Crimson Blades, Shattered Pride
The cracked plains of the Dimension Battlefield stretched endlessly under a bruised, blood-colored sky. Roars echoed through the shifting air as beasts warred, cultivators hunted, and the strong devoured the weak.
Amidst this chaos walked Li Xuan—solitary, grim, his saber dragging faint furrows in the dead stone beneath his feet.
System Notification:
—Mission: Locate the Scarlet Soul Orchid (Treasure Rank: B)
—Zone: Eastern Ruins, Spirit-Hollowed Basin
—Warning: Hostile Factions Detected
—System Interaction: [Passive Tracking Only – Stealth Mode Engaged]
—EXP Bar: [Late Qi Condensation: 91% → 95%]
—System Points: 377 / 500
He stopped. The wind carried a heavy stench—burnt blood, charred flesh.
"So they're near."
His body tensed. The terrain ahead sloped down into a crater of broken architecture and twisted trees. This was the basin.
He stepped forward—and the world exploded into motion.
A beast lunged from the left. Crimson-furred, horned, and twice his size, it struck with a paw thick enough to crush a boulder. Li Xuan activated Phantom Step, sliding beneath it, his saber rising in a sweeping arc—
CLANG!
The beast's bone-plated underbelly deflected the blow, but it staggered.
Li Xuan twisted, kicking off the creature's leg, and rebounded into the air. His eyes locked on its neck.
"Weakness: Cervical joint, left side."
The Executioner Saber roared.
SPLURT!
A jet of blood sprayed skyward. The beast crashed, twitching violently.
System: +1 Kill – Bloodfang Beast – EXP +2.3% – SP +8
EXP Bar: 97.3%
SP: 385 / 500
But before he could breathe, shouting echoed from the cliffs above.
"IT'S HIM! LI XUAN!"
"Don't let him take the Orchid!"
Dozens of figures surged forward—armed, robed in the emblems of five major sects.
Leading them was a towering young man with bronze armor and a greatsword strapped to his back. His aura pulsed like a storm—Early Foundation Establishment Realm.
Li Xuan's eyes narrowed.
"…I see. A sect-backed genius."
The man smirked. "You're Li Xuan. Good. I was hoping for a warm-up."
"Name?" Li Xuan asked calmly.
"Huo Zhen. Inner disciple of the Crimson Pillar Sect." His smile turned bloodthirsty. "You'll kneel before my flame or be turned to ash."
The ground quaked as Huo Zhen unsheathed his sword. Fire surged across his body like a tidal wave.
BOOM!
He vanished.
Li Xuan ducked.
A wave of fire sliced through the air above him, carving a trench fifty feet long. The shockwave shattered boulders.
"Too fast."
Li Xuan braced—and blocked a second blow. Sparks erupted. His arm throbbed with the force of it.
Huo Zhen pressed forward, each swing like thunder. "What's wrong, demon boy? Your legend ends here!"
Li Xuan gritted his teeth. Phantom Step! He blinked sideways, countering with a feint—then twisted mid-air, slamming his elbow into Huo Zhen's ribs.
CRACK!
The man grunted and backstepped—but laughed. "Not bad."
Their fight ignited the basin. Swords clashed. Blood sprayed. Beasts howled from afar, fleeing the chaotic energy.
Li Xuan's vision swam. He'd taken a gash across the ribs, blood seeping through torn robes. He ducked another strike, barely missing death.
System: Critical Injury Avoided – HP -17%
"If I had hesitated…"
Li Xuan's thoughts raced. I've been leaning too heavily on the system. What if one day it goes silent?
He parried another flaming strike, redirecting the impact into the ground.
He needed more. Not just skills given. Not just perks inherited. He needed refinement, experience, mastery that was his.
Li Xuan roared—and began countering not with techniques but raw instinct.
His body lowered. Centered. Breathed with the rhythm of the fight.
He deflected, moved inside, and struck Huo Zhen's shoulder with a brutal shoulder-bash—stunning him.
Then Executioner roared.
SLASH!
Blood erupted from Huo Zhen's thigh.
"ARGH!"
He stumbled.
Li Xuan didn't finish him.
He turned.
"You're too slow," he said coldly—and vanished into the basin's shadows.
System: Strategic Retreat – No EXP Lost
EXP: 99.9% → Level Up: Foundation Establishment Initiation Imminent
SP: 397 / 500
—
Later that night…
Within the ruins, Li Xuan sat cross-legged.
Breathing.
Bleeding.
But smiling.
He hadn't won.
But he hadn't died either.
System: Internal Refinement Mode Engaged – Initiating Self-Cultivation Cycle
—Skill Development:
• Saber Mastery (67%)
• Close Combat (Refining Through Combat)
• Kill Instinct (Strengthening)
• New Path Chosen: Perception Flow – Passive Combat Reading (Unlocking)
EXP: [Foundation Establishment – 0.3%]
"I need to become more than just a system user," Li Xuan whispered. "I will build a legacy that outlives even this power."
He stood.
And far off, the Scarlet Soul Orchid shimmered beneath the moonlight, still untouched.
—
Meanwhile, back at the academy…
News spread like wildfire.
"Huo Zhen fought Li Xuan—and Li Xuan escaped?!"
"They say he wounded him too."
"Is he really just Qi Condensation?"
A group of outer disciples, ragged but wild-eyed, stood beneath the courtyard moon.
One stepped forward. "He fights alone… but not forever."
"I'll follow him," said another. "Even if I die. I want to be forged by that kind of fire."
So it began.
Trash disciples.
Nobodies.
Stepping onto the path of monsters.
And Li Xuan's legion… had just begun to take shape.