Chapter 1299: Chapter 1299:- The Emperor Who Abandoned His Humanity

In fact, if Aditya had not already known what Ren looked like, he might have struggled to recognise the man standing at the front of the Emperor Faction.

Ren looked almost like a walking corpse. His usually well-maintained hair was completely untied, hanging messily around his shoulders. There were deep, dark circles beneath his eyes, making it appear as though he had not slept for several days. His eyes were also extremely red, and his face lacked even the slightest trace of emotion.

However, what shocked Aditya the most was not Ren’s physical appearance.

It was his Mana. Ordinarily, every cultivator possessed a Mana signature that reflected their cultivation and the nature of their abilities. Even when cultivators deliberately concealed their strength, someone with powerful sensory abilities could often detect traces of their Mana.

But Ren was different. The familiar Mana signature that Aditya would have expected from his cousin brother was almost completely absent. Instead, his entire body was surrounded by an extremely dark and corrupted form of Mana that gave off a frighteningly sinister aura.

Aditya slowly lowered the enchanted glass, his expression becoming increasingly serious.

’Ren... what the hell have you done to yourself?’ Aditya wondered. Although he had expected his cousin brother to be desperate after yesterday’s defeat, he had never imagined that Ren would do something that could change his Mana signature so drastically.

Meanwhile, Malakar Harrington, Boris, and several other important figures had also begun observing Ren through similar enchanted glass artifacts. Since they were powerful cultivators themselves, they could already sense the sinister aura coming from the Emperor Faction. However, seeing Ren’s current appearance with their own eyes was an entirely different experience.

For several moments, none of them said anything. The difference between the Ren they remembered and the man standing before them was simply too shocking.

"I don’t know what this boy has done to himself, but this doesn’t look good." Malakar Harrington finally broke the silence. His usually composed expression had become extremely serious as he continued examining Ren through the enchanted glass.

"I have seen cultivators who lost control of their Mana before, but this is something entirely different. Just look at his appearance. It’s almost as though the life inside him has already begun disappearing."

Boris, who was the most experienced cultivator here, shook his head before speaking. "You people don’t understand. That dark aura surrounding his body is not ordinary Mana. It’s corrupted Mana, the kind that remains inside the Mana hearts of cultivators after they die."

Hearing those words, Aditya and several others immediately turned toward the speaker.

"Corrupted Mana?" Aditya repeated with a frown.

"Are you saying that Ren has been deliberately absorbing the corrupted Mana left behind by dead cultivators?"

"That’s exactly what I’m saying." Boris replied with a grave expression.

"Although I don’t know what technique he used to accomplish this, the aura surrounding his body is unmistakable. I have encountered corrupted Mana before, but I have never seen a living cultivator absorb such an enormous amount of it into their own body."

His words immediately caused the expressions of everyone around him to change.

They all understood how dangerous corrupted Mana could be. Even ordinary cultivators knew that absorbing Mana contaminated by death was extremely risky. Yet Ren had apparently absorbed so much of it that his original Mana signature had almost completely disappeared.

"I cannot believe that he would go this far just to win the war." One of the commanders muttered in disbelief. Although everyone knew that Ren was desperate to protect his throne, they had never expected him to willingly damage his own body and cultivation in such a terrifying manner.

Aditya remained silent as he continued looking toward his cousin brother. He could not understand what Ren was planning, but he was certain of one thing. Whatever his cousin had done, it was not something that could be accomplished through ordinary cultivation methods.

Athena, who had been quietly observing Ren, suddenly spoke. "I think you’re looking at this from the wrong perspective. Rather than saying that Ren has done this because he wants to win the war, I believe his intentions have become far more dangerous than that."

Hearing her words, the others immediately turned toward her.

Athena continued while maintaining a serious expression. "Look at him carefully. Does that look like someone who is desperately trying to protect his throne? To me, it feels as though Ren has already accepted the possibility of losing everything. His current appearance and that sinister aura suggest that he is no longer concerned about what happens to himself."

She briefly paused before adding, "I believe his intention is no longer simply to defeat us and remain the Emperor. At this point, it feels as though he wants to destroy everything around him, regardless of whether he survives. He’s practically turned himself into a walking demon from hell."

Her words caused several of the nearby commanders to fall silent.

Although Athena’s conclusion sounded frightening, nobody could immediately disagree with her. After all, Ren’s current appearance was so unnatural that it was difficult to imagine him returning to the person he had once been.

Meanwhile, Boris had remained completely silent.

Unlike the others, his feelings toward Ren were far more complicated. After all, regardless of everything that had happened, Ren was still his grandson.

Ren was the son of his favourite child who unforunately died. The blood flowing through Ren’s veins was also his blood, and there had been a time when Boris had genuinely hoped that his grandson would grow into someone worthy of the Imperial Family.

Unfortunately, Ren had disappointed him in almost every possible way.

Boris had long since accepted that his grandson had become a terrible person. He felt deeply ashamed that someone capable of committing so many unforgivable acts had been born as one of his descendants.

Even before this war began, Boris had already decided that Ren needed to be stopped, regardless of their relationship. However, seeing his grandson in such a miserable condition still affected him more than he wanted to admit.

As Boris continued looking through the enchanted glass, his expression gradually became filled with disgust and disappointment. He could barely recognise the young man whom he had once watched grow up.

The grandson he remembered had been ambitious and extremely determined to obtain power, but at least he had still possessed the appearance and behaviour of a normal person. The man standing before him now looked like someone who had completely abandoned his humanity.

"What a disgrace..." Boris finally muttered while slowly lowering the enchanted glass. His voice was filled with bitterness.

"To think that a descendant of my blood would willingly reduce himself to such a miserable state." There was genuine disgust in his eyes as he spoke. However, beneath that disgust, there was also a small amount of pity that he could not completely suppress.

No matter how much Boris hated what Ren had become, he could not entirely forget that this was still his grandson. He had known Ren since childhood, and there had once been a time when he had believed that the boy possessed a promising future.

Now, that same boy had become someone who was willing to corrupt his own body and Mana rather than accept defeat.

Boris slowly shook his head before continuing, "I don’t know what kind of forbidden technique he has cultivated, but whatever it is, I doubt he will be able to escape its consequences."

"Even if he somehow survives this battle, I find it difficult to believe that his body and soul will remain unaffected after absorbing so much corrupted Mana."

For a brief moment, Boris wondered how things had reached this point. He had already prepared himself for the possibility of personally witnessing his grandson’s death during this war.

However, seeing Ren in such a terrible condition made him realise that his grandson might have already destroyed himself before the final battle had even begun. But that thought brought him no satisfaction.

Although Boris wanted Ren to answer for his crimes, he had never wished to see his own grandson turn into something so horrifying. Yet the man standing before him had chosen this path himself, and Boris knew that there was nothing he could do to change that.

Aditya quietly listened to Boris’s words before turning his attention toward the Emperor Faction once again.

His expression gradually became colder as he looked toward Ren. Whatever feelings he might have once held toward his cousin brother, he understood that the man standing before him was now capable of doing something extremely dangerous.

And considering the sinister aura that continued spreading from Ren’s body, Aditya had a terrible feeling that the final battle was going to be far more dangerous than anyone had originally expected.

"Actually, we should also focus on a certain group of soldiers who are directly walking behind Ren."

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