Chapter 3: The Forbidden Archives
Night draped over the Mistfall Clan like a velvet curtain, silent and absolute. While most slept, Xian Li moved like a shadow, unseen, unheard, his heart beating with cold excitement. Tonight, he would step where no disciple had dared into the Forbidden Archives.
The archives were a labyrinth of stone corridors, protected by runes and traps, sealed by the clan's most formidable wards. Many had tried to breach them, and many had failed. Death waited inside like a patient predator.
Xian Li stopped before the massive iron gates. He raised the jade token from yesterday the same one that had sown discord and whispered a barely audible incantation. The wards flickered, almost recognizing him as more than a mere disciple, but not fully as an enemy.
"Patience, observation, deception…" he murmured. His fingers traced the rune patterns in his mind. Each ward, each trap, each magical mechanism had a weakness. And he had already seen it through the Mirror of Infinite Schemes.
The gate creaked, then silently swung open. Inside, the air was thick with dust and the aura of forbidden cultivation. Scrolls floated in the air, glowing faintly with hidden power. A single step could trigger death but Xian Li stepped anyway.
Hours passed as he moved, avoiding runes that would drain life, sidestepping glyphs that could erase memories. He reached the central chamber, and there it was: the Soul-Eater Technique, a forbidden cultivation method capable of absorbing the essence of others to increase one's own strength. A single mistake here could end his life or his very soul.
Xian Li's eyes glinted with a mix of calculation and thrill. "Power demands risk. Those who fear it deserve nothing."
With careful precision, he began to absorb the knowledge, his mind expanding, weaving the dangerous techniques into his cultivation. The Mirror of Infinite Schemes showed him dozens of ways to apply it against rivals, against the clan, even against life itself.
But just as he finished, a cold voice echoed through the chamber:
"Xian Li."
He froze. A senior elder, thought to be in another city, had returned early. Her eyes were sharp, piercing, judging. "Do you know what you are touching?"
Xian Li bowed respectfully, a smile playing on his lips. "I only touch what destiny allows me. Power… and survival… belong to those who dare."
The elder's eyes narrowed, sensing both arrogance and an intellect far beyond her estimate. But she did not strike. Instead, she left, a subtle warning in her wake.
Xian Li exhaled, his pulse steady. Another risk, survived. Another advantage gained.
As he returned to his quarters, the Mirror of Infinite Schemes pulsed brighter, whispering of future schemes, of inevitable betrayals, and of the power that now thrummed within him.
"Let them fear the shadows," he murmured. "Let them underestimate me. Soon… the world itself will kneel to my calculation."