I ran and ran through the dark forest, my sister's hand tight in mine.
Branches whipped my face, roots grabbed at my feet.
Behind us the night split open with cruel laughter.
"Hahaha… ants dare to flee my strike?" the cultivator's voice rolled like thunder.
"One blow is enough to kill a Foundation Establishment fool.
What talented little mortals you are."
My sister stiffened.
I felt it too—danger rushing toward us.
She shoved me hard.
I stumbled and hit the ground.
"Ouch—!"
A streak of light slashed past where we had stood, tearing the air like the sky itself was cracking.
I turned and saw blood on her arm.
She had taken the strike for me.
"No!" I shouted.
The cultivator floated closer, eyes glowing like cold stars.
A single finger pointed, and my sister's body lifted from the earth as if carried by invisible wings.
"Hahaha!" he roared, mad with delight.
"A Chaos Physique… every million years one is born.
And it stands before me tonight."
"Don't you touch her!" My throat burned.
I gripped my sword until my palm bled.
Qi flared in my legs.
I leapt, swinging with everything I had.
The blade never reached him.
A barrier of pure force stopped me cold.
Crack!
My sword shattered in my hands.
The cultivator looked down, a cruel beauty in his eyes.
He caught me by the collar as if I weighed nothing.
"Pathetic," he said.
"A talentless brat with no spiritual roots. Not even worth the dust beneath my feet."
Then he flung me aside.
My body slammed into a tree.
Pain exploded through my chest.
I tasted blood.
My vision blurred.
The world dimmed.
His voice reached me like a fading echo.
"Let me end this ant."
Darkness closed in—
but then, a whisper inside my skull.
> System Found Final Player.
Status screen loading…
Choose Difficulty: Easy … Medium … Hard … Hell.
I forced breath through torn lungs.
"Sister…" I rasped.
> Choose Difficulty.
I clenched my teeth.
"I… choose… Hell," I whispered.
I had nothing left to lose.
> Congratulations. Force Difficulty Chosen.
Teleporting to Heavenly Tower of Trials.
Light burst through the darkness.
My body began to dissolve, piece by piece, into glittering particles.
Far away, the cultivator's eyes widened.
He watched as I faded from his grasp, his smirk twisting.
And then there was nothing but the pull of the Tower.