Night returned, heavy with whispers.
Li Shen sat alone outside his hut, staring at the moon. It looked pale tonight—as if even the sky feared what stirred beneath it. He opened his palm. Just for a moment, he summoned that strange cold again.
A wisp of black mist curled around his fingers, silent and weightless. It didn't burn like fire Qi, didn't pulse like water Qi. It was absence—pure unbeing.
He remembered what happened to Wei Rong's spear.
I didn't push it. I didn't pull it. I... unraveled it.
A knock broke the silence.
It wasn't polite.
A group of outer disciples stood outside his door, torches in hand, led by Wei Rong—his face twisted with humiliation and rage.
"You used a forbidden technique," he spat. "I reported you to the elders. They're investigating."
Li Shen didn't flinch. "You afraid of someone who couldn't even enter Foundation Realm last week?"
Wei lunged. But the torches flickered—then went out.
Darkness swallowed the clearing, thicker than any night.
Everyone froze.
From behind the trees came a deep growl—not from a beast, but from the shadows themselves. The disciples stepped back, their faces pale.
Li Shen didn't move. He didn't need to.
The shadows obeyed him now.
Wei turned to flee. His courage broke faster than his spear had. The others followed.
When the torches reignited, they were gone.
Later That Night…Li Shen returned to meditation. He sat in a lotus position, drawing in the silence like breath. The Void stirred again—deeper, more eager. And something clicked within him.
He could feel it now: the first true technique forming inside him.
🌑 Void Technique: "Shadow Reversal Palm"Type: Defensive/Counter
Stage: Foundation
Instead of striking with force, this technique reverses an opponent's attack mid-strike—twisting their spiritual energy back against them. The stronger their blow, the stronger the recoil. But the technique has one cost:
It cannot be used unless attacked first.
It's not aggression.
It's vengeance.
It's balance, turned backward.
"He who draws first... falls last."
Meanwhile… in the Inner SectHigh atop the mountain, Elder Qian—the Ashen Sky Sect's head of Discipline—examined a burning talisman.
Its flame was black.
"This... is not Qi," he muttered. "And no boy in the outer sect should have the power to shatter a Foundation weapon with no root."
He turned to his guards.
"Bring him to me. But do not anger him."
Below, Li Shen opened his eyes.
The shadows whispered of danger.
And the next trial was coming faster than he expected.