The clearing still reeked of blood and shattered spirit essence. Broken wolf carcasses lay strewn across the moss, their silver-lit veins dimming into lifeless ash. The mist thickened once more, curling around the trees as though reluctant to intrude upon the space Tian Yu had claimed.
He sat upon a moss-covered stone, his breaths shallow. The mortal vessel strained to its limit, skin pallid, veins faintly glowing with silver threads, yet his eyes carried the calm fire of something immeasurable.
Two fingers pressed against his chest. He could feel it not a dantian, not meridians, but a faint ember glowing in the abyss of his being. A fragment of what he truly was.
"Good…" His lips curved into a thin, sardonic smile. "The void remembers me. Not that it had a choice."
Closing his eyes, Tian Yu sank his consciousness inward. The ember pulsed, shedding waves of shadowed energy that threaded into his blood, knitting torn muscle, sealing fractured bone. Yet it was unstable too violent for such a fragile shell, too hungry to be contained.
It longed to burn everything.
And Tian Yu let it.
Darkness spread through his veins like ink in water. Mortal flesh shuddered half breaking, half remaking. Bones creaked, tendons stretched taut, black lines crawled along his skin before sinking inward. His breath turned ragged, but his expression never wavered.
In that moment, his body was no longer merely human. It was being reforged into something new something closer to his true nature. A vessel not of meridians and dantian, but of absence itself.
The forest seemed to know. Birds scattered far beyond the treeline. Even the mist trembled, no longer daring to brush against him.
Then came the voices.
Rustling boots crushing damp leaves, steel faintly clinking, whispers carried by the wind.
"Over there! Do you feel it?"
"A surge… no, something worse. It feels… wrong."
"Shut up. Whoever holds that herb, we take it. The sect will reward us."
Tian Yu opened his eyes, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. From the distance, several disciples emerged robes sharp, stances steady, eyes cold. They froze at the sight of him: a pale figure seated amid the carnage of butchered wolves.
One swallowed hard. "Did… did he kill them all?"
Tian Yu tilted his head, eyes glinting with quiet amusement. "Alone? Oh my. You came for scraps, yet stumbled upon an abyss instead. How tragic… or fortunate for me."
The leader, sharp-browed with a long blade strapped across his back, stepped forward. "Who are you? This forest belongs to the Red Fang Sect. All spiritual herbs here are claimed by us. If you've taken any…" His gaze flicked toward the faint traces of glowing herbs at Tian Yu's feet. "…hand them over, and you may walk away."
Tian Yu's chuckle was low, mocking. "Walk away? Tell me… when ants demand honey from fire, what do you think becomes of them?"
The disciples bristled. The leader's eyes narrowed. "Arrogant fool." With one smooth motion, he drew his blade, its edge humming with crimson qi. "Then you die here."
The others followed suit, weapons flashing as they fanned out to encircle him.
Tian Yu did not rise. His palm pressed lightly against the stone, fingers curling. The ember within him flared, sending tendrils of shadow crawling into the earth beneath his feet.
The ground shuddered.
Shadows thickened unnaturally, stretching like claws across the clearing. The disciples faltered as the mist coiled tighter, suffocating the air.
"Formation! Strike together!" the leader barked.
They lunged as one.
Only then did Tian Yu move. His hand lifted lazily, and the shadows obeyed like beasts unleashed. Jagged chains lashed upward, intercepting the incoming strikes. Steel screeched, qi flared, yet the void devoured both with terrifying ease.
One disciple screamed as his spear splintered, shadows impaling his chest. Another's sword was wrenched from his grip, swallowed whole into nothingness.
The leader roared, unleashing a crimson arc that carved through the darkness, forcing it back. For the first time, Tian Yu's brows rose, faint interest flickering across his face.
"Oh? A spark worth noticing. Almost makes me curious," he murmured, voice dry, sardonic.
He rose slowly, presence deepening like an ocean spilling into a shallow pond. The ember flared, and the very air quivered.
The leader's strike faltered. Confidence drained, replaced by a cold, creeping realization.
"You…" His voice shook. "You're not human."
Tian Yu's smile widened, sharp and cruel. "Finally. Someone speaks truth. Took you long enough."
And then he vanished into the mist. Screams echoed.
The clearing remained littered with carcasses, silver blood staining moss like spilled moonlight. Tian Yu stood amidst them, breath steady though his body trembled faintly. Each strike, each flicker of suppressed power, carved another fracture into his fragile vessel.
Yet his eyes burned brighter than the stars above.
He knelt beside the largest wolf, chest still twitching, and pressed two fingers to its fur. Silvery essence seeped into his palm, merging with faint threads of void. The beast's glow dimmed, extinguished like a candle in the wind.
"Devouring through emptiness…" Tian Yu muttered, tasting the strange fusion. "This shell resists me… but the void adapts. It always adapts. And it does so with humor."
The glow vanished, leaving behind only a husk. He rose slowly, night breeze brushing his blood-streaked cheek. Somewhere deep within, the sealed abyss stirred, whispering of hunger, of power aching to be unbound.
The Protector's azure qi shimmered nearby, coiling like restrained serpents. Tian Yu merely leaned against a crooked tree, brushing away a fallen leaf with idle grace. His smirk carried weightless amusement, as if watching ants quarrel over crumbs was the finest entertainment.
"You take your duties seriously," Tian Yu said softly, his voice dripping mock admiration. "I must congratulate you. Rare indeed to see one so devoted… to things that don't belong to them."
The Protector's eyes narrowed, energy rippling at his fingertips. "You underestimate me. Yet you speak as if the forest is yours. Step lightly, or it will be your last."
Tian Yu tilted his head, studying him like one might a dull artifact. "Step lightly? Hah. Should I bow, scrape, or vanish while you polish your little insignias?"
The wind shifted, carrying the hum of residual void energy. Shadows flickered at his command, curling around trunks, teasing, probing. Tian Yu stepped forward, deliberately light, as if testing whether the Protector would flinch.
"Careful," he murmured, voice teasing. "I bite only when bored. And I tire quickly of polite company."
Golden threads of energy lanced toward him, sharp and precise. The Protector's intent was to pierce, to end.
Tian Yu's response was a casual flick of his hand. Darkness rippled into jagged ribbons, twisting the strikes away, never clashing directly mocking, toying.
"You see," he said, stepping closer, "I don't fight as mortals do. I… rearrange intentions. Sometimes violently, sometimes gently. Mostly, for amusement."
The Protector's jaw tightened. "This is not a game. You threaten the balance."
"Balance? Hah. Funny word." Tian Yu's eyes glinted, ancient and sardonic. "Have you ever tried holding a candle to a storm? Or do you merely clutch your trinkets and shiver?"
A shadow whip flicked, brushing the Protector's sleeve without harm, yet carrying the weight of inevitability. His stance faltered.
"Ah… that look," Tian Yu whispered, smile curling wider. "The look of someone realizing how… inconvenient they are to me. Delicious."
The forest itself seemed to lean closer, listening.
"You play with fire," the Protector hissed, summoning a whirl of azure qi that sliced the mist apart. "But I am no child."
"And I am no mortal," Tian Yu replied smoothly, stepping aside, letting the attack pass harmlessly. His eyes glittered with timeless amusement. "No one said you were a child… merely overconfident."
The shadows danced at his whim, weaving around the golden light, teasing rather than striking. "If I wanted to harm you… oh, Protector, you wouldn't even recall the sensation."
The man's aura pulsed harder, but hesitation betrayed him.
A chuckle slid from Tian Yu's lips. "Relax. I rather enjoy your panic. It makes the inevitable so much more… entertaining."
A rustle stirred the undergrowth. Two spectral wolves emerged, silver eyes glowing faintly. Tian Yu glanced lazily at them, then back at the Protector.
"My pets," he said. "They enjoy company… though, occasionally, they bite."
The wolves prowled, their steps synchronized with Tian Yu's gestures. The Protector stiffened; he could not tell which was real, which shadow, which illusion.
"You think beasts intimidate me?" he barked, though unease edged his voice.
"No," Tian Yu chuckled, "I think to remind you that nature has rules. But I… make exceptions." Shadows wrapped the wolves, halting them mid-step. "Patience, Protector, achieves more than brute force. Though… chaos has its charms."
The forest held its breath. Mist thickened, shadows trembled, night itself became a stage.
"And now," Tian Yu whispered, his smile thin and merciless, "let us see if you can dance with inevitability. Or will you simply watch as the forest reminds you whom it truly belongs to?"
The Protector's aura flared, yet his eye twitched the faintest hesitation.
Tian Yu's grin deepened. "Ah… hesitation. The sweetest spice of all."