In the underground laboratory, barely lit by oil lamps, the air smelled of metal. Ethan snapped out of his thoughts and turned his gaze toward Gao Renli.
"You know a lot about demon beasts and cultivators. I wonder how a man like you, commander of a thousand soldiers, ended up sentenced to death," Ethan said, his brow slightly furrowed.
Gao Renli was about thirty-five years old. He wasn't young, but still far from being old. He wore a neatly trimmed beard, his hair pulled back, and his eyes held the coldness of someone who had seen too many battles. His body, weathered by years of combat, hadn't lost its strength.
Upon hearing the question, Gao Renli frowned. Something shifted in his gaze. But he didn't answer.
Ethan watched in silence for a moment, as if waiting for Gao Renli to speak. The heavy air in the underground laboratory seemed to stretch time.
Finally, Gao Renli sighed before speaking.
"I used to be the commander of a thousand men. My troops and I were sent to the Huayin fortress. Our mission was clear: we eliminated bandits, hunted demon beasts that tried to cross into the dynasty, and maintained peace in the south."
"Even the fiercest beasts can fall before a well-trained army. Yes, we took casualties... but it was necessary. We couldn't allow them to sow chaos in our lands."
Ethan nodded silently, waiting for him to continue.
"Victories were dangerous, but constant. My men trusted me, and I trusted them. Over time, we developed effective tactics, we knew the terrain, we knew how to move through the thicket, when to attack and when to retreat. The chain of command was clear, efficient. We had balance."
He paused, his expression hardening.
"But one day, suddenly, I was assigned an adjutant to my unit."
He frowned in distaste.
"A young man named Shen Yuze, the son of General Shen, a renowned cultivator in the High Command. He was assigned without prior notice, without formal explanations."
He gritted his teeth.
"From the beginning, he came with the attitude of someone superior. His rank was lower, but his background wasn't. In the end, I put up with it... after all, it was an order."
"Shen Yuze had a bad reputation. In the Imperial City, he was a known dandy. He wasn't interested in battles, only in parties and praise. Everyone knew it. He was useless. And although he had spiritual roots, his strength was far from his father's. But, after all, he was the son of General Shen, and that was enough. Just by setting foot in the fortress, he got that position. But apparently... it wasn't enough."
Gao Renli clenched his fists. Rage was evident in his voice, but he kept speaking with control.
"One day I received a direct order. They said a demon beast, a boar-type, had been spotted near a village in the north. I was ordered to take a hundred men and eliminate it personally. Meanwhile, the adjutant Shen Yuze stayed behind... guarding the fortress."
He paused. Ethan didn't interrupt him.
"But when we arrived, it wasn't a lone boar. No. It was a group. A pack of more than twelve. They're called Bone Mountain Boars. Demon beasts that develop a natural bony layer over their bodies. Thick armor-like plating, but with spikes protruding from their backs. Some have plates over their eyes and jaws, like helmets. Their strength... is brutal. Impossible to face."
Gao Renli looked up, his gaze fixed, as if seeing the scene again.
"I ordered an immediate retreat. A hundred men against that pack was suicide. But then one of ours shot an arrow, drawing their attention. The traitor. He ran away. But the boars spotted us."
His voice hardened even further.
"We lost formation. Some were impaled by the beasts' bone defenses. Others... were simply trampled. People were torn apart with no time to scream. Only I and two men managed to escape, covered in blood and mud. It took us a day to return to the camp. And when we got back, there was no medical attention, no questions, no investigation."
Ethan squinted.
"We were arrested instantly," Gao Renli growled. "They accused us of cowardice, of disobeying orders, of abandoning the unit. My two men... they silenced them. No one ever saw them again. I was sentenced to death the next day. No defense. No witnesses. The court had the verdict before they even let me speak."
Gao Renli took a deep breath, but the tremor in his jaw betrayed that the wound was still open.
"The traitor... worked for Yuze. It was all a trap. Designed to get me out of the way. To cover the defeat, to make my execution clear the path. And so it was. In less than a week, Shen Yuze was officially promoted to my former position."
A heavy silence fell.
"And that's my entire story. There's no justice for a soldier who doesn't have a family name. Not if the one who wants your place is the son of a general."
Ethan didn't say anything at first. He just watched him.
"I understand why you're still alive. It's not by luck. It's because you didn't finish your war."
Ethan stood up slowly, his gaze fixed on Gao Renli, as if weighing every word before speaking.
"I admire people like you. Soldiers who truly protect the people, who face bandits and beasts without hesitation."
"They set a trap for you. They used you. And then they silenced you. But you're still here. Alive. I don't believe in destiny, but it's definitely not a coincidence," said Ethan, a cold smile playing on his lips as if enjoying the irony.
Gao Renli looked up, staring at him, but said nothing.
"What are you insinuating?" he asked, his voice low but filled with caution.
"Join us," replied Ethan, his tone firm as he slowly walked around the room, approaching a shelf.
"Join Astralis," he continued, his words full of determination. "We're just a group of people seeking safety in this world, longing for change, refusing to accept the fate they've imposed on us." With a brief pause, he took a book from the shelf and sat back down.
His gaze fixed on Gao Renli as the words came out firmly.
"What I want is simple," he said, his voice deep but clear. "A world where mortals don't live in constant fear of the so-called 'superiors,' the cultivators."
"I want change, a world where, if mortals are cornered, they don't become prey, but predators. A world where people like us don't have to live in fear every day. That's what we're looking for in Astralis."
Gao Renli frowned and snorted with disdain.
"An intriguing ideal... but if that means falling onto the demonic path, then you're no better than a farce. In the end, evil techniques always seek to harm others for personal gain," he retorted harshly.
Ethan raised an eyebrow, visibly surprised.
"It seems you've got the wrong idea. I don't plan to face cultivators using demonic techniques," he replied firmly.
But Gao Renli didn't stop.
"Then why do you use techniques that channel demonic energy?" he said with a sarcastic smile.
Ethan remained silent for a moment. Understanding crossed his face, but he shook his head. Without saying more, he took a steel syringe from the nearby table and held it in front of him.
"What you saw has nothing to do with demonic or evil techniques," he explained, showing it. "Although you're right about one thing: it is related to demonic energy. But this is something different. It's called D-Serum. It's an invention of Astralis."
"D-Serum?" Gao Renli repeated, frowning.
"Yes. As you mentioned earlier, we use demon beasts as a medium. We extract a specific substance from their bodies... and from there, we create it. The result is a formula capable of enhancing the physical strength, speed, and endurance of an ordinary human... though with certain side effects." Ethan gestured toward the unconscious subject in the corner of the room.
"But in the end," he added, looking at one of the Vespers present, "this is just a trump card. A backup. Not our true weapon."
Gao Renli followed Ethan's gaze and focused on the nearest Vesper.
He was fully armed, wrapped in strange black armor with angular lines and overlapping plates that left nothing exposed except a narrow slit through which cold, unbreakable eyes peered. In his hands, he held what appeared to be a spear... though shorter, with a form that defied tradition.
From the very first moment, his battle-hardened senses warned him of danger. That figure showed no murderous intent. But there was something in his posture, in the way he held that weapon, that gave him chills.
Gao Renli frowned as he examined the object closely.
Then Ethan spoke.
"It's a Mauser," he said calmly, as if talking about any tool. "A bolt-action rifle, designed to face enemies without needing to use spiritual energy. You could say it replaces bows... but with greater range, precision, and power."
With a slight nod, he pointed to the Vesper. Without saying a word, the Vesper turned on his heels, aimed at the reinforced steel wall on the other side of the room, and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The sound was deafening. A dry, powerful blast that echoed through the lab.
The bullet hit the steel and left a deep mark, a groove with splintered edges from the force of the projectile. It didn't pierce it, but that was expected, they were in Ethan's lab, but the damage was evident.
For Ethan, it was a controlled demonstration.
But for Gao Renli... it was a different story.
The shot shook him. His body reacted instinctively, senses on high alert. And before his mind could process it, he was already looking at the impact on the other side of the room.
"W-what... what was that?" he exclaimed, still tense.
"A rifle," Ethan repeated, this time with a slight smile. "A weapon that fires high-speed projectiles at the target. Within five hundred meters, it's lethal. Even for a cultivator, if they're unprepared. If a Qi cultivator gets a direct shot... they'll die. And if they're protected by spiritual barriers or defensive techniques, just a couple of well-placed hits are enough to break them and eliminate them."
He paused briefly, looking at the still-smoking weapon in the Vesper's hands.
"Of course... if they use high-tier treasures or if the combat is close-range, its effectiveness decreases. But for that, we have other measures," Ethan concluded, as Gao Renli's eyes remained fixed on the rifle, unable to hide the mix of awe and confusion.
Ethan turned his gaze to Gao Renli.
"But in the end, it doesn't matter the technique, the tool, weapon, or power. There are no inherently good or bad things," said Ethan firmly. "And to be honest... if an immortal technique fell into my hands, whether from the demonic path or the righteous one, I would study it thoroughly without hesitation."
He paused, measuring his words.
"Everything in this world has its value, its strength. What's important is not the origin, but the use. If what you discover can push development, protect your own, or change the course of a war, why discard it? In the end, it's not the tool that decides... but the hand that wields it."