The night lay heavy over the Martial Academy.
Fog coiled across the stone bridges and terraces, muting the glow of spirit lanterns. From afar, the sect looked peaceful—an illusion built on blood and silence.
Beneath that silence, something moved.
A shadow detached itself from the cliffs, gliding across the outer wards without a sound. No ripple, no breath of energy betrayed its presence.
Li Feng stepped out of the darkness.
His robes were torn, caked with ash and dried blood, but his eyes burned faintly silver beneath the hood. The Shadowborne aura—muted, restrained—threaded invisibly through the air.
[Skill Activated: Shadow Rift] [Transfer Complete — Spatial displacement: 197 meters] [Energy Consumption: 11%]
He exhaled softly. The teleportation was smooth, seamless. Even the sect's protective barriers hadn't detected the breach.
"Good," he murmured.
He stood on the edge of the outer disciple quarters, overlooking the misty courtyards. Lanterns flickered faintly below—disciples patrolling, unaware of the ghost walking among them.
The system's voice stirred within his mind, calm and indifferent.
> [Status Update]
Host Vitality: 92%
Shadow Contamination: 11%
Energy Core Stability: 84%
Emotional Regulation: Within Parameters.
> [Advisory]: Maintain containment. Hunter influence expanding.
Li Feng's lips twitched faintly. "So even you can't control it completely."
> [Response: Negative.]
[Correction: It cannot be controlled. It must be directed.]
He fell silent, eyes narrowing.
That voice—his System—it was colder now. More detached. There was a subtle echo beneath it, something alive. The Hunter's whisper, folded into the machinery of his evolution.
The outer quarters were nearly empty at this hour. Most disciples were still reeling from the Maze incident—mourning the dead, gossiping about survivors.
Li Feng moved unseen, slipping through shadows and wards like smoke. The sect was still on alert, Elder formations reinforcing every hall.
He reached the base of an abandoned pagoda—a place where disciples rarely went since the last lightning strike burned through its top floor.
He pressed his palm against the wooden beam. The Shadow Rift pulsed faintly.
[Spatial Lock Detected.] [Override in progress...] [Authority confirmed: Shadowborne Class.] [Barrier bypassed.]
The door creaked open.
Dust floated through the air, glittering faintly in the moonlight. He stepped inside and exhaled.
A familiar chill crept down his spine.
This place had once been his meditation chamber—before they stripped him of his cultivation resources and branded him "defective."
Now it was empty, forgotten. Perfect.
He knelt, pressing his hand against the cracked floor. Threads of darkness spread outward like roots, mapping the structure around him. Every vibration, every sound, every presence.
Three guards patrolled two floors above. One hidden watcher near the eastern wall.
"Still paranoid, aren't you, Elder Wu?" he muttered.
He closed his eyes. The System pulsed again.
> [Initiate Data Sync?]
[Source: Hunter Core Fragment.]
[Potential Outcome: Memory Echo Reconstruction.]
[Proceed? Y/N]
Li Feng hesitated only a moment.
"Yes."
The world shifted.
The walls bled away, replaced by darkness and faint whispers. Images flickered before his eyes—memories not his own.
A woman knelt before an altar of shadow, her voice trembling as she prayed.
A sigil—black flame coiled around a crimson spiral.
A voice—cold, inhuman—speaking from beyond reality.
"The seal will not hold. Find me a vessel. Find me... a host who will not break."
Then, screaming.
The sound of hundreds being devoured by the dark.
Li Feng gasped as the vision shattered. Blood trickled from his nose. His pulse raced.
> [Memory Fragment Decoded: 21%.]
[Key Phrase Identified: "Hunter Project."]
[New Objective: Locate records of the Project within the Sect Archives.]
He wiped the blood with the back of his hand, breathing slowly.
"So the Hunters weren't summoned... They were made."
His voice was cold, almost mechanical.
Hours later, the moon hung low, pale and ghostlike.
Li Feng descended into the restricted archives beneath the Inner Court. He moved through the corridors like a whisper. Runes glowed faintly across the walls, scanning for intruders.
[Skill: Shadow Domain — Partial Activation] [Effect: Conceal presence within domain radius. Duration: indefinite while stationary.]
His form melted into the dark.
Guards passed within arm's reach, never noticing. He watched them silently—young disciples, each one marked by spirit threads that tied back to the sect's core formation.
"Puppets," he muttered.
At the far end of the corridor stood an iron gate carved with ancient sigils. Beyond it, the forbidden section—sealed from all but Elder-level access.
He placed his palm against the cold surface.
[System Synchronization: 100%]
[Hunter Core Resonance Detected.]
[Authority Override: Granted.]
The locks clicked open, one after another.
Inside, the air was stale, heavy with age. Scrolls and crystal tablets lined the shelves, sealed with wax and formation symbols. The light was dim, but his eyes adjusted easily—one of the gifts from his evolution.
He scanned the titles.
"Anatomy of the Spirit Vein."
"Records of the Ancient Cataclysm."
"Experimental Subjects: Phase III — Vessel Rejection Rates."
His hand stopped.
He lifted the last crystal and pressed it against his forehead.
The system began to decrypt.
> [Decoding...]
[File Reconstructed — 76%.]
"Project: Hunter."
Objective: To merge human cultivator essence with abyssal shadow fragments recovered from the Ruins Beyond Heaven.
Result: 98% fatality rate. Survivors exhibit unstable mutations—loss of identity, consumption of spirit energy.
Phase IV initiated by order of—"
Static.
The record cut off. The crystal shattered in his hand.
Li Feng exhaled slowly, shards glinting in the dark.
"So that's it. The sect created them."
His gaze sharpened.
"No… they are them."
Footsteps echoed beyond the gate.
Li Feng froze.
Two shadows entered—Elder Wu and a man in gray robes. The latter's aura was vast, suffocating. The Supreme Elder himself.
Wu bowed low. "We've doubled the search in the surrounding regions. No trace of the vessel."
The old man's voice was calm, measured. "You will not find him. The Maze accepted him."
Wu hesitated. "Then the prophecy—?"
"Yes. The Shadow Sovereign stirs again."
Li Feng's pulse quickened, but he forced himself to stay still.
The Supreme Elder turned, his white eyes scanning the archive. For an instant, Li Feng swore those eyes looked straight at him.
Then the old man smiled faintly.
"Let him come. Every vessel eventually returns to its source."
They turned and left.
Li Feng waited long after their footsteps faded. When he finally moved, the shadows clung tighter around him—almost possessively.
> [Warning: Contamination rising — 14%.]
[Recommendation: Stabilize core through controlled assimilation or purification.]
He didn't answer.
He looked toward the iron gate where the elders had stood.
His reflection shimmered faintly on the metal—half human, half shadow.
"Eventually returns to its source," he whispered.
A cold smile crossed his lips.
"Then I'll make sure the source burns."
He vanished.
When morning came, the sect bells tolled mournfully. Disciples gathered for the funeral rites of the fallen.
Yu Qingxue stood at the front, her gaze lost among the names carved into the memorial wall. Li Feng's name was among them—etched in flawless gold.
She reached out, fingers brushing the letters. "You survived, didn't you?" she whispered.
Behind her, a cold wind stirred.
No one noticed the faint shadow that passed through the courtyard—slipping between the mourners, unseen.
Li Feng stopped a few paces away, watching her in silence.
The urge to speak clawed at his throat. But the System's cold reminder echoed in his mind.
> [Objective: Conceal existence until readiness.]
[Optional Objective: Observe Yu Qingxue — Emotional link detected.]
His eyes softened for a fleeting moment. Then he turned away.
Above, the Supreme Elder watched from the terrace, his expression unreadable.
When Li Feng's figure disappeared into the mist, the old man's lips curved.
"Shadowborne..." he murmured. "Let us see which side you devour first."