With a crisp and overwhelmingly loud crack of thunder, Jin Huang opened his eyes to see another flash of crimson lightning. He was soaked through and through, and more water was rushing past his body as it continued on its way down to the basin at the heart of Obsidian City.
The rain wasn't falling as intensely as it had been, but the skies were still black and the lightning was still rampant.
Glancing around, Jin Huang saw that his body had been pushed by the water until he hit against the support column of an obsidian gate. Groaning, he sat himself up straighter and assessed his internal situation.
Surprisingly, he didn't feel like anything was wrong with him at all.
In fact… he felt good.
Jin Huang blinked, then frowned, instinctively taking a deep breath. The moment he did, the surrounding air poured into his lungs- thick, acrid, and heavy with demonic energy. He braced himself for pain that never came.
Instead, warmth bloomed in his chest.
The demonic qi, violent and corrosive by nature, was drawn inward- and then somehow refined. As it passed through his body, it shed its murky darkness, transforming into a muted, radiant gold that flowed naturally through his meridians like liquid sunlight.
There was no resistance or blockage. His channels simply accepted it as if they had been waiting for it all along.
Jin Huang's breath hitched as he thought back to the state he had been in during his fight with the rogue cultivator. Due to being on that train of thought, he frowned and cursed under his breath; he had not gotten to take the rogue's belongings.
Again, his attention was drawn inward.
His Perfect Mortal Foundation- which had not changed ever since he ate the divine herb in the Fallen Heaven Realm- was now fully awake.
The golden energy had circulated all on its own, repairing microfractures in his flesh, reinforcing bone and sinew, and smoothing his meridians until they felt wide, resilient, and inexhaustible. Old aches vanished and any residual injuries dissolved as if they had never existed.
"What the-" Jin Huang muttered softly, looking down at his hands.
They were steady. Strong. Faint golden veins pulsed beneath rain-slicked skin before fading from sight.
Only then did he properly look around.
Obsidian City loomed before him, less of a city and more a colossal sculpture carved directly from a single, night-black mass.
Towers rose like jagged fangs, their surfaces slick with rain and etched with ancient demonic sigils that pulsed faintly beneath the stone. Streets descended in spirals and sharp angles toward the basin at the city's heart, where black water churned endlessly, reflecting the crimson lightning above.
There were no lights and there was no warmth. Only shadow, rain, crimson flashes and the distant echoes of sounds that Jin Huang hoped wasn't movement.
He swallowed, "There's no way this place is academy-approved."
He walked between the support columns, going no further, and properly observed the 'city.'
That was when he felt them. The eyes looking on from the desolate darkness. Eyes-- and lots of them.
A low, wet growl rolled through the obsidian streets.
From the alleys, from half-collapsed archways, from atop spires and broken bridges, shapes began to emerge- demonic beasts of every grotesque variety.
Hulking, sinewed creatures with too many limbs. Serpentine horrors with split jaws and glowing eyes. Chitin-armored monstrosities that scraped against the stone as they moved.
They all froze the moment they saw him. Then something snapped.
Their pupils dilated. Hearts- literal, glowing, pulsating heart shapes- flared into existence in their eyes.
A massive horned beast inhaled sharply, steam blasting from its nostrils as it scraped it's jagged hoof along the obsidian floor. Another let out a high-pitched, warbling cry that echoed through the city like a love song sung by a nightmare. A spider-like demon clacked its mandibles excitedly, weaving a web in the shape of a very enthusiastic heart.
"Why are they... looking at me like that," Jin Huang whispered, a fear that he was yet to understand creeping into his mind.
Understanding came when the nearest beast dropped to the ground and rolled onto its back, exposing its armored underbelly and wagging its barbed reproductive organ that was currently hard enough to crack stone.
Another demonic beast shoved it aside possessively.
The rest surged forward.
The streets shook as dozens of demonic beasts charged- not with bloodlust, but with fervent, unhinged devotion. They howled, bellowed, screeched, and tripped over one another in their eagerness, all eyes locked onto Jin Huang like he was the most beautiful, irresistible existence they had ever laid eyes upon.
Golden energy pulsed from his body in faint waves, invisible to him but intoxicating to them.
Jin Huang stared and they stared back.
"Oh... shit."
The beasts roared and gave chase.
Jin Huang turned and ran, his feet slamming against obsidian as demonic claws scraped, fangs snapped, and far too many enthusiastic creatures tried to get closer- to rub against him, circle him, block his path, or simply exist in his immediate personal space.
Thunder cracked overhead.
Obsidian City echoed with the sounds of pursuit; an onslaught of monsters were still pouring out.
And Jin Huang, glowing increasingly golden as more time passed, sprinted away from the city and back out into the outskirts of demonic territory. Being pursued by horrors that looked upon him as nothing less than a walking, breathing miracle, his fear was at an all-time high
"I am not built for this!" Jin Huang shouted, vaulting over a cracked obsidian balustrade as something the size of a carriage tried to gently headbutt him mid-stride.
Behind him, the demonic beasts wailed.
A three-headed hound skidded to a stop, claws screeching sparks across stone as Jin Huang barely slipped past a collapsing archway.
"Aooo—!" it cried, all three heads drooping in exaggerated despair.
Another beast- tall, long-limbed, and tragically graceful- leapt for him, only for Jin Huang to duck at the last second. It sailed overhead, hit a wall, and slid down slowly, leaving a heart-shaped dent behind.
A chorus of anguished, frustrated howls followed.
"Waaa—!"
"Rrrrhh—!"
"Hsssss—why pretty boy keep running?!"
Jin Huang didn't have time to wonder why the beasts sounded so emotionally wounded- or why some of them could talk. His legs were moving faster than they ever had before- too fast. The ground blurred beneath his feet. Each breath pulled in demonic air, and each breath fed that golden current roaring through his body.
His bones creaked before they… stretched.
Jin Huang felt it distinctly- his limbs lengthening by the tiniest margin, muscles tightening and expanding, posture straightening without effort. His center of balance shifted, stabilized, and locked into place. His steps became lighter, more efficient, as if the ground itself was reluctantly letting him go.
"Why do I feel… taller?" he gasped as he vaulted over a sweeping paw the size of a mighty log.
The golden energy surged.
Without ceremony, without thunder or insight, something clicked in him.
Energy that had once merely circulated now gathered, pooled and compressed. It flowed inward toward a nascent center, forming a crude but undeniable convergence point. Jin Huang didn't notice the significance of it. He only noticed that suddenly, running felt easy.
Too easy.
He burst past a ridge, leaving three massive beasts grasping at empty air. They collapsed onto the stone in a heap, clutching at one another dramatically.
"Ahhh…!"
"So close…!"
"He smelled like sunshine…"
Jin Huang screamed when a winged monstrosity swooped down from above, talons grazing his sleeve. He flailed, tripped, and somehow managed a functional roll before popping back up on the other side of the attack with a startled yelp.
The beast landed, turned around, and let out the most devastated sound imaginable.
"…whimper."
Even the other demons paused to stare at it.
"I'm sorry but I don't like animals-!" Jin Huang shouted back reflexively, not knowing why he was even apologizing as he sprinted on.
The outskirts rose sharply ahead- massive obsidian formations jutting out like broken teeth, forming precarious paths along the city's edge. Jin Huang ran along them, arms windmilling, nearly slipping more than once as claws snapped inches from his heels.
One last beast lunged and immediately Jin Huang felt hot breath at his back. He didn't think before he jumped.
The obsidian edge vanished beneath his feet, and the world dropped away all at once. Wind roared past him as the golden glow around his body flared instinctively- then dimmed.
The howls above faded, replaced by shocked, pained cries of loss and frustration echoing uselessly over the edge.
Jin Huang fell.
Down.
Further down.
Into an endless, empty blackness with no ground in sight.