When the Head Instructor's voice declared them the winners, Bu He did not feel the elation of victory. All he felt was the roaring furnace in his chest. His Blood Core had feasted upon Xue Feng's final, desperate assault, and now it howled for more. As the red haze at the edge of his vision slowly receded, the world returned in sound and color, but it was a muffled, distant world. The only thing that felt real was the monstrous need within.
Silence. A dead silence fell upon the Grand Arena. No one cheered. No one jeered. There was only the stunned shock of ten thousand cultivators who had just witnessed an anomaly, a heretic, utterly dismantle their brightest, purest champion.
Slowly, Bu He turned to face his teammates. He saw the expressions on the faces of Jian Ming, Ci Ying, and Lian Hua. There was pride, yes. Relief, certainly. But beneath it all, there was something deeper: concern. Perhaps even a flicker of fear. They weren't entirely sure if the person standing in the arena at that final moment was their friend, Bu He.
As they descended from the platform, the crowd parted before them as if for a royal procession, but it was a procession born of fear. No one dared to meet their eyes. Everyone took a step back from the steaming, blood-and-sweat-soaked figure and his unwavering companions. Across the arena, the remaining members of the Golden Vein team were carrying the unconscious form of Xue Feng on a stretcher. Their eyes no longer held arrogance, only a pure, undiluted hatred.
When they reached the laboratory door, Elder Bao was waiting. There was no manic glee on his face, no triumphant cheer. There was only the grim focus of a doctor looking at a critically ill patient.
"Inside," he said, his voice sharp. He sealed the door behind them. "Get him on the table."
Ci Ying and Jian Ming helped ease Bu He's exhausted body onto the central stone slab. Bao placed a hand on Bu He's chest. He pulled it back as if burned. "You pushed it too far, boy! You almost broke the tether. The Core was on the verge of taking over completely."
"But he won," Ci Ying whispered.
"He won a battle," Bao corrected, turning to his benches and frantically mixing dozens of vials and crystals. "But he almost lost the war inside himself. To absorb that final attack... that wasn't feeding the core, that was provoking a beast. Now that beast demands its share."
Bu He's consciousness was fading. The hunger was no longer just a feeling; it was a presence, gnawing at his mind, blurring his memories, and replacing them with a single, primal urge: More. Power.
His teammates watched their master work, a new distance settling between them. This victory had united them, but it had also set Bu He apart. He was no longer just their friend. He was a power they might not be able to control.
"I saw it," Ci Ying said quietly. "His eyes. They weren't his."
Jian Ming shakily wrote in his journal: "Victory. Cost: Unknown. Risk: Absolute."
Bao returned with a steaming potion. "Make him drink this. It won't heal him. It will only put the beast to sleep for a while."
After drinking the potion, Bu He fell into a deep, restless sleep. He dreamed he was under the crimson moon again. But this time, Usta Mo was not there. There was only the red-eyed shadow that was his reflection. And this time, the shadow offered nothing. It simply stood there, waiting patiently. It knew that time was on its side.
When Bu He awoke, hours had passed. The lab was quiet. The hunger had receded to that familiar, dull ache. But the feeling of emptiness inside him was deeper than ever. As he sat up, the first thing he noticed was a new set of robes laid out for him, and a scroll. It was an official notice from the tower leadership.
"It came while you were asleep," Jian Ming said. "As a finalist, you've been granted a new status. You now have access to the highest-level resources of the Inner Ring, and to the 'Core Archives'."
It was a tremendous reward. The Archives were where the tower's most precious techniques and deepest secrets were kept. But beneath the official notice, there was another note. A personal one. From the Head Instructor.
"We acknowledge your strength. But an anomaly is a threat to order. The tower greets you as a champion. And as a potential catastrophe, we will be watching you with great interest. Do not disappoint us."
It wasn't a reward. It was a leash. A warning.
Bu He stood, holding the jade vial Mei Qian had given him, the poison-neutralizing pill. He looked at his teammates, then at the cold, iron token that granted him access to the archives. He had won unimaginable prestige and resources. He had also confirmed that he was a monster in the eyes of the world, and perhaps, to himself. The quest to create the Heart-Calming Jade Elixir was now more urgent than ever.
And the final round, in the shadow of all this victory and fear, awaited him.
That old, cold question rose inside him again. 'I won the battle. But am I losing the war?'