A chilling wind blew through the blackened grove as Liu Shen faced the reanimated Gu Yao.
Once a high priest of the Abyssal Cult, Gu Yao was supposed to have perished during the final siege in Liu Shen's past life. His corpse had been devoured by Void Flame Serpents, and his soul torn apart by heavenly tribulation.
And yet here he stood—corpse-pale, bound together by hatred and corrupted essence.
> This realm… it didn't just preserve his remains. It fed on his resentment and rebuilt him.
Ashfire Hollow isn't a battleground. It's a graveyard turned womb.
Gu Yao's hollow eyes glowed. "When you shattered the Heaven-Sealing Pillar to escape your betrayal, my soul clung to its fragments. This rift opened because of you, Sovereign."
He raised his skeletal arms. Black chains erupted from the ground like serpents.
"Now die by the guilt you left behind!"
---
The Battle – Forbidden Grove
Liu Shen leapt backward, avoiding the strike of the chains. One grazed his shoulder—it didn't wound the flesh, but drained Qi from his meridians.
> Soul-hungry techniques… he's binding my spirit threads directly!
Liu Shen's eyes glowed crimson. Black mist began to swirl around him, his Demonic Core pulsing as Abyssal Qi exploded outward.
"Your hatred makes you strong, Gu Yao," Liu Shen said, voice calm.
He raised one palm—Black Ember Lotus bloomed in midair, spinning with devouring fire.
"But you've forgotten something."
Boom!
The lotus detonated, clearing the chains momentarily.
"I was born from hatred too."
Liu Shen dashed forward, fists glowing with demonic inscriptions. He struck Gu Yao square in the chest.
Crack!
Gu Yao staggered, bones fracturing—but didn't fall. Instead, he laughed.
"You still don't see it, do you?"
Suddenly, Gu Yao's body dissolved into ash—vanishing entirely.
Liu Shen's eyes narrowed.
> Illusion? No… he wasn't fully here to begin with. That was just a fragment.
From above, a shadow flickered.
Liu Shen turned his head—
Too late.
A blade carved with ancient runes pierced through his shoulder from behind.
---
Flashback – Echo of the Past
In that instant of pain, Liu Shen's mind flashed back.
He saw Gu Yao, once human, once loyal, standing beside him before the betrayal.
"You said you'd lead us to break the heavens," Gu Yao had said. "But you left us to die."
Back then, Liu Shen had no choice. His soul was crumbling, and the betrayal had begun from within.
But the guilt—he had buried it for lifetimes.
---
Return to the Present
Blood trickled down his robes.
Liu Shen didn't panic.
Instead, he reached up, grasped the blade still lodged in his body—and pulled it deeper.
Gu Yao's shadow clone, startled, tried to retreat.
Too slow.
Liu Shen grabbed its throat and crushed it.
"Thanks for the blade," Liu Shen muttered.
He absorbed the broken soul energy from the shadow, refining it into a strand of Abyssal Qi. His wound began to knit itself back together.
Then he turned his gaze to the east.
The rift… it pulsed again.
And he felt it clearly now.
A part of Gu Yao's real soul—and something far more ancient—lay within that rift.
> So you've survived in pieces, Gu Yao… hiding in the cracks of this world.
> Then I'll burn those cracks shut.
---
Meanwhile – Observation Pavilion
Elder Mo frowned as he watched the trial's progress through a spiritual mirror.
Most disciples were fighting spirit beasts. A few had fallen. One had gone mad.
But Liu Shen's feed was shrouded in black mist, the mirror trembling as if unable to contain his presence.
"That child…" Elder Mo muttered. "Why does his aura feel… familiar?"
He turned to the silent observer at his side—an elder in gray robes with golden eyes.
"What do you sense, Elder Jin?"
The old man opened his eyes slowly.
"…He's touched something forbidden," he whispered. "But more than that…"
"…He reminds me of a man who once stood at the peak of the demonic path—centuries ago."