Deep within the Wastes of the Fallen Star, the air grew heavier with every passing hour. The corrupted qi that infused the landscape thickened around the disciples like invisible chains, testing not just their bodies, but their minds.
A pair of cultivators—both bloodied, breathing heavily—stumbled through a gnarled ravine littered with bones. They were from the Crimson Flame Hall, a sub-faction notorious for their aggression and superiority.
"They took it down in under a minute," one of them said between ragged breaths.
"The steel-furred devourer?" the other asked, incredulous.
The first nodded. "Rika severed its artery in one blow. The trap mage used an implosion seal. And the leader... the black-haired one... he drained its qi like a damned reaper."
The second cultivator shivered despite himself. "Tae-hyun, right? The one they say wasn't from any known clan?"
The two paused as a stronger presence emerged from the shadows.
From behind a twisted tree, Jinhwan of the Sky Fang Pavilion stepped into the clearing. His blue robes bore no dust or blood, and his eyes shimmered with silver qi.
He looked at the two men and spoke calmly. "Tell me everything you saw."
They explained. Every movement. Every tactic. Every casualty the team didn't take.
Jinhwan smiled faintly. "He's making too much noise. Gaining too much attention."
He reached into his robes and pulled out a small jade tile. Crushed it between two fingers.
Elsewhere, similar tiles broke across the trial zone—an unspoken signal passing through hidden allies.
The hunt had begun.
---
Atop a high cliff within the Wastes, Tae-hyun stood still, overlooking the red-misted forest. Yul approached, her face lit by the sun's bleeding rays.
"They're watching us now," she said simply.
"I know."
"You knew from the start?"
He nodded. "We were too efficient. Too unified. And I drained corrupted qi without flinching."
She folded her arms. "So what now?"
Tae-hyun didn't answer immediately. Then he turned to face her, a calm fire in his eyes.
"Now we show them why they were right to be afraid."
-
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Chapter 24 – Blood in the Mist
The Wastes of the Fallen Star were quiet—but not with peace. It was the quiet of coiled predators, of blades drawn in breathless silence.
Tae-hyun's group moved cautiously through the dark undergrowth of a dead marsh. The path ahead was treacherous—blackened roots twisted through shallow water, and a sulfurous mist curled low over the ground, obscuring the terrain. Qi in this part of the Wastes was denser, more volatile. Even breathing it too deeply could cause nausea or hallucinations.
"Keep your rhythm steady," Tae-hyun said. "Breathe through the core."
Minjae adjusted the straps of his satchel, beads of sweat already on his brow. "I hate this place. It feels like it's... watching us."
Rika, who walked ahead as the scout, stopped suddenly and raised her hand. The group froze.
A sound—a metallic clang, distant but deliberate.
Then silence again.
Tae-hyun narrowed his eyes. "That wasn't a beast."
"No," Yul said. Her voice was low. Focused. "Someone's ahead. Two someones, circling to flank."
They had been expecting this. Tae-hyun had felt the shift in the Wastes. The tightening noose of attention. His display of power had been a spark in dry grass.
"Daon, take left. Rin, right. We force them into the open."
Within moments, figures moved in the mist. The attackers struck from both sides—robes flaring, weapons gleaming. Their faces were masked, but their techniques were sect-born. Tae-hyun recognized the forms: Crescent Fang Sword, Storm Spiral Palm.
Disciples.
They weren't here to hunt beasts. They were here to eliminate rivals.
One came at Rin, lightning crackling in his hand. But Rin met him with a dark sigil that exploded outward, scattering the lightning like smoke. She spun and sent a second sigil beneath his feet—binding him in place.
The other rushed Daon with a halberd. Daon's staff met it in a thunderous clash, the ground cracking beneath their feet.
Rika moved like a shadow. She was already behind the one fighting Rin, blade poised for the neck.
Tae-hyun held still.
He wasn't going to fight yet. Not until he knew who sent them.
More shapes emerged from the mist. Four. Six. Ten.
A full squad.
Minjae cursed. "We're surrounded."
"No," Tae-hyun said. "We're being tested."
From the mist stepped a taller figure, draped in silver-blue robes. The badge of the Sky Fang Pavilion was stitched across his chest like a declaration.
Jinhwan.
"So," he said, voice smooth as polished jade, "you're the one everyone's talking about."
Tae-hyun didn't flinch. "You didn't come alone."
"Of course not," Jinhwan said. "I believe in thoroughness."
His hand lifted—and his disciples attacked.
---
The clearing became a battleground.
Blades clashed. Qi surged. Sigils exploded like silent thunder. Yul fought with flowing movements, her strikes aimed at disabling rather than killing—an elegance in her violence. Her opponent underestimated her. He didn't last long.
Minjae held his ground behind defensive seals, hurling explosive talismans with practiced precision. "Two down!" he called.
Daon roared, his staff spinning in wide arcs, knocking three opponents into the mud. One didn't rise again.
Tae-hyun moved forward, calm as dusk. As he approached Jinhwan, the air around him shimmered with heat.
"You could've challenged me directly," Tae-hyun said. "Instead, you hide behind others."
Jinhwan smirked. "I'm not hiding. I'm demonstrating superiority."
He struck.
His qi was refined—silver, sharp, dancing like lightning. But Tae-hyun met it not with force, but with absorption.
He took the strike.
Drained it.
His body lit up from within, veins glowing faintly. For a moment, it looked like he might collapse—but he didn't. The corrupted qi from before had tempered him. He was adapting.
Jinhwan's eyes widened. "Impossible."
"No," Tae-hyun said quietly. "You just didn't train for the unknown."
He attacked.
This time, Tae-hyun's strike wasn't raw qi—it was compressed, refined, forged into a blade of will. It tore through Jinhwan's defenses, slicing his sleeve and burning across his shoulder.
Jinhwan fell back, stunned.
Around them, his allies were falling—Rika stood over one unconscious disciple; Rin's dark sigils glowed like dying stars. Yul landed beside Tae-hyun, breathing evenly.
"It's over," Tae-hyun said.
Jinhwan looked around. Then laughed softly. "You made enemies today, outsider."
Tae-hyun stepped closer. "No. I revealed who was never a friend."
He turned away.
The mist began to reclaim the battlefield. The wounded groaned. The dead were still.
But the legend of the black-haired cultivator who drained qi, who led a team that fought like one body, had just grown louder.
And across the Wastes, other eyes were watching.
Plotting.
Fearing.
---