# Chapter 3: Caravan of Blades
The caravan stretched like a wounded serpent across the Dawnroad—**twenty iron wagons**, **fifty guards**, and one twelve-year-old Rank 2 newbie clutching a **Bronze-8 dagger** that hummed with stolen lightning.
Lin Yue rode atop the fifth wagon, wedged between burlap sacks of **spirit herbs** and a snoring guard. The black **Knifefall token** burned against his chest. Mei had vanished at dawn, leaving only a whisper: *"Watch the shadows."*
> [Hidden Quest: **First Betrayal** – 0/3 clues found]
> [Reward: +1 sub-level | Clue on Trial secrets]
The air thickened with **Qi Sense**—Rank 2 perk. He could *feel* the cultivators now: pulsing auras like heartbeats in the dark.
---
### **The Prodigies**
Three others wore Knifefall tokens. All older. All stronger.
**Fang Wei** – Rank 2 (6/10), **Silver-2 longsword** ("Ironfang Bite"), slick black hair, noble sneer.
**Luo Xin** – Rank 2 (4/10), **Bronze-9 twin daggers** ("Serpent Dance"), quiet girl with poison-green eyes.
**Chen Bo** – Rank 2 (8/10), **Silver-5 spear** ("Storm Piercer"), loud, missing two fingers.
Fang Wei noticed Lin Yue first.
"Orphan meat," he called from the lead wagon. "How'd a gutter rat get a token? Mommy buy it?"
The guards chuckled.
Lin Yue said nothing.
**Willpower: 2 → 3.**
> [Clue 1/3: Fang Wei's aura flickers when he lies]
---
### **Night 3 – Ambush**
**Rank 3 Venomscale Vipers** struck at moonrise—six of them, scales dripping abyss-green poison. **Abyssal Maw scouts.**
Fang Wei stood first.
**Ironfang Bite – Minor Mastery.**
His Silver-2 sword carved a bloody fang through the lead viper's skull.
> [Assisted Kill]
> [+2 EXP]
Chen Bo's spear flashed.
Luo Xin vanished into shadows, reappearing with twin daggers buried in a viper's eyes.
Lin Yue waited.
The last viper lunged for the herb sacks—**Rank 3 Core material.**
**Harmony: 1.0 | Resonance: 1.2**
**Crescent Tear – Minor Mastery (18/100).**
The Bronze-8 dagger sang. Lightning arced from the blade, bisecting the viper's spine.
Head and tail hit the dirt separately.
> [Solo Kill: Rank 3 Venomscale Viper (down-ranked by injury)]
> [Rank 2 (1/10) → (3/10) | Foundation +5% Agility]
> [Bonded Weapon Resonance: +1 lightning rune → **Thunder Crescent** effect]
> [Clue 2/3: Luo Xin watched you kill. Her daggers *hesitated*.]
Fang Wei spat. "Luck. Don't get cocky, meat."
---
### **Night 5 – The Test**
Around the campfire, Chen Bo tossed Lin Yue a **Rank 2 Thunder Rabbit Core**.
"Eat. You're scrawny."
Lin Yue swallowed the pulsing crystal. Warmth exploded in his meridians.
> [Core digested. Rank 2 (3/10) → (5/10) | **Condensation Milestone**]
> [Passive Skill Unlocked: **Quick Draw** – First strike +20% speed]
Fang Wei snorted. "Pathetic. Watch a real technique."
He stood, drew his Silver-2 sword.
**Ironfang Bite – Major Mastery.**
The air *screamed*. A spectral fang thirty meters long shredded a boulder to gravel.
> [Technique Witnessed: Ironfang Bite (Major) – Analyze?] [Y/N]
Lin Yue selected **Y**.
> [Analysis Complete: 7/100 progress. Your version weaker by 40%.]
Luo Xin whispered from the shadows, "Don't provoke him. He's City Lord's third son."
**Clue 3/3 unlocked.**
---
### **Dawn 7 – The Floating Islands**
The horizon *shimmered*.
**Knifefall City** hung a kilometer above the earth—**ten thousand sword-islands**, chained by silver bridges, orbiting a central spire that pierced the clouds. Waterfalls poured *upward* from island edges, defying gravity. Sword-Qi storms crackled between them.
Lin Yue's panel glitched.
> [Hidden Quest: **First Betrayal** – Complete!]
> [Reward: Rank 2 (5/10) → (6/10) | **Trial Secret #1**: "Only one Outer Disciple survives per ten candidates."]
> [New Quest: **Survive the Welcoming Ceremony**]
A gold-robed elder descended on a flying sword. **Rank 4 Grandmaster (3/10)** aura crushed the air like a mountain.
"Candidates," the elder's voice boomed. "You seek the path of knives. Prove your worth."
He pointed at Fang Wei. "You. Strike me."
Fang Wei grinned, unleashed **Ironfang Bite – Major Mastery**.
The spectral fang *dissolved* mid-air.
The elder flicked a finger.
Fang Wei flew fifty meters, cratering the dirt.
**Unconscious.**
Then the elder's eyes locked on Lin Yue.
"Orphan. Your turn."
Lin Yue stood, **Thunder Crescent Dagger** humming.
**Resonance: 1.8 (life-death focus).**
Every eye watched.
---
**Cliffhanger Panel:**
> [Combat Trial Initiated]
> [Elder's Weapon: Gold-4 "Sky Slicer" | Harmony: 1.0 | Estimated power: 200× yours]
> [Do you: A) Crescent Tear | B) Run | C) Surrender?]
---
**Word Count**: ~1,000
**Power-Ups**: Rank 2(6/10), Quick Draw passive, technique analysis
**Foreshadow**: 90% Outer Disciple death rate
**Next Chapter**: Elder fight → First real rival defeat → Outer Disciple ranking
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Readers will **explode** over the cliffhanger choice.
# Chapter 4: One Strike, One Grave
The elder's finger hovered like a guillotine.
Lin Yue's heart thundered louder than the floating islands overhead.
**Gold-4 Sky Slicer** pulsed at the elder's waist—its aura alone cracked the ground beneath Lin Yue's bare feet.
> [Combat Trial: Elder Huo (Rank 4 Grandmaster 3/10)]
> [Victory Condition: Land one clean hit OR survive 10 breaths]
> [Failure: Expulsion or death]
Fang Wei groaned in the crater, blood dripping from his mouth.
Luo Xin watched from the shadows, daggers hidden.
Chen Bo's spear trembled in his grip.
Lin Yue exhaled.
**Resonance: 1.8 → 2.0 (life-death peak)**
**Harmony: 1.0**
**Quick Draw: +20% first strike**
He chose **A) Crescent Tear**.
---
### **Breath 1**
**Crescent Tear – Minor Mastery (18/100) → Thunder Crescent (temporary evolution)**
The **Bronze-8 dagger** ignited. Lightning condensed into a **silver-blue arc** three meters long, shaped like a crescent moon with fangs.
He *blurred*.
**Quick Draw** triggered—his arm vanished, reappeared mid-slash.
The elder's eyebrow twitched.
**Sky Slicer** unsheathed an inch.
A **transparent domain** (100m) unfolded—every grain of sand froze mid-air.
Lin Yue's slash *stopped* one meter from the elder's chest, trapped in invisible chains.
---
### **Breath 2–3**
Elder Huo smiled.
"Domain: **Blade Prison**. Rank 4 privilege. You're a fly in amber."
Lin Yue's muscles screamed.
**Willpower: 3 → 4**
> [Hidden Resistance: Domain pressure -10%]
The lightning on his dagger *crackled*, fighting the domain.
---
### **Breath 4–6**
He remembered Xiao Hu's grave.
Remembered Mei's warning: *"They pay in blood or soul."*
**Resonance overflow.**
The system glitched:
> [Emergency Evolution: Crescent Tear → **Thunder Burial Slash** (one-time)]
> [Cost: 50% current stamina | 1 sub-level downgrade after]
He accepted.
---
### **Breath 7**
The dagger *screamed*.
Lightning exploded into a **coffin of thunder**, slamming downward.
**CRACK!**
The **Blade Prison** shattered like glass.
Elder Huo's robe tore at the shoulder—a **single red line** of blood.
---
### **Breath 8–10**
Silence.
The domain collapsed.
Lin Yue dropped to one knee, dagger planted in the earth.
**Rank 2 (6/10) → (5/10)**
**Stamina: 12%**
> [Trial Passed: One clean hit]
> [Reward: Outer Disciple Status | **Elder's Interest**]
> [New Title: **Thunder Orphan** – Lightning techniques +15% potency]
Elder Huo touched the blood on his robe, eyes gleaming.
"Twelve years old. Rank 2. Bonded lightning dagger. You'll do."
He tossed a **jade badge**.
**Outer Disciple #777**.
Fang Wei woke, face pale with rage.
Luo Xin's eyes narrowed—*calculation*.
Chen Bo laughed, clapping Lin Yue's back hard enough to stagger him.
---
### **Nightfall – The Barracks**
Outer Disciple barracks: stone bunks, shared latrines, one meal a day.
Lin Yue's bunk neighbor: a **Rank 3 (2/10)** girl with burn scars—**Mei's sister?**
She tossed him a **Rank 2 beast core**.
"Eat. Tomorrow's the **Knife Intent Trial**. Fail, and you're beast feed."
> [Core absorbed. Rank 2 (5/10) → (7/10) | Core Formation milestone]
> [Passive Skill: **Minor Aura – Intimidate beasts -10% aggression**]
---
### **Midnight – The Note**
A slip of paper under his pillow:
> **"#777. The list has your name. Run or kill. – L.X."**
Luo Xin.
---
**Cliffhanger Panel:**
> [New Quest: **Knife Intent Trial** – 72 hours]
> [Objective: Carve your name into the **Heavenly Blade Wall** (Rank 3+ only)]
> [Hidden: 3/10 candidates already dead]
---
**Word Count**: ~850
**Power-Up**: Title, aura, sub-level
**Stakes**: Death list + impossible trial
**Next Chapter**: Training montage, Luo Xin confrontation, first **Knife Intent** awakening
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# Chapter 5: Knife Intent Trial – 72 Hours of Blood and Stone
**Location**: **Heavenly Blade Wall**, a vertical cliff of **Rank 5 Diamond Iron**, 300 meters tall, floating beside Knifefall's central spire.
**Rule**: Carve your **full name** in **Knife Intent** (Rank 3+ aura).
**Failure**: Fall. Die. No second chance.
**Success Rate**: 1 in 10.
> [Trial Activated: 72:00:00]
> [Current Knife Intent: 0/100 (locked at Rank 2)]
> [Death Counter: 0/10]
---
## **Hour 0 – The Drop**
Elder Huo kicked **ten Outer Disciples** off a flying sword.
They plummeted 50 meters into a **Qi net**, then rolled onto the **trial platform**—a narrow ledge at the cliff's base.
Lin Yue landed beside **#777 jade badge** glowing on his chest.
The wall loomed: black, mirror-smooth, etched with **ancient names** that *bled* silver light.
> [Wall Resonance: +5% Knife Intent gain per hour near wall]
---
## **Hour 1 – The First Cut**
Lin Yue pressed **Thunder Crescent Dagger** to the stone.
**Minor Mastery Crescent Tear** sparked—*nothing*.
Not even a scratch.
Fang Wei laughed from ten meters away.
**Silver-2 Ironfang Bite** carved a **shallow "F"**—Knife Intent **12/100**.
> [Observation: Fang Wei's Intent = Brutal Fang (aggression-based)]
Luo Xin's twin daggers whispered.
**"L"** appeared—**Intent 8/100**, **Poison Serpent** flavor.
Lin Yue closed his eyes.
**Willpower: 4 → 5**
> [Insight Triggered: "What is *your* knife?"]
He remembered Xiao Hu's rusted nail.
Remembered the wolf's blood.
Remembered the grave.
**Intent Seed: "Gravekeeper's Oath"**
> [Knife Intent Unlocked: 1/100]
---
## **Hour 6 – The Blood Price**
The wall *drank* blood.
Every failed strike drew a drop from the palm.
Lin Yue's hands were raw.
**Intent: 9/100**
A **Rank 3 disciple** screamed—his dagger shattered.
He fell.
The Qi net *vanished* for him.
**Splat.**
> [Death Counter: 1/10]
---
## **Hour 12 – The Mentor**
A **ghostly figure** appeared—**Rank 7 Emperor**, translucent, chained to the wall.
**"First Knife Saint"**, founder of Knifefall.
"You," he pointed at Lin Yue. "Your Intent smells of *burial*. Good. But weak."
He flicked a finger.
**Phantom Slash** carved **"Lin"** in the stone—**Intent 50/100** instantly.
> [Temporary Buff: Knife Saint's Echo – +30 Intent/hour for 6 hours]
> [Cost: 1 year lifespan (non-negotiable)]
Lin Yue accepted.
**Intent: 9 → 39 → 69 → 99/100**
---
## **Hour 18 – The Betrayal**
Fang Wei cornered Lin Yue at a ledge.
"Orphan, your name's on the **Abyss list**. Die here."
He lunged—**Ironfang Bite – Major Mastery**.
Lin Yue parried with **Thunder Burial Slash (cooldown over)**.
**Resonance: 2.0**
**BOOM.**
Fang Wei's arm *shattered*.
He fell—caught by Luo Xin's shadow thread.
She hissed, "Not yet. We need him for the **core trial**."
---
## **Hour 24 – The Breakthrough**
Lin Yue's **Intent hit 100/100**.
The wall *sang*.
**Gravekeeper's Oath** condensed into a **black-silver aura** (10m radius).
He carved the final stroke: **"Yue"**.
> [Name Etched: Lin Yue]
> [Knife Intent Awakened: Rank 3 Master (1/10)]
> [Domain Seed: **Graveyard Silence** – 10m, suppress enemy Intent -20%]
> [Title: **Wall Survivor** – All knife techniques +10%]
The cliff *cracked*.
A **hidden chamber** opened—**Rank 4 beast core** floating inside.
---
## **Hour 25 – The Core**
Lin Yue absorbed it.
**Rank 3 (1/10) → (4/10) | Condensation Milestone**
> [Passive: **Intent Pressure** – Enemies in domain -10% speed]
Fang Wei and Luo Xin watched, bleeding, names half-carved.
Only **4/10 disciples** remained alive.
---
## **Hour 72 – The End**
The wall *closed*.
Lin Yue stood atop the platform, **#777 badge** now **silver-glowing**.
Elder Huo descended.
"Four survivors. Acceptable."
He looked at Lin Yue.
"You'll enter the **Inner Disciple Trial** in 30 days. Prepare."
---
**Cliffhanger Panel:**
> [Hidden Quest: **Abyss List** – 1/5 names revealed]
> [Next: **Inner Disciple Trial – Fight the Dead**]
> [Warning: Your Graveyard Silence attracts *ghosts*]
---
**Word Count**: ~1,100
**Power-Up**: Rank 3, Domain Seed, Title
**Stakes**: Abyss hit list + ghost attraction
**Next Chapter**: Inner Disciple politics, ghost mentor, Fang Wei's revenge
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Readers will **lose it** over the domain name.