The golden pedestal faded behind Lin Fei as he stepped from the glade into the next segment of the Hollow. With four runes now pulsing on his token, the weight of his progress pressed heavier on his shoulders. Each step forward felt like a march toward something greater—and more dangerous.
He reached the edge of a cliff.
Below, a chasm yawned wide, its floor hidden in swirling fog. Across the chasm stretched a bridge—not one of stone or wood, but of entwined spiritual roots, pulsating faintly with life. They swayed gently, as if breathing.
Another trial, he thought, narrowing his eyes.
But this one was different. The air was still. There were no guardians, no illusions, no riddles carved into ancient gates.
Then came the voice.
"You're the one they're watching, aren't you?"
Lin Fei turned sharply. A girl stepped from the mist. She wore the same outer disciple robes as him, but hers were stained with dirt and blood. Her long black hair was tied loosely, her face pale and tired. Yet her eyes held clarity—sharp as forged steel.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Yue Lan," she replied. "Room Seventeen."
He relaxed slightly. She wasn't hostile. Not immediately.
"You've passed four gates," she said. "I've passed three. Most can't get past two. I thought I was the furthest… until I saw you."
He nodded. "I didn't come here to compete."
"No," she said. "But someone did."
She stepped beside him, looking out at the living bridge. "There are others. Strong ones. Chen Tao. Wu Hsien. And that girl from the Inner Sect… Mo Jingyi. They're not here for tokens. They're here for power—inheritance, treasures, secrets. And they'll kill for it."
Lin Fei frowned. "Then they'll have to try."
Yue Lan glanced at him. "You don't get it, do you? The Root Hollow isn't just a trial. It's a filter. It doesn't just test your strength—it shows others what you're becoming."
"What I'm becoming?" Lin Fei echoed.
"Something rare," she said. "Something dangerous."
She walked onto the bridge.
He followed.
The bridge creaked beneath their feet, though it held strong. The roots twisted with each step, as if reacting to their qi. The fog swirled beneath them in slow spirals.
Midway across, they stopped.
The roots ahead began to shift—no longer a bridge, but a wall.
A heartbeat later, it opened.
The space beyond was like a wound in the world—a dome of cracked bark and spiraling roots, illuminated by a dim red glow from above. And in the center, resting atop a bed of interwoven branches, was a cocoon of pure qi.
It pulsed with immense spiritual pressure.
Yue Lan gasped. "Is that…?"
"It's alive," Lin Fei whispered.
As they stepped into the dome, the cocoon stirred.
Cracks formed across its shell. Threads of golden light seeped out.
Then—
A figure emerged.
Tall. Bare-chested. His body pulsed with spiritual runes and his eyes glowed amber. His hair was a tangled mess of white strands, and his breath came like smoke.
The man stepped down from the cocoon and looked at them with an expression halfway between curiosity and hunger.
"I've slept too long," he said, voice hoarse. "And now I wake to seedlings…"
Yue Lan froze. "That's not a trial spirit."
"No," Lin Fei murmured. "It's a cultivator. Or… what's left of one."
The man smiled. "Half right. I am Wu Shen. Once of the Heavenroot Sect. Bound to the Ninth Vein. Guardian of the Heartroot Path."
He raised his hand. The roots in the dome rippled.
"I was buried here to protect the path," he said. "But the world forgot me. And now, I forget myself. Unless…"
He looked at Lin Fei.
"…unless I feed."
The roots surged.
Yue Lan darted to the side, drawing a blade of condensed ice qi from her sleeve. Lin Fei jumped back, unleashing a burst of golden energy from his palm. The roots swerved around him, testing his strength, his reaction.
Wu Shen moved like a spirit, weaving between their attacks with impossible grace.
"You carry the seed," he said to Lin Fei. "You've touched the fragments. You walk a path that ends in ruin."
"You know the Heavenroot?" Lin Fei asked, dodging a spear of root-qi.
"I was the Heavenroot," Wu Shen said. "Before the collapse. Before the Heavens shattered and the Tree was sealed."
His voice deepened.
"If you awaken it… you awaken everything. Including the enemies that made the heavens bleed."
Lin Fei gritted his teeth. "Then I'll be ready."
The golden energy in his dantian surged. It was no longer just qi—it was memory, inheritance, spirit.
He struck with the Withering Line, slicing through Wu Shen's shoulder. The wound smoked—not with pain, but forgetfulness. The rune on his chest dimmed.
Wu Shen staggered. "That… technique. You carry her mark."
"Whose?" Lin Fei asked.
But Wu Shen didn't answer. He howled and surged forward, gathering all remaining strength in one final strike.
Yue Lan leapt behind him, slashing his back.
Lin Fei's palm met Wu Shen's chest.
"Root Mirror: Reflection Break."
The golden sigil exploded. Wu Shen screamed—then faded into light, his body disintegrating into motes of qi that drifted upward into the red sky.
Silence.
The dome returned to stillness. The roots settled.
In the center of the cocoon, something new now lay—a shard of crystallized bark, wrapped in golden veins.
Fragment of the Forgotten Inheritance: 2/9
Lin Fei picked it up. The fifth rune lit: Burden.
Yue Lan looked at him. "That was… too real to be a trial."
He nodded. "Because it wasn't. He was real. Or used to be."
She sat down, breathing hard. "I think… I'll stop here. My token's full. That was enough for me."
Lin Fei looked ahead. The roots parted once more, revealing a path downward—spiraling deep into the Root Hollow's ancient depths.
He stepped forward alone.
Because something below was calling him.
And it wasn't done yet.