The ravine was silent, broken only by the sound of steel cutting through the mist. Li Shen's breath came in sharp bursts as his shard clashed against the wooden staff of the Blade Saint. Sparks flickered, the sound echoing through the abyss.
"Again!" the old man barked. His strikes came swift, merciless, each blow testing Li Shen's endurance.
Li Shen staggered back, sweat dripping down his scarred face. His arms trembled, but his eyes burned. He stepped forward again, the shard flashing, cutting through the air.
The old man blocked it effortlessly, his weathered hands steady. Then, with one flick, he sent Li Shen sprawling to the ground.
Li Shen coughed, his body aching. Yet he pushed himself up immediately.
The Blade Saint's eyes narrowed. "You rise quickly. Good. But strength here means nothing. To return to the surface, you must prove you can survive where weakness is punished without mercy."
Li Shen wiped blood from his lip. "What do you mean?"
The old man lowered his staff. "Your training is not just to swing a sword. It is to walk into death and come back alive. Tonight, you will face your first trial."
Li Shen's grip tightened on the shard. "Trial?"
The Blade Saint pointed toward a narrow tunnel carved into the cliffside. Mist seeped from it, cold and suffocating. "Inside lies a beast that has fed on the fallen for decades. It knows nothing of fear, nothing of mercy. Kill it, or die. That is your test."
Li Shen stared at the tunnel. His heart pounded, but not with fear—with anticipation. "And if I succeed?"
The old man's eyes glowed faintly. "Then you will have taken your first step toward becoming more than a broken boy. You will be a blade."
Li Shen stepped into the tunnel. The air was damp, heavy with decay. Each step echoed, swallowed by the darkness. The shard pulsed faintly in his grip, its whispers growing louder.
"Blood… fresh blood… feed me…"
Li Shen clenched his jaw. "Silence."
The tunnel narrowed, forcing him to crouch. Then it widened into a cavern, vast and dim, lit by the faint glow of fungus along the walls. The stench of rot filled the air.
And then he heard it.
A low growl.
Two eyes glowed in the darkness ahead—red, unblinking, filled with hunger.
The beast stepped into the faint light. Its body was massive, like a wolf twisted by nightmares. Patches of fur hung from its flesh, jagged bone protruding from its back. Its claws scraped the stone as it moved, saliva dripping from its fanged maw.
Li Shen's breath slowed. His fingers tightened around the shard.
The beast roared and charged.
The ground shook under its weight. Li Shen dove to the side as its claws ripped through the stone where he had stood. He rolled, came up on one knee, and slashed with the shard.
Steel met flesh. The beast howled, blood spraying. But the wound was shallow. It turned, its eyes burning brighter.
Li Shen exhaled slowly. His body remembered the countless hours under the Blade Saint's gaze. His muscles moved with precision, his stance steady.
The beast lunged again. This time, Li Shen stepped forward. His shard cut low, deflecting its claw, then rose upward in a sharp arc. The blade tore through its chest.
The beast shrieked, staggering back. But it did not fall.
The shard pulsed violently, its voice hissing. "Finish it… cut deeper… drink it all…"
Li Shen's vision blurred for an instant. His hand trembled, the urge to obey burning in his veins.
Then he gritted his teeth and forced the whisper down. "I will kill it. But I will do it my way."
The beast came again, fury blazing.
Li Shen's eyes narrowed. His body lowered. His breath steadied.
He moved.
A single step forward, a twist of his wrist, a strike that carried every lesson, every scar, every ounce of rage within him.
The shard pierced through the beast's throat.
Blood sprayed across the cavern. The beast choked, staggered, then collapsed, its body twitching before it lay still.
Silence.
Li Shen stood above the corpse, chest heaving, shard dripping crimson. His hand trembled—but not from weakness. From control.
He had not given in to the shard's hunger. He had killed with his own will.
When he emerged from the tunnel, dragging the beast's head by its horns, the Blade Saint's eyes gleamed.
"You live."
Li Shen dropped the head onto the ground with a heavy thud. "I killed it."
The old man crouched, examining the wound. "Clean. Precise. Not the strike of a wild animal. You resisted the shard's call."
Li Shen nodded, his eyes cold. "It does not control me. I control it."
For the first time, the Blade Saint smiled faintly. "Good. Then you are ready for the next step. You've proven you can kill a beast. Now you must prove you can kill a man."
Li Shen's eyes hardened. He did not hesitate. "Then show me the way."
The Blade Saint's gaze sharpened, and for an instant, something dangerous flickered in his eyes. "Be careful what you ask for, boy. The path you've chosen has no return."
Li Shen lifted the shard, its broken edge gleaming in the mist. "I already burned my way back. All that remains is forward."
The old man chuckled, low and dark. "Then forward you shall go."