Blood.
That was what coated Li Tianran's palms when he woke at dawn.
The faint light of morning crept through the cracks of his tiny dorm room, glinting against his blistered, torn hands. He could barely move his fingers. Every muscle in his body throbbed with dull agony from the night before.
But pain meant progress.
He forced himself up.
His body screamed for rest, but his mind was sharper than it had been in years. The storm in his dantian—the violent, alien Qi Mo Cangsheng had given him—still pulsed like a chained beast.
He could feel it waiting.
Hungry.
> "You survived one night," Mo Cangsheng's voice echoed in his mind. "But a single slash doesn't make you a cultivator. The heavens will not fear a man who cannot cut with intent."
Tianran wiped the blood from his lips. "Then teach me how to make them fear me."
> "Hmph." A cold chuckle. "You're eager. Good. But the path you've chosen won't reward eagerness. It rewards pain. It rewards those willing to drown in their own blood until nothing of their old self remains."
Tianran didn't hesitate. "Then drown me."
---
The Chamber of Legacy.
By the time he arrived, his body felt like a sack of broken bones. The forbidden chamber was silent, its cracked stone walls still scarred from his first slash.
> "You've tasted the first cut," Mo Cangsheng said. "Now you will learn the Severing Path. You will carve into existence the truth of your will. And you will not stop until you understand what it means to sever."
"How?"
> "Swing."
Tianran frowned. "That's it? Just… swing?"
> "If you need me to hold your hand, then die here."
Tianran gritted his teeth. He took his stance, raised his arm, and summoned the black Qi.
Agony.
It flooded his veins, biting into his nerves, demanding to be unleashed.
He swung.
CRACK.
The arc of black energy bit into the stone wall, leaving another jagged scar.
Tianran panted. The pain had been worse than last time, but the strike felt sharper.
> "Again."
He swung again.
And again.
And again.
---
Hours bled together.
His fingers split open, nails peeling away from the force of his grip. The skin on his palms tore, leaving his hands slick with blood. His shoulders burned, his meridians screamed, but he didn't stop.
Every slash was a declaration.
I will not kneel.
I will not break.
I will not be bound by this fate.
---
> "Good," Mo Cangsheng said after what felt like an eternity. "You are beginning to understand."
Tianran collapsed to his knees, drenched in sweat and blood. "Understand… what?"
> "That strength is not given. It is stolen—from yourself, from others, from the heavens. Every slash must be a theft. Every strike must reject what the world has decreed for you."
Tianran spat blood onto the floor. "Then I'll steal everything."
> "Hmph. We'll see."
---
As he limped back to his dormitory that evening, the whispers followed him again.
"Did you hear? That cripple's been sneaking into the Legacy Chamber."
"No one's supposed to go there. He's going to die."
"Maybe that's what he wants."
He ignored them.
But Wu Jian didn't.
The arrogant outer disciple waited near Tianran's door, his arm still bandaged from their last encounter.
"You're still alive," Wu Jian sneered. "Good. It'll make what comes next more fun."
Tianran stopped, his gaze cold.
"I've spoken to the senior brothers," Wu Jian said, his voice dripping with malice. "They'll handle you. No one humiliates me and walks away breathing."
Tianran didn't answer.
Not with words.
He simply stared, his presence calm—too calm.
For the first time, Wu Jian felt something crawl up his spine.
Was this still the same cripple?
Wu Jian forced a smirk. "Enjoy your last days."
He turned and left.
---
That night, Tianran sat cross-legged on his creaking bed, forcing the black Qi through his meridians again and again.
Every circuit tore him apart. Every rotation rebuilt him.
> "Do you know why I chose you?" Mo Cangsheng asked suddenly.
Tianran opened his eyes. "Why?"
> "Because you hate fate. Because you would burn the heavens if it meant protecting what you love."
Tianran's grip on his knees tightened. "Then I'll do it. I'll burn everything."
> "Good. Then I'll make you a blade worthy of that promise."
---
Far from the Azure Vein Sect, a figure cloaked in black robes sat in meditation.
His eyes snapped open.
"So… it awakens."
A cruel smile spread across his lips.
"Mo Cangsheng's will… and a new vessel. Interesting."
He rose, the ground cracking beneath his feet from the sheer force of his presence.
"Let's see who dares inherit what isn't theirs."