The ruined shrine was suffused with an unnatural darkness, as if the very walls drank in the fading light.
Kairo stood at its center, Twinblight coiled around his arm like a living shadow. Each swing of the sickle blades tore the air with a hiss, sending shards of forgotten power scattering through the stillness.
His body ached — muscles torn, skin scorched by shadow flames — but his spirit burned with relentless hunger.
The Abyssal Nerve Codex was not a path for the weak. It demanded sacrifice.
Day after day, Kairo pushed his limits, melding his flesh with the weapon's cursed energy. He wove the dark Qi through his veins, coaxing it to reshape his nerves — enhancing his reflexes, strengthening his resilience, and twisting his essence into something beyond human.
Each night, his dreams were haunted by the Hollow Fiend's flute — a mournful melody laced with both guidance and warning. The music stirred memories and knowledge locked deep within the Codex, teasing secrets he barely understood.
Through gritted teeth, Kairo learned to wield the Twinblight's deadly dance — the fluid, brutal strikes that could cleave bone and shadow alike. He practiced chaining attacks, spinning the sickles in a deadly rhythm that blurred reality.
But every surge of power carved a mark into his soul — a creeping darkness that whispered promises of invincibility at the cost of his humanity.
He realized the Codex allowed him to absorb and corrupt other cultivation techniques, twisting them into forbidden forms to grow stronger. But each such act chipped away at the fragile balance within him.
The world outside remained silent, unaware that in this forgotten corner, a nightmare was being forged anew.
Kairo's training was far from over.
But the first seed of legend had been planted.