The Azure Dragon Sect stretched across the valley like a sleeping god its ancient walls glowing with the Qi of countless years, the wind whistling through peaks carved by generations. It was beautiful.
It was mine.
I, Master Yao Shen, was its founder. Its father. I built it from the dirt with my own hands, raised the first stone, carved the first cultivation paths, and nurtured the first disciples like children of my soul. Four thousand disciples now lived within my walls.
And today they came to kill me.
I stood in the center of the Azure Dragon Valley, robes torn, body trembling not from fear, but from the sheer weight of betrayal. Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth, and my spiritual veins were cracked, seared, burned out from within by the countless techniques I refused to retaliate against.
I watched as the core disciples I personally raised stepped forward. Alex stood at their center his silver robes embroidered with the dragon crest I gave him when he broke through to Nascent Soul. His eyes were cold.
Step down, Master, Alex said with a smile that made my heart twist. "Your era is over."
Why? I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. Why, Alex? I gave you everything. I named you Heir of the Sect
He laughed. Laughed.
Exactly. You gave too much. Too much freedom. Too much power. You let us grow. Now we've outgrown you."
Behind him, the other nine core disciples stood with smirks, each one wearing the personal gifts I'd given them spirit rings, immortal robes, swords I forged with my own Qi.
I turned to the gathered disciples thousands surrounding the valley like wolves. They looked at me not with sorrow but with mockery.
"Look at him, the great Sect Master," one jeered.
Can't even lift a finger against his own disciples, another spat.
Was this ever his sect to begin with? a third laughed.
A girl stepped forward.
My breath caught.
Xiao
My sweet Xiao. My first personal disciple. The girl I found orphaned and broken beneath a storm-struck cliff, whom I raised, clothed, taught, protected like my own daughter.
She walked with soft steps. In her hand was the white jade sword I gave her on her sixteenth birthday the one I forged under a blood moon, engraved with the words: My Heart, My Disciple.
She looked up at me with eyes that no longer held warmth.
"I'm sorry, Master she said, voice trembling.
You don't have to do this, I whispered. You're being manipulated, Xiao. You're not like them."
She hesitated.
For a moment, the breeze stilled. A tiny flicker of the Xiao I knew shimmered behind her eyes.
Then Alex placed a hand on her shoulder. "He's too soft. That's why he failed us all."
Her grip tightened.
She plunged the blade into my chest.
I didn't resist.
I couldn't.
Not against her.
The jade blade, once a symbol of love and trust, now pierced my heart. I looked down, mouth agape. The words engraved on it—My Heart, My Disciple glowed for a moment, then cracked.
I fell to my knees.
The valley roared with laughter. Pathetic old man. Serves him right.
"This is the new Azure Dragon Sect!
As my vision blurred, I looked up one last time at the sky above my sect. The same sky I stared at when I built this home for all of them. The stars didn't care. The heavens did not weep for me.
Where did I go wrong? I whispered.
No one answered.
They left my body there in the dust, like refuse, like a stain. I heard Xiao sob once… but she didn't turn back. She walked away. They all did. But death is not the end.
In the final flicker of my soul, when all was dark, a broken voice spoke from the void.
SYSTEM INITIALIZING ERROR HOST DEAD REBIRTH PROTOCOL ACTIVATED
I gasped and opened my eyes beneath a broken wooden bridge.
Rain fell. My hands were small. Weak. Dirty. A beggar's body. An orphan's face. I looked up and saw my own sect, still standing, still shining, still filled with the same traitors and monsters I once called family.
They didn't even know I was back.
Good. Let them welcome me in again. Let them pat my head, laugh at my weakness, and toss scraps at me. Let them forget what they did. Because I will never forget.