Rise of The Abandoned Husband

I watched the Devouring Shadow descend toward me with terrifying speed. Without my spiritual power, I couldn't dodge fast enough. The blade sliced across my chest, carving a deep gash that immediately burned with unnatural pain.

I staggered backward, blood soaking my torn shirt. This wasn't normal damage. Each pulse sent waves of agony through my body as the weapon's dark energy invaded my system, attempting to sever my connection to my spiritual core.

Barrett's face twisted with sadistic pleasure. "How does it feel, Liam? The Devouring Shadow feeds on your essence with each cut."

I pressed my hand against the wound, feeling the corrosive energy spreading. "You've made a critical mistake."

"Oh?" Barrett raised an eyebrow, circling me confidently. "And what might that be?"

"You're still alive to regret it." Despite my words, I was in serious trouble. The four spirit-suppression tokens continued to pulse with blue energy, forming an impenetrable barrier around my spiritual power.

Barrett laughed. "Big talk from a man who can't even access his cultivation." He raised the blade again. "Let's see if you maintain that arrogance when I cut off your arm."

He lunged forward, the black blade whistling through the air. I sidestepped, but he anticipated my movement. The edge caught my shoulder, biting deep into muscle. I bit back a scream as darkness seemed to flow directly into my veins from the wound.

"Each cut weakens you further," Barrett explained casually. "Soon you'll be begging to join the Covenant just to end the pain."

Blood dripped from my fingertips as I assessed my situation. The formation prevented me from projecting spiritual energy outward, but I could still feel my internal power churning, desperate for release. I needed to break these tokens, but they lay just beyond the formation's boundary.

"Getting desperate?" Barrett taunted, noting my eyes scanning the tokens. "Those are ancient artifacts, specifically designed to contain even Martial Saints. You won't break them through brute force."

I had to try something. Lunging toward one of the tokens, I slammed against an invisible wall of resistance. It was like hitting solid steel. The token remained frustratingly out of reach, mocking me with its soft blue glow.

Barrett took advantage of my vulnerable position, driving the blade deep into my back. This time, I couldn't suppress my scream as the weapon's energy tore through my internal organs.

"That's more like it," Barrett said, twisting the blade before pulling it free. "The mighty Liam Knight, finally brought to his knees."

I collapsed, blood pooling beneath me. My vision blurred as the weapon's dark energy spread through my system. I could feel it attacking my meridians, trying to permanently damage my cultivation base.

"You should have accepted our offer," Barrett continued, circling me like a predator with wounded prey. "The Umbral Covenant recognizes talent. We could have given you power beyond imagination."

I forced myself to my knees, even as blood streamed from multiple wounds. "Your... Covenant... means nothing to me."

Barrett's face hardened. "Then die with your pride."

He raised the Devouring Shadow for a killing blow. In that moment of absolute crisis, something shifted within me. If I couldn't break the tokens from the outside...

With a desperate roar, I channeled all my remaining internal energy inward. My Power of Martial Saint foundation responded, golden light erupting from beneath my skin. I wasn't trying to project outward—I was creating an explosion of pure energy from within.

"What are you doing?" Barrett asked, suddenly uncertain.

The golden light intensified, coursing through my meridians and condensing into my core. Instead of fighting against the formation, I embraced its pressure, using it to compress my energy to its absolute limit.

Then I released it all at once.

The explosion wasn't physical—it was spiritual, a shockwave of concentrated energy that radiated from within me. The formation tokens shuddered, their blue light flickering as my golden energy pushed against their suppression.

"Impossible!" Barrett shouted, backing away. "That formation can contain a Martial Saint!"

One by one, the tokens cracked, their ancient surfaces unable to withstand the pressure of my condensed spiritual energy. With each fracture, I felt my power returning, flowing freely through my body once more.

The final token shattered with a sound like breaking glass. Golden light erupted around me as my spiritual energy surged outward, unrestrained and hungry for retribution.

"You're not facing a Martial Saint," I said, rising to my feet as my wounds began to close. "You're facing someone who will become more than they ever were."

Barrett's face paled. He gripped the Devouring Shadow tighter, pouring more of his life force into the weapon. "It doesn't matter! This blade can sever anyone's cultivation!"

He charged, desperation replacing his earlier confidence. But now, freed from the formation's constraints, I activated my Vajra Holy Body technique. My skin hardened, taking on a golden sheen as my wounds sealed completely.

The black blade struck my forearm—and stopped dead. Its edge couldn't penetrate my transformed skin.

"What?" Barrett gasped, staring in disbelief.

I grabbed the blade with my bare hand. "My turn."

With a sharp twist, I snapped the weapon in half. Dark energy spilled from the broken blade, dissipating into the air. Barrett stumbled backward, his face ashen not just from the weapon's drain on his life force, but from genuine fear.

"This can't be happening," he muttered, backing away. "The formation should have—"

"Should have, could have, would have," I mocked, advancing on him. "Typical excuses from the weak who rely on tricks instead of true strength."

Barrett turned to flee, but I was on him in an instant, blocking his path. "Going somewhere?"

"You don't understand what you're rejecting," he pleaded, desperation replacing his earlier confidence. "The Covenant has access to secrets that could help you find Isabelle!"

"I don't need your lies or your secrets," I replied coldly.

He drew a concealed dagger and thrust it toward my heart. I didn't even try to dodge. The blade struck my chest and bent, unable to penetrate my Vajra-enhanced body.

Fear bloomed in Barrett's eyes as he realized his predicament. He swung wildly with the broken Saint Weapon, trying to create distance between us. I caught his wrist, crushing it until the remnant of the weapon fell from his useless fingers.

"Wait!" Barrett cried out. "The Covenant can offer you—"

I silenced him with a punch that shattered his defensive spiritual barrier like glass. The impact sent him flying into a tree trunk with enough force to splinter the wood.

Before he could recover, I was on him again. I abandoned all defensive posturing, focusing solely on overwhelming offense. Each strike landed with devastating precision—ribs cracking, organs rupturing, meridians collapsing under the assault.

"This is for attempting to cripple my cultivation," I said, driving my fist into his solar plexus.

Barrett coughed blood, trying desperately to summon defensive techniques, but my attacks came too quickly, too powerfully for him to respond.

"This is for thinking you could force me to join your Covenant." Another blow crushed his shoulder joint.

Barrett tried to speak, to plead or bargain, but only managed to gurgle blood.

"And this," I said, channeling golden energy into my fist, "is for wasting my time."

The final punch caught him squarely in the face, shattering his skull and sending him crashing to the ground in a broken heap. His body twitched, barely clinging to life.

I stood over him, my breathing even despite the exertion. Barrett Hill, half-step Martial Sage and Umbral Covenant recruiter, lay defeated at my feet. But I wasn't done yet.

I knelt beside his broken form, placing my palm on his chest. I could sense it within him—a large, shimmering golden core, the condensed essence of his decades of cultivation.

"Do you... know what you're... doing?" Barrett managed to whisper through shattered teeth.

"Perfectly," I replied, driving my hand into his dantian.

Barrett screamed as I forcibly extracted his golden core—a brutal technique normally reserved for mortal enemies. The shimmering sphere of pure energy emerged in my grasp, pulsing with power accumulated over a lifetime of cultivation.

"Please..." Barrett begged, his eyes wide with horror as he watched his life's work, his power, his very essence being taken from him.

I stood, examining the golden core in my hand. "Consider this payment for the inconvenience you've caused me."

Barrett could only watch in helpless agony as I claimed his power for my own.