Chapter 8
The battlefield was quiet.
Where the Sword Beast had fallen, only fragments of steel dust remained, drifting upward like fireflies before fading into silence. But the forest of blades still hummed faintly, as if mourning the loss of its guardian.
Nyxen ran a bloodied hand over his chest wound, grinning through crimson teeth. His demonic qi worked tirelessly to knit torn flesh, though it could not erase the exhaustion sinking into his bones.
"You should rest," Liuying said.
Her voice was calm, but softer than before. She stood with her sword sheathed, hair loose and slightly damp with sweat. The cold aura around her had lessened—not gone, but tempered.
Nyxen smirked. "Rest? And let the forest chew me apart? You must be joking, snow maiden."
Liuying's lips twitched, though she gave no reply. Instead, she turned her gaze to the ground where the beast had dissolved. "It left something behind."
They approached the center of the clearing.
Embedded in the cracked earth was a fragment of crystal—not metal, not qi, but condensed Sword Essence. It pulsed faintly, silver light flickering across its surface like reflections of countless blades.
Liuying's eyes widened. "The Core of the Sword Beast… I'd thought it was only a legend."
Nyxen crouched, studying the shard. His demonic qi writhed with hunger, urging him to seize it. He could feel its purity, sharp enough to carve apart even the corruption within him.
He reached for it.
"Wait!" Liuying stepped forward. "That core contains the distilled intent of countless swords. If you try to absorb it recklessly—"
Her warning came too late.
The moment Nyxen's hand touched the shard, a storm exploded inside his body.
His vision fractured into shards of light and shadow. Countless swords screamed inside his mind, each voice a strand of the Dao. They tore into his meridians, clashing violently with the demonic qi that defined his existence.
Black and silver collided. Corruption and purity fought, neither yielding.
Nyxen fell to one knee, clawing at the ground. His veins bulged, glowing alternately with crimson and silver light. His breath came in ragged gasps, each exhale searing with pain.
Liuying rushed to him. "Fool! You'll tear yourself apart!"
Nyxen's eyes burned with madness. "No… this power is mine!"
The struggle within became a battlefield of its own.
Sword intent slashed his soul, trying to purify him into nothing but steel and discipline. His demonic qi raged in defiance, seeking to corrupt and devour the purity.
But something changed.
Instead of one side consuming the other, a thin thread formed—an unstable balance. His demonic qi twisted around the sword intent, binding it, forcing it to coexist within the same vessel.
The result was neither pure nor corrupted, but something new.
Something forbidden.
His qi erupted outward in a violent shockwave. The blade-trees around them shattered, collapsing into fragments.
Nyxen rose slowly, his body trembling. Black and silver light wove through his aura, chaotic yet strangely harmonious. His eyes, once crimson, now glimmered with streaks of silver.
Liuying stared at him, horrified. "That… shouldn't be possible."
Nyxen's grin was sharp and feral. "Shouldn't? Perhaps. But I've never been fond of rules."
The ground shook again.
As if responding to Nyxen's unnatural fusion, the forest shifted. The broken blades scattered by the battle floated into the air, drawn by the resonance of his qi. They hovered around him, forming a halo of steel that bent under his will.
Nyxen flexed his fingers, and the blades aligned into a spiral formation—his first instinctive creation born from this new path.
Liuying took a step back, hand tightening on her sword hilt. "You've created… something dangerous."
Nyxen laughed, voice echoing with both human and inhuman resonance. "Dangerous? Snow maiden, you have no idea. This—" He gestured to the orbiting blades. "—is only the beginning."
But the balance was unstable.
Even as he reveled in the power, Nyxen's body shook violently, cracks forming along his skin as if he were breaking apart. His dual qi resisted union, each moment threatening collapse.
Liuying moved forward, pressing her palm against his chest. Her own sword intent surged, steadying the chaotic flow inside him.
"Idiot," she hissed. "If you lose control, you'll explode."
Nyxen smirked faintly. "Then stay close… and keep me alive."
For a moment, their qi touched—not clashing, but weaving. The chaotic balance steadied, if only slightly.
Liuying looked at him, her gaze unreadable. "You're walking a path that should not exist. One day, it will kill you."
Nyxen's smile widened. "One day isn't today."
The forest fell silent once more.
But in the shadows beyond the broken clearing, unseen eyes lingered. The trial had not ended—it