Chapter 207 - 201: The Beginning of War.

"Vile Mad Slasher! Give up! You can't possibly escape our entrapment!" A righteous cultivator shouted.

"I have to say, I'm quite impressed you all had the wits to sniff me out here. You know, for being so old, you all aren't too used to using your brain anymore." Tia laughed.

"Hmph. Nothing but a false bravado! She knows there is no way out and is trying to buy time for her allies to find her." Head Elder of the Nine Swords Sect, Nuam Nam, laughed as well.

"I wouldn't be so quick to lead them to their deaths. Take a second to think with those withered and aged brains of yours. If I am here, where are my men?" Tia threw out the bait.

"Who knows! Don't listen to her words and kill!" Nuam Nam led the attack with his golden longsword.

______________________________________________‌

Tia could only sigh. It's been months since she left closed door seclusion and a lot has happened since then. The three she met after coming out wanting to follow her weren't the only ones who wanted to do so. After Tia had a little fun with the three, thousands of others were willing to follow under the Vile Mad Slasher. A title that Tia did not create of her own volition nor supported it. It was too crass and vulgar for her taste. She was neither Vile or Mad. A slasher, yes, but what else could she do with a machete? Tickle?

With those thousands of expendable savages, Tia had to plan and strategize how to perfectly control and use them. It was a new experience for her leading so many men and women but they were more than simple to control. What did every cultivator want? Power, safety, and freedom. None of which, at the time, she could reliably promise. An army or group needed control. Ruling through power would work for a short time but eventually she would need to think of a functional system that could properly control a group like this. So, she let them cause some chaos to satisfy them for the time being.

By leading them into battles that they would win with 100% certainty and allowing them to loot everything to their heart's d.e.s.i.r.e, it very quickly created a sense of loyalty within the group. A group that they apparently decide to call the Mad Dragons. Tia didn't understand their obsession with calling her mad. Just because she thought in a way that was different from everyone else and actually decided to do things about it didn't mean she was crazy. Stupid savages...

So as the months went by with Tia leading the Mad Dragons into exterminating several righteous sects, strengthening her group, becoming a better leader, and building her own strength, she entered a full-blown war with every righteous sect in the continent. The Nine Swords Sect led all the righteous sects into fighting against her group. A plan that would no doubt easily be able to take care of a wild and uncontrolled group like hers. Unfortunately, the Nine Swords Sect got a little greedy.

They planned to absorb and merge the lesser sects under them. This hidden plan of theirs was found out by one of the Nine Swords Sect's closest allies. Causing all the righteous sects to be dubious of the intentions of the Nine Swords Sect. At first, they believed it was to rid the world of the Vile Mad Slasher, leading to a more prosperous age for righteous cultivators and sects alike. But once their secret plan was revealed, many were hesitant to join them in their battle.

Of course, the Nine Swords Sect denied crafting such a devious plan but considering that the sect that first spread the news of this plan was mysteriously destroyed in a single night without a single survivor. It made many more sects and cultivators who call themselves righteous clam up and go quiet. Not responding to the requests for help by the Nine Swords Sect in wiping out the Mad Dragons.

To quickly save their reputation from falling anymore, they pointed their fingers at the Mad Dragons and blamed it on them. While it would make sense for the Mad Dragons to do so it also made sense for the Nine Swords Sect to do the same! But the Mad Dragons were quite vocal in their denial of exterminating the Supreme Flower Sect.

"Like hell we killed them. We leave nothing in our wake when we go to battle."

"Hihihihi! Do you think that we wouldn't be gloating about destroying that sect if we dealt with them?"

"Also, didn't you notice they had all their clothes and none of the houses were destroyed? Of course, we didn't have a hand in it."

It was quite hard to place the blame on the Mad Dragons as this wasn't like them at all. When they went to war, they truly left no morsel untouched. Everything of their enemies were looted and grabbed for themselves. Even the worthless junk was gathered for some reason. It was as if they just took everything just because they could! Not for any need or want for such items.

But the Supreme Flower Sect still had everything. When the wandering cultivators heard of their demise, they quickly went to loot whatever they could in the remains. The only thing they found were endless corpses strewn about but all their stuff was untouched! These looters had no issues helping prove the Mad Dragon's statement. There truly were valuables left at the Supreme Flower Sect that wouldn't be there if the Mad Dragons attacked.

Tia decided to use the Nine Swords Sect horrible flounder to her advantage even further. By using one of her followers as a fake survivor of the extermination of the Supreme Flower Sect, she had him admit to everyone that it was indeed the Nine Swords Sect that destroyed their sect. With him having only one arm and one leg, it was very convincing to everyone else. Especially when Tia decided to make it more convincing by adding a few sword-like scars on his body and face. This follower of hers was gifted great rewards for his sacrifice and devotion.

Once again, the Nine Swords Sect refused to admit to any sect exterminating. Only the top members of the Nine Sword Sect knew of their dealings with the Supreme Flower Sect and the Pillar Elder that personally had a hand in the destruction of it, knew he had killed every single member of the sect. He counted! That was when they realized that they fell right into the trap set by the Mad Dragons. This only turned their already unfixable relationship into a generation-spanning hatred that wouldn't be solved even if millions of years passed.

______________________________________________‌

"Lightning, guide my hand." Tia grinned as numerous Qi Transformation cultivators came at her with swords.

A concentrated burst of electricity flashed from her forehead that super charged her brain. This self-taught technique would normally kill anyone else that wasn't Tia if they tried it. That was because with this lightning qi, she was actually altering her brain into making her into the ultimate fighting being. For normal humans, to respond to an external threat, their brain must first recognize the threat and then send instructions to the muscles to react. With her altering, instead of going to the brain first, they would head straight to the muscle allowing Tia to respond to different threats instantly. She could alter it to respond to killing intent, touch, someone stepping within a certain range around her, and specific responses made by her opponents. Specific responses such as taking out a pill, pulling out a movement talisman, and etc.

A thin blue aura of lightning coated her body as she disappeared from in the encirclement of all the cultivators. In the same moment she dodged their swords, she attacked at the same time. Her machete slashed, cleaved, stabbed, and hacked at the elders without giving them the chance to resist. Hell, they didn't even get the opportunity to react! Well, some could react. Out of the dozens of elders, Tia managed to kill 8 after activating her secret technique. The remaining four were a bit special. One was one major realm above her. One specialized in defensive martial arts. One specialized in body cultivation and the last one who practiced a strange technique that made him her machete pass right through him.

The only threats were Nuam Nam, the Mortality Ascension realm cultivator and the ghost guy. For the other two, if it wasn't for their tough bodies, then they would be dead just like the others because neither of them could react to her speed. Allowing her to inflict countless slashes on their bodies with her machete, drawing a pool of blood underneath them that rose above their feet. Nuam Nam could just barely keep up with her thanks to his higher realm. Ghosty was unable to contribute and was too afraid to exit his ghostly state because he knew what would await him if he did.

"Get out of the way you fools! You're only holding me back!" Nuam Nam insulted.

"I'm trying!"

"Just grab her! She can't move so fast if we got her in our grip!"

"I will get out of your way Elder Nam!" Ghosty quickly fled into the distance and Tia could do nothing to stop him. He could even run through trees and lightning without a problem.

Tia's body continued to carve up the two cultivators and pressure Nuam Nam. Only a few seconds have passed since their battle started and she's already unleashed more than a hundred thousand cuts between the three. Nuam Nam seemed to have gotten fed up. While he wasn't nearly as bloody or injured as the other two, he was still unable to land a single hit on her.

"Enough!" A fierce shockwave of qi and sword intent spread outward from him in a 10km radius.

"Whoa. That was a surprise..." Tia suddenly appeared just outside the edge of Nam's attack completely unharmed. "No wonder he's a Head Elder with that much power." Everything that was within that 10km was reduced to dust, including the two body cultivators.

She still had a lot of qi left. This technique didn't drain much qi during use. Tia would've been pissed if it did. She had to put hundreds of thousands of captured enemies through multiple sessions to create and perfect this martial art. Creating martial arts is a lot more troublesome than she thought it would be. All it took was one little mistake when trying to figure out the best route through the qi pathway for one to become completely crippled. Not to mention having to poke around and learn about the inner qi system on her own. Such a hassle. Someone should've written all this information down already instead of forcing her to do so. How long have there been cultivators? And no one decided to write about the inner qi system, how it works, and the fact that everyone's inner qi system is completely different from each other!?

"So, you survived..." Nuam Nam stared at her from a few meters away.

"Did you really think such a simple technique would be enough to deal with me?" Tia asked, feeling insulted.

"I'll show you a simple technique..." He growled. "My sword art, Heaven's Final Decree, will be simple enough to handle you. No matter how fast you are. I, Nuam Nam, will kill you soon enough!" Nam viciously smirked.

"You never stood a chance against me Nam. And to prove that, I'll let you activate your Qi Domain and transform yourself into your main element." Tia knew of the vast difference in their strength and skills. Those are the only two ways he could save himself from perishing here.

"Hmph! Silence Vile Mad Slasher!" He rushed at her with his sword.

It only took a few moments before the immense pride he felt in his swordsmanship fell apart. With Lightning's Will, Tia didn't need to rely on her own martial prowess at all. Her body automatically responded and fought for her to kill Nuam Nam. His sword skills fell apart in the face of overwhelming speed and precision. Tia's body found the flaws in his swordsmanship without even knowing about how he utilized it!

Nam blocked another lethal chop from the Slasher's blade before suddenly feeling his back being sliced apart. He turned once he felt the pain to tear apart the annoying fly only to receive another mark on his back. To respond to the lightning-fast attacks, he formed a barrier of qi around himself and when he felt a strike on the barrier, he attacked at the same moment. Unfortunately for him, Lightning's Will didn't respond to the barrier's actions but his own, meaning that this attack of his which he thought was genius. Only turned against him as the Slasher's blade nicked his throat.

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance." Her voice seemingly spoke in all directions.

Nuam Nam for some reason felt fear for his own life. His senses exploded with alertness as he tried to activate his Qi Domain. Tia could only laugh with mockery as her machete found itself stabbed through Nam's heart from the front. Blood shot from his mouth as he tried to say his final words.

"The name's Tia by the way. I don't see why you all insist on calling me that annoying nickname you gave me." Tia made sure to fry his heart to a crisp by electrifying her machete while it was impaled in him.

With cultivators these days, you can never be too careful. Which is why after burning him to a burnt crisp with her lightning, she decapitated him and split his skull. After doing this, she figured that it was finally over but while her Lightning's Will was still active, her body jumped far into the sky and clasped something in her hand before shocking it.

"Release me!" A tiny voice screamed in pain.

"What the hell...?" Tia altered her brain into giving her some control again.