The night sky over the Ruined Peak was an ink-black canvas, pierced only by the cold gleam of a crescent moon. Thunder rumbled far in the distance, a foreboding drumbeat echoing the rage building within Li Wei's chest.
Xian Yue stood before him, cloaked in robes of shadow and gold, a smile curling on his lips like a blade coated in poison. "You've come far, Li Wei," he said with venomous pride. "But every step you took… I led you here."
Li Wei's eyes blazed with a fury so potent the very air around him warped. The shadows that had once whispered like obedient servants now screamed like caged beasts. His heart pounded with the weight of betrayal, and his hands trembled—not from fear, but from the sheer force of power threatening to erupt.
"Then I'll repay you in kind," Li Wei growled, his voice low, raw, and wild. "With blood."
Xian Yue raised a brow, amused. "Still chasing revenge, little prince? Tell me—what will you do after you've cut my heart out? Will that bring your clan back? Will it bring her back?"
He gestured lazily toward Hua Ling, whose breath caught in her throat.
Li Wei didn't look at her. He couldn't. Not now. Not when the monster who'd taken everything still breathed. "You killed my father," he said, stepping forward. "You destroyed my kingdom. You left me in that pit—buried beneath corpses, magic, and curses. And you think I'll let you walk away?"
Xian Yue's smirk faded, a flicker of something colder in his gaze. "I didn't come here to walk away."
In a heartbeat, the shadows surged.
The battlefield between them cracked as dark energy slammed against stone, tearing chunks from the mountain peak. Li Wei countered with his own force, the Crystal of Shadows pulsing violently within his chest. It was no longer a tool—it was part of him. Fused to his very soul.
Sparks of corrupted spirit energy burst in the air like black fireflies. Blades clashed—Xian Yue's curved obsidian sword meeting Li Wei's halberd formed of shadowsteel and hate. Each strike sent shockwaves tearing across the mountaintop, blowing away loose rocks and uprooting ancient trees.
Behind them, Hua Ling struggled to keep up. Her heart screamed for Li Wei to stop—to not let the darkness consume him. But this wasn't a fight she could end with words. This was war. A reckoning.
"You should've died that day," Xian Yue snarled mid-strike.
"I did," Li Wei replied, voice like gravel. "Now you face the ghost."
And then he unleashed it—the technique that he had forged alone in the abyss: Shadow Devourer: Third Gate – Soul Rend.
The world around them twisted. For a moment, silence—total, unnerving silence—descended.
Then came the scream.
Xian Yue fell to his knees, clutching his chest, eyes wide in disbelief as Li Wei's blade embedded in his side—not fatal, but enough to shake him. He coughed up blood, and his aura flickered, destabilizing.
"Impossible…" he whispered.
Li Wei stood over him, breathing hard, blood trickling down his brow. He was wounded, but not broken. "You taught me to kill," he said, voice hollow. "Now I'll teach you what it means to be hunted."
But before he could finish the strike, Hua Ling rushed forward, blocking the final blow with her body.
"Enough!" she cried, eyes blazing. "You've proven your strength, Li Wei! But if you kill him now—you'll lose yourself."
Li Wei froze, the weight of his halberd heavy in his grip. The shadows within him snarled, demanding justice. But her words pierced through the noise, cutting into the storm.
"I swore I'd never forgive him," he said quietly.
"Then don't," she replied. "But don't become him either."
The silence that followed was deafening. And in it, Li Wei made a choice.
He withdrew the blade.
Xian Yue slumped, barely conscious. But he lived.
Li Wei turned away, his back to both of them. "This isn't mercy," he said without looking back. "This is a promise. I'll destroy everything you built. Piece by piece. And when there's nothing left of your empire… you'll beg me to kill you."
And with that, he vanished into the shadows, the night swallowing him whole.
Hua Ling stood over the broken Xian Yue, her heart heavy. She had saved one life tonight. But in doing so… had she lost another?