The claw of the lightning beast cleaved through the air, thunder rolling in its wake. It struck with savage force, hurling the youth in torn robes across the clearing. His body slammed against trees, splintering bark, then collapsed with a dull thud.

  A single cry split the stillness. “No—!”

  Not far away, a massive illusory tree shimmered into being. Before it stood a girl, her small face drained of all colour, lips bloodless, yet her eyes blazed crimson with grief and fury. Bark rippled across her skin, weaving into living armour as the phantom tree flared behind her.

  She lunged. Each step cracked the earth, green radiance gathering at her limbs. Her right hand elongated, fingers fusing into a jagged wooden spear. In one breath she crossed the space, driving her arm toward the beast’s skull.

  The lightning beast, already staggering from exhaustion, roared defiance. Its fangs clamped down, shattering her shoulder with a sickening crunch. Pain ripped through her, yet her strike did not falter. The sharpened wood thrust deep, piercing hide, bone, and spirit. The beast spasmed, raw qi bursting from its form, then unravelled into motes of light. Only a glimmering green essence crystal remained, clattering to the earth with a crystalline chime.

  Her breath came ragged, blood slicking her lips. She stumbled forward, legs quivering, each step dragging her closer to the fallen youth. Vision blurred, but determination lit her eyes—just a few more steps.

  The air shifted. Instinct screamed. Too late.

  The arrow tore through her chest, embedding deep in her heart. Her eyes widened once, a broken breath escaping with the blood that spilled from her lips.

  Her body wavered. Sight dimmed. When she hit the earth, another shadow was already moving.

  Xiao Lei landed softly, calm as drifting ash. No triumph, no sorrow touched his expression. He approached the fallen girl, crouching at her side. His palm pressed lightly against her abdomen. A faint ripple stirred the air.

  Her qi unravelled in green wisps, drawn into his body like smoke under wind, sinking deeper until all trace was gone.

  Silence stretched. Only the hiss of qi filled the clearing.

  When his eyes opened again, a flicker of satisfaction gleamed in their depths. Within him, suspended in his dantian, lay a pebble-sized sphere of emerald light, pulsing faintly—her final essence, now his.

  From the folds of the girl’s bloodied robes, Xiao Lei retrieved a small flask, its glass cool against his palm. Inside, no more than fifteen drops of colourless essence shimmered faintly, each bead quivering like dew under moonlight. He slipped it away without a word, his movements precise, deliberate—not weighed by guilt but by calculation.

  He crossed the clearing, boots sinking into damp soil where battle had torn earth and bark alike. Four green crystals lay among the wreckage, their glow dulled by blood. He picked them up one by one, the edges biting lightly into his fingertips, their faint hum echoing the ferocity of the beasts they had once belonged to.

  The scene told its story clearly enough: two cultivators ambushed by four lightning beasts. They had fought desperately, felling three before the tide turned. The youth had fallen beneath tooth and claw. The girl had fought on, but her fate had already been sealed.

  At last, Xiao Lei approached the boy’s still form. His expression did not shift as he pried free the youth’s flask, still filled with ten drops of essence. Adding the new crystals to his tally, his mind flicked through the numbers: fifty drops in all.

  He lingered only long enough to be certain nothing had been overlooked. Then, with a glance at the silent clearing, he turned and left. He moved unhurried, each step whispering over uneven ground.

  The clearing faded behind him, its silence trailing like a shadow. In the day since leaving the cavern, Xiao Lei had learned to read the valley’s rhythm. Though the sky remained the same shade of stubborn red, never shifting toward dawn or dusk, the beasts seemed bound to some deeper cycle. At times the wilderness stirred with restless activity—shadows flitting through branches, low growls carried on the wind. At others, silence pressed heavy, as though every creature had retreated into unseen lairs.

  But the deeper he travelled, the more frequent the gatherings became. Packs of lightning beasts prowled in numbers, each stronger than the last. He had chosen avoidance, slipping past unseen, for without empty vessels every battle wasted both risk and reward.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Now, his steps halted. His body stilled, breath caught. Something unseen prickled against his awareness.

  Several breaths passed. Nothing stirred.

  Narrowing his eyes, Xiao Lei raised his bow. The string thrummed as arrows hissed upward, slicing through the canopy. Metal struck unseen barriers, clanging sharply before tumbling back, lifeless against the soil.

  Silence stretched, taut as wire.

  Then—

  A soft rustle. The heavy drop of weight through branches. Figures peeled from the canopy, spilling into the clearing one after another. The air grew thick, expectant.

  Xiao Lei’s eyes swept the clearing. Eight figures circled him, robes mismatched and torn, streaked with dried blood that crusted the ragged seams. The smell of iron clung to the air—a battlefield stench pressed to them. Whoever they were, they had fought hard before finding him. Now their bruises and wary stances fixed on him like predators closing in on fresh prey.

  A girl in dark-grey robes stepped forward, lips curved in a smile that never reached her eyes.

  “Little brother,” she said, voice soft, coaxing, “this big sister is in need of lightning essence qi. Be magnanimous and hand over what you carry.”

  The others said nothing, only stared—sharp, hungry, as though he were a carp laid on a butcher’s board.

  Xiao Lei’s chest rose once, steady, unhurried. He knew he was outnumbered. But not defeated.

  His reply was quiet, unforced, yet cut through the dusk like iron drawn from a sheath.

  “You dare rob one of the Royal Academy?”

  The words sank in. Shoulders stiffened. Breath caught. A few glanced at each other, hesitation flickering like sparks across dry grass. They cursed him silently—why had he not worn the academy’s robes? Had he done so, not one among them would have dared meet his gaze. Yet the bow was already drawn, the string already released. No retreat remained.

  Xiao Lei saw the doubt ripple through them and hid his satisfaction behind a still face. A quiet smirk curled at the edge of thought.

  Across the clearing, his gaze slid to a skinny youth whose knuckles whitened around his weapon. Then, pitched to carry, he called out loud and clear, as if greeting someone just beyond that youth’s shoulder.

  “Elder brother, you came.”

  Every head turned toward the voice.

  For a breath, the circle broke; tension twisted into startled motion. The skinny youth’s knees hollowed, a tremor rising as if his bones had turned to water. But the illusion lasted no longer than a heartbeat. Realization struck—they were alone.

  By then, Xiao Lei was gone.

  The air quivered—Void Step. His figure blurred, then reappeared at the far edge, shadow falling across a scar-faced youth.

  Claws of metal unfurled over Xiao Lei’s fist, talons catching what little light pierced the canopy. He struck, fist lancing toward the scarred youth, whose eyes widened as panic clawed up his throat. A black shield flared, conjured in desperation.

  The blow never landed.

  At the last instant, Xiao Lei’s fist froze, suspended a hair’s breadth from the trembling barrier. His body pivoted, weight shifting. Without pause, he turned the halted strike into momentum, slipping past like a shadow riding the wind.

  Leaves scattered, branches shivered. In that fracture of chaos, Xiao Lei was gone. He slipped through the opening, carved with nothing but a glance, a word, and the ghost of a blow.

  “Stop him!” the girl shouted, voice cutting through the heavy air. She lunged after Xiao Lei, robes whipping around her legs. The others scattered behind her, each movement precise, desperate. They knew the stakes. If he escaped, ruin awaited. Every second mattered—they had to silence him.

  Xiao Lei’s pace never faltered. Branches snapped underfoot, jagged roots scraped his ankles, yet he moved with the fluid grace of wind threading through dense forest. He weaved between trees and boulders, each step deliberate, his body reading the terrain as if it were an extension of his senses.

  A small figure broke from the pack—a youth with quick, twitching limbs and sharp, calculating eyes. He ground his teeth, biting the tip of his tongue. Blood welled, sprinkling fine droplets over his feet, searing his senses.

  The blood mist clung, shimmering faintly, a cruel gift of essence. Speed surged unnaturally. With a burst, he closed in on Xiao Lei, a shadow racing against the other seven.

  His hands danced through intricate seals. In an instant, an illusory form coalesced—a massive monkey, coiling and twisting in the air, tail snapping like a living whip. It lashed toward Xiao Lei with the weight of a falling tree. He skidded, claws grazing inches from his shoulder.

  Xiao Lei’s eyes narrowed. Focus crystallized. A jagged, malformed projectile appeared in a blink, hissing through the air. It struck with a dull crack, piercing the monkey’s tail.

  A scream shredded the forest silence. The youth staggered, his echo dissolving into smoke-like nothingness. Essence blood had drained him; he was too weak to continue. Yet his sacrifice had bought precious time.

  The other seven closed in, eyes blazing determination. No words passed; understanding hung between them. The outcome seemed inevitable.

  Xiao Lei’s chest rose and fell slowly, crimson light flickering faintly in his eyes. He did not wish to fight—not from fear, but calculation. Every strike, every display of power, risked revealing secrets reserved for crucial moments. He considered unleashing the aura of the red orb in his cracked flask, a lure for the emperor lightning beast.

  Just then, the pup’s voice echoed in his mind again, sharp and deliberate—its second warning in quick succession. It had painted the battlefield before the first step was taken. Now, with this word, a spark lit within him, sharpening his gaze. A thrill touched his expression, immediate and subtle, before settling into cold, unwavering calculation.

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  Destiny Reckoning. It’s set in the same universe, and you definitely don’t want to miss it, because the stories will eventually crossover.