Shattered Jade: Ascending soul

The Border of Bone

The southern mountain pass narrows into a throat of jagged black shale.

The air smells of sulfur, dried marrow, and copper.

The sky ahead shifts from bruised purple to an ugly, bleeding crimson.

Li Xuan marches down the ravine with steady, heavy steps.

His soot-stained rags blow against his scarred thighs.

His left ring finger burns like a hot coal.

The Abyssal Asura Ring twists against his skin.

The bronze snake carving is still wet with Mo Fan's blood.

Suddenly, a cold, mocking voice echoes inside Xuan’s skull.

"You think you own me, trash?" the voice spits.

It is the residual soul phantom of Mo Fan.

The broken genius left a malicious imprint inside the artifact.

"My grandfather's seal will rot your flesh!" the ghost screams.

Xuan stops in the middle of the rocky path.

He does not blink. He does not show pain.

Inside his chest, the fractured jade dantian roars.

Xuan forces a torrent of dark, toxic sword aura down his left arm.

He drives the energy directly into the ring's bronze mouth.

"You are already dead," Xuan whispers into the void.

"Your soul is just fuel for my ascent."

He uses his own shattered core pieces to crush the ghost.

A silent, mental explosion occurs inside the ring's pocket space.

Mo Fan’s phantom screams as it is torn into pure spiritual mist.

The Asura Ring shudders and submits completely.

A hidden function unlocks inside Xuan's mind.

[Asura Devouring Matrix: Active]

The ring can now convert dead flesh into pure physical vitality.

Xuan smiles, a cold, humorless line.

He looks up at the exit of the narrow pass.

The ground there is covered in ancient, bleached bones.

A wall of heavy, crimson fog blocks the way forward.

This is the border of the Asura Blood Sea.

"Halt, sinner!" a voice booms from the rocks above.

Three figures leap down from the high ledges.

They land heavily, kicking up gray shale and dust.

They wear the blood-red armor of the Sect Border Wardens.

These are the elite enforcers who hunt down runaway disciples.

The leader is a scarred giant with a massive bronze halberd.

His cultivation base is at the peak of the Core Formation realm.

The other two carry heavy crossbows loaded with soul-piercing bolts.

They look at Xuan’s ruined clothes and bloody knuckles.

"The Grand Courtyard erupted," the giant growls, raising his halberd.

"You carry the aura of a demon, Li Xuan."

"Give us the Asura Ring and your head," the second warden sneers.

"The Sect Master will award us three core-condensing pills."

Xuan does not answer them. He merely raises his right hand.

The invisible blade of the Azure Sky Sword Array materializes.

The air around his feet turns freezing cold.

"You are already too late," Xuan says, his voice flat.

"The sect you serve is nothing but ash and bone."

The giant leader laughs, a booming sound that rattles the shale.

"Arrogant dog! Die!" the giant roars.

He steps forward, swinging the massive halberd in a horizontal arc.

The bronze blade unleashes a crescent wave of yellow earth-qi.

The strike is heavy enough to cleave a palace gate in half.

At the same time, two crossbows twang in the shadows.

Two black bolts streak through the air at supersonic speed.

They aim directly for Xuan’s eyes and throat.

Xuan does not dodge. He does not retreat.

He takes one step forward, driving his heel into the stone.

Fractured Ascension Level 6 explodes from his pores.

He swings his right hand upward in a brutal, sweeping motion.

The invisible sword aura smashes into the yellow crescent wave.

The earth-qi shatters like cheap glass.

Xuan tilts his head by a fraction of an inch.

The two soul-piercing bolts graze his cheek, striking the rock behind him.

Before the giant can recover, Xuan vanishes.

He leaves a dark afterimage on the shale path.

He reappears directly inside the giant’s guard.

His left fist, coated in the black energy of the Asura Ring, drives forward.

He strikes the giant dead center in his iron chest plate.

The iron plate caves in instantly with a loud, metallic boom.

The giant's spine snaps outward from his back.

Blood, bits of bone, and shredded lung tissue erupt from his mouth.

His eyes roll back into his head as he flies backward fifty feet.

He slams into the rocky wall of the ravine, dead before he hits the ground.

The two crossbowmen freeze in absolute horror.

A peak Core Formation expert was killed in a single punch.

"Monster!" one screams, trying to reload his weapon with shaking hands.

Xuan does not give them the chance to breathe.

He sweeps his leg across the ground, kicking a handful of sharp shale pebbles.

He coats the pebbles in his azure sword aura.

The tiny stones fly forward like a volley of sniper bullets.

They pierce through the leather armor of the second warden.

The man's chest is turned into a bloody sieve in a heartbeat.

He collapses into the dirt, his blood soaking the gray rocks.

The final warden drops his weapon and falls to his knees.

He presses his forehead against the cold stone, weeping.

"Mercy, Young Master Li! I was only following orders!"

Xuan walks over to him, his boots crunching on the shale.

He looks down at the back of the man's trembling neck.

"Did you show mercy when my brother broke my gates?" Xuan asks.

The warden opens his mouth to beg again, but the words never come.

Xuan drives his invisible blade straight down through the man’s skull.

The body twitches once and goes entirely still.

The ravine falls into a suffocating, heavy silence once more.

Xuan activates the Asura Ring.

The bronze serpent glows a bright, malicious red.

Three wisps of red vitality rise from the warm corpses.

They flow through the air and sink into the bronze band on Xuan’s finger.

A wave of hot, primal energy surges up his arm and enters his chest.

His fractured jade dantian drinks the stolen lifeforce greedily.

The deep cracks in his core begin to glow with a faint violet light.

The pain in his meridians dulls by a fraction.

Fractured Ascension Level 6 deepens, becoming solid and unshakeable.

He is growing stronger with every life he takes.

Xuan plunders the corpses, taking their storage bags and food rations.

He throws the useless bags into the deep ravine.

He turns his eyes back to the crimson wall of fog.

The Asura Blood Sea is right behind this mist.

He can hear the distant, heavy pounding of blood-red waves.

He steps into the red fog without a single trace of hesitation.

The toxic vapor tries to burn his skin, but his aura repels it easily.

He is no longer a disciple of the righteous path.

He is a weapon of pure vengeance, marching into the abyss.

The world will tremble before his name.