Chapter Three: Ash Detonation and the Farewell to Humanity
The air in the Han Clan courtyard grew unbearably heavy, to the point where breathing itself became a burden. Gray ash continued to fall from the sky, intertwining with the black energy surging from Fang Li's body, forming a compact whirlwind centered around him.
For the first time in his life, Elder Han Gu—who had always believed himself a seasoned hunter—felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"Stop them! Don't let him finish this technique!" he roared at the hesitant guards.
"This isn't cultivation—this is blasphemy against the paths of the heavens!"
But Fang Li heard none of it.
His inner world was drowned in the relentless hum of the system's mechanical voice.
[Charging "Fused Ash Detonation"…]
[Status: 85%… 90%…]
[Warning: Host is burning life cells to compensate for energy deficit.]
[Cost: One year of lifespan consumed per second of continuation.]
"Continue," Fang Li replied with unshakable coldness.
"A year of a slave's life?"
"I'll buy my freedom with blood if I must."
At that moment, three elite guards lunged forward. All of them stood at the peak of Cauldron Ignition, their swords coated in gray frost-energy. Their strikes aimed for Fang Li's limbs, intending to cripple him.
Before the blades could touch his skin—
[Fusion complete. Protocol released: Ash Purification!]
BOOOOOOOOM!
This was no ordinary explosion of flame.
It was a shockwave of gray nothingness.
The energy rippled outward like a violent quake, pulverizing the stone tiles of the courtyard into fine dust. The three guards were hurled into the air like shattered dolls, their chest bones crushed long before they hit the ground.
Elder Han Gu was forced to unleash the full power of his Smoke Condensation Realm, erecting a defensive barrier in front of his face. Even so, he was driven back ten full steps, carving deep grooves into the earth beneath his feet.
When the dust finally settled, the courtyard had been utterly transformed.
A massive crater yawned at its center.
Fang Li stood within it, unmoving—like a statue.
A thin stream of black blood trickled down from his right ear.
[Status Update: "Sense of Touch" temporarily disabled.]
[Pain suppression active for 24 hours.]
[Alert: Body in shock. Time before total collapse: 5 minutes.]
Fang Li scanned his surroundings. Not a shred of regret surfaced within him.
His gaze landed on Xiao Lan.
She lay thrown aside, bleeding, staring at him with a terror beyond words. Fang Li walked toward her with mechanical steps, as if floating above the gray world itself. He picked up the pouch of ash stones—the very price of her betrayal.
"F–Fang Li… please… spare me…" she whispered, trembling.
He opened the pouch, glanced at the stones with indifference, then pressed his hand into it as system energy surged.
[Fusion Process: "Raw Ash Stones" + "Host's Will".]
[Result: Condensed Energy Powder.]
Fang Li crushed the pouch in his grip. It disintegrated into shimmering dust, which he inhaled directly.
He did not kill her.
She was no longer worth even the effort of murder—nothing more than an object in this world.
"Fang Li! You will not escape the mountain's boundary!" Elder Han Gu shouted in fury.
Fang Li turned toward the clan gate. His body screamed for rest, and the system's warnings of imminent collapse grew more urgent.
"System," he called inwardly,
"give me an escape option. Any option—no matter the cost."
[Solution found: Fuse "Physical Speed" with "Unstable Ambient Ash Energy".]
[Technique Name: "Burning Shadow Steps".]
[Cost: Loss of color vision for one full year.]
He hesitated for a heartbeat—then laughed inwardly.
"The world is gray already," he said.
"Take the colors. Give me the road."
[Accepted. Extracting color perception from retinal pathways…]
In that instant, the world before his eyes became a silent film.
The sky lost its hue. Blood, trees, stone—everything dissolved into shades of black and white. And with that loss came an unnatural lightness in his legs.
Whoosh!
Before the guards could close in, Fang Li slipped past them like a streak of living shadow, crossing the grand gate and leaving behind nothing but air and shock.
Minutes of relentless flight later, he reached the edge of a dense forest, where trees rose like skeletal fingers clawing out of the earth. He collapsed face-first onto the ground—yet felt nothing.
[Alert: Host entering forced coma.]
[Remaining consciousness: 10 seconds…]
A bitter smile touched Fang Li's lips as a wild wolf emerged cautiously from between the trees.
Is this my freedom?
To die as food for beasts in a colorless world?
[System Safety Message: "Dark Dormancy Mode" activated.]
[Your body scent is being merged with the environment to conceal you from predators.]
Fang Li closed his eyes.
The system's mocking voice was the last thing he heard—
announcing the beginning of his journey as a fugitive from a world he no longer belonged to.