"The path begins not with a step, but with blood."
The wind rolled across the cracked soil, brushing tall grass like fingers over forgotten stone. Bamboo creaked in the breeze. The sky above Mingxu Realm remained pale and cloudless, dominated by a fractured silver moon. Somewhere, a crane cried out.
Rael sat by the river's edge.
Still.
Silent.
Waiting.
A few feet away, the barefoot fishing boy who had found him earlier kept sneaking glances, but said nothing. The water rippled with lazy koi and drifting petals. Despite the peace, Rael's eyes remained alert — not in wonder, but in quiet calculation.
His hands still remembered the weight of a spear.
His nerves remembered fire.
His bones remembered death.
But this body… was unfamiliar. Younger. Slender. Mortal.
[Qi: 13 / 100]
[Realm: Mortal Body]
[Status: Wandering Soul Initiated]
A faint glimmer pulsed across his palm as he tried to gather that unfamiliar energy. He reached inward — toward the place where his soul met this vessel.
Nothing responded.
Not yet.
Qi was around him. In the air. In the earth. But it refused to move freely.
He lacked a foundation.
He lacked a core.
He needed… blood.
---
Nearby, the fishing boy finally worked up courage. "Hey, big brother," he called, "are you a cultivator?"
Rael's lips twitched. "Not yet."
The boy grinned. "Then you'll need help! Want me to show you the forest path? People say strange beasts live there. Maybe you'll find something!"
Rael stood slowly. "Show me."
The boy blinked. "Really?"
"I'll protect you. You lead."
The child hesitated. "Okay… but if we see anything scary, you have to carry me!"
Rael gave a nod. "Deal."
---
Linghai Bamboo Forest, Outer Edge
The canopy darkened as they stepped off the river trail. Shadows deepened, casting thin lines of silver where moonlight slipped through. The path was barely visible — old, overgrown, but still walked.
The boy whispered beside him, "My grandma said cultivators used to fight here. Long ago. Blood seeped into the trees. That's why the bamboo's black."
Rael said nothing.
But he felt it too.
Resentment.
Old killing intent.
He pressed his fingers to a nearby trunk. It thrummed faintly beneath the bark.
They continued deeper.
Then—
Snap.
Rael pushed the boy down.
A shape lunged from the left — fanged, four-legged, covered in matted fur and gray hide. Its eyes burned with pale hunger.
[Detected: Feral Spirit Beast – Low-Rank]
[Classification: Corpse-Touched Wildcat]
[Beast Core Potential: Minor]
[Threat Level: Basic Mortal]
It was fast.
But Rael was faster.
His body reacted before thought. He moved sideways, grabbed a thick branch from the ground, and rolled — slamming it upward into the beast's chest. Bone cracked. The wildcat howled.
Rael's eyes narrowed. His instincts kicked in.
He'd fought greater monsters. Fought while burning alive.
He could kill this.
He slid under its second pounce, kicked its hind leg, twisted, then smashed the branch into the creature's ribs again. It screeched, clawing blindly.
One strike.
Two.
Three—
He seized its jaw. Pulled it open. And drove the branch down its throat.
Silence.
Then—
[Beast Core absorbed: 4 Qi gained]
[Total Qi: 17 / 100]
[Trait temporarily acquired: Beast Vigor (Feral Instinct +10% | Duration: 3 hours)]
[Note: Trait is unstable. Severe mental backlash may occur.]
Rael froze.
His breath hitched.
His muscles tightened — blood pumped harder, his vision sharpened. A growl escaped his throat before he could stop it.
He staggered backward.
Clutched his skull.
The boy screamed, "Big brother?!"
Rael exhaled, forcing control.
"So this is the price," he murmured.
The strength came with madness. Borrowed power — and a hidden cost.
He knew better than to rely on it.
Still, his first step forward… had been made.
---
Later…
Rael dragged the wildcat corpse back to the river with the boy's help. He cleaned the blood from his arms in the current.
The boy looked at him with wide eyes. "You really are a cultivator now."
Rael glanced at the sky.
No. Not yet.
He had no art.
No weapon.
No teacher.
But he had a path.
He had hatred.
And he had begun to walk.
---
Yuexi Village, Evening
Word spread fast.
A beast corpse — wild, mutated — was carried back by a silent young stranger. The boy followed, telling the tale to anyone who'd listen.
By the time Rael reached the small town square, a crowd had gathered.
Poor farmers. Tired laborers. Scattered beggars.
One man — older, hunched, with a wooden talisman around his neck — stepped forward.
"You're not from around here," he said.
"I'm passing through."
"You killed that thing?"
"Yes."
A silence.
Then nods.
Then whispers.
Then respect.
---
That night, Rael sat alone outside the small hut offered to him. He carved the beast's bones. Dried its flesh. Cleaned the fangs.
He set aside the beast core fragment — cracked and mostly drained, but useful for trade.
[System Note: No permanent gains. All traits from kill-based absorption are temporary. True strength requires cultivation.]
[Warning: Current Qi insufficient for Foundation.]
[Suggested Goal: Form Martial Root. Seek technique.]
Rael exhaled.
He needed a technique. A method to harness Qi properly. Something tailored to him.
But this land was foreign.
He needed knowledge.
Resources.
And eventually… revenge.
Not against the beast.
But the world that had burned him.
---
Somewhere far from Yuexi, in a white jade palace beneath a moonless sky, a girl in silver robes paused mid-practice. Her eyes shimmered like lakes in winter.
"…strange," she whispered. "Someone just crossed a thread of fate. A thread long severed."
Yue Qingshi frowned.
And the moon, for a heartbeat, seemed to bleed.