*Chapter 4: The Beast Below*
A guttural roar echoed through the darkness, low and unnatural. It came from the depths—like a forgotten nightmare clawing its way back to life.
Shen Li didn't flinch.
He knelt on the cracked stone, tying a strip of cloth around a fresh wound on his forearm where a vine beast had lashed him earlier.
*"If you think I'm still the same as I was three days ago,"* he muttered, tightening the knot, *"then you'll die like the rest."*
He stood and faced the darkness.
From the black fog emerged a massive creature—four blazing eyes, thick scaled limbs, and a mane of black flame. The heat warped the air. Its aura pressed like a storm on Shen Li's weakened body.
A *Dreadflame Chimera*.
Half spirit beast, half corrupted entity. It radiated Yin Qi twisted with something older, darker—Abyssal influence.
*"Peak Foundation Realm,"* Shen Li judged, eyes narrowing. *"Maybe early Core. If I make a single mistake, I'm dead."*
But fear no longer ruled him. He had walked through betrayal, descended into hell, and emerged not broken—but sharpened.
As the beast roared and lunged, Shen Li raised one hand *"Starcrushing Palm!"*
A phantom hand of starlight formed above, crashing down like a meteor.
The chimera's fire met it midair—an explosion of flame and light shook the ravine. Stone cracked. Dust surged. Shen Li staggered back, blood on his lips.
The chimera screamed.
Its forelegs shattered, half its body scorched. But it still lived.
Shen Li wiped his mouth, standing firm. *"Still not enough to kill you in one strike..."*
The *Heavenbreaker Martial Path* had worked—barely. The cost was great, but the power was real.
The chimera lunged again.
Shen Li met it head-on.
He ducked beneath its claws, channeling everything he had into three rapid palm strikes, each strike pulsing with *Starforged Qi*—the energy he was only beginning to master.
On the final blow, his palm struck the beast's heart.
A loud crack echoed through the ravine. Its corrupted core shattered.
The chimera collapsed.
Shen Li dropped to one knee, gasping. His limbs trembled from the overdrawn Qi. The jade shard buried in his soul pulsed warmly, absorbing the chimera's residual energy.
Then—he heard it.
A voice. Ancient. Whispering directly into his mind.
*"One of Nine Trials completed."*
He froze.
*"Trials?"* he whispered.
Somehow, the battle had unlocked a path—something deeper than just survival.
Stone shifted above. A narrow stairway revealed itself in the rock wall, leading up toward a distant ledge—and freedom.
He stood, slowly, the weight of realization dawning.
*He wasn't just surviving. He was being tested. Prepared.*
He looked once more at the dead chimera, then toward the path above.
*"Let the sects prepare,"* he said quietly.
*"The Forsaken rises—not as a disciple… but as a Master.