Dawn broke with blood-red light.
The Martial Academy's arena was already overflowing. Disciples crowded the stands, their voices a tide of excitement and dread. Today was not a test of strength, but of survival.
Elder Wu's voice boomed above them all:
"Today begins the second trial—Endurance in the Shadow Maze. Within its walls, illusions will gnaw at your spirit, beasts will hunt your flesh, and the darkness will crush your will. Only those who endure shall advance."
His sleeve swept out, and the ground trembled.
With a groaning rumble, the earth before the arena split open. Stone slabs pulled apart like jaws, revealing a colossal maze below. Its walls were black as obsidian, rising dozens of feet high, etched with runes that pulsed with sinister light. The air that drifted up was cold and heavy, carrying whispers no one wanted to understand.
Even from the stands, disciples shuddered.
Elder Wu's eyes swept the crowd. "You will enter in groups of fifty. The maze will test your endurance in body, mind, and spirit. There is only one rule—do not die."
The crowd hushed.
Everyone knew the academy did not waste words. Those who fell behind might never emerge.
The first fifty disciples marched down stone steps into the yawning dark. Their figures vanished, swallowed by shadow. Time passed slowly. Then, after a quarter-hour, the first group stumbled back out—half of them bloody, some carried by others. A few did not return at all.
The rankings updated on a glowing tablet above the arena: scores measured by how long each disciple endured.
Some cheered. Others paled.
When Elder Wu called the second group, Li Feng's name was among them.
Li Feng stepped onto the cold stone steps, Yu Qingxue silent at his side. Zhou Tian sneered from behind, while Chen Hao walked ahead, his bearing calm as a lord surveying his lands.
The deeper they went, the colder the air grew. The light from above dimmed until it vanished entirely.
BOOM.
The runes carved into the walls flared alive. The stone door slammed shut behind them.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then the maze breathed.
The group moved cautiously. Some tried to stay together; others immediately split, hoping to outlast rivals. The maze twisted with endless corridors, walls shifting like they had a will of their own.
"Stay close!" a Zhao disciple barked.
But the moment his voice echoed, the shadows stirred. Something long and clawed slid across the wall, vanishing before eyes could follow.
Li Feng narrowed his gaze. Illusions. Traps. But… not only that.
The system pulsed faintly in his mind.
[Warning: Presence detected. Not of this world.]
His chest tightened. He said nothing.
Hours passed—or what felt like hours.
The maze attacked their minds. Whispering voices crawled from the walls:
"You are weak, Li Feng… still the cripple, always the cripple…"
"You will never surpass them… you will die here…"
He clenched his jaw, ignoring them. Every step forward, his system flickered with faint notifications.
[Mental Endurance +1.]
[Fragments absorbed: +3.]
But not everyone could endure.
One rogue disciple collapsed, clutching his head, screaming at phantoms no one else could see. When he staggered against the wall, black tendrils shot out, piercing his chest. His body shriveled in seconds, leaving only dust.
The group recoiled in horror.
"The maze eats the fallen," Yu Qingxue said coldly, her expression unreadable.
Zhou Tian sneered, though his eyes darted nervously. "Trash deserves death."
But his fists clenched tighter than before.
At a crossroads, Chen Hao stopped. His gaze swept the other disciples like a predator's.
"This path isn't wide enough for all of us. The weak will slow us down." His calm voice carried the weight of authority. "Step aside now, or be removed."
Three disciples flinched, trying to argue.
Chen Hao raised his palm. Qi flared like a raging inferno.
BOOM!
The nearest disciple was flung into the wall, screaming. Shadows devoured him instantly.
The rest fell silent.
No one dared to challenge Chen Hao. His group of loyal Chen clan disciples fell in line behind him, their path clear.
Li Feng's eyes narrowed. He said nothing, but his heart burned. The clans were using the trial not just to test endurance—but to cull the weak, establish dominance.
Yu Qingxue leaned toward him, whispering, "He's watching you. Your score yesterday painted a target on your back."
Li Feng's lips curved faintly. "Let him watch."
Because where others feared, Li Feng saw only fragments waiting to be harvested.
His eyes sharpened. This beast wasn't just a maze creation—it carried traces of the Hunters.
Opportunity.
He surged forward. His blade flashed, stabbing into the beast's flank. At the moment of impact—
[Fragments absorbed: +17.]
[Strength +3.] [Sword Intent +2.]
The beast roared, shattering walls with its fury. But with the combined assault of Chen Hao's blazing palms, Yu Qingxue's icy strikes, and Li Feng's precise blows, it collapsed into shadow and vanished.
The disciples panted, shaken.
Chen Hao turned, eyes locking on Li Feng.
"You strike well… for a cripple." His voice was calm, but his gaze was sharp, probing. "Don't disappoint me. I'd hate to waste the effort of crushing you too soon."
He walked on without waiting for an answer.
Zhou Tian snarled, spitting at the ground. "Enjoy your scraps, Li Feng. Soon you'll crawl where you belong."
Li Feng wiped blood from his blade, his expression unreadable. Inside, the system hummed with growing power.
Hours bled into eternity. The maze twisted, corridors changing direction behind them. Hunger gnawed at their bellies. Illusions gnawed at their minds.
One disciple thought he saw daylight and sprinted forward. He slammed into a wall of blades and was impaled before he could scream.
The rankings tablet far above the arena updated. Disciples outside gasped as names dropped, vanishing forever.
Inside, Li Feng endured. Each step, each breath, the system whispered—
[Endurance +1.]
[Fragments +2.]
[Mental Resistance +1.]
But the deeper they went, the heavier the air became. It wasn't just the maze. It was something else. Watching. Hunting.
At a narrow corridor, Yu Qingxue froze. Her sword lifted. "Something's here."
The others tensed.
From the shadows ahead, a figure emerged.
It looked like a man. His robes were those of a fallen disciple. His face pale, lips stretched in a smile too wide.
But his eyes… his eyes were bottomless voids.
The air turned icy.
Every disciple stepped back. Even Chen Hao's expression darkened.
Zhou Tian cursed under his breath. "What… what is that?"
The figure tilted its head. Its smile stretched further.
When it spoke, its voice was wrong—layered, echoing, as if ten mouths whispered at once.
"You bleed so sweetly… Shall I drink?"
The corridor trembled. The disciples recoiled in horror.
Li Feng's system blazed like fire.
[Hunter Presence Confirmed.]
[Hidden Quest Updated: Survive First Contact.]
His pulse thundered. The maze trial was supposed to test endurance. But the sect had unleashed something far worse.
And now, in the suffocating dark, the Hunter's gaze fixed on him.