It was early afternoon. Chen was running hard. His lungs pulled in air like they were on fire. Behind him, a giant Scaled Earth-Ripper was gaining ground. It was a six-legged beast covered in stone-hard plates, usually found deep in the mountain crevices. Chen's teeth were pressed together. His jaw muscles were tight. He fought the stinging pain from the long scratches on his ribs. He was tired. His eyes were heavy from lack of sleep. But his legs didn't stop. He couldn't afford to stop. If he did, he'd be nothing more than a snack for a monster that didn't even know his name.
He could feel the actual heat from the beast's open mouth hitting his lower back. It was that close. The smell of rot and wet earth came off the thing in waves.
Chen didn't panic. He jumped. He drove his bone knife deep into a thick pine tree to pivot. He rolled three times in the air, clearing the beast's head and landing behind its massive tail. He felt the wind of the beast's movement brush past his skin. It was a near miss.
"My bone knife will shatter if I try to force it through those scales," he thought. He had to be smart. He had to be fast.
The Ripper wasn't stupid. It whipped its tail around in a blind arc, catching Chen in the chest and throwing him twenty feet into a trunk. Chen hit the wood with a wet thud. The air left his lungs in a single, painful gasp. His jaw throbbed. His left eye was swollen shut. The skin was purple and tight. He tasted copper.
"I'd rather die than stay this weak," he muttered. He spit blood into the dirt.
The Earth-Ripper turned. It wanted to see him stop moving before it started eating. It charged again. This was the moment. Chen stood his ground until the beast lunged. Its jaws were wide enough to swallow his torso whole. He stepped to the left. He let the beast's own momentum carry its open mouth onto the bone blade he had pre-set against the tree.
The blade drove through the roof of its mouth. The beast roared. It was a sound that vibrated in Chen's bones. It tried to pull back, but Chen moved faster. He delivered a kick fueled by a year of carrying boulders.
The force lifted the massive creature off the ground. The blade was still stuck in its skull.
Chen followed it up. He ripped the knife out and drove it into the soft, pale skin of the beast's throat. One twist. The Ripper went limp. Its heavy body hit the ground with a thud that shook the dirt.
He stood there. His chest was heaving. His hands were shaking with adrenaline. He'd been training with Mo for a year now. He was grinding through the misery to see how strong he had actually become. His martial arts were solid. But he wasn't a master yet. He was still stuck at the early stages of Foundation Establishment. A year of work for this. It felt like a drop of water in an ocean of blood.
"Master Mo!" he shouted as he reached the riverbank. He was dragging the beast's severed head by the ear. The blood trailed behind him in the mud.
Mo was sitting on a rock. He was staring at a fishing line. He had fifty fish piled in a basket next to him. He didn't look up when Chen approached. He just stood. He dusted off his dark robes. Finally, he turned to look at Chen's bruised, swollen face.
Mo gave a single, short nod. "Your body is tense. Strong. For a boy your age, you've bypassed the normal physical limits."
Chen tried to smile. His swollen jaw made it hurt. "Thank you, Master Mo."
"Follow me. Let's fix those wounds," Mo said. He turned his back on the beast head.
Chen's face fell. He thought the kill would mean more. He thought Mo would see the progress. "Master Mo!" he called out, running to catch up.
"Don't you dare bring that thing into my cave," Mo warned. His voice was sharp. It was a reminder that Chen was still just a student, and a messy one at that.
Chen jumped back. He threw the head into the bushes. He felt a sting of disappointment. He'd killed a mid-tier beast at his level. It didn't even earn a second glance. It was just another Tuesday in the Northeast.
Back in the cave, it was time to meditate. He forgot about his hunger. He crossed his legs. He stripped off his shirt. He let his mind go internal. His skin began to glow. Golden tattoos traced his meridians like a map of light. They pulsed with every slow breath he took.
He focused. For an hour, his Qi increased. It turned into a hot, invisible weight around his body. But the hatred was there, too. It was always there. He saw the images of his fallen clan. He saw his mother. He saw his father's blood on the stones. He kept his hands on his knees. His fists were clenched so tight his knuckles went white.
In his chest, the Aethelgard Bead started to spin. It didn't glow gold this time. It blazed with a dark, purple flame. The pain was sharp. It felt like his veins were being filled with molten lead. It burned from the inside out. He saw the face of Zhao Fengge laughing in his mind.
"Weak," the voices in his head hissed. "You couldn't even protect sister."
"Why are you so weak, Lin Chen?"
He saw everyone he loved cursing him. He stood in the middle of them. His eyes were shaking. Tears were falling. They weren't just sad; they were angry. Then he saw Mo standing there in a hut. Mo looked at him with doubt.
"You are still weak," Mo's voice echoed. It was louder than the others. "You can't be strong in your life. Your pathetic family was poor."
The words hit him like a physical strike. He dropped to the ground in his mind. He was sobbing. He was trying to make the voices stop. He wanted silence. He wanted peace. But there was no peace for a boy with a hole in his soul.
Chen's heart pulsed. The Qi around him vanished. It was replaced by a cold, black aura. It felt like the bottom of a deep, dark valley.
"I'm not weak," he whispered.
His eyes snapped open. They were glowing a deep, violent red. Suddenly, the core in his chest divided. It didn't break. It duplicated. A massive wave of energy blasted outward. It shattered the rocks near him. It shook the cave walls until dust fell from the ceiling.
He didn't just have a Life Core anymore. He had a Demonic Core.
Chen's body lifted off the ground. He was suspended by the clashing energies. One was gold and warm; the other was black and freezing. They fought for space in his chest. They fought for control of his limbs.
Mo ran out of the inner cave. His face was pale. He'd felt the explosion. He saw Chen floating. Chen was unconscious. He was wrapped in a shroud of black and red energy.
Mo flew forward to catch him. He reached out with hands that had killed gods. But the dark aura pushed back. It was a physical force. It sent the old master skidding across the stone floor.
Mo wiped a thin trail of blood from his lip. He looked at the boy in horror. His hands were trembling.
"Where did he get a demonic energy like that?" Mo muttered.