Dawn had not yet touched the mountain when Wei Lian left his cave.
The wind howled through the sect's stone corridors, rattling old doors, slamming frost-laden shutters.
He walked slowly, each step leaving a deep print in the half-frozen mud.
Snow drifted lazily from a black sky, falling in thick, heavy curtains that deadened sound.
It gathered on his shoulders and hair, turning him into a pale silhouette.
He didn't brush it away.
Around him, the sect was silent but for muffled whispers.
Other disciples watched him from narrow windows and half-open doors.
Their breath steamed the glass as they whispered.
He heard the fear in their voices.
The envy.
He ignored them.
At the main gates, two black-armored guards huddled around a brazier that gave off more smoke than heat.
They looked up sharply when he approached, startled out of their half-sleep.
One shifted uneasily.
"Outer disciple. What business outside?"
Wei Lian didn't bother replying.
He reached inside his robe and produced a battered parchment.
Mu's black wax seal was cracked but unbroken.
The guards squinted at it in the pale dawn.
They exchanged a glance.
One shrugged.
With a heavy groan of rust and old curses, the iron gates swung open.
Snow blew in like a tide, chilling them both.
They shivered and cursed under their breath.
Wei Lian stepped past without a word.
Didn't look back.
The gates slammed shut behind him with a sound like a coffin sealing.
The world outside was raw.
Black pine trees twisted in the wind, their branches coated in ice like claws.
The ground was a churned mix of frozen mud, jagged rock, and thin, brittle snow.
The wind howled through narrow passes.
It shrieked like something alive, promising death to the weak.
Snow whipped sideways, blinding him at times.
Wei Lian didn't flinch.
He let the cold sink into his flesh.
He wanted it.
Pain was truth.
Pain was promise.
The Human Root pulsed in his dantian, slow and heavy.
Qi thick as syrup coiled inside him, obedient, patient.
It offered no warmth he didn't earn.
It moved only because he forced it to.
Hours passed as he climbed rocky slopes and descended frozen ravines.
The sun was a pale smear behind racing grey clouds.
Light changed nothing.
He saw no other humans.
Only ancient paths marked with faded talismans, warning travelers to turn back.
He smiled at them.
"Good."
"I'm not here to be safe."
He found signs of life quickly.
Clawed marks in frozen bark.
Deep tracks pressed into ice, half-melted by lingering body heat.
The smell of blood in the snow.
He paused at a tree where a smaller beast had been eviscerated, its entrails frozen mid-pour.
Black blood clung in spiked icicles.
He crouched, fingers brushing cold gore.
"Something big."
"Something hungry."
He rose and followed the trail.
No caution.
No fear.
He wanted it to know he was coming.
Hours later, he reached a high plateau.
Steam rose in curling waves from deep fissures in the rock.
Snow melted around them, leaving black stone slick and wet.
He heard it before he saw it.
A deep, bubbling growl that rattled in his teeth.
The scrape of claws on rock.
A massive shape moved through the steam.
Scales glistened wetly, green-black like rotting moss.
Two orange eyes blinked through the fog, burning coals in the dark.
He felt the Human Root pulse once.
Slow approval.
This was the test.
He didn't wait.
Didn't posture.
He took one step forward and roared.
It lunged.
Massive claws slashed through the air.
Snow and steam exploded around them.
He dove sideways, feeling wind shear his hair.
Claws scored the stone where he'd been.
Shards flew, cutting his cheek.
He rolled and came up, bleeding.
He didn't wipe it away.
He smiled.
It roared again, voice deep as thunder in his chest.
He felt fear.
Welcomed it.
Used it.
He charged low, slamming a fist into its side.
Bone met scale.
His knuckles split.
Blood painted its hide.
It howled.
Spun.
A tail like a whip caught him in the ribs.
He flew ten paces, crashed into rock.
Bones cracked.
Air left his lungs in a wet gasp.
Pain blinded him.
He forced breath back in.
Qi moved instantly.
He felt fractures seal, thicker than before.
Blood clotted.
Skin hardened.
He staggered up.
Laughed once, harsh and raw.
"Again."
It roared in answer.
Charged.
He met it.
Fists slammed into its maw, breaking teeth.
Elbows smashed into its eyes until black blood fountained.
It screamed.
Claws tore through his shoulder.
He let them.
Qi rushed to the wound, sealing it mid-gush.
Pain sharpened him.
He rammed his head into its snout.
Felt bone crunch.
It staggered back, howling.
He chased.
Didn't give it space.
Didn't give it mercy.
He wrapped arms around its neck.
It thrashed.
Scales cut his flesh to ribbons.
He squeezed.
Qi surged.
Bones groaned.
Held.
He felt its spine shift.
Crack.
Snap.
It fell hard.
Snow scattered in bloody arcs.
Its legs twitched once.
Wei Lian didn't let go.
He held on until it stopped moving.
Until its blood steamed around them both.
He rolled off it slowly.
Lay on his back, panting, watching grey clouds boil overhead.
Snow fell into his eyes.
He didn't blink.
He let it blind him.
The cold burned his torn skin.
The Human Root pulsed once.
Deep.
Satisfied.
Qi flooded every wound.
He felt bone knit.
Flesh harden.
Scars layer over like new armor.
He forced himself to sit up.
Breathed.
Counted heartbeats.
He was alive.
Stronger.
Meaner.
He rose on shaky legs.
Dragged the carcass to a cleft in the rock.
Used claws to cut meat.
Strips smoked in geothermal vents, sizzling in the sour air.
He chewed raw pieces.
Didn't gag.
Swallowed.
Fuel.
When it was done, he gathered the rest.
Wrapped it in hide.
Tied it to his belt.
He found a hollow in the rock for shelter.
Kicked snow away until stone shone black and cold.
Collapsed into it.
He didn't sleep.
He watched the wind howl outside.
Felt the pain settle into memory.
"One month."
"I will do this every day."
"Until I am unrecognizable."
Snow drifted into the hollow, covering his legs.
He didn't move.
He just breathed.
Because tomorrow wasn't for comfort.
It was for survival.
And eventually, for domination.