Come, Let's Take a Funerary Photo; The Endless Feast

"Is that all?" The words, tinged with a hint of regret, made the atmosphere turn even colder and more desolate. "Cough, cough—" Beside a fallen tree, Sub-Deacon Xu lay sprawled on the ground, struggling to push himself up with both hands. He raised his head to look at the only man still standing, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth. In a strained voice, he rasped, "Who... who in the world are you?" Before leading his team into Baidi City, he had thoroughly investigated the local situation. The Baidi branch of Dawnlight had only two Limit Break martial artists, and the Yuanzhen Sect had only its old sect master at Limit Break. Beyond them, there was not a single Limit Break expert anywhere in the city. Where had this one suddenly come from? And how had he inexplicably tracked down their hiding spot and kicked down their door? Hearing the question, Huang Tian strolled over until he stood before Sub-Deacon Xu. Looking down from above, a genial smile surfaced on his face. "You know me." "??" Sub-Deacon Xu was utterly bewildered. *I know him?* He truly could not recall when he had ever met this man. This was a Limit Break powerhouse—how could he have zero impression of him? "My name is Huang Tian." "Huang Tian?!!" Sub-Deacon Xu's expression drastically shifted. He remembered now! Just an hour or so ago, he had received a call reporting that someone named Huang Tian had killed his subordinates and boldly left his name behind at the scene as a provocation. He had just been preparing to discuss with Sub-Deacon Wu how to track down and eliminate the instigator. He never imagined that before they could even begin their discussion, the killer would take the initiative to come straight to their door— "Remember now?" Huang Tian chuckled softly. "You wanted to kill me, so naturally I want to kill you. Perfectly reasonable, wouldn't you say?" Sub-Deacon Xu's mind spun in confusion. Stammering, he managed to squeeze out a line: "I... I wasn't trying to kill you—" "Now that's not very honest." Huang Tian leaned down, causing Sub-Deacon Xu to flinch in terror. Shame immediately surged in Sub-Deacon Xu's chest, replaced by a resolute grimace. He slowly uttered, "If you want to kill me, then do it! My body may perish, but my soul will return to the embrace of our Lord. I shall have eternal life!" Yet even after he finished his declaration, Huang Tian made no move to strike. Instead, he simply reached into the man's coat pocket and pulled out a phone. "This thing is built pretty well. Still in one piece." Holding the phone, Huang Tian pressed a button. The screen lit up, but a passcode locked the display. Sub-Deacon Xu was completely at a loss, having no idea why the man had taken his phone. There were no valuable documents or secrets stored on it—only an encrypted communication feature. "Here, unlock it. Call your superior," Huang Tian said, holding the phone out to him. "?" Sub-Deacon Xu froze. "What... what are you trying to do?" "Nothing much. Just having you call your superiors—a bishop, a high priest, whatever you've got—and inform them of the situation here." "I don't understand." Sub-Deacon Xu reached out blankly and took the phone. "Are you hoping to pinpoint their location through the communication signal? It's useless. If it were that simple, our Flesh Society would have been wiped out by your Yangbai Federation long ago! Not to mention, the moment a call goes through, they'll relocate immediately. Don't waste your effort. Just kill me!" Huang Tian watched him, his voice carrying a subtle lure. "Of course I know that. But go ahead and make the call. Don't you want to tell the bishop the name of the man who slaughtered you, so he can avenge you? As long as you make this call, they'll remember my name. They'll have a chance to kill me—" *Gulp.* Swallowing a mouthful of bloody spit, Sub-Deacon Xu felt tempted. *Yes... making this call won't expose anything anyway, nor will it bring any harm to the society. But it will let the society avenge me—* "Why are you doing this?" Sub-Deacon Xu asked one last time. "This brings you no benefit at all. Are you really doing this purely out of arrogance and provocation?" He recalled Huang Tian's earlier act of leaving his name behind after killing their men. No sane person would ever expose their true identity to an adversary. After all, once exposed, one would stand in the light while the other lurked in the dark. No matter how powerful you were, there would come a moment of carelessness—and in that moment, death would surely follow! "I'm waiting for them to come kill me," Huang Tian said calmly. Sub-Deacon Xu's breath caught. Beneath that plain tone, he sensed an overwhelming, terrifying confidence. After a moment of silence, he unlocked the phone, glanced up at Huang Tian, and saw that the young man remained completely still. *Beep... beep...* The call connected. *** Yangbai Federation, Feiniao State, Yushui Town. This was an unremarkable small town with a population of merely a few thousand, mostly elderly folk and children. There were hardly any decent buildings in town; the only structure that looked presentable was a Church of Nature chapel. The Church of Nature was no evil god cult, but an orthodox faith that had existed for over a millennium. Although its followers had dwindled in recent years, it remained officially recognized by the authorities. This particular chapel in Yushui Town had been built over a century ago. After more than a hundred years, it had fallen into disuse until a few years back, when people claiming to be believers of the Church of Nature purchased it, repaired the premises, and restored its clean, solemn appearance. At this moment, within the chapel, doors and windows were tightly shut, leaving the interior dim and shadowy. In the center stood a brazier holding roaring torches. Leaping flames cast shifting light across the figures of five people gathered around the fire. "We hunger!" "We thirst!" "We pray to the supreme Feast Lord to grant us bounty!" "Grant us a joyous banquet!" "The Endless Feast, eternal and unceasing!" Five cloaked men and women chanted in low, rising and falling murmurs. With every invocation, the flames leaped violently higher. Light and shadow flickered wildly across the room, illuminating the piety and fanaticism etched upon their faces. After a long while, their chanting ceased. They pulled back their hoods, extinguished the fire in the brazier, opened the heavy chapel doors, and stepped outside. The fervent zeal on their faces had vanished completely, replaced by warm, gentle smiles. Beyond the chapel lay an open clearing where a dozen children were playing and laughing. "Children, come have some sweets!" called the leader of the five, cupping a handful of candies from his pocket with a bright smile. "Candy!" The children leaped with joy and bounded toward him, taking the candies from his hands. Under the sunlight, the wrappers cast a brilliant, glaze-like sheen. "Thank you for your generosity!" "Thank you!" The children bowed their thanks and scampered off gleefully. As they ran, they peeled open the wrappers and popped the sweet candies into their mouths, their smiles growing even wider. "How wonderful..." the leader murmured leisurely. The four behind him wore equally placid smiles. One of them stepped closer and whispered, "Bishop, the operatives we sent out have already collected the heart-blood of ten thousand people, and the other materials are ready. When should we arrange the ritual to open the void passage and summon our Lord's kin to descend?" The Bishop pondered for a moment. "Let us determine the ritual site first. This town is far too small, its population far too sparse—nowhere near enough to sate our Lord's kin." The subordinate nodded. "We would need at least a city of over a hundred thousand people to—" *Buzz... buzz...* The vibration of a phone interrupted the sentence. The Bishop raised a hand to cut him off, drew the phone from his pocket, and answered. "Cough... cough, Bishop—" From the other end came the sound of someone coughing up blood. The Bishop's expression shifted sharply, yet he held his tongue and listened quietly. Sub-Deacon Xu continued, "Bishop, after this call, I will likely be killed—" He laid out the entire sequence of events clearly, placing special emphasis on describing Huang Tian's appearance and martial strength. The Bishop's breathing grew slow and heavy. He let out a cold sneer. "What a Huang Tian! Excellent! To think he even dared let you call me—such arrogance! Good! Hand him the phone. I want to speak with him." Sub-Deacon Xu paused, then looked up at Huang Tian. "The Bishop wants to speak to you." Huang Tian took the phone from his grasp and said with complete calm, "Hello, this is Huang Tian." *Hello?!* The Bishop was momentarily stunned. He had never expected Huang Tian's very first words to be a polite "hello." Polite! Far too polite! So polite it made a ball of fury ignite in his chest! His voice dropped into a dark, heavy cadence, each word deliberate. "You've done very well!" "Of course I have," Huang Tian chuckled lightly. His gaze traced along an invisible black line, piercing across thousands of kilometers to see the Bishop and his companions on the other end of the line. "Young man, you are far too arrogant!" The Bishop suppressed his simmering rage. "If you let them go right now, I can choose to overlook your offense. But if you refuse—" "I refuse." "—!" The Bishop's tone turned freezing cold. "You are provoking us! You are provoking the supreme Feast Lord!" "And?" "Hah—" The Bishop exhaled, laughing out of sheer fury. "You will soon learn just how grave a mistake you have made! I will make you regret this! I will make you die in endless agony!!" *Click.* The call was cut off. The Bishop lowered his phone, gazing out toward the distant sky. In an indifferent tone, he ordered, "Bring the Ten-Thousand-Heart Water. We are going to Baidi City. We will set up the ritual there and summon our Lord's kin!" The four behind him exchanged glances. "Understood!" *** "To think the fish are actually coming to Baidi City themselves. Saves me a trip—quite convenient, really." Watching the Bishop issue his orders through the remote sightline, Huang Tian smiled. "The call is done. What else do you want to—" Sub-Deacon Xu rasped weakly. "Come, let's take a funerary photo." Huang Tian produced his own phone and snapped a picture of the stunned Sub-Deacon Xu. *Click.* Then, he brought his palm down on Sub-Deacon Xu's head. The man's body shuddered before collapsing limply to the ground. Huang Tian ripped open the sleeve on Xu's right arm, revealing a flame tattoo. *Click—* He snapped another photo. Afterward, he walked over to the corpse of Sub-Deacon Wu, who had already choked on his own blood and died, and repeated the process. With both men's memorial photos taken, he opened the Everlasting Dawnlight app, navigated to his accepted mission page, and uploaded the photos with the remark: *Two Limit Break sub-deacons of the Flesh Society confirmed slain.* Once that was done, he walked into the building, packing the gold, cash, and valuables brought by Sub-Deacon Xu and his crew into a black leather suitcase. With everything settled, he drew a light breath and took a leisurely stroll around the villa grounds. Looking up, he saw overlapping verdant mountains stretching into the distance, their lush greenery blending with the clouds. A mountain stream babbled softly, wrapping around the foothills like a jade belt. Its cool, crisp gurgle sounded like shattered jade clinking upon a platter. The stream widened and narrowed by turns, throwing up thousands of snowy white splashes whenever it struck stone. Several birds took fright from the dense woods, chirping as they soared toward the azure sky, their plumage vivid as brocade and gleaming with golden-green brilliance beneath the sun. A gust of wind swept past, churning the forest across the mountains like an ocean of waves. Flocks of startled birds took flight, skimming through clouds and dancing over water—a living painting across the open sky. Truly pleasant! *Screeech!* Before the small path outside the villa, several cars braked sharply to a halt. Over a dozen men and women clad in uniforms vaulted out and sprinted swiftly toward the villa. Leading them were a man and a woman named Yuan Gang and Chen Mengzhu—the head and consultant of the Baidi branch of Dawnlight. "We're almost there. Stay sharp," Yuan Gang whispered as they leaped forward. "Understood," Chen Mengzhu replied. Upon receiving the mission completion notification from Huang Tian on the Everlasting Dawnlight system, the two had been thoroughly stunned and had rushed toward Yuanxiu Villa without stopping for breath. En route, they had checked the personal details Huang Tian had registered on the app and were astonished to find that he was a Baidi City local. They had immediately instructed their subordinates to pull his official file. When the electronic dossier arrived, they reviewed it thoroughly, only to be left in utter shock. According to the records, Huang Tian was merely a college student on the verge of graduation with virtually no prior contact with martial arts! How could he have suddenly become a Limit Break powerhouse? And how had he inexplicably clashed with the Flesh Society? It was bizarre! Utterly baffling! It was precisely because of these lingering doubts that they approached with heightened vigilance. *Thud.* The two halted before the small building marked "Yuanxiu Villa Resort Center." Their pupils shrank instantly. All around them, the ground was strewn with corpses and soaked in blood. Yuan Gang strode over to one of the bodies, ripping the sleeve of its right arm. "Flame tattoo!" He pressed a hand to the corpse's musculature. "Roughly at the third change of qi and blood." He rose and walked over to Sub-Deacon Wu's corpse, pressing down with his hand. "Flame tattoo, physical Limit Break. Almost certainly a Flesh Society sub-deacon." Chen Mengzhu looked into the distance and saw a young man strolling leisurely toward them from the edge of the mountain woods. "Huang Tian!" Yuan Gang immediately stood up and walked toward Huang Tian, offering a hand and a smile. "Yuan Gang, head of the Baidi Dawnlight branch." "Huang Tian." Huang Tian shook his hand. "This is Chen Mengzhu, branch consultant," Yuan Gang introduced. "Hello," Chen Mengzhu said. Huang Tian nodded in return. "Have you two finished tallying the bodies?" Yuan Gang replied, "There are still a few left to verify. Please wait a moment, Mr. Huang. Once everything is confirmed, the corresponding points will be credited to you immediately." "All right," Huang Tian agreed with a nod. As Yuan Gang turned back to examine the remaining bodies, Chen Mengzhu cleared her throat lightly and asked, "Mr. Huang's strength is truly astonishing. May I ask which sect or lineage you studied under?" "I belong to no sect or school," Huang Tian answered without evasion. A flicker of astonishment flashed through Chen Mengzhu's eyes. No sect, no school, and clearly not from an official background—which meant this young man was an independent martial artist! An independent martial artist was essentially a rogue cultivator. How could a rogue cultivator, and one so young at that, have achieved Limit Break?! *A fortuitous encounter? Natural talent? Or does he worship an evil god as well?* Chen Mengzhu's thoughts raced. The possibility of him worshipping an evil god was slim; if he truly believed in an outer evil god, he would have hidden himself in the shadows. Why would he meet with them face-to-face? With that in mind, she probed with a few more subtle questions, but uncovered nothing suspicious. Seeing this, she dropped the inquiry and shifted to polite, friendly chatter to build rapport. A Limit Break powerhouse unaffiliated with evil god cults was well worth recruiting. Ideally, they could bring him into Dawnlight as a consultant. However, this could not be rushed. For one, their relationship was not yet close enough, making a hasty invitation inappropriate. Secondly, the role of consultant carried significant authority; they needed to further assess his character. As long as he wasn't excessively cruel or fond of slaughtering civilians for sport, an invitation could be extended. While Chen Mengzhu could already tell from his demeanor that Huang Tian was no bloodthirsty maniac, a period of observation remained necessary. Moments later, Yuan Gang walked back, looking solemn. "All the bodies have been verified. Two sub-deacons and five martial artists at the third change of qi and blood—the corresponding points will be deposited into your personal account within ten minutes." "Good," Huang Tian said. "Since the tally is done, I'll take my leave. By the way, if your side ever needs my help dealing with evil god cults, feel free to call me anytime." Yuan Gang and Chen Mengzhu were visibly moved. "Thank you, Mr. Huang!" "No need to be polite. It's simply the righteous thing to do." Leaving those words behind, Huang Tian walked off into the distance. The two stood watching his retreating figure, sighing with emotion for a long while. "Who would have thought that among our Baidi City's independent martial artists, there could be such a righteous and noble soul..." *** Returning to his hotel with the suitcase, Huang Tian logged into the Everlasting Dawnlight app and exchanged every single point he had just earned for pills and medicinal solutions that bolstered qi and blood. Barely an hour later, a martial artist at the third change of qi and blood from the Dawnlight branch personally delivered the goods to his door. After signing for the delivery, Huang Tian did not rush to consume the medicines. Instead, he turned his attention to the potential points he had harvested from this venture. "Add points! All of them!" Instantly, a surging heat like a raging river erupted within him, flooding into every corner of his body. His qi and blood roiled violently, steaming out in white plumes like rolling clouds and mist. After a long while... He exhaled a long breath, quietly sensing the changes within his flesh. *The Limit Break stage is virtually at full perfection. If I take these pills, in as little as half a day, or at most a full day, I can break through once more!* The corners of his mouth curved up. He uncapped a bottle of pills and poured them straight into his mouth. "Keep going! Break through to Combat Master in one go!"