed, his vision fading to black.

"Yufan! Yufan!" Fang Yu cried out, startled by his sudden collapse.

"Elder Jian... what is wrong with him?" she asked, watching as the Elder channeled his own righteous energy into Lei Xiaodian.

Moments later, the Elder’s pulse energy receded from the boy's head. "He is fine," Elder Jian said. "He will recover in a few days. It is incredible; this boy possesses such a formidable force. If he could learn to control it, he would be invincible. I never even sensed this power within him before."

"Elder, there is a ruined temple ahead. We can take shelter there," Fang Yu suggested.

"That will do," the Elder replied as the night deepened.

He looked at the boy and felt a sudden chill. *If this boy never achieves a breakthrough, perhaps that is for the best. He could at least live out his life in peace.*

Before them stood a dilapidated, long-abandoned temple, as if forgotten by time. Surrounded by withered trees, their twisted, skeletal branches seemed to mourn a past glory. The ground was littered with white bones, a chilling sight that suggested a horrific massacre had once occurred here. A gust of cold wind blew, stirring a murder of crows that circled above, their cawing adding a grotesque, eerie atmosphere to the ruins. Their cries sounded like laments from hell, making one's skin crawl with fear.

As Fang Yu walked ahead with Elder Jian carrying Lei Xiaodian, she remarked, "This place is so desolate; it seems no one has been here for ages."

"We may have crossed into the Other Realm," the Elder responded.

"The Other Realm? I have never heard of such a place!" Fang Yu exclaimed.

The Elder smiled kindly. "You and Lei Xiaodian were too young then. Our Righteous Realm forbids any mention of the Other Realm; to speak of it is to face imprisonment."

He began to recount the distant past: "Long ago, the elders of various realms, desperate to ascend to immortality and claim the title of Emperor, sent their subordinates to scour the land for Immortal Stones. These mysterious stones were said to accelerate cultivation, but their pursuit led to the slaughter of countless innocent people by those swordsmen. Over time, the piles of corpses emanated such dense, necrotic energy that they coalesced into a terrifying force. This resentment eventually took human form, birthing the most formidable entity of all.

"By devouring this concentrated power, he ascended to the Immortal Realm and became an peerless Sword God, invincible to all. This strange immortal from the Other Realm could fell the masters of Righteous sects with a mere flick of his finger, causing many noble factions to vanish from existence. Facing such a horrifying threat, the Ancestors of the Righteous world were forced to unite, eventually managing to scatter his power and seal it away."

"Was he truly that strong?" Fang Yu asked in awe.

"If our Cloud Realm had possessed someone even half as powerful, our clans would never have been destroyed," Elder Jian said, his voice heavy with grief. "Those Righteous elders would stop at nothing to gain power; they simply saw us as weak and bullied us at will. Lei Xiaodian's father sensed the danger and ordered me to take you both away... but alas, my master was murdered by those so-called prestigious clans."

Fang Yu looked around; the surroundings were thick with rolling mist, obscuring her vision. She carefully pushed against the temple door, which gave a faint, creaking groan before swinging open. Once inside, she scanned the room and laid Lei Xiaodian down in a relatively safe corner.

"Little Yu," Elder Jian said, "I will go search for firewood and food."

Fang Yu nodded, her gaze fixed on Lei Xiaodian, before stepping out to explore. As she wandered, she noticed that the statues in the temple were not traditional deities, but strange, beast-like figures that resembled no creatures she knew. They were crafted with such lifelike detail that they seemed to breathe, yet they represented gods she had never heard of.

Faced with such a mysterious sight, she was filled with both curiosity and unease. She wondered what secrets and powers lay behind these idols and what the true history of this ancient temple was. Yet, for now, her priority remained the safety of Lei Xiaodian and finding a way out of this place. She continued to search for clues, praying that the Elder would return safely with supplies.