The Abyss was motionless.There was no wind.There was no sound.Only the deep breathing of something that had existed long before any sky.
Long Yanshen sat upon the black stone, legs crossed, his body still as a statue. His eyes, however, burned with a silent anticipation — for he knew the next training would not be with muscles or blades.
Before him, Long Zhuan, the last of the Dragon Gods, regarded him as one who measures not the body, but the spirit. The golden scales reflected a light that came from nowhere, and each movement of his tail sent a vibration that seemed to reorder the very void.
— A body may be harder than steel — said Long Zhuan, his deep voice vibrating in the rock and in the blood — but if the mind is unstable, a single crack will bring it all down.
The dragon's pupils narrowed, becoming golden blades.— Today, we will not train your body. Today… we will burn your mind.
Before Yanshen could answer, the air around him dissolved.The ground, the Abyss, the walls… all vanished.In their place appeared scenes like mists heavy with memories.
First Illusion — PainHe was once more in the night when his grandmother died.The cold cut deep, the snow burned his feet, and he ran, a child, clutching that frail hand as it slipped little by little.— Don't leave me… — her voice echoed.And then, with the last step, she was gone, taking with her the only tenderness he had ever known.
Yanshen's chest tightened. But he closed his eyes.It is not real.
Second Illusion — HumiliationThe Grand Hall of the Celestial Sect.Elders looking at him with disdain.— No spiritual root. No future. No sky.
— The laughter echoed like thunder.He felt the weight of that word again: Nothing.
Blood rushed to his head. His hands longed to clench into fists.But he only breathed.
Third Illusion — TemptationThe jade throne.A thousand kingdoms kneeling.A woman of impossible beauty, smiling at him.— All of it can be yours. The world, immortality, love… just say yes.
The temptation was not of blood, nor of flesh — it was of completeness.He felt himself waver.But then Long Zhuan's voice cut through the veil:
— I too was strong. Stronger than all.— And yet… one woman destroyed what ten thousand enemies could not.— I loved a cultivator who swore me eternity… and she was the blade that sealed me.— Remember this, Yanshen: an army can break through walls. But attachment pierces the heart from within.
The scene shattered like glass.
Long Zhuan spread his wings, and the Abyss seemed to expand.— Now… let us see if you can live without any world at all.
With a single breath, he sealed Yanshen inside a black stone chamber, without doors, without windows, without time.
There was no light.There was no sound.Not even his own heart seemed to beat.
The days began to distort.A blink lasted hours.A single thought took months to form.Yanshen learned to control every breath, every drop of vital flow.He learned to remain motionless until pain vanished and the body became only shadow.He learned that hunger, thirst, and sleep were nothing more than weak voices trying to call him back.
Time ceased to exist.Only a liquid void surrounded him, shaping him.
When the chamber finally opened, Yanshen could not say if days or centuries had passed.Long Zhuan was watching him, gaze piercing to the depths of his soul.
— A thousand years have passed — said the dragon.
— And you are still here.
Yanshen raised his head. His eyes were calm, but not cold.Nothing could stir him anymore.
Long Zhuan smiled, for the first time without irony.— Now, if the world collapses before you, your breath will not change.— You are ready to hear… the Dragon's Roar.
Yanshen stood. His gaze was steady, but there was no pride. Only silence.
The dragon inclined his head, his eyes burning like suns born before time.— Remember this, Yanshen: power that cannot be hidden will be feared; power that cannot be controlled will be wasted.— You now carry something the heavens rejected… but the world will not be able to ignore.— On the day you leave this abyss… you will be the blade and the shadow. The decree and the sentence.
Long Zhuan stepped back, but there was something strange in the light of his eyes — a silence heavier than any word.As if he already knew he would not see that disciple for much longer.
Yanshen did not ask.Silence was now his sharpest blade.