The Cleaving Blow and the Sovereign's Ploy
The wound was a canyon of splintered wood and oozing crimson sap. Yao Xuan didn't let the demon tree rally. Planting a scaled foot against the shuddering trunk for leverage, he pivoted in mid-air, his claws finding the ragged edges of the tear he'd just made. With a deep, guttural exertion of his draconic strength, he wrenched.
RRRIIIP—CRACK!
The sound was that of a mountain splitting. The three-meter gash yawned wider, tearing through vital spiritual pathways within the tree's core. More of those hideous Demon Eyes, now dull and leaking viscous fluid, burst under the strain. The clearing was drenched in the metallic, coppery scent of the tree's lifeblood, a scent that carried a psychic weight of ancient anguish.
The Crimson Demon Tree's violent thrashing became a death rattle. Its branches flailed weakly, like the limbs of a drowning giant. The remaining eyes dimmed, their malevolent light guttering out. Its towering presence, once a blight of oppressive energy, was collapsing in on itself.
Yao Xuan landed lightly, his gaze cold and decisive. He saw not a living thing, but a task to be completed. He channeled the last surge of his battle-focused energy, his claws glowing with a final, fierce intensity. With two precise, sweeping slashes—CRACK! CRACK!—he severed the structural heartwood on either side of the massive wound.
With a groan that seemed to sigh through the entire simulation, the upper half of the thousand-year-old Crimson Demon Tree listed, then fell. Its descent was slow, monumental, ending in a ground-shaking THUD that sent a plume of dust and decaying spiritual energy billowing through the dead clearing.
Silence, thick and complete, settled once more.
'A pittance for the effort,' Yao Xuan thought clinically as he dismissed his martial soul. The brilliant scales faded, leaving him amidst the eerie quiet. 'But the real reward wasn't the points.' He felt the influx of spiritual energy—this time a dense, woody, and strangely potent purple stream. It was slower to absorb than the spider's, but far more substantial, sinking into the roots of his soul and bolstering his foundation. The qualitative growth was undeniable.
He glanced at the dissipating corpse. In reality, such a prize would be worth a fortune. Here, it was merely a lesson. A lesson in confronting a different kind of menace: immovable, area-denying, relentless. He had learned. He moved away to meditate and consolidate his gains, the image of the falling tree etched in his mind as a testament to the Ancestral Dragon's power to break even the most entrenched corruption.
The observation room was once again a theater of quiet awe.
"He… he tore it in half," a technician murmured, her voice full of disbelief. "A millennium-grade plant beast. Its defensive ratings were off the charts."
"It's not just power," another said, pointing at the replay. "Look at his movement prior to the final strikes. He turned its own frantic attacks against it, using the momentum. That's high-level combat intuition."
Wu Changkong simply nodded, his pride a quiet flame. This student was rewriting his understanding of what a Great Soul Master could be. The upcoming advanced academy exams would be… interesting.
Deeper in the forest, where the light was a soft green filtered through countless leaves, Gu Yue walked. Her earlier moment of vulnerability was sealed away, the sovereign's poise restored. She allowed herself to appreciate the simulation's craft, the perfect replication of life. It was a peace, however, soon shattered.
A rustle, too heavy for a small creature. Then the undergrowth exploded.
A bear, but not like any natural bear. It stood three meters tall on its hind legs, its fur not brown but a strange, opaque yellowish-brown like cloudy quartz. Its eyes glowed with a steady, gemstone yellow light. Its claws, long and sharp, gleamed with a hard, crystalline sheen. A low, rumbling growl vibrated in the air, carrying a unique spiritual pressure that promised not just rending, but a terrifying petrification.
[Thousand-Year Crystal Bear,] Gu Yue identified instantly, her knowledge as the Silver Dragon King providing the data. A mutant species. Tough, powerful, with that dangerous crystallization ability on its strikes. A formidable foe for any Soul Elder.
In the observation room, a staff member gasped. "A Crystal Bear! Its touch can turn flesh to brittle crystal! Instructor Wu, we should extract her!"
Wu Changkong's eyes were sharp. "Wait," he commanded. He knew Gu Yue's capabilities. Her elemental control was exceptional. She had range and mobility. This was a harsh test, but not necessarily a death sentence. He wanted to see how this brilliant, icy girl would handle true, overwhelming pressure.
Gu Yue's own mind raced, but with glacial speed and clarity. The analytical sovereign assessed: 'Direct physical confrontation is suboptimal. Defense is fragile against crystallization effect. Probability of solo elimination: 42%. Probability of successful disengagement: 98%.'
The logical choice was clear: teleport away, evade.
But then, another layer of thought, woven with the silver threads of Na'er's memories and her own burgeoning, confusing feelings, presented a different calculus. 'Yao Xuan is nearby. He just concluded a major battle. His protective instincts, forged with Na'er and acknowledged by Gu Yue, are a core component of his character. A shared challenge… a moment of relied-upon strength…' It was a coldly strategic thought about emotional bonds, yet it was fueled by a genuine, warm desire to be near him, to see that focused concern directed at her.
It was not a manipulation. It was a convergence of strategy and secret longing. She would not feign helplessness—that would be an insult to them both. But she could engage, let the struggle be real, and in doing so, create a situation where their paths would meaningfully cross again within this trial.
Her silver eyes flashed with resolve. Soul power surged. Two brilliant yellow soul rings rose from her feet. The air around her grew dense with elemental potential—Elemental Tide. Her control over the surrounding energy sharpened to a razor's edge—Elemental Control.
The Crystal Bear charged, a living landslide of crystalline might.
Gu Yue didn't stand her ground. She flowed. A shimmer of silver light—Spatial Teleportation—and she was ten meters to the side. The bear crashed past her original position, obliterating a tree trunk.
Immediately, she retaliated. A barrage of icicles, sharp as daggers and fired with sniper precision, shot towards the bear's eyes. A wall of flame erupted from the ground between them, not to burn, but to obscure and harass.
The bear roared in frustration, swatting the icicles aside with crystalline claws that chimed like glass. It barreled through the fire, its hide smoking but unburned. It was slow, but terrifyingly relentless. One glancing blow from those claws could be disastrous.
Gu Yue danced. She was elegance and lethal precision. She used the terrain, teleporting in short, blinding bursts, hurling spears of ice and bolts of compressed air. She was in control, but it was a demanding, precarious control. A slight misstep, a fraction of a second's delay in her teleportation, and the tide would turn.
She allowed the pressure to show. A flicker of strain on her perfectly composed face. A breath that came slightly faster after a particularly close dodge. She wasn't losing, but she was painting a picture of a taxing, drawn-out battle against a foe that simply would not fall.
And all the while, a part of her consciousness, the part that was both Gu Yue and Na'er, reached out. Not with a scream, but with a subtle, focused pulse of her silver dragon bloodline—a faint, sovereign distress signal woven into the fabric of the simulated forest's energy field. A signal that only another with a supreme draconic heritage might sense.
She was creating a truth: a genuine, difficult fight. And within that truth, she was laying a thread, silver and fine, hoping it would lead the one she trusted—and needed to understand—back to her side.