Alm and Bruno immediately invaded Alci’s body with their divine souls, but almost instantly, both closed their eyes. The poison was extremely sinister, corroding not only the soul but also the interior of the body. This was far beyond a simple suicide—it was executed perfectly to leave no traces.
It was the perfect crime, as no ordinary cultivator would be able to read the memories of the body. But this would only work on common cultivators. Bruno, focusing deeply, used his divine soul and, even though the inside of the body was damaged, he was able to recover some fragments of the memories.
Meanwhile, Alm was busy examining the surroundings, searching for clues or any signs. However, there were no signs of a struggle or a stealthy attack disguised as a suicide. Aside from the poisoned body, there was nothing that contradicted the version that he had poisoned himself voluntarily.
After five seconds, Alm turned to the Elder who had called him: "Why do you claim it was suicide?"
"I was patrolling when a disciple desperately called me, saying he saw Alci swallow a poisonous pill," the Elder explained regretfully. "By the time I reached him, I could already feel his soul being corroded. I’m just a newly appointed Elder; my soul power is limited and even lower than yours. As a last hope, since you were nearby, I thought maybe you could save him with your soul strength... but there wasn’t enough time."
Alm sensed the fluctuations in the Elder’s soul and knew he was speaking the truth. Everything pointed to a suicide, but the disciple who reported it might reveal more.
At that moment, Bruno finished examining the memories. A wild and violent aura emanated from him, signaling that something had really shaken him.
’I couldn’t see today’s events,’ Bruno spat mentally, ’...but I know the basics. From the fragmented and painful memories that remain...’
Alci was the son of a cultivator who led a medium sect in the universe. While he wasn’t someone completely without influence, compared to the great sects, he was not very significant. This cultivator had two sons, and surprisingly, both were very talented in alchemy.
The older daughter, Kanci, was the first to walk the path of alchemy, inspiring her younger brother, Alci, to follow in her footsteps. She joined the Phoenix Cry Sect a decade ago.
For unknown reasons, Kanci had never contacted the family again. This motivated Alci to push himself to the limit to win the sect tournament and find her again. Upon arriving, he discovered that his sister had been accepted into the Heroic Pill Hall two years after joining. This was the reason for Alci’s apparent obsession with winning the test.
As soon as he arrived at the Heroic Pill Hall, he didn’t immediately meet Raoni, because he spent some time approaching other disciples in search of information about his sister. Then he discovered something that left him distressed: Kanci belonged to the conservative faction of the sect.
He met with Raoni, and together they went to the Sacred Pavilion, but Alci’s emotional fluctuations did not escape Alm. After they separated, Alci directly contacted members of the enemy faction to learn more about his sister.
Kanci and Alci were talented, but nothing exceptional. However, like her brother, luck smiled upon Kanci, and a young alchemist from the conservative faction helped her progress. After two years of dedication, she passed the test to enter the Heroic Pill Hall.
That young man was no ordinary person; he was the son of an important Elder of the sect. He certainly seduced that young alchemist; having people to use when needed was a simple thought, especially if it was a woman. Unsurprisingly, when she passed the test, she completely united with him and the faction.
Alci didn’t know all the details, but about three years later, something happened between his sister and the young man who seduced her. A High Elder of the sect, in a sadistic manner, told Alci about Kanci’s fate: she had broken the rules and committed something considered treason, punishable by death in any other sect.
Of course, Kanci was not the guilty one. That faction made some mistake and, to cover it up, discarded her. She wasn’t talented, and she wasn’t important to the faction.
However, the Phoenix Cry Sect was not an ordinary sect. They invested many resources into training competent alchemists. Kanci had the ability to enter the Heroic Pill Hall; she could easily make expensive pills and was too profitable to simply eliminate.
Thus, instead of death, the punishment was much worse: she became a slave. Losing all autonomy, Kanci would become a pill-producing machine for the rest of her life. And, of course, it was the conservative faction that kept her under control; they lost nothing, used her, and still profited from it all.
Desperate and powerless, Alci was manipulated by the High Elder who revealed the story, leading him to betray his own faction in exchange for the promise of freedom for his sister. Something that, obviously, would never happen. For Alci, however, trusting the poisonous words of that Elder seemed like his only hope.
The memories Bruno managed to recover ended there, but the continuation was clear. Alci committed a deadly betrayal against his faction, using a powerful poison he would never have managed on his own. There were some missing details... but Bruno knew exactly where to get them.
"Those radicals are getting more and more mediocre. One of them committed suicide? Hahaha!" A mocking voice suddenly echoed. Alm and Bruno looked up and saw dozens of disciples and a few Elders approaching.
Immediately, Bruno recognized some of them—they were the ones Alci had talked to. They surely knew something.
"I think that..."
One of the disciples tried to speak, but the words died in his mouth as his body petrified. His eyes were the only thing that could move, and he moved in panic, feeling completely suffocated by a pair of devilish eyes staring at him.
In front of those eyes, it was as if the disciple had fallen directly into hell. His entire soul was overtaken by a feeling of death so tangible that he didn’t even have time to feel fear.
"Hehehe…"
A sinister laugh slipped from Raoni’s lips, and as if the world around him lost its light, he moved slowly, leaving Alci’s dead body where it lay. Alm mentally smiled, realizing that Bruno had lost all restraints.
Bruno wasn’t a saint by any means. He just wanted to avoid the same mistakes of the past and lead a more controlled life. However, this situation filled him with immense rage. If his faction wanted him to cause trouble, fine, he would unleash all his anger.
"Die."
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Raoni’s voice was cold and dry. With a simple movement, the space around him distorted, and he punched the disciple in the head. There was no suspense. The head exploded like a watermelon, scattering fragments of blood and bone.
The blow wasn’t supreme or extraordinary, but the atmosphere was so saturated with his murderous intent that it felt like a sinister domain had descended upon everyone there. They were alchemists who had never truly fought or felt death very close. Under that will, no one could even think of reacting.
The punch was slow, but the nearby disciples were drenched in blood. As an alchemist, his powerful soul emerged into the air. In the next second, a dark hand grabbed that soul.
"No!"
The soul screamed in despair, but its existence began to crack like glass. Bruno brutally invaded its memories, ignoring the blocks that protected the important information. He didn’t care. After breaking in and recovering some fragments...
*Boom!*
The soul exploded, destroyed forever. The other disciples stood paralyzed, shocked by what they had just witnessed. No one ever imagined that someone would dare to kill a disciple in such a way. Pale and terrified, they tried to run, but their legs wouldn’t move.
The allied Elder who had called him snapped out of his stupor. "Raoni... you’ve caused a calamity now," he said, his voice trembling with concern.
"Fuck you," Bruno spat, and an even more sinister aura emanated from him, plunging everyone into deep despair.
He ran with eyes filled with violence; all the enemy disciples felt the blade at their throats. All they could do was tremble.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
A macabre rain of blood began to pour. Raoni started massacring every enemy disciple that came near. He captured their souls and extracted fragments of their memories before they self-destructed.
After killing four disciples and gathering some information, Raoni launched himself at the Elders with a bloodthirsty look.
"Haaah!"
*BOOM! BOOM!*
Two Elders were smashed into a pulp, their memories searched by Bruno. In that moment, his eyes sparkled as he fit together some pieces of the fragments. He continued his massacre, killing three more disciples in search of more information.
None of the Elders could escape or trigger the emergency alarm. But upon killing one Elder, the seal on his soul alerted the sect, triggering the internal alarm.
"Raoni, you dared to kill disciples of the sect?!"
At that moment, a hundred High Elders, at the peak of divine cultivation, surrounded Raoni and sealed him completely. Alm and Bruno did not resist, allowing themselves to be captured and taken away.