The Samsara Jade

Chapter 28

"How do I get out of this chasm?" Li Chen asked her, his black eyes fixing on her face. "The cliff outside is too smooth to climb. Is there a way up?"

The girl quickly pointed to the back of the massive temple hall. 

"Yes, my lord!" she said eagerly, wanting to be useful. "This place is the ancient Temple of Penance. In the old days, monks used to come down here to meditate. Behind that giant statue of the sword master, there is a hidden tunnel. It is called the Stairway of the Forgotten. It is a secret path carved directly inside the rock of the cliff. It leads all the way up to the edge of the Outer Sect forest. But it is very dangerous. The steps are broken, and it goes straight up for thousands of feet."

Li Chen smiled. It was a cold, confident smile. A broken stairway was nothing to the Void-Iron Physique. 

"Thank you," Li Chen said. He pointed to the back of the cave. "You should stay here in the temple. The purple fog outside will melt your skin. Wait here until I deal with the sect. When it is safe, I will send someone down to get you."

The girl bowed deeply, touching her forehead to the floor. "Thank you, my lord! Thank you for my life!"

Li Chen turned away from her and walked over to the dead Enforcer scout. 

He needed to return to the sect, but he could not go back looking like a wild savage wearing wolf fur. He needed clothes. 

He looked at Jiao's body. The chest area of the leather armor was completely destroyed by the Void Shattering Fist. It was covered in blood and bone. But the clothes underneath were still mostly intact. 

Li Chen quickly stripped the dead man. He left the heavy, noisy iron armor on the floor. He took the black silk under-robes, the dark leather trousers, and a long, high-collared black leather coat that Enforcers wore to block the wind. He also took a pair of strong, black leather boots. 

He carried the clothes away from the body, walking deeper into the temple hall. 

Near the back of the hall, right next to the giant statue the girl had pointed at, Li Chen found a small, perfectly round pool of water. It was a sacred spring, built by the ancient monks. The water was incredibly clear and completely still. It looked like a dark mirror reflecting the dim light of the hall. 

Li Chen stopped at the edge of the pool. He dropped the black clothes on the ground. 

He untied the dirty, bloody wolf fur from his waist and tossed it away. He knelt down by the edge of the water and washed the thick mud, beast blood, and dirt from his skin. The cool, clean water felt amazing. 

When he was finally clean, Li Chen stopped moving. He looked down into the dark, still puddle of water. 

For the first time in a whole month, he saw his own reflection. 

Li Chen stared at himself in total shock. He barely recognized the person looking back at him. 

The boy who had fallen into the Beast Chasm was a starved, weak, pathetic victim. He was thin, fragile, and covered in ugly purple bruises from being beaten every day. His shoulders were slumped, and his eyes were always filled with fear and sadness. 

The person in the puddle was completely different. 

He was much taller now. The massive amount of pure energy he had devoured had forced his body to grow rapidly. His shoulders were incredibly broad and powerful. His chest was thick, packed tightly with hard, dense muscle that looked like carved stone. 

His skin was flawless. There were no bruises, no scars, no burns. The dull, grey metallic sheen of the Void-Iron Physique made him look like a beautiful, dangerous statue forged by a master blacksmith. Right over his heart, the dark golden tattoo of the dragon-turtle shell glowed with a faint, ancient power. 

His face had changed too. The soft, rounded cheeks of a scared boy were gone. His jawline was sharp and hard. His cheekbones were high and proud. 

But the biggest change was his eyes. 

Li Chen looked deeply into his own eyes. There was no fear there anymore. There was no sadness. There was no innocence. 

His eyes were a deep, endless, pitch-black void. They held an abyssal calm. It was the look of an apex predator. It was the look of a creature that had faced absolute death, eaten it alive, and asked for more. 

"I am not the trash of the Outer Sect anymore," Li Chen whispered to his reflection. His voice was deep, steady, and filled with quiet, terrifying power. "I am the Devourer. And I am coming home."

He stood up from the pool. 

He picked up the stolen Enforcer clothes and put them on. The dark leather trousers fit his strong legs perfectly. The black silk under-robes felt smooth against his iron skin. He slid his arms into the long, black leather coat.