Chapter 139

Chapter 139

Forty minutes later, Victor's car pulled up outside Warehouse No. 9 on the west side of the city.

He made no effort to hide his footsteps, walking straight toward the warehouse entrance. After all, he was here for a meeting, not a stakeout. No point sneaking around.

Just as he was about to step inside, the doors swung open. After a flash of blinding light, Victor saw Rowan slumped unconscious in a chair. Standing around her were four men whose faces alone were enough to tell you they were bad news.

These were the Four Heavenly Kings of the Black Sun Cult.

Their leader, Easton, wore a smug grin as he stepped forward and gave Victor a mock bow.

"Lord Shura, punctual as always. We're impressed."

Victor let out a cold laugh and glanced at Rowan. She seemed unharmed — just knocked out. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get to the point. What do you want?"

Easton gave a light clap. "Straight to business — worthy of the master of Shura Sanctum. We have no interest in making you an enemy. All we ask is that you destroy your own power. Do that, and we'll release your friend. After that, we go our separate ways."

Noah chimed in with a sneer. "Lord Shura, we know how strong you are. But your little friend here is just an ordinary person. And this blade of mine?" He paused. "It's very, very sharp."

With that, he dragged the edge of the knife slowly across Rowan's throat.

Victor looked at them for a moment, then smiled. "Do you really think you're in any position to be making deals with me?"

Easton's expression darkened.

"Normally? No. But today, your friend is in our hands. I'd suggest you drop that Shura Sanctum master act of yours."

He stepped forward and pressed the blade directly against Rowan's throat, then flashed a vicious grin as he issued his ultimatum.

"I'm counting to three. If you haven't made your move by then, start planning her funeral."

"Three!"

"Two!"

Victor's expression finally shifted. He stared at the blade against Rowan's throat, and the image of Ellie's family — slaughtered three years ago — flashed through his mind. He could not let that happen again. Not even a one-in-ten-thousand chance.

"Fine," he said, his voice rough.

He raised his right hand and drove it hard into his own abdomen — or so it appeared. In the instant his palm made contact, he forced a mouthful of blood up from within himself.

Blood sprayed from his lips. His face went deathly pale, and his energy seemed to collapse.

As Cultivators, Easton and the others knew exactly what this meant. Striking the Core in the abdomen was the standard method of destroying one's own cultivation. Once done, a lifetime of power would be gone.

The four of them stared for a moment, then erupted in triumphant laughter.

"Shura! Look at you now!"

"A legend, brought low by a woman! That's the funniest thing I've ever seen!"

But Easton, ever suspicious, wasn't fully satisfied. He reached into his coat and produced a small porcelain vial, tipping out a pitch-black pill.

"Lord Shura, as a show of good faith — please take this. It's a special formula from our Black Sun Cult. Lethal to anyone, even an Ascendant Lord. Strip away whatever power remains and guarantee death within three days."

Victor looked at the pill without a moment's hesitation. He took it, tossed it into his mouth, and swallowed. Beneath the surface, a surge of dense, immovable Qi instantly sealed the poison away, locking it completely outside the stomach wall.

When it was done, he swayed on his feet, looking like he might collapse at any second.

"Now," he said, feigning weakness, "will you let her go?"

"Let her go?" Easton's laugh grew wilder.

"Victor, have you lost your mind? We're going to kill you right now — then kill this woman so she can keep you company. And then we'll track down every last friend you have and send them after you, one by one."

Isaac, Noah, and Jensen drew their weapons. They closed in on Victor step by step, cruel smiles stretched across their faces. As far as they were concerned, he was nothing but a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

But when they were less than nine feet away, the man who had looked utterly broken slowly raised his head.

There was no weakness left on his face. Only a cold smile that made their skin crawl.

"Aren't you celebrating a little early?"

The words had barely left his mouth before Victor vanished. A heartbeat later, he materialized directly in front of Easton, like a ghost stepping out of thin air.

"You didn't destroy it—" The grin on Easton's face froze solid, replaced by pure, bottomless terror.

He wanted to beg. He wanted to scream for help. But an iron grip had already closed around his throat.

"What was it you said just now?" Victor's voice seemed to rise from somewhere beneath the earth.

"M-mercy... please..." Easton forced the words out through a crushed windpipe.

Victor smiled — bright and warm — and it sent the other three plunging into ice-cold dread.

"Sure," he said. "In your next life, I'll definitely spare you."

The moment the words landed, his fingers snapped shut.

A sickening crack split the air as Easton's neck twisted into an impossible angle. Savage Qi poured through Victor's palm and tore through the man's body, shattering every organ inside him.

Isaac, Noah, and Jensen stood frozen in horror.

"Monster!" Noah shrieked. "You're a monster!" He spun around and bolted.

But Victor was never going to let them run. He flickered across the room and cut off Noah's escape before he'd taken three steps. One casual strike — an open palm to the top of the skull — and Noah crumpled to the ground, all life gone from him.

Jensen and Isaac took one look and fell apart completely. They dropped their weapons, hit their knees, and started kowtowing frantically.

"Lord Shura, please spare us! We were just following orders!"

"We'll never do it again! Please!"

Victor stepped in front of them and looked down.

"Begging now? Too late."

His right leg swept out like a whip, catching both men cleanly across the throat. They didn't even have time to scream before they toppled over and went still.

With all four dealt with, Victor let the killing intent drain from his body. He walked quickly to Rowan's side and untied her.

Then he took out his phone and called April. She picked up almost instantly.

"Are you alright?" Her voice was tight with worry.

"I'm fine." Victor's tone had returned to its usual calm. "Those four are taken care of. April, I need everything you have on Black Sun Cult's headquarters. How fast can you get it? I'm going to tear that organization apart — for everyone they've ever killed."

"Five minutes at the most, Lord Shura."

"I'll give you five minutes."

April said "Understood" and hung up.