The shard blazed like molten sunlight, forcing the assassins to stumble back. The forest lit up as if dawn had arrived early, shadows torn apart by its furious glow.
Li Shen clenched it tightly, his arm trembling as power surged through him. The broken fragment vibrated violently, its hum like the beating of a colossal heart.
Then he heard it.
A whisper. Ancient. Cold.
"So… the bloodline still lives."
Li Shen froze. The assassins, blinded by the sudden radiance, hadn't noticed. Their blades wavered as they shielded their eyes, but Li Shen was not looking at them anymore. His gaze was locked on the shard, on the impossible light spilling from within.
The voice was not his own. It echoed directly inside his mind.
"Who… who are you?" Li Shen asked silently, though his lips never moved.
"I am what remains of the Broken Blade. The weapon of your forebears. The edge forged in blood and war. Once whole, I could sever heavens themselves. Now… I am but a fragment."
Li Shen's chest tightened. The Broken Blade. His clan's ancestral treasure. He had heard stories of it as a child—tales of a sword that once cut through sect masters and demons alike. But those were legends. The blade had been shattered long before he was born.
"You… you survived inside this shard?"
The voice rumbled like distant thunder. "I was broken, as your clan was broken. Buried. Forgotten. But when the blood of Li touched me, I stirred. I remember now. I remember their screams. I remember the betrayal."
Li Shen's fists clenched, knuckles white. "Then you know who destroyed us."
"The Seven Peaks Sect. Cowards who feared your clan's rise. They feared me. They feared the bloodline bound to me. So they shattered both."
Li Shen's vision darkened with rage. The assassins' voices shouted something in the background, but he barely heard them. His heart thundered with the same rhythm as the shard in his hand.
"What do you want from me?" he asked.
The voice was cold, sharp, merciless. "I want what you want. Vengeance. You are broken, as I am broken. But together, we can rise again."
Li Shen's throat tightened. His body was wrecked, his cultivation ruined. But the shard pulsed with a power so ancient, so sharp, it felt like the answer he had clawed for in darkness.
Still, doubt lingered. "And if I refuse?"
The shard's light dimmed for a moment, like a fading heartbeat. Then it whispered, colder than before. "Then you die here. And the Li Clan dies forever with you."
The assassins regained their composure, stepping forward again. The leader sneered, raising his blade. "Whatever trick this is, it won't save you. Kill him."
The two subordinates surged forward.
Li Shen's decision came in a single breath. He tightened his grip around the shard. "Then… lend me your strength."
The shard's voice roared inside his skull. "So be it. Your will is mine. My edge is yours. Together—we rise."
A blast of power erupted.
Light surged from the shard, weaving into his shattered meridians like molten fire. Li Shen gasped, his body convulsing. Pain seared every nerve—but along with it came strength. His veins burned as foreign energy coursed through him, not his own, but channeled through the shard.
The assassins froze, their eyes widening.
Li Shen straightened slowly, his body trembling, but no longer weak. His aura surged—faint, unstable, yet sharp enough to slice the night.
He raised the shard. Its edge burned with ghostly flame.
The first assassin struck, blade slashing down.
Li Shen moved. Faster than his crippled body had any right to. The shard cut upward, sparks flying. The man's weapon shattered into pieces, the fragment shearing through steel as if it were rotten wood.
The assassin screamed as the shard tore across his chest.
The second came from behind. Li Shen spun, the shard glowing like a crescent moon. A single strike—clean, precise—and the man collapsed, throat severed, blood soaking the earth.
Silence.
The leader stared, shock flashing across his face. "Impossible… A cripple shouldn't—"
His words cut off as Li Shen leveled the shard at him. His voice was hoarse, steady, filled with the weight of a vow.
"You shattered my clan. You shattered my blade. Now I'll shatter you."
The leader roared, unleashing his full aura, crashing down like a mountain. His strike split the earth, his killing intent suffocating.
Li Shen met it head-on.
Their blades clashed. Steel rang against the shard, light erupting in blinding waves. Each strike tore bark from trees, shook the forest floor.
The leader's strength was overwhelming. But each time Li Shen's body faltered, the shard carried him. Each time his arm trembled, the shard steadied him.
The leader's blade came down in a final crushing blow.
Li Shen gritted his teeth, channeling every shred of will into the shard. The voice roared within him: "Cut through."
The shard flashed like a falling star.
The leader's weapon split in two. His chest split open a heartbeat later.
The man staggered, blood spilling from his lips, eyes wide with disbelief. "This… can't… be…" He collapsed. Lifeless.
Silence fell once more.
Li Shen stood trembling, drenched in blood, the shard dimming in his grip. His body screamed in agony, his vision swam. But he was still standing.
The shard's voice rumbled faintly. "This is only the beginning. I am broken. You are broken. But together, we will carve our revenge into the bones of heaven."
Li Shen fell to his knees, panting, sweat dripping into the dirt. His hand tightened around the shard, blood staining its edge.
"For my clan," he whispered. "For everything they took from me. I'll follow you. No matter the cost."
The shard pulsed once, faint but steady.
"Then rise, wielder. Rise… as the blade reborn."
The forest grew silent again. The night swallowed the blood and screams. Only Li Shen remained, broken yet burning, the shard of his clan's legacy clutched in his hand.
And from that night onward, vengeance had a voice.