"Bloody battles."
The two words hung in the bamboo cottage, heavier than the Frost-Jade Coffin in the center of the room.
Kai felt a distinct chill crawl up his spine, unrelated to the temperature of the preservation array. It was the primal reaction of a living creature being told that its only path forward lay through the jaws of death.
He looked at his hands. They were still stained with the faint, phantom sensation of the panther's blood. He had felt powerful then. But he had also felt the terror of the beast.
"Does..." Kai swallowed the lump in his throat. "Is it counted? The fight today? Does that count toward this... method?"
Su Qing hovered before him, her expression unreadable.
"It counts," she affirmed, her voice cool. "Your blood boiled. Your instincts sharpened. That panther was a Late Rank 2 wild beast. Surviving it proves your Mortal Foundation is solid."
She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"But it is not enough. You spared it. The adrenaline faded before you could push your limits. True evolution happens when there is no retreat. When the brain shuts down and only the marrow screams to survive."
She drifted closer, the blue light of her spirit form casting long, eerie shadows against the walls.
"Tell me, Kai. Do you want this way or not? The safe path takes ten years. The bloody path takes one. But the bloody path is paved with graves."
Silence descended upon the room.
Kai stared at the flickering flame of the oil lamp. He thought of the Lin Clan. He thought of the sneers. He thought of the vast, terrifying distance to the glorious Flame Cloud City. Ten years? In ten years, he would be hunted down and executed long before he reached the city gates.
He didn't have the luxury of time. He was a fugitive.
Kai's fist clenched on the desk. The hesitation in his eyes solidified into a cold, hard resolve.
"Yes," Kai said, his voice steady. "I am ready. If it is the faster and more powerful path... then I am all in."
Su Qing watched him for a long moment, searching for fear. Finding only determination, she nodded.
"Good. Then listen closely."
She pointed a translucent finger at the map.
"Tomorrow, when we leave this sanctuary, the training begins. You will not avoid the beasts. You will hunt them."
"However," she raised a hand in warning, "there is a limit to bravery. You are currently in the Blood Awakening Realm. You can fight beasts of your own rank."
"You may challenge a Newly Advanced Rank 3 wild beast if you use your wits," she continued sternly. "But if you encounter anything higher—a Mid-Stage Rank 3 or above—you run. Do not think. Do not fight. You run."
Kai frowned. "Is the gap that big?"
"Massive," Su Qing replied. "A Rank 3 has formed a Beast Core. It can manipulate elements—fire breath, wind blades, earth spikes. You have a strong body, Kai, but you cannot punch fire. Engaging them is sure death."
"Understood," Kai nodded, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Rank 3 Initial is the ceiling."
"Hmm." Su Qing floated backward, her form beginning to shimmer as she prepared to disperse.
"Memorize the map whole," she commanded. "Rest well tonight. The comfort of this bed is the last luxury you will have for a long time. Tomorrow... the start will be brutal. It will be survival and training combined into one nightmare."
"I am going then."
Before Kai could say goodbye, she dissolved into a stream of blue mist. The mist swirled once around the room and shot into the Crescent Jade Pendant on Kai's chest.
The warmth of the jade faded, leaving only the cold, hard stone against his skin.
Kai was alone.
He sat there for a long time, dazed, staring at the intricate ink lines of the map without really seeing them. His mind was a storm of thoughts—strategies, fears, and the crushing weight of the promise he had made.
'I will wake her up,' he thought. 'But first, I have to wake myself up. I have to become a predator.'
He shook his head, slapping his cheeks to focus. He pulled the map closer. He spent the next few hours meticulously memorizing every detail. The location of the Iron-Beak Crow nests. The acidity of the soil in the Rotting Marsh. The safe zones near the River of Silent Screams.
By the time he rolled up the map and placed it into his spatial ring, the artificial moon outside was high in the fake sky. It was midnight.
Kai rubbed his burning eyes. Exhaustion was finally clawing at him.
He stood up and stretched, his joints popping. He walked over to the wooden chair where Xiao Bai lay.
The white fox was still curled up, deep in slumber. She hadn't moved an inch since entering the cottage. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic, but deep.
Kai frowned, a shadow of worry crossing his face.
"You're sleeping a lot, little one," Kai whispered, reaching out to gently stroke her soft fur.
She didn't wake up. She didn't even twitch.
It wasn't normal. Even a lazy fox would wake up for food or noise. It felt like she was in a coma.
Kai looked down, he wanted to ask Su Qing. She was an expert; she had seen the world. Maybe she knew what was wrong with Xiao Bai. Maybe there was a pill or any art to help her.
But Kai bit his lip and pulled his hand back.
'I can't ask her,' Kai thought, his expression troubled. 'Su Qing just gave me everything—her legacy, her home, her guidance. She is using the last of her soul to help me. If I wake her up now just to ask about a pet... she might be dissatisfied.'
He shook his head. 'No, it's not just that. It's the debt.'
Kai looked around the room—at the books he was reading, the ring on his finger, the mask he would soon bind. The help he was receiving was tremendous. It was a mountain of grace pressing down on his shoulders.
'Karma,' Kai mused, touching his pendant. 'The cycle of cause and effect. If you take something, you must return it. If I keep taking... the debt will crush me before I can even pay it back.'
He sighed, looking at the sleeping fox with a mixture of love and helplessness.
"I have to figure this out myself," he decided. "I need to gain more information on Soul Herbs. Xiao Bai needs them, and maybe... maybe Su Qing needs them too."
He gently picked up the fox, careful not to disturb her, and carried her to the simple wooden bed in the corner of the room. He placed her on the pillow and lay down beside her, staring up at the bamboo ceiling.
"Tomorrow," he whispered to the darkness. "Tomorrow, the hunt begins."
Within minutes, his breathing slowed. The exhaustion of the day—the fall, the poison, the panther, the ghost—finally took its toll. Kai fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
The cottage was silent. The preservation array hummed softly, keeping the time frozen.
The dark night passed slowly in the pocket dimension.
At the darkest hour, when the Yin energy outside the array was pressing hardest against the barrier, a movement stirred on the bed.
It wasn't Kai.
Xiao Bai lifted her head.
She didn't stretch. She didn't yawn. Her movement was fluid and precise, lacking the clumsiness of an animal waking from slumber.
She turned her head to look at the sleeping boy beside her.
Her eyes opened.
They were not the sleepy, confused eyes of a pet. They were pools of royal violet hue, glowing with a vertical slit that seemed to contain an ancient, terrifying wisdom. They flickered with a light that was far more older than anything present here.
She gazed at Kai's sleeping face, studying his features, his breathing, the faint pulse of Dark Affinity in his veins.
For a moment, the "innocent fox" facade was completely gone.
Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the light vanished.
Xiao Bai yawned, a tiny, cute sound. She curled back up into a ball, tucking her nose under her tail, and returned to being just a fox.
The night passed.
Slowly, the artificial sky outside began to lighten. The deep violet turned to a pale lavender, then to a soft gold. The artificial sun rose, casting beams of light through the bamboo window.
A new day had arrived.
And outside the safety of the tree, the Bone-Eating Forest was waiting for its breakfast.