The dawn arrived without a sound, but Li Wei was already awake.
For three nights, he had secretly studied the old map given to him by one of his "allies" from the Silent Pavilion. It was a worn copy, faded by time and moisture, yet it held a clear mark: a sealed cavern. It was hidden under one of the ancient altars in the Black Lotus Garden, in a forgotten section where disciples dared not train due to "poor spiritual circulation."
A lie. It was a concealment formation, and now he had the key.
The triangular jade fragment he had "borrowed" from the Hall of the Sleeping Flame fit precisely into a groove on the forgotten altar. When he placed it, the ground trembled slightly and the stone slid away with a dry creak. The world changed.
A tunnel spiraled down beneath the sect, carved not by human hands but by pure energy. The rock walls glowed with archaic lines—ancient spiritual veins that pulsed with a power Li Wei had never felt before.
"This hasn't been trod on for centuries..." he murmured, lighting a spiritual lantern.
As he descended, a subtle pressure built in his chest, as if each step brought him closer to something he wasn't supposed to find. At the end of the tunnel, a stone door with strange symbols awaited him.
An ancient voice echoed in his mind: "Only one who knows the lie can see the truth."
Li Wei smiled. "A mental guardian... perfect."
He closed his eyes and channeled his Mental Silk, projecting a thought: "I am an average disciple. I pose no threat." The door remained motionless.
Then he tried another thought: "I am a liar. A manipulator. A thief of knowledge."
The door opened. The truth, in this place, was an acceptable offense.
Inside, he found the unthinkable. A broken forge, covered in a layer of ancient dust. Stone shelves with scrolls sealed by rusted chains. A meditation circle covered in forgotten runes. And in the center, suspended in the air as if floating out of sheer defiance, a technique wrapped in a cracked jade capsule.
Li Wei approached cautiously. The capsule opened with a whisper that sounded like the lament of a soul.
"The Stigma of the Woven Soul"
It was a hybrid technique: spiritual and martial. It was designed not to strengthen the body, but to intertwine the user's consciousness with that of their enemies. A weapon of extreme manipulation, capable of implanting ideas, suppressing will, and even unleashing physical illusions on the opponent.
"This... is too much." Even for him.
But it was also perfect.
He sat in the lotus position and began to absorb the technique. And that's when the real danger appeared.
A dry sound. Claws against stone.
Li Wei looked up. From the shadows, a non-human figure emerged. It was a spiritual puppet, humanoid, wrapped in dark bandages with eyes glowing like embers. An ancient protector created from soul fragments.
Estimated cultivation level: Second Martial Realm. Far above his own.
"A sentinel... programmed to kill anyone who steals this technique?"
The figure did not respond. It simply attacked.
Li Wei rolled to the side, narrowly dodging a claw that tore up the floor. He leaped toward a broken pillar, measuring the distance and rhythm. There was no time to manipulate, to play games. He couldn't persuade a consciousness without a real mind.
He had to fight.
The creature charged with unnatural speed. Li Wei blocked with a palm reinforced by his thin Qi and was thrown against a wall like a doll. He coughed up blood, but he got back up.
And he smiled. "So this is... real combat."
He focused. He breathed. He activated the first phase of the Stigma of the Woven Soul. His mind projected a false echo of himself in the opposite direction. The puppet followed it, attacking the illusion.
Li Wei ran the other way, grabbed a broken spear from the ground, and threw it with surgical precision at the back of the enemy's neck. The wood splintered, but the creature hesitated.
One second was all he needed.
Li Wei slid under its guard and placed his palm on the enemy's spiritual chest.
"Surrender to the one who sees beyond," he whispered.
A burst of mental energy. The new technique activated its second phase. For a brief instant... the puppet froze.
And Li Wei pierced its chest with a spiritual stone stake.
The guardian collapsed, its energy dissolving like sand. Silence. Only his breathing. The slow drip of his blood onto the stone. And the certainty that he had won... not with strength, but with cunning.
Minutes later, as he emerged from the cavern, Li Wei was no longer the same. His robe was torn. His arm was injured. But his gaze... was deeper. More dangerous. He had tasted death and had not broken.
"This world thinks it can silence the weak," he thought. "But it forgets that the weak who watch... eventually learn to kill."
That night, upon returning to the pavilion, Ryuna was waiting for him.
"You smell of blood," she said, without moving from her position by the pond.
"Does it bother you?"
"No. It interests me."
Li Wei sat down beside her, not saying a word. For the first time... they shared a silence. Not as enemies. Not as rivals. But as predators who recognize another of their kind.