The CopyCat Immortal

Chapter 5 The Deadly Test of Service

"Hey, look at him. Still standing. Kid’s made of cockroach parts, I swear."

Zhao’s voice carried over the morning dew of the Granite Yard like a smear of grease on a clean floor. Behind him stood two other disciples—muscle-bound idiots named Han and Gulo. Zhao’s wrist was wrapped in thick, white bandages, a dark char seeping through the fabric. His ego was even more scorched than his flesh.

Ren ignored the stinging in his shoulder as he finished lugging his last bucket of the morning. He kept his expression vacant. In the Azure Cloud Sect, appearing pathetic was a survival strategy; appearing useful was a death sentence.

"Senior Brother Zhao," Ren said, offering a stiff, rehearsed bow. "The water is fresh. You look... recovered."

"Cut the crap, trash," Zhao spat, his good hand twitching near the hilt of his copper training sword. "You humiliated me. I don’t know what freakish Qi stagnation you’re hiding, but I don’t like anomalies. They’re bad for the ecosystem."

"I have no strength, Senior. I merely got lucky when you slipped," Ren murmured, looking at Zhao’s feet.

"Yeah? Well, let’s see how long that luck lasts when the monsters are the ones biting." Zhao stepped forward, thrusting a damp, yellow scroll into Ren’s chest. "Change of plans for today. Instead of hauling water, you’re filling in for us. Mandatory Service Trial: Section 9 of the Fog Forest. Clearing the vermin."

Han and Gulo laughed. Section 9 was a literal slaughterhouse for unranked disciples. The area was dense with Spirit-Laced Fauna that fed on spiritual essence—or in the case of people like Ren, just the meat.

"The Quartermaster won’t allow a laborer to take a ranked mission," Ren said, trying to push the scroll back. He knew exactly what they were doing. They were too cowardly to finish their mandated cull and wanted to throw a sacrificial lamb into the forest so they could claim the "mission complete" when his remains were found.

"The Quartermaster already got paid off with three spirit stones, you idiot," Han grunted, poking Ren in the ribs with a blunt spear. "You go into the woods, you clear the den, or you don't come back at all. Either way, Zhao gets his report, and we get our afternoon at the tea house. Move it."

Ren looked at the scroll, then at the scarred wrist of the bully. A strange, cold thrill rippled through his fractured meridians. He wasn't scared. He was calculating. 

Fog Forest. Monsters. Specifically, Section 9, where the Stormcrest Wolves roamed. They were Tier-1 creatures, notorious for their Azure Static—a rudimentary lightning technique.

Ren had Fire. He had Wind. He had Earth. Lightning was the bridge he needed to stabilize the internal heat.

"Fine," Ren said, his voice quiet. "I’ll do the mission."

________________________________________

The Fog Forest earned its name within the first fifty steps. The air was a thick, silver soup of suspended moisture and spiritual miasma that tasted like pennies. Every sound was muffled—except for the crackle.

Zap. Click. Snap.

Ren moved with a silence that Zhao would have found terrifying if he had bothered to watch. He wasn't clumsily tripping over roots. His body shifted with a strange, hypnotic fluidity, his feet barely touching the forest floor. He was drawing on the Wind Blade essence he’d stolen, using it not to cut, but to lighten his footprint.

"Somewhere in the northeast," Ren whispered to himself. He clutched a rusted wood-cutting axe, a prop more than a weapon. 

His internal world was screaming. The Inferno Burst was pushing against his spirit roots, demanding an outlet. If he didn't find a new technique to weave into the mix soon, the stolen fire would eventually melt him from the inside out. He needed the electrical grounding of a lightning technique to harmonize the friction.

He found it in a small clearing where the fog seemed to glow blue.

A Stormcrest Wolf—the size of a calf, with fur like shredded grey silk and eyes that hummed with neon static—was currently tearing into a deer carcass. It didn't smell Ren. It felt him.

The beast’s hackles rose, and the air around it sizzled. A halo of sapphire sparks erupted along its spine.

There it is, Ren thought. He didn't hide behind a tree. He walked into the clearing, throwing the rusted axe aside.

"Hey, boy," Ren said, a terrifyingly calm smile playing on his lips. "Hit me."

The wolf didn't hesitate. It let out a snarling bark that ended in a sharp, electrical crack. It leapt, not with a claw, but with a surge. A literal bolt of focused electricity shot from its forehead toward Ren’s chest.

Most cultivators would have raised a shield. Most would have dived. 

Ren braced himself. He willed the Earth Shield to its maximum density, not to stop the hit, but to ensure his organs didn't liquify instantly. 

The bolt hit like a cannonball made of wasps.

K-RACK.

Ren’s world turned into a kaleidoscope of screaming white. The electrical charge bypassed his muscles and went straight for the nervous system. He fell to his knees, his jaw locking so hard a tooth cracked. His smell filled the clearing—the smell of burnt hair and ionized oxygen.

Grafting... now... you piece of shit... work! Ren’s internal voice screamed over the white noise of his suffering.

Deep in his core, the fire met the lightning. They fought for a fraction of a second, the heat trying to consume the sparks, but the lightning was too slippery. It began to coil around his spirit roots, acting as an insulating layer. 

Ren felt his lungs stop. His heart sputtered, skipped a beat, then slammed into his ribs like a sledgehammer. 

Sync complete: Azure Static – Rank 1 – Absorbed.

The wolf, seeing its prey grounded and smoking, trotted forward to deliver the finishing bite. It opened its maw, saliva dripping, its fangs coated in residual blue sparks.

Ren’s eyes snapped open. They weren't brown anymore. They were flicking between ember-red and electric-blue.