Day 2 began the same way—ice water and Wei Long's voice.
"Get up. Combat training. Five minutes."
Kai's body screamed in protest. Yesterday's wounds had barely healed. But he forced himself up anyway.
[HP: 105/120]
[Status Effect: Fatigued - All physical actions cost 10% more stamina]
The training hall was different today. No obstacles. Instead, there were iron cages lined against the walls. Inside each cage, Kai could see figures—men and women in ragged clothes, their eyes hollow.
Criminals. Just like Ling Xiu had warned.
Master Shen Yue stood in the center, her silver hair catching the torchlight.
"Today, you learn the most important lesson of Shadow Hall. Hesitation means death."
She gestured to the cages.
"These are criminals sentenced to execution. Murderers. Traitors. Scum who prey on the weak. Today, they serve a final purpose—to test whether you have what it takes to kill."
The disciples shifted uncomfortably. Some looked eager. Others looked sick.
Kai felt nothing.
In his previous life as Lin Feng, he'd killed before. Not innocents—never innocents—but in a demonic sect, death was commonplace.
"Each of you will face one opponent in single combat," Master Shen Yue continued. "Your opponent will be armed and will fight to survive. If you lose, you will be severely punished. If you show mercy..." Her eyes gleamed. "You will join them in the cage."
[Quest Alert!]
[Mandatory Quest: Trial by Blood]
[Objective: Defeat your assigned opponent]
[Rules: Fight to the death or incapacitation]
[Reward: +100 EXP, Combat Experience]
[Penalty: Severe punishment or death]
Wei Long opened the first cage. A muscular man stepped out, scarred and brutal-looking. He was given a rusty sword.
"Disciple Chen Ming, step forward," Master Shen Yue commanded.
A young disciple entered the arena circle. The fight was brutal and short. Chen Ming hesitated at the critical moment, unable to deliver the killing blow.
Master Shen Yue's eyes narrowed. "Failure."
Before Chen Ming could react, Master Shen Yue's hand moved.
The criminal's head separated from his body, and Chen Ming was thrown against the wall by an invisible force.
"Fifty lashes for hesitation. Next!"
The fights continued. Some disciples killed efficiently. Others struggled but eventually succeeded. Two more failed and were punished.
"Kai Zhang."
Kai stepped forward. Wei Long opened a cage.
The man who emerged was different from the others. Lean, with calculating eyes. His movements were precise and controlled. This wasn't just a criminal—this was a cultivator.
[Opponent Detected]
[Unknown Criminal - Qi Condensation Realm Level 7]
[Warning: Opponent has combat experience]
[Recommended: Fight strategically, exploit weaknesses]
The man was given a sword. He tested its weight, then looked at Kai with a cold smile. "A boy. They send me a boy."
"Begin," Master Shen Yue said.
The criminal attacked immediately, his sword flashing forward with practiced skill. Kai dodged, his improved Shadow Step carrying him to the side.
The criminal was fast, but Kai could see the patterns. Every strike followed conventional sword forms. Predictable. Limited.
Kai didn't have a weapon, but he didn't need one yet. He dodged, analyzed, and waited for an opening.
The criminal grew frustrated.
His strikes became wider and more aggressive. Wasting energy.
There.
Kai activated Shadow Step and appeared inside the criminal's guard.
His palm struck the man's wrist at the exact pressure point that disrupted qi flow.
The sword fell.
Before the criminal could react, Kai struck again—palm to the throat, crushing the windpipe. Then a qi-enhanced strike to the heart meridian.
The criminal collapsed, gasping, his cultivation temporarily sealed and his breathing cut off.
Kai looked down at him coldly. No hesitation. No mercy. This was survival.
The man died within seconds.
[Quest Complete: Trial by Blood]
[+100 EXP]
[Combat Experience +1]
[Title Gained: Efficient Killer]
Master Shen Yue nodded approvingly. "Good. Clean. Efficient. That is how Shadow Hall disciples kill."
Kai stepped back into line, his hands steady. Around him, other disciples looked at him with new respect—and new fear.
The rest of the morning continued with more combat drills. Sparring sessions. Technique refinement. By the time the fifteen-minute break came, Kai was exhausted.
[HP: 105/120 → 95/120]
[Qi: 70/70 → 30/70]
Ling Xiu found him in the meal hall again. "You didn't hesitate."
"Hesitation would have gotten me killed."
"True." She studied him. "Most new disciples struggle with their first kill. You looked like you've done it before."
Kai said nothing. His secrets were his own.
"Just be careful," Ling Xiu warned. "Master Shen Yue values efficiency, but she also watches for disciples who enjoy killing too much. Those ones... they don't last long either."
The afternoon was more technique training, this time focused on concealment and stealth. Master Shen Yue taught them how to suppress their qi signature, how to move without sound, and how to blend with shadows.
Kai absorbed everything.
His Intelligence stat helped him understand and apply concepts faster than the other disciples.
[Shadow Step (Improved) → Shadow Step (Advanced)]
[Qi Cost reduced: 25 → 20]
[Detection chance greatly reduced]
[New Ability: Can maintain stealth while moving]
Night brought more assassination theory. This time, Master Shen Yue tested them on the previous day's knowledge.
Kai answered every question correctly.
The system's organization of information made recall instant and perfect.
Master Shen Yue raised an eyebrow.
"Perfect score. Impressive, Kai Zhang."
[Intelligence +1]
[Poison Knowledge (Beginner) → Poison Knowledge (Intermediate)]
When he returned to his room that night, Kai cultivated for two hours, bringing his HP and Qi back to full.
[Day 2 of Training Complete]
[Status: Adapting well]
[Survival Probability: 36.8%]
Day 3 pushed them even harder.
Morning combat training involved fighting multiple opponents simultaneously.
Kai faced three criminals at once, all armed.
The moment Master Shen Yue gave the signal, all three rushed him.
[Warning: Multiple opponents]
[Criminal 1: Qi Condensation Level 5]
[Criminal 2: Qi Condensation Level 6]
[Criminal 3: Qi Condensation Level 5]
[Recommended: Divide and conquer]
Kai didn't panic. He activated Shadow Step and moved to put all three in a line, forcing them to come at him one at a time rather than surrounding him.
The first criminal swung a club.
Kai dodged and kicked the man's knee, sending him stumbling into the second criminal.
The third came from the side with a knife.
Kai caught his wrist, twisted, and used the man's momentum to throw him into the other two.
They scrambled to coordinate, but Kai was already moving. He struck pressure points, disrupted qi flows, and targeted weak spots with surgical precision.
Within three minutes, all three criminals were on the ground, unconscious or unable to continue.
[Quest Complete: Multiple Opponent Combat]
[+150 EXP]
[Combat Experience +2]
[Tactical Combat Skill Unlocked]
Master Shen Yue observed with cold approval.
"Efficient use of terrain and opponent positioning. This is what separates Shadow Hall from common thugs."
The other disciples stared.
Kai had just done in three minutes what most of them struggled to do in ten.
Wei Long caught Kai's eye and nodded with respect. Even he seemed impressed.
After the morning session, Kai checked his status during the break.
[Host: Kai Zhang]
[Level: 6]
[EXP: 250/1200]
[HP: 115/120]
[Qi: 45/70]
[Strength: 13]
[Agility: 11]
[Vitality: 13]
[Intelligence: 23 (+1 from last night)]
[Luck: 15]
His Intelligence was climbing.
The constant learning and application of complex techniques was sharpening his mind.
Afternoon training introduced poison application.
Master Shen Yue stood before them with an array of vials, needles, and weapons.
"Poison is the assassin's silent partner," she began. "A single drop in the right place can kill a cultivator ten realms above you. But application requires precision, knowledge, and creativity."
She held up a vial of clear liquid. "This is Serpent's Whisper. Colorless, tasteless, odorless. Symptoms appear twelve hours after ingestion—sudden heart failure. By the time the victim realizes they've been poisoned, it's too late."
She demonstrated how to apply poison to weapons without leaving traces, how to poison food and drink without detection, and how to create delayed-release poisons using qi manipulation.
Kai's Poison Knowledge skill made the concepts click immediately. While other disciples struggled with the precise qi control needed to apply poison without contaminating themselves, Kai executed the techniques flawlessly.
[Poison Knowledge (Intermediate) → Poison Knowledge (Advanced)]
[New Skill: Poison Application (Beginner)]
"Kai Zhang," Master Shen Yue called. "Demonstrate the three-layer poison technique."
This was an advanced method—applying three different poisons in layers so that detecting one would miss the others.
Kai stepped forward with a practice needle. He coated it first with a paralytic agent, then layered a blood thinner, and finally a neurotoxin. Each layer required different qi frequencies to bond properly without mixing.
His hands moved with steady precision. When he finished, Master Shen Yue examined the needle with her qi sense.
"Perfect application. The layers are distinct and stable." She looked at him with something that might have been approval. "You have a natural aptitude for this."
[Poison Application (Beginner) → Poison Application (Intermediate)]
[Bonus: +50 EXP for exceptional performance]
Wei Long muttered from behind, "Show off."
But there was no real hostility in his voice. Just acknowledgment that Kai was excelling.
Night training was the worst yet.
The disciples were brought to a chamber deep beneath Shadow Hall. The room was cold, damp, and smelled of blood and fear.
"Tonight, you learn psychological warfare," Master Shen Yue announced. "An assassin must not only kill bodies but break minds. You must resist interrogation, endure torture, and maintain your secrets even under extreme duress."
She gestured to the chamber. "Each of you will be subjected to mental invasion. I will enter your mind and search for weaknesses. Most of you will break within seconds. That is acceptable—this is your first time. But you must learn to build mental defenses."
One by one, disciples sat in the center chair while Master Shen Yue placed her hand on their head.
The first disciple screamed within five seconds and collapsed unconscious.
The second lasted ten seconds before breaking down in tears.
The third managed fifteen seconds before vomiting and passing out.
"Kai Zhang. Your turn."
Kai sat in the chair. He knew this would be painful. Mental invasion was one of the cruelest techniques in cultivation—forcing your qi into another's mind to read thoughts, memories, and emotions.
Master Shen Yue's hand touched his head.
Pain exploded through his consciousness.
[Warning: Mental Invasion Detected]
[Foreign Qi entering host's mind]
[System Protection: Limited]
[Recommendation: Build mental barriers using meditation techniques]
It felt like claws tearing through his thoughts. Master Shen Yue's presence in his mind was cold, invasive, searching.
But Kai had experience the system didn't account for. In his previous life, before transmigration, he'd practiced meditation for stress relief. And since arriving in this world, the system had been organizing his thoughts, creating natural partitions in his mind.
He focused on those partitions. Built walls between his core memories and surface thoughts. Let Master Shen Yue see what she expected—a determined disciple with talent and drive—while hiding the deeper truth of the system.
Seconds passed. Ten. Twenty. Thirty.
The other disciples watched in shock. No one had lasted this long.
Forty seconds. Fifty.
Sweat poured down Kai's face. His nose bled. But he held.
At sixty seconds, Master Shen Yue withdrew her hand.
"Remarkable," she said, and for the first time, Kai heard genuine surprise in her voice. "Your mental fortitude far exceeds your cultivation level. Most Foundation Establishment cultivators break faster than you did."
[Mental Invasion Resisted: 60 seconds]
[New Passive Skill Gained: Mental Fortitude (Level 1)]
[Effect: +20% resistance to mental attacks and manipulation]
[Intelligence +1]
[+100 EXP for exceptional performance]
Kai slumped in the chair, exhausted. Every part of his mind ached.
"Rest," Master Shen Yue said. "You've earned it. The rest of you—practice the mental defense exercises I taught you. Tomorrow, we do this again."
The disciples groaned, but no one dared complain.
Back in his room, Kai collapsed onto his bed. His body was drained, but his mind was clearer than ever.
[Day 3 of Training Complete]
[Calculating progress...]
[Total EXP gained today: +300 EXP]
[Level Up!]
[You are now Level 7]
[HP: 120/120 → 140/140]
[Qi: 70/70 → 80/80]
[+2 Stat Points available]
[Status: Excelling beyond expectations]
[Survival Probability: 42.1%]
Kai allocated his stat points immediately—one to Agility, one to Intelligence.
[Agility: 11 → 12]
[Intelligence: 24 → 25]
He lay back and stared at the ceiling. Three days of brutal training. He'd killed, mastered poisons, and resisted mental invasion.
And somehow, against all odds, he was thriving.
Because inn four days, he'd proven something important—not just to Master Shen Yue, but to himself.
He could survive this. And more than that, he could excel.
[System Assessment: Host is adapting exceptionally well to Shadow Hall training]
[Recommendation: Continue current trajectory]
[Warning: Do not become overconfident]