Time was a blur in the dark, but eventually, the fog in Wang Fang's mind began to lift. His eyelids felt like they were weighted with lead.
"…Wang… hey, brat… wake up. Hey! Wake up!"
The voice was a distant echo, muffled as if he were underwater. Then, Smack! A sharp sting across his cheek jolted him.
Wang Fang groaned, his head lolling. Who's hitting me…? He forced his eyes open. The world was a fractured mess of grey shadows, like a TV that had lost its signal. He blinked once, twice, three times until the image snapped into focus, Slowly pulling itself together.
"Oh… you," Wang Fang wheezed. Standing over him was Ye Heimin, the war-disciple.
"Finally," Ye Heimin whispered.
Wang Fang's face darkened as his memory returned. "Why were you slapping my head?!"
"Shhh!" Ye Heimin instantly clamped a hand over Wang Fang's mouth, his eyes wide with genuine terror. "Don't shout! We are not in a place where you can raise your voice."
Ye Heimin slowly raised his head above the edge of the shattered stone wall they were crouching behind. Wang Fang followed his gaze, peering over the jagged rock.
His heart nearly stopped.
In the massive cavern ahead, the three-eyed creatures were moving with rhythmic, terrifying precision. They had gathered a group of survivors, disciples from the Crimson Sun, Azure Cloud, and even Ye Heimin's own sect.
Wang Fang watched, paralyzed, as a creature placed its cold, grey hand over a disciple's brow. With a slow, steady pull, a translucent, shimmering shape was dragged out of the body.
A soul.
They didn't eat it. They didn't crush it. They bottled the souls in dark containers and then tossed the empty, soulless husks into a side chamber overflowing with pure, mist-like Spiritual Qi. Even though the room was drowning in energy, Wang Fang could feel that his own cultivation remained frozen solid.
Ye Heimin sank back against the wall. "I need to get out of here," he breathed.
Wang Fang squatted beside him. "We have to save them."
"Are you insane? You want to die?" Ye Heimin grabbed Wang Fang's shoulder, his grip bruising. "Listen to me like I'm your older brother. In this world, you don't save people you just met. If you were the one on that table, not one of them would come back for you. The strong survive. The weak are harvested. Blood for blood, life for life."
Ye Heimin's voice grew heavy. "If you want revenge, you survive. You get stronger. You climb so high that no one can put shackles on you again. One mistake in this place, and you're just another empty shell."
Wang Fang went silent. Images flashed in his mind, the Eternal Flame Sect in ashes, his mother's desperate breathing as she carried him through the fire, his own small, useless hands. He clutched his chest, a sob rising in his throat that his pride forced back down.
Mother, what do I do,he thought,you are still out there and am trapped here, how do I get this over with. As his mind kept wondering, xinyi face flash like image in Wang fang mind,he thought, mother I don't understand what to do, I just what to see you.
He wiped his face with his sleeve. The softness in his eyes died, replaced by a cold, predatory light. "You're right," Wang Fang said. "I shouldn't waste my life for people who only wanted to use me as a shield."
Ye Heimin felt the shift in the air. The boy beside him had just grown up. "So you have a goal," he muttered. "You've lost something you can't get back."
"Let's just move," Wang Fang replied.
They slipped out from behind the wall once the creatures cleared the room. While Ye Heimin hunted for an exit, Wang Fang's eyes were drawn to a big ancient carvings on a central pillar.
"When the mind quiets and the heart becomes still… when illusion and reality overlap like ripples upon water, the World Illusion Revelation Technique awakens."
Wang Fang stepped closer, his heart racing. "This art is not a sword; it is a lens. It is a perception technique, one that peels back the false skin of the world."
"A perception technique…" Wang Fang whispered. This should be exactly what I needed in a place where Qi was useless. But before he could read more, a sound echoed.
Thud. Thud.
"Someone's coming!" Ye Heimin hissed.
They dove behind a massive stone pillar just as a creature entered, dragging a fresh body by the hair. Wang Fang and Ye Heimin's eyes widened as they recognized the prisoner.
"Huh