The blood on the earth hadn't yet cooled.
Shadow stood alone among the corpses, surrounded by firelight and silence. The air was thick with iron, smoke, and something else—something far darker.
His sharp eyes tracked the bandits as they retreated into the misty pines. Their steps were quick, but not panicked. Only one of them looked back—**Duan Xie**.
Shadow narrowed his gaze.
> "He's strong… but something's off."
The man's aura pulsed with unstable force. His presence had changed during the fight. It was subtle, but unmistakable. The arrogance, the laughter, the ease with which he slaughtered the Green Spear disciple… all of it hid something deeper.
Shadow focused his senses—peering into Duan's back as the group vanished over the ridge.
> "Fifth level of the Foundation Realm. But not stabilized."
> "He's recently broken through."
> "And he knows… if he and I fight, we both bleed."
A moment passed.
Both had silently reached the same conclusion:
**Not yet.**
Shadow exhaled slowly, but just as he turned to examine the fallen, his eyes caught something.
A faint shimmer.
A movement in the blood.
The red pools on the ground were rippling.
And shrinking.
As if they were being **absorbed**.
> "What…?"
He knelt beside one body—an old merchant—and touched the blood-soaked dirt.
It was dry.
Completely.
As if every drop of life had been **drained**.
> "This isn't normal. This isn't… cultivation."
He checked another. And another.
Every corpse—guard, merchant, disciple—was the same. Their flesh withered, their eyes hollow, their skin pale and sagging. As if the very essence of their bodies had been sucked dry.
His breath caught.
Memories surged.
A village far away… burned to ash.
Chickens, dogs, even the grass—**drained of life**.
Elder Yan standing tall, his voice furious:
> "Demonic arts. They corrupt the natural order. Forbidden. Hunted. Destroyed."
Shadow's hands curled into fists.
He stood.
Turned.
And saw the last flicker of Duan Xie's cloak vanish between two black trees.
Rage exploded in his chest.
> "I won't let this exist. Not again."
He ran.
Ignoring reason.
Ignoring his own injuries.
Ignoring his own fear.
He **charged** after the bandits.
His sword hummed as he drew it, energy already swirling through his dantian like lightning through storm clouds.
The terrain shifted—rising ridges, sudden drops, roots tearing through the soil.
The bandits heard his approach.
One turned. Two followed.
A shout:
> "He's coming! That boy—he's still alive!"
Duan Xie barked a command.
> "Stop him! I want him broken, not dead!"
Twelve figures turned, blades drawn, faces grim.
Shadow didn't slow.
> "Sword Flash Art."
> "One breath. One step. One strike."
He struck the first bandit mid-sprint—blade to throat.
The second screamed and swung a hammer—but Shadow slipped beneath it and drove his shoulder into the man's chest, cracking ribs, and slicing upward.
Blood sprayed.
The third and fourth attacked together, one with chain hooks, the other with twin daggers.
Shadow parried left, caught the hook in his sleeve, spun, and kicked the man into a tree.
But the second dagger caught his side—deep.
> "Tch—!"
He turned, slashed once more, and ended the second attacker. But the pain slowed him.
> "Too reckless," he growled.
Another came from behind.
A blade stabbed into his shoulder.
Then another—through his thigh.
He gasped.
Blood poured.
The robbers surrounded him now.
Three more stabbed at once. He dodged two, but the third pierced just under his ribs.
Shadow fell to one knee, breath ragged, eyes blazing.
He looked up—**and saw him.**
**Duan Xie.**
Standing with arms folded, a crooked smile spreading across his face.
> "You really did follow us. Alone."
> "Look at you. Bleeding. Breathing hard."
> "And you thought… what? You could stop me?"
He stepped forward, laughing now, high and wild.
> "You think I don't recognize that look in your eyes?"
> "It's the same as everyone who stood in front of me before they died."
Shadow didn't respond.
He simply stared—cold, furious, unblinking.
His blood stained the ground beneath him.
But his grip on his sword never loosened.
Duan Xie crouched beside him.
> "You're strong, kid. Stronger than most. But you've made a mistake."
> "You're not fighting a man."
> "You're fighting a monster."
And Shadow, voice hoarse but defiant, whispered:
> "You're the reason why I amike this"
> "You're what I hate the most, your very exists disgust me."
> "And you… are what I was meant to end."
Duan Xie's eyes widened slightly—just a flicker of surprise.
> "Interesting."
Shadow rose, slow, bleeding from three deep wounds.
His blade shook.
His legs wobbled.
But his eyes—those brown, burning eyes—never wavered.
> "This ends here."
---