The moon climbed higher, bathing the forest in a cold silver glow. Li Shen leaned against the trunk of an ancient cedar, breathing slow, letting the warmth of the healing tonic spread through his battered veins.
Each heartbeat carried new strength. His cuts sealed over, scabs falling like ash. His Qi flowed more steadily now — a trickle through cracked meridians, but growing stronger with every breath.
Not enough, Ku Mo's voice rasped inside him. The Codex hungers for more. A few dead mortals are scraps. You need true essence — the soul of something fierce.
Li Shen's eyes drifted to the woods beyond. Shadows moved there — predators drawn by the scent of blood. Wolves, perhaps. Or worse.
He forced himself to his feet. The sword felt heavier in his hand now — or maybe his limbs felt lighter, eager for the next kill.
He stepped deeper into the trees, the mist curling around his ankles like pale serpents. Every leaf drip, every snapping twig, every whisper of wind — it all seemed clearer now. Sharper. As if the Codex had peeled away the fog between him and the pulse of the living world.
Then he heard it — a low, rumbling growl that made the hair on his neck rise. Two yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness ahead.
A spirit beast.
A midnight stalker — a shadowcat — half panther, half phantom. Its fur shimmered with faint silver markings that pulsed with elemental Qi.
Ku Mo hissed with delight. Perfect. Kill it. Drink its soulfire. Your path demands it.
Li Shen raised the sword. The beast slunk closer, muscles coiled like black steel cables under its pelt. Its lips peeled back to reveal long white fangs.
For a heartbeat, man and beast stared at one another — two predators beneath the indifferent moon.
Then the stalker pounced.
Li Shen dropped low, the blade whistling upward. Claws raked across his shoulder — searing pain flared — but the Codex sang, pulling the agony inward, stoking his veins with fire.
The sword bit deep into the stalker's flank. It shrieked — not an animal's cry, but something stranger, like a whisper and a roar tangled together. Spirit beasts were not mere flesh and blood — they were Qi given claws and rage.
The stalker whirled, slamming him with its bulk. Li Shen rolled, pain flaring as his back hit a root. The beast lunged again — but this time, Li Shen was ready.
He let the blade drop. Instead, he reached inside — to the burning knot of red in his core.
Blood Path, Ku Mo purred. Unleash it.
Li Shen exhaled — and the world turned crimson.
Lines of blood-red script coiled over his arms like living tattoos. His eyes gleamed with the same terrible light. When the stalker leapt, Li Shen moved faster than thought — bare hands catching its throat mid-lunge.
The beast thrashed, claws carving furrows in his side — but each fresh wound only fed the warmth flooding his limbs. His fingers closed around the stalker's throat, and with a roar, he slammed it to the earth.
A crack — bone and spirit core alike. The beast shuddered — and its eyes dulled.
Li Shen knelt over it, chest heaving. The blood mist around his arms pulsed, then flowed down into the beast's corpse. He felt it — the flickering soulfire of the stalker, warm as fresh coals.
He drank it in.
Power flooded him — raw, primal, wild. For a moment, the forest vanished. He stood inside a vast dark ocean, red waves lapping at his feet. Above him loomed a black sky stitched with shifting runes — the hidden realm within his soul.
And there, sitting cross-legged on an obsidian throne of thorns, waited Ku Mo.
The ancient demon's spirit flickered like smoke — horns curling from a half-formed skull, eyes burning coals in a face that was never still.
You see it now, Ku Mo said, voice echoing across the soul ocean. Your Codex grows with every kill. Each soul adds a thread to the tapestry of your ascension.
Li Shen stared at the demon, fists clenched. "You said power. You never said damnation."
Ku Mo laughed — a sound like rusted chains dragging over stone.
There is no difference, boy. You kill, or you die. The heavens will never grant mercy to one who walks the Blood Path. But they will bow when you stand above them.
Li Shen's eyes narrowed. "Then teach me."
Ku Mo's grin widened — fangs gleaming in the shifting dark. Very well, little butcher. Feed me more souls, and I shall open the next gate for you. You are no longer prey — but you are not yet predator enough.
The ocean shuddered. Red lightning cracked the void.
Hunt, Ku Mo commanded. Slaughter. Devour. Only then will you be worthy to break the chains of the Nine Heavens.
Li Shen's eyes snapped open. He was back in the forest — kneeling over the dead stalker. His wounds sealed over in seconds, the taste of power like iron on his tongue.
Above the trees, the moon watched. Cold. Silent.
Li Shen rose, spirit beast blood steaming from his hands.
Tomorrow, he would hunt again.
And next time, it would not be beasts he carved open beneath the cold stars.
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⚡ End of Chapter Four
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