Li Shen stumbled through the labyrinth of stone and frost. The cliffs rose around him like jagged teeth, the night wind cutting his torn robe to ribbons. Every breath burned his lungs. Arrows and talismans hissed through the dark behind him — the Moon Sect's hounds were tireless.
Blood dripped from a gash along his ribs — shallow, but it slowed him. He pressed a hand to it, feeling the Codex's runes pulse under his palm. The blood trickled, then stopped — the wound sealed, but the exhaustion stayed.
They will break you, Ku Mo whispered in the hidden corridors of his mind. They are many. You are one.
Li Shen gritted his teeth. He climbed higher, scrambling over stone slick with frost. The wind howled through narrow cuts in the cliffside, carrying distant echoes of shouts and the sharp crack of talismans bursting in silver flame.
At the peak of a narrow ledge, he paused. Far below, the Moon Sect disciples flickered like fireflies among the rocks. Further still, on a lower ridge, Elder Zhen Wu moved with terrible purpose — silver runes coiling around his staff, each gesture sending tremors through the stone.
Li Shen knew what would come. Zhen Wu was no common sect elder — he was a Soul Fusion cultivator, master of binding talismans and elemental strikes. A single slip, a single blow… and the Codex would die with him, buried under Moon Sect chains and holy wards.
His pulse throbbed in his ears. Each heartbeat louder than the wind.
Call on me, Ku Mo rasped. Release the next seal. Give me more — and I will give you more.
Li Shen's breath fogged in the bitter air. "What price?"
You know it, Ku Mo said, voice like oil sliding through a crack in a door. Your body. Your soul. One step deeper. You feed me — I feed you.
Li Shen pressed his palm to the frozen cliff wall. He felt its cold seep through his skin. Felt the edge of something sharp inside him — a boundary, thin as silk, holding back the Codex's true hunger.
Below, Yue Lan's voice drifted on the wind — sharp, strained. She was shouting commands, trying to hold the hunters back, but Elder Zhen Wu's roar overpowered her.
"Bring me the boy's head! Strip him from shadow to marrow if you must!"
Li Shen laughed — a dry, cracked sound. "They want a demon," he rasped. "So be it."
He closed his eyes. He found the edge of the seal inside himself — a knot of runes coiled tight around his core, holding Ku Mo's ancient essence in a cage of blood and iron.
Do it, Ku Mo hissed.
Li Shen exhaled — and cut.
A soundless crack split the world inside him. Red light bloomed behind his eyes. The runes along his arms flared, burning like brands. The pain was a blade inside his bones — and then it was gone, replaced by a rushing tide of molten fire.
His eyes snapped open — glowing with a deep, hellish red. The cliff around him pulsed as if it too felt the Codex's hunger.
Far below, Zhen Wu looked up — sensing the sudden surge.
"He's ascending—!" Zhen Wu snarled. He raised his staff, talismans spinning around him like a swarm of silver moths.
Li Shen didn't wait. He stepped off the ledge — and the wind caught him like a lover.
He fell through the night, red light trailing his limbs like the tail of a comet. Halfway down, he struck the cliff wall — toes scraping stone, the Codex's power gripping every nerve, every bone.
He pushed off.
He landed behind two disciples, so fast they barely had time to turn. His hand cleaved through one's throat — blood fountaining in a perfect arc. He spun, catching the second by the face, fingers sinking into flesh and Qi. He ripped the soul free — drinking its warmth, feeling his wounds close, his strength coil tighter around his bones.
He was on Zhen Wu before the elder could cast his final binding.
Their eyes locked — master hunter and newborn fiend.
Zhen Wu snarled, staff lashing out in a silver arc. Li Shen caught it bare-handed — flesh sizzling, bone cracking. He roared, driving his forehead into Zhen Wu's jaw — felt teeth shatter. Zhen Wu staggered, but the old man's Qi coiled like a coiled serpent — iron-hard, ancient.
Zhen Wu struck his staff into the earth — a circle of talismans flaring around them, carving the cliff with holy light.
"DIE, BLOOD DEMON!"
Rings of force hammered Li Shen's ribs — bones cracking. His vision swam. The Codex screamed inside him — a chorus of whispers, voices too many to count.
Give in, Ku Mo urged. Let me steer your flesh. You are not enough. But we are.
Li Shen saw Yue Lan behind Zhen Wu — hands outstretched, eyes wide with horror. Her lips shaped his name — but no sound reached him through the storm of power.
Choose, Ku Mo demanded. Fall. Or become.
Li Shen tasted blood in his mouth. He looked past Zhen Wu, past Yue Lan — to the endless dark sky where the Nine Heavens mocked him with their silence.
He opened his mouth — and chose.
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⚡ End of Chapter Eight
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