The Author's Draft

Chapter 70 - 66: Slaughter Intent

"I am the most important challenge of this Tower," Yan Shou said, his tone formal now. "And before we start, there are things you need to understand. Things about what this Tower truly is, and why it exists."

He gestured around the chamber with his black blade.

"Do you know where this Tower came from? How it was created?"

Long Chen shook his head. "No one knows. The Towers appeared two hundred years ago across the world. That’s all anyone can say for certain."

Yan Shou nodded slowly. "Then I will tell you the truth."

He lowered his blade slightly, his expression becoming more serious.

"The Tower was created by a supreme being from the Upper World. Not this realm—the cultivation world you know is merely the Lower World, a stepping stone. Above it exists the Upper World, where true cultivation begins. Where immortals walk, where laws are bent, where power beyond your current comprehension exists."

Long Chen’s breath caught.

The Upper World.

He’d written about it in his novel. The protagonist’s ultimate goal had been ascending there. But Aiden couldn’t continue the story after the ascension happened—he’d never written what came after. He knew almost nothing about the Upper World except that it existed.

And now he was hearing about it from someone who seemed to have direct knowledge.

"This Tower," Yan Shou said, his voice carrying weight, "was created by taking a natural inheritance—the kind that forms spontaneously when spiritual energy accumulates over millennia—and transforming it. The supreme being imposed structure onto chaos. Added floors, guardians, rewards. And most importantly—"

He paused, his eyes boring into Long Chen.

"—he imprinted a Dao into the Tower itself. His understanding of reality. His path of cultivation. His will. Every floor, every trial, every challenge reflects aspects of his Dao. And the Tower judges challengers based on compatibility with that Dao."

Long Chen’s mind raced, trying to process this information. "Dao? What’s a Dao?"

Yan Shou tilted his head slightly, surprised. "You don’t know what a Dao is? At your level of comprehension, I assumed... no matter. I’ll explain simply."

He lowered his blade slightly.

"A Dao is a path. An understanding of reality and the laws that govern it. Every cultivator who reaches a certain level must choose or discover a Dao—the fundamental truth they will follow throughout their cultivation journey. Some follow the Dao of the Sword. Others the Dao of Flames, or Death, or Life, or countless other paths."

Yan Shou’s expression grew more serious.

"The supreme being who created this Tower follows the Weapon Dao. Specifically, he is a weapon cultivator—someone who has reached the pinnacle of understanding how weapons and combat interact with the fundamental laws of existence. And he went on to create the Weapon path one of the four paths in the upper world

"And he created this Tower because..." Long Chen prompted.

"Because he’s looking for a successor."

The words hung in the air like a pronouncement of fate.

Yan Shou continued, his tone darkening. "The Weapon Path has 4 lines—different specializations within the overall path. The Guardian Line. The Protection Line. The Immovable Line. And the Slaughter Line."

His voice grew colder with each word.

"The Slaughter Line of the Weapon Path was once one of the most prominent cultivation lines in the Upper World, with countless practitioners and powerful masters. But it was schemed against by two of the other lines Betrayed. Sabotaged from within and attacked from without."

Yan Shou’s eyes began to change.

Red light bled into them, starting from the pupils and spreading outward like blood diffusing through water. The whites of his eyes disappeared completely, replaced by crimson that glowed with inner fire.

And with the color change came an aura.

It erupted from Yan Shou’s body like a tidal wave—red and baleful, thick with the stench of death and violence. The spiritual pressure wasn’t just powerful. It was malevolent, oppressive, suffocating. It carried the weight of countless lives extinguished, oceans of blood spilled, mountains of corpses piled high.

This was the aura of someone who had killed.

Not hundreds. Not thousands.

Millions.

The pressure crashed down on Long Chen like a physical force. His knees buckled. His vision blurred. His heart seized in his chest, forgetting to beat for several terrifying seconds.

He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t move.

Every instinct in his body screamed at him to run, to flee, to get as far away as possible from this creature wearing human skin.

But his body wouldn’t respond. He was frozen, pinned by the sheer weight of Yan Shou’s killing intent.

*Long Chen!* Azazel’s voice cut through the panic. *Don’t try to resist it! That’s someone who has transcended normal cultivation! Someone who could kill you with a single glance if he wanted! Just endure it!*

Long Chen’s mouth worked soundlessly. He wanted to respond but couldn’t form words.

The red aura intensified further. The air itself seemed to turn crimson, tinted by the bloody energy radiating from Yan Shou. The chamber walls groaned under the pressure. Cracks formed in the stone floor beneath the guardian’s feet.

Yan Shou stood there, eyes blazing red, radiating death itself.

"Those who walked the Slaughter Line were hunted," he said, his voice layered with something inhuman now, multiple tones speaking simultaneously. "Their techniques stolen. Their legacies destroyed. Their disciples slaughtered before they could mature. Over centuries, the line fell into decline until only a handful of true masters remained."

The killing intent grew so thick Long Chen could taste copper in his mouth.

"They schemed against the Slaughter Line. They destroyed our legacy. They killed our young. They stole our techniques and claimed them as their own. I am all that’s left of the slaughter line."

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the aura vanished.

Yan Shou’s eyes closed. The red light faded. The oppressive pressure lifted like fog burning away under sunlight.

Long Chen gasped, air flooding back into his lungs. He collapsed forward onto his hands and knees, shaking violently. Sweat poured down his face. His heart hammered against his ribs so hard it hurt.

’What... what was that...?’

*That,* Azazel said quietly, *was someone who has a significant comprehension on the Dao of Slaughter. Someone who has killed so many that death itself acknowledges them. That guardian isn’t just powerful, Long Chen. He’s transcended the normal boundaries of cultivation. He’s something else entirely.*

Long Chen raised his head slowly, still trembling, and looked at Yan Shou.

The guardian stood calmly now, eyes closed, breathing steady. He looked perfectly normal again—just a man in simple robes. But Long Chen knew better. He’d felt what was beneath that calm exterior.

A monster. A living embodiment of slaughter.

Yan Shou opened his eyes. They were dark again, the red completely gone.

"Forgive me," he said, his voice back to its usual measured tone. "I lost control momentarily. Speaking of the Slaughter Line’s downfall still... affects me."

He took a breath and continued as if nothing had happened.

"The fortieth floor is not the end of the Tower. There are many more floors above this one. But this floor is where the test for succession begins. Everything before this—floors one through thirty-nine—was merely preliminary screening. Determining if challengers had basic qualifications."

Yan Shou gestured toward where the wolf had died.

"The Moon Devouring Heavenly Wolf was the challenge of the fortieth floor. A test of combat ability, adaptability, and determination. Many have reached this floor over the centuries. Promising candidates with powerful cultivation and rare talents."

His expression grew somber.

"None of them could defeat the wolf. They all died or were forced to surrender and leave the Tower. Until you."

Long Chen’s mind was still reeling from the earlier pressure, but he forced himself to focus. "And you? You’re the test?"

"Yes."

Long Chen’s stomach sank. He thought about that red aura, that killing intent that had nearly stopped his heart. The sheer overwhelming power radiating from this guardian.

How in the world was he supposed to defeat someone like that? Someone who could kill him with a glance? Someone whose mere presence had made him collapse?

It was impossible. Completely impossible.

Yan Shou smiled, and there was genuine amusement in the expression. It was the first time Long Chen had seen anything approaching warmth on the guardian’s face.

"You’re thinking about how you could possibly defeat me in combat, aren’t you?"

Long Chen nodded slowly, not trusting his voice yet.

"Don’t worry," Yan Shou said, the smile widening slightly. "If the test was fighting me, you might as well plan to stay here forever. You would never win. Not in a thousand years of trying."

The blunt honesty of that statement was almost reassuring in its clarity.

Yan Shou’s smile faded, replaced by seriousness again.

"The test is not combat. While some promising candidates have entered the fortieth floor over the past two centuries, they all failed because they couldn’t defeat the wolf. But you succeeded. You passed the first test. And now you face the second."

He raised his black blade and pointed it at Long Chen.

"The test is comprehension. Specifically—"

Yan Shou’s eyes flashed red for just a moment before returning to normal.

"—you must comprehend Slaughter Intent."

Long Chen blinked. "Slaughter Intent?"

Yan Shou began pacing slowly around the chamber.

"Slaughter Intent is the understanding that death is not an end but a transformation. That violence is not inherently evil but a force of nature. That the act of taking life can be elevated beyond mere murder into something approaching art."

His voice grew quieter, more intense.

"To comprehend Slaughter Intent, you must understand death intimately. Not fear it. Not revel in it. Simply understand it. Accept it. Master it. You must be able to kill without hesitation, without regret, without emotion clouding your judgment—while simultaneously understanding the weight of every life you take."

He stopped pacing and looked directly at Long Chen.

"This is the foundation of the Slaughter Line of the Weapon Path. Because weapons exist to kill. That is their purpose, their nature, their truth. A cultivator who follows this line must acknowledge this truth without flinching."

Yan Shou’s expression became neutral, unreadable.

"You have thirty days to comprehend Slaughter Intent. Not master it completely—that would take years or decades. But comprehend its fundamental nature. Grasp its essence. Touch it, even briefly."