Shi Yao looked up, his vision swimming in and out of focus, the edges blurring like a watercolor painting left out in the rain. The monstrous beast—hulking and radiating a palpable heat, its breath steaming in the cool forest air, its blood-red eyes glowing with a terrifying primal hunger—had vanished from its previous position with unsettling speed.
Then, an ominous shadow suddenly loomed overhead, blotting out the faint sunlight that filtered through the trees. Too fast his mind screamed a belated warning.
BOOM!
The devastating blow landed squarely in his already injured abdomen, the impact echoing through the silent forest. The force was nothing short of monstrous, a physical manifestation of pure, untamed power.
Shi Yao's fragile body crumpled like a piece of discarded paper around the point of impact, the air being violently and completely torn from his lungs in a ragged gasp. He was sent hurtling through the dense trees, his body smashing through rough bark and snapping branches with sickening sounds, until he finally skidded to a jarring halt, his knees digging painfully into the unforgiving earth.
He remained kneeling there, his entire frame trembling uncontrollably, a tremor that originated deep within his bones and radiated outwards. His stomach... he couldn't even register any sensation in that area anymore. It was simply a vast, empty void of numbing, all-encompassing agony, a gaping hole where his core should have been. Bright red blood dripped steadily from his lips, staining the forest floor, and his trembling fingers clutched desperately at the damp earth in a futile attempt to stay upright, to anchor himself to the reality that was rapidly slipping away.
Is this it? the bitter thought echoed in the recesses of his mind.
After everything... after just barely managing to escape that rotten world, just arriving in this new one... and already, fate seems determined to cruelly erase me from existence. Heh... that figures.
The ground beneath him trembled violently once more, the vibrations shaking the very leaves on the trees. The monstrous beast reappeared before him with terrifying speed, its massive fist raised high above its head, poised and ready to deliver the final, crushing blow.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, each agonizing second stretching into an eternity. Shi Yao could only stare up at the looming figure with wide, terror-filled eyes, completely frozen by a helplessness that was more profound than anything he had ever experienced.
Then, with a sudden, explosive burst of speed and desperation
CRACK!
Li Wuji burst into view, a fleeting flash of steel and unwavering determination, throwing himself directly into the path of the descending fist, intercepting the lethal strike with his own fragile body. The monstrous punch connected with a sickening, bone-jarring sound that reverberated through the silent forest, and both Wuji and the beast were launched violently into the air by the sheer force of the impact.
Wuji grunted in pain, his body twisting midair with an incredible display of agility, somehow managing to break his fall and land relatively safely on his feet, though clearly injured.
But Shi Yao, in his weakened state, had no such resilience, no such skill to mitigate the impact. He kept falling, tumbling helplessly downwards.
Down... down... past the towering trees, past the jagged, unforgiving rocks that jutted out from the hillside, until the solid ground beneath him gave way to a steep and terrifying cliff. The wind howled fiercely in his ears, a mournful cry accompanying his descent as the sky above seemed to turn into an unyielding wall of grey stone.
I'm falling...
His eyes fluttered open and closed involuntarily, his vision swimming in a dizzying vortex of light and shadow. His thoughts became faint and fragmented, like the whispers of a dying man caught in the heart of a raging storm.
"Is this really how it all ends...? I just barely escaped that rotten world, finally arrived here, only to have fate decide to cruelly erase me before I even had a chance. Heh... that figures."
The last sound he registered, the final thread connecting him to the world above, was Li Wuji's distant, desperate scream echoing down from the mountaintop, a sound filled with utter anguish and despair:
"YOUNG MASTER NOOO!"
High above, at the very edge of the precipitous cliff, Wuji stood frozen, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned a bloodless white. He turned his burning gaze back towards the monstrous beast, his eyes blazing with an incandescent rage that threatened to consume him.
And then, there was nothing but pure, unadulterated motion. Both he and the massive wolf-like beast vanished from their spots, darting across the forest in streaks of light and shadow, their movements too fast for the human eye to properly track. The sky above seemed to shake and tremble with the force of their violent collisions, each earth-shattering blow sending powerful shockwaves rippling through the surrounding trees, causing leaves to rain down like a premature autumn. Sword and claw met again and again in a furious dance of death, the clash of steel against hardened hide echoing through the ravaged forest, until finally, the beast managed to land a devastating, bone-jarring strike.
CRACK!
Li Wuji was sent flying across the small clearing like a broken arrow loosed from a frayed bowstring, his body slamming with brutal force into a massive, unyielding boulder. Bright red blood streamed from his mouth as he coughed, the impact stealing his breath, and his sword clattered uselessly to the ground beside him, the once bright blue aura around its blade now flickering and fading.
His fingers curled weakly in the dirt, his vision blurring as darkness began to creep in at the edges.
"I... tried... my best, young master..." he whispered, his voice barely audible, the final words fading into the encroaching darkness as consciousness slipped away.
Far below, amidst the jagged cliffs and scattered rocks at the base of the towering precipice, Shi Yao's broken and battered body lay still and lifeless.
Until a faint spark of life flickered within him.
His eyelids fluttered weakly once, then twice, and finally, with a supreme effort, his eyes slowly opened. The first thing his blurred vision registered was fire soft, flickering torchlight casting dancing shadows along the rough, damp walls of what appeared to be a cave. He was surrounded by cold, hard stone. The air was undeniably cold and damp, carrying the earthy scent of the underground, yet there was also a strange sense of profound peace that permeated the space.
A deep, gravelly voice, rough but strangely comforting, cut through the oppressive silence of the cave.
"You're awake. Good. Come closer, boy."
Shi Yao blinked again, his vision slowly clearing, and looked ahead in the direction of the voice.
There, seated against the rough, uneven cave wall, was an old man. His body was a roadmap of old scars and weathered by time, his chest bare and revealing a network of faded lines, his breathing shallow but surprisingly steady. Long, white hair, as white as freshly fallen snow, cascaded around his shoulders, and a jagged, angry-looking scar ran prominently across his left eye, partially obscuring his gaze. Despite his obvious frailty and the weariness etched onto his face, there was a palpable power in the man's gaze an ancient, burning strength that hinted at a past filled with trials and tribulations.
"I'm surprised you're still alive, honestly," the old man continued, his voice raspy but laced with a hint of amusement. "You fell hard very hard lucky I caught you with a hastily erected barrier. I was just passing through this desolate area, saw you plummeting from the sky like a blazing comet. Threw up a protective barrier just in the nick of time. Wouldn't have been anything left of you otherwise a messy splatter of blood and bone."
Shi Yao pushed himself up slowly, a groan escaping his lips as a sharp pain shot through his ribs. "Who are you?" he asked, his voice still weak and wary, suspicion coloring his tone. "Why did you help me? What do you want from me?"
The old man chuckled, the sound a rough but surprisingly calming rumble in the quiet cave. "Name's Bai Ling. Doesn't matter much anymore in the grand scheme of things. I've reached the very end of my rope, boy. My cultivation is nearly completely spent, my old body is finally failing me. I've been waiting for death to finally claim me in this forgotten cave for days now. But then you unceremoniously dropped in, quite literally. A spark of fate, perhaps, or just a cruel twist of irony."
He paused for a moment, his gaze hardening slightly as he fixed Shi Yao with a steady and intense stare. "I don't want what little knowledge and experience I've accumulated over my long life to simply die with me, to vanish from this world as if it never existed. So, I'm going to give you something, boy. A technique powerful, incredibly dangerous... and cursed, as some might say, with good reason."
Before Shi Yao could even process the old man's cryptic words or formulate a response, Bai Ling vanished from his spot against the cave wall with an unnerving burst of speed that belied his frail appearance. He reappeared instantly before Shi Yao, his aged face now mere inches away, and placed two calloused fingers, surprisingly firm despite their age, against Shi Yao's forehead.
A searing, burning sensation surged violently through Shi Yao's mind, as if his very thoughts were being branded with hot iron. Strange and intricate symbols, ancient characters he had never seen before, and the resonating cadence of forgotten chants flooded his consciousness, overwhelming his senses. His body jerked involuntarily, his eyes widening in shock and a primal fear of the unknown.
"This technique..." Bai Ling intoned, his voice now carrying a weight of ancient knowledge and grim warning, "...is called the Heaven Devouring Pulse Art. It will allow you to consume the cultivation and life essence of others take what is rightfully theirs, and brutally make it your own. A path to unimaginable strength... and a path paved with blood and unending conflict."
Shi Yao gasped, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps. Sweat poured down his pale face as the terrifying knowledge and the intricate memory of the forbidden technique etched themselves indelibly into the very fabric of his mind.
"It's not an easy road, boy, not in the slightest. Many will despise you for wielding such power, many will fear you, and countless others will undoubtedly hunt you relentlessly for it. But if you somehow manage to survive the inevitable trials and tribulations..." Bai Ling's voice grew increasingly faint, like a fragile whisper carried away by the wind, "...then you just might possess the potential to rise above them all, to reach heights you can't even begin to imagine."
The dimly lit cave fell silent once more, the only sound the faint crackling of the nearby torch. And Bai Ling slumped back against the cold stone wall, his aged eyes slowly drifting closed, a peaceful resignation settling over his worn features.