The training grounds of the Ashen Root Sect were carved from old bone and dead stone. Circular arenas of cracked marrow served as dueling pits where outer disciples fought to earn marrow pills, rise in ranks, or simply survive.
It was the third day since Lin Xuan entered the sect.
The third day since he opened the Void Scripture of the Eternal Abyss.
He stood alone at the edge of the pit, wrapped in his torn robe. He had not eaten in two days, yet his eyes were steady. Calm. Hollow.
Across from him stood a broad-shouldered youth with bristling scars across his chest—Wei Hu, an outer disciple known for crushing new recruits to establish dominance.
The crowd murmured.
"Another one for the marrow pit."
"Wei Hu's crushed five already this week."
"That new one… doesn't even have a weapon."
Zhao Wuren, the outer hall overseer, stepped into the center. "Outer trial. First blood or knockout. Begin."
Wei Hu smirked. He stepped forward, pulling a crude iron hammer from his back.
"You're too weak to even bother killing. But rules are rules."
He lunged.
The hammer howled through the air, aimed straight for Lin Xuan's chest.
But Lin Xuan… didn't move.
The moment the hammer came close—
Silence.
Not just sound. Not just movement.
For a heartbeat, the hammer passed into a bubble of emptiness—an unnatural stillness that devoured the very motion.
Void Pulse Activation…
The hammer slowed… then stopped completely mid-air, as though caught in tar made of absence. Wei Hu's eyes widened.
"What the—?!"
Lin Xuan stepped forward—not fast, but with purpose—and struck his palm lightly against Wei Hu's shoulder.
A ripple pulsed through the air.
Wei Hu screamed.
Not from pain—but confusion. His right arm went limp. The hammer dropped.
He fell to one knee.
"What… did you… do?"
Lin Xuan said nothing.
He had used Hollow Meridian Disruption, a technique from the Void Scripture that erased energy channels—not by damaging them, but by removing their function for a brief time.
Zhao Wuren raised his hand.
"Match over. Lin Xuan wins."
Silence.
Then an uproar.
"What the hell was that?"
"Was that a sealing technique?"
"No, I didn't even see any qi fluctuations!"
Far above, in a tower shaded by dying banners, Ji Yunlan watched through a spiritual mirror. His crimson eyes narrowed.
"He's not using the Ashen Scripture."
Nie Qing stood beside him, her bone puppet twitching gently.
"He's not using any scripture," she whispered. "He's deleting things."
Ji Yunlan's lips curled.
"Good. I was getting bored."
That night, as Lin Xuan sat in the dark corners of the disciple dorms, he reviewed the next section of the Void Scripture.
"To erase light, see without seeing.To erase sound, hear without hearing.To erase cause, become the effect."
His mind burned with hunger—not for blood, but for understanding. He was still weak. His void seed had only begun to stir. He needed more time, more combat, more erasure.
Suddenly, his door opened.
A shadow entered.
A tall figure, wrapped in crimson.
"Lin Xuan," Ji Yunlan said, arms crossed. "You're interesting. I like interesting."
He tossed something onto the floor.
A sealed bone pill, wrapped in blood-thread silk.
"A challenge. Three days from now. Inner disciple trial. You'll accept."
Lin Xuan didn't reply immediately.
He looked at the pill, then at Ji Yunlan's eyes. He saw it—the arrogance, the pride, but also… caution.
"Very well," Lin Xuan said, voice calm.
"But when I erase you… do not beg to exist again."
Ji Yunlan's grin faded—just for a moment.
Then he turned and left.