2026-06-06 02:31:52The yellow arc of the warden’s sword cut through the heavy downpour, humming with the force of his Level 5 Qi. The blade was aimed straight for Li Xuan’s shoulder, meant to pin him to the mud before chopping off his fingers.
Li Xuan didn't move. He stood perfectly still, his wild black hair plastered against his face by the rain.
"Die, you freak!" the warden roared, his face twisted in a mixture of panic and greed.
Just as the iron blade was an inch away from his skin, Li Xuan’s left hand shot out like a striking viper. He didn't block the flat of the sword. He grabbed the razor-sharp edge of the blade with his bare palm.
CLANG!
A metallic ring echoed through the dark woods. The warden’s breath hitched. He expected Li Xuan’s fingers to fly off into the mud. Instead, the moment the iron blade touched Li Xuan’s hand, the dark emerald light beneath his tattered robes violently flared.
The surface of Li Xuan’s skin didn't bleed. It rippled with a jagged, crystalline sheen, acting like the surface of a shattered mirror. The crushing impact of the Level 5 blow didn't push him back—it slammed into his internal jade engine, bouncing off the jagged shards inside his stomach, multiplying in speed, and reflecting straight back up the iron blade.
CRACK!
The warden’s iron sword violently detonated into dozens of sharp, jagged metal splinters.
Before the warden could even scream in shock, Li Xuan flicked his blood-stained wrist. The swirling dark emerald hurricane around his body grabbed those flying steel shards mid-air, reversing their direction with a terrifying velocity.
SHOOSH! SHOOSH! SHOOSH!
"AAAHHHH!"
The warden screamed, stumbling backward as his own shattered sword pieces tore through his dark iron armor, shredding his arms and thighs. He crashed heavily into the mud, his iron lantern rolling away and sputtering out, plunging the clearing into near-total darkness.
Li Xuan stepped forward. His boots squelched softly in the bloody mud. Each step felt like a heavy drumbeat of death to the wounded warden.
"Level 5 Qi Refining," Li Xuan murmured, his voice layered with that terrifying, metallic resonance. He looked down at his bare palm, which bore only a faint, shallow white line where the sword had struck. "So slow. So soft. To think that yesterday, I would have called a minor warden like you a warrior."
"Monster... you're a monster!" the warden whimpered, dragging his bleeding body backward against the trunk of a dead tree. His iron sword was gone, and his hands were shaking so hard he couldn't even draw his backup dagger. "Your core was smashed! I saw the glowing green shards myself! You should be a dead man!"
Li Xuan knelt down, his hand shooting forward to wrap around the warden’s throat like an iron vice. He lifted the grown man a foot off the ground, pinning him against the rough bark of the tree. His glowing emerald eyes locked onto the warden’s terrified pupils.
"I am a dead man," Li Xuan whispered, a cold, bloodthirsty smile stretching across his face. "The Li Xuan who begged for mercy died in that room. The one standing in front of you is the one who will harvest your soul."
He squeezed his fingers, cutting off the warden's air supply. "Tell me... what are Mo Fan and Ning’er planning for tomorrow morning?"
"Cough... ack..." The warden thrashed against the tree, his face turning dark purple. "The... the Grand Ascension Celebration... cough... at dawn... Young Master Mo Fan is presenting... your jade core shards to the Grand Sect Master... to secure his position as the new Crown Disciple... They are getting married next week..."
"Married next week?" Li Xuan let out a soft, dark laugh that sent a primal shiver straight down the warden's spine. "How beautiful. A thief and a snake, celebrating their plunder."
His eyes flared with a blinding emerald light. Inside his stomach, the ten thousand jagged jade shards began to spin with a manic, hungry speed.
"Master Mo... Mo Fan will kill you..." the warden choked out, his vision fading. "The entire Azure Sky Sect... will hunt you..."
"Let them come. But you won't be alive to see it," Li Xuan murmured. "Your Qi... belongs to the broken."
Fractured Ascension: Devour.
With a violent surge of his will, Li Xuan forced his shattered core to pull. A terrifying, dark emerald vacuum erupted from his palm, locking onto the warden’s throat.
"AGHHH!"
The warden’s body violently convulsed. The liquid yellow Qi inside his veins didn't flow naturally anymore—it was violently ripped out through his neck, turning into a stream of dull yellow light that was forcibly swallowed into Li Xuan’s open palm. The energy rushed down into his stomach, hitting the spinning jade shards.
CRUNCH. GRIND. PURIFY.
The crude, low-grade yellow Qi was instantly crushed and shredded by the razor-sharp jade fragments, refined into pure, concentrated emerald force.
Fractured Ascension: Level 2!
Level 3!
The green cracks across Li Xuan's chest tore open a millimeter wider, pulsing with a dense, heavy energy that leveled the wild grass for five yards around him.
The warden's body went completely limp, his skin turning gray and withered as his lifeforce and cultivation were drained dry. Li Xuan carelessly let go, letting the lifeless husk drop face-first into the muddy puddle below.
Xuan stood upright, his tattered grey robes snapping in the howling wind. He looked up toward the towering, jade-veined peaks of the Azure Sky Sect in the distance, where the bright palace lights were still shining through the storm.
The dawn was coming. The Grand Ascension Celebration was about to begin.
"Mo Fan. Ning'er," Li Xuan whispered, his fingers curling into a tight fist as a violent hurricane of green energy blades erupted from his skin, slicing the falling raindrops into mist. "The guest of honor... is on his way."
Li Xuan turned and walked out of the clearing, heading straight up the jagged, rocky cliffs toward the main gates of the Azure Sky Sect. He didn't sneak through the shadows; he walked right up the main disciple path, leaving a trail of frosty, dark emerald footprints behind him.
As he reached the grand marble steps of the outer gate, the first light of dawn was just beginning to break through the storm clouds, painting the sky in a bloody, dark orange hue.
Standing at the top of the steps were two elite Inner Disciple guards wearing bright turquoise robes, their eyes widening in absolute horror as they saw a blood-drenched, tattered figure walking out of the abyss, carrying a terrifying aura that made the stone stairs vibrate.
"Stop! Who goes there?!" one guard shouted, drawing his silver sword.
Li Xuan didn't speak. He just lifted his head, his glowing white eyes locking onto the grand sect banner floating above the gate.
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The Path to the Creek
The descending sun dragged long, indigo shadows across the eastern meadows, turning the pale green of the tall summer grass into a deep, rich jade. The air lost its midday bite, replaced by a refreshing coolness that smelled of damp river mud, crushed mint leaves, and the sweet resin of distant pines.Li Xuan walked a half-step ahead down the narrow, well-trodden footpath that led from the cabin toward the creek. His strides were long and unhurried, the garden shears tucked securely into his belt loop, their newly sharpened steel catching the final, slanting rays of golden daylight. Beside him, Elian matched his pace effortlessly, his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his shoulders completely relaxed.Behind them, the distant creak-scrap of Master Orem’s rocking chair slowly faded into the background hum of the valley—the buzzing of late-day insects, the rustle of the apple boughs, and the low, musical murmur of the wind weaving through the ravine."Do you think the mint survived th
The Afternoon Shade
The heat of the midday sun eventually mellowed, sliding past the zenith and casting long, comforting shadows across the eastern side of the cabin. The golden light of late afternoon turned the valley into a patchwork of deep emerald greens and warm, dusty amber, as if the very air had been brushed with oil and honey.With the midday meal cleared away and the wooden bowls washed and stacked on their shelves, the cabin settled into a drowsy, contented hush. The kind of quiet that didn't feel empty, but rather full—like a deep breath held and slowly released.Orem had retreated to his rocking chair by the warm western wall, the rhythmic creak-scrap of the wooden runners keeping time with the faint rustle of the wind outside. In his lap, the newly finished soup spoon rested beside the wooden owl, both gleaming faintly from the natural oils of his calloused hands. His eyes were half-closed behind his heavy lids, the lines of his weathered face smoothing out as the afternoon fatigue caught
The Midday Sun and the Wooden Spoon
The sun climbed steadily through the pale blue vault of the sky, burning away the last lingering wisps of valley mist until the entire landscape lay open and brilliant in the light of high noon. The air grew warm, carrying the thick, rich scent of sun-baked pine needles, damp loam, and the sweet, resinous perfume of the apple blossoms that blanketed the lower orchard.In the northern garden plot, the work of planting the squash seeds was long finished. The small mounds of dark, nutrient-rich earth stood in neat, orderly rows like miniature hills waiting for rain. Li Xuan stood up, leaning back to stretch his spine, his muscles loose and pleasantly warm from hours of physical labor. He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead, smudging a streak of dark earth across his temple."If those seeds grow half as stubborn as Master Orem's commentary," Li Xuan muttered with a dry smile, "we'll have enough squash by autumn to feed a small army.""An army marches on its stomach, my boy," Or
The Morning of the Squash Seeds
The dawn arrived without the dramatic fanfare of tearing portals or the heavy hum of celestial engines. It simply leaked through the gaps in the timber shutters—a soft, pearlescent grey that slowly warmed into the pale gold of an unhurried summer morning.Inside the cabin, the air was cool and smelled faintly of woodsmoke from the previous night and the sharp, clean scent of dew-drenched grass drifting in through a cracked window. Li Xuan was already awake, sitting on the edge of his narrow cot with his boots laced, watching the dust motes drift lazily in the first slanting beam of light.Across the room, Orem’s corner was quiet save for the rhythmic, whistling sigh of the old man’s breathing. On the small table beside his pallet, the newly finished wooden owl sat perched on a stack of old pamphlets, its blank, carved eyes staring serenely toward the hearth.Li Xuan stood up, his joints popping softly in the quiet, and walked over to the heavy oak door. He unlatched it and pushed it o
The Unwritten Hearth
The twilight deepened, pulling the violet-and-amber ribbons of the aurora tighter across the darkening sky. The garden tools were hung back on their pegs, their blades cleaned of earth and dew, and the cabin was settling into the deep, breathable quiet of a summer night.Inside, the hearth fire had burned down to a bed of glowing red embers that pulsed softly against the dark timber walls. Li Xuan added a final split of birch to the grate, watching the sparks catch and dance up the stone chimney before sliding into the shadows.Around the pine table, the three wooden bowls had long since been emptied and wiped clean. Orem sat in his corner rocking chair, the rhythmic creak-scrap of the wood keeping time with the low hum of the night wind outside. In his calloused hands, the wooden owl was finally taking shape, its round eyes staring blankly into the firelight with an expression of profound, comical wisdom.Elian sat across from Li Xuan, his hands wrapped around a cup of warm mint tea.
The Weight of the Ledger
The sun stood high and warm above the ridge, washing the cabin in a brilliant midday glow. Inside, the quiet was absolute. The leather-bound book rested squarely in the middle of the pine table, its heavy cover closed at last, save for a few stray wisps of dust dancing in the sunbeams that cut across the room.Elian stood up from the bench, his legs feeling strangely light without the weight of the journal pressing against his knees. He looked down at the dark leather binding, then across the room to the rough wooden shelf where Master Orem’s book already rested, side by side with a collection of whittled spoons and a spare jar of preserved plums."Well," Orem said, breaking the stillness with a soft chuckle as he hoisted himself out of his rocking chair. He tapped the floor twice with his walking staff. "The ink is dry. The covers are shut. If we stand around staring at furniture much longer, the sun’s going to set and we won't have gotten anything done.""He's right," Li Xuan agreed
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