The infinite, silvery-white expanse was utterly silent, save for the faint, ethereal hum of the ancient trial ground. The Moon-Shattering Asura, a translucent ghost of a forgotten age, stood before the two competitors, his presence a weight of sorrow and immense power. His gaze was fixed not on the child of his bloodline, Mo Ling, but on Li Yu, and his ancient, sorrowful expression was now a mask of pure, soul-shaking astonishment.
The ancestor was not just looking at a young man. He was a being of spirit, and his senses perceived things that a mortal could not. He was staring into the abyss-black ocean of Li Yu's spiritual core, and what he saw there terrified him. He saw a nascent soul, not in the form of a human or a simple beast, but as a primordial, crimson-gold leviathan, a creature of concept and authority that swam in a sea of condensed, star-dusted void.
It was a foundation so profound, so alien, that it defied every law of cultivation he had ever known. First of all, how did someone with a nascent soul come to his realm without completely destroying it. Second, he hadn't seen a nascent like this in all his life, not from humans or beasts alike. He was looking at a being whose potential was not just to shatter moons, but to swallow galaxies.
"You…" the ancestor's voice was no longer a disembodied echo, but a personal, awestruck whisper that resonated directly in their minds. "What… are you?"
Li Yu simply met the spirit's gaze with a calm, respectful smile, offering no answer.
The ancestor's spirit seemed to shudder, pulling its gaze away from the terrifying depths of Li Yu's soul as if it had stared too long into a sun. He turned to Mo Ling, and the warmth returned to his ethereal eyes.
"Child of my blood," the spirit said, its voice full of ancient affection. "You have endured the trials. You faced the crushing weight of this world and did not break. You faced the sword and did not falter. You faced your own heart's desire and deepest fear, and you chose love over glory. You are a worthy heir. You have proven your will."
A wave of fierce pride swelled in Mo Ling's chest. She had done it. She had been found worthy.
The spirit then turned its full, profound attention back to Li Yu. "And you, outsider," the ancestor's voice was now heavy with a complex mixture of awe and confusion. "You have not just passed the trials; you have rendered them meaningless. The pressure that would crush mountains was a gentle breeze to you. The martial echoes that would slay demons were but toys for your amusement. The illusion that would break the strongest of souls was shattered by the mere presence of your own. By every measure of power, of will, of soul… you are the victor. The legacy, by the ancient laws of this trial, belongs to you."
The words fell like hammer blows on Mo Ling's heart. She stared, her victory turning to ash in her mouth. She had been found worthy, yes, but he was… transcendent. She had lost. After everything, after pushing herself to the very brink, the final prize was not hers to claim. A bitter, soul-crushing despair began to well up inside her.
It was in this moment that Li Yu finally spoke, his voice as calm and gentle as a flowing river.
"I am honored by your judgment, esteemed ancestor," he said, giving the spirit a deep, respectful bow. "But I must humbly refuse this inheritance."
The statement was so unexpected, so utterly contrary to the ambition that drove every cultivator in existence, that it stunned both Mo Ling and the ancient spirit into silence.
"Refuse?" Mo Ling finally choked out, her voice a mixture of disbelief and a dawning, fragile hope. "Why? This is the legacy of the Moon-Shattering Asura! It is a great power that could change the destiny of our entire clan! Why would you refuse?"
Li Yu turned to her, his expression not one of arrogance or pity, but of simple, honest sincerity. "Because it is not mine to take," he said. "This is the legacy of your ancestor, Mo Ling. It belongs to the Asura Demon Clan. It belongs to you, by bloodright. I came to this realm to rescue you, not to steal your fated opportunity. This is not what a friend would do to another."
He then turned his gaze back to the ancestor's spirit. "Furthermore, esteemed ancestor, every cultivator must walk their own path. My own dao is… unique. It is a path I have been forging since I was a child. I must see where my own river leads, not divert its course into another's great sea."
He gave a final, decisive bow. "The prize belongs to the child of the bloodline. I refuse the inheritance."
Mo Ling stared at him, her mind a complete blank. He was willingly, without a moment's hesitation, turning down a power that others would kill and die for. He was handing it to her, the person he had just unequivocally defeated. The last, bitter remnants of her pride crumbled, washed away by a wave of profound, humbling respect so powerful it brought tears to her eyes. She finally understood what her father had seen in him. It was not just power. It was a depth of character, an integrity, that was as vast and unshakable as his cultivation.
The ancestor's spirit looked at Li Yu, and a slow, ancient, and deeply approving smile spread across its ethereal face. "A heart that can so easily refuse such power," the spirit said, its voice warm with admiration, "is perhaps the most worthy heart of all. You walk a grand path, young one. A path that will surely shake the heavens."
The spirit turned its full, benevolent attention to Mo Ling. "Child of my blood. The outsider has relinquished his claim. The legacy is now yours. Prepare yourself."
The ancestor raised a translucent, glowing hand. A brilliant, silver beam of light, as pure as the essence of the shattered moon, shot from his fingertip and gently touched Mo Ling's forehead.
She cried out as a torrent of information, of power, of ancient wisdom, flooded her mind. She saw visions of the ancestor's life, of epic battles that tore the sky asunder. She felt the insights of hundreds of years of cultivation, the profound understanding of demonic arts, and the complete mastery of the clan's ultimate techniques, the Moon-Shattering Asura Arts.
It was a river of knowledge so vast it threatened to drown her. She immediately dropped into a meditative posture, her body glowing with a silvery light as she desperately tried to absorb the immense inheritance. The pure, refined energy from the ancestor's blessing surged through her meridians, shattering the bottleneck of her 6th-level cultivation. Her aura swelled, breaking through the 7th level and then, with a final, powerful surge, stabilizing at the 8th stage of the Foundation Establishment realm.
With Mo Ling occupied, the ancestor's spirit turned back to Li Yu. Its form was beginning to flicker, its duty almost complete. "You have honored my bloodline, outsider. You have shown a character worthy of the highest respect. I cannot allow such a deed to go unrewarded."
The spirit sighed, a sound like the wind through ancient ruins. "I had one companion in my long life. A friend who was closer to me than any brother. He was not an Asura, but a sovereign of the earth and sea, an Ancient Star-Shelled Tortoise whose defensive power was said to be absolute. In a great war from a forgotten age, he sacrificed himself to save me from a fatal blow. With his dying breath, he gave me this… the very core of his existence, so that a part of him might endure."
The spirit raised its other hand, and a new object materialized from the silvery light. It was a beast core, the size of a large grapefruit. It was shaped like a perfect, miniature turtle shell, crafted from a deep, earthy crystal that seemed to hold a universe of tiny, glittering, star-like motes within it. It radiated an aura of profound, unyielding, and absolute defense.
"I have kept it after all this time, a memory of my greatest friend," the spirit said, its voice thick with an ancient sorrow. "Your act of selfless honor, choosing your friend's path over your own gain, reminds me of his sacrifice. It feels… like fate. It is time for this core to find a new purpose, to protect a new generation. Take it. Let the legacy of my old friend live on through you and yours."
Li Yu looked at the beautiful, powerful core. His thoughts immediately went to Kui, who was at this very moment standing guard outside the realm's entrance. The old turtle sovereign, for all his power, was a beast of defense at heart, a Behemoth Turtle-Snake whose greatest pride was his shell. A treasure like this, born from a legendary tortoise of a bygone era… it would be an unimaginable boon for him, a fated opportunity that could elevate his bloodline to a new level.
A genuine, grateful smile touched his lips. This was a gift he could, and would, accept. "On behalf of my own… old friend," Li Yu said, thinking of Kui, "I thank you, esteemed ancestor. I will ensure his legacy is honored."
He carefully took the core, its surface warm and thrumming with an ancient, protective power.
The ancestor's spirit gave a final, contented smile. Its form was now almost completely transparent. "The trials are over. The heir has been chosen. My final duty is complete…"
Its voice faded, and its ethereal form dissolved into a final, brilliant shower of silver light that gently rained down upon the meditating Mo Ling, a final blessing that helped solidify her new foundation.
The infinite white expanse around them began to tremble, the very fabric of the trial ground dissolving. The ancient, sorrowful hum of the realm returned, louder now, a signal that their time here was over.
Li Yu walked over to the still-meditating Mo Ling, who was completely lost in the river of knowledge she had inherited. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.