A Song For The Ages

Feiyin walked forward through the mist, each step slow, quiet, and deliberate. The corridors of the ancient ruin stretched on, their walls cracked with time, their silence thick like the breath before a storm. In his hand, his saber hung loosely, no longer thrumming with killing intent, but heavy in its stillness.

Feng Liu was dead.

The oath Feiyin had made before Hui's grave, his solemn promise, had finally been fulfilled. The weight that had pressed into his spirit for so long had lifted, though it left behind no joy. Just quiet. Just stillness. He let out a small chuckle, soft and tired. Not laughter, not triumph, just relief. It felt like something old had been exhaled, a breath held too long.

He was exhausted, not in body, but in mind. That kind of fatigue that lingers after the flame inside has burned bright and hard for too long. With the purpose that had pushed him forward now complete, smoke curled in the space it had left behind.

He stood still for a while, eyes closed, listening to the silence. Then, he took a deep breath, not to rest, but to move forward again.

He looked ahead. The path had not ended.

"Rest well, Hui," he whispered. "I kept my promise. I hope you find peace."

But there was no peace for him. The flame rekindled in his eyes.

Not yet.

The Saint Spirit Sect still stood.

They had caused Feng Liu. They had twisted boys and girls into weapons, turned suffering into strength and madness. The rot ran deep, cultivated over generations, and it needed to be cut out. That, Feiyin knew, was the true root.

The walls around him shifted, dust falling like forgotten whispers. The hall expanded ahead, opening into a larger space bathed in a pale crystalline glow. In the center stood a glowing orb, resting on a stone pedestal. Its pulse mirrored a heartbeat.

Feiyin stepped closer. He placed a hand on the orb's smooth surface.

Light burst out.

A vision formed, and it drew him in.

He saw a planet entrenched in war. Giant skyships streaked overhead, their engines trailing fire, their cannons raining devastation below. Beneath them, black swarms scuttled and crawled across shattered terrain. Buildings had collapsed. Smoke choked the skies.

A name appeared in his mind. The Hive.

A monstrous species that consumed essence, overrunning worlds and devouring everything. This planet had been seeded with multiple Breeders, one of the Hive's satellites, a type of creature that spawned new generations using the planet's essence. If it was not destroyed before its roots reached the core of the planet, then it would suck it all out, pumping out legions of insectoids to consume everything on their path.

Feiyin blinked once, his breath catching in his throat as the weight of the revelation settled in. An entire planet could be consumed by such an attack.

Shock pulsed in his chest. He hadn't expected to be handed a vision of what lay beyond the veil of his small world in this trial. A weight pressed into his shoulders, the sheer scope of it all turning awe into something heavier, somber. What else waited out there in the stars? What other horrors had these people once faced?

Before he could finish the thought, the chamber dissolved.

Heat and smoke washed over him. The sky was red, the air thick with ash. His armor was foreign, forged of old dynasty alloy, but it fit like it had always been his. Soldiers in similar gear shouted nearby, rallying as another Hive surge approached.

A commander shouted: "Hold the line! The Breeder is pushing forward, we must cut it down before it anchors!"

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Feiyin didn't need further explanation, he shook his head to sort his thoughts, a smile on his face as he stretched his arms. This was the trial he was sent to. He was part of a battalion of early Qi condensation realm cultivators tasked with taking out the weakest of the Breeders sent to the planet, while the other units went to take on the Astral Chakra realm equivalents.

Just when I needed to vent a bit

Swarms of insectoids charged. Their eyes were like cold black pearls, their limbs armored and spiked. Some crawled, others flew. Some exploded on contact. He activated his saber intent, darkening its edge, then sprinted into battle.

One of the insectoids lunged. He ducked, slashed upward, cleaving through its neck. Acid splattered across his shoulder guard, hissing. He twisted, parried another blow, then swept a wide arc through a group.

Every movement was precise. His oscillation sense helped him read the swarm's rhythm. Their hive-mind made them predictable. But their numbers made them overwhelming.

To the side, a tunneler burst through the ground, sending soil and rock flying. Its jaws opened wide. Feiyin dashed beneath its lunge, stabbing into its underside. It shrieked and fell, its death sending tremors through the soil.

Above, a skyship descended lower. Energy cannons carved through the swarm, beams of white-hot light tearing lines across the battlefield. More soldiers descended on tethers, forming squads that charged to reinforce their crumbling front lines. But still, the Hive surged forward.

The Breeder revealed itself soon after. It rose behind the main swarm, a grotesque behemoth pulsating with essence sacs that glowed with a sickly hue. Its carapace gleamed with hardened shell, and clusters of compound eyes shifted in erratic patterns. Coils of tendrils lashed the ground, crushing everything they touched. From open sacs along its abdomen, new spawn dripped onto the scorched earth.

Feiyin's jaw tightened. That was the source, and the target of this trial.

He pushed ahead. His saber darkening with his intent as he let loose. He danced through the field, cutting down the drones that rushed to stop him. Blades flashed, limbs fell, screeches filled the air as his path carved toward the towering monstrosity.

The Breeder sensed him. It screamed, a shrill, bone-chilling sound, and flung jagged resin projectiles through the haze. Feiyin ducked, rolled, advanced. His armor bore burns and dents, yet he didn't slow.

Around the Breeder, elite insectoid guardians rose, massive creatures, plated with thick armor, wielding scythe-like limbs. They rushed at him in a wall of death. He met them head-on.

His saber clashed with their blades, sparks and ichor flying. One swiped at him from above, he shifted, redirected, then countered with a precise stab through the underjoint. Another came from the flank. He pivoted, twisting his torso to evade, then kicked it back before finishing it with a diagonal slash.

For every inch he gained, blood sprayed.

He breathed hard, though his lips curled into a grin. Sweat clung to his brow, and his chest rose and fell in steady rhythm, not from exhaustion, but exhilaration. For once, he didn't have to hold back. Inside the Saint Spirit Sect, he had always masked his strength, concealed the depths of his talent. But here, here he could unleash it all. Essence qi surged through his three dantians in full flow, unrestrained, roaring like a river uncorked. The sheer pressure filled his veins with fire and clarity.

He weaved through the battlefield with grace sharpened by instinct, his saber arcing through the air with precision and fury. Blade arcs of essence qi and saber intent slashed through the insectoid ranks, illuminating the smoke-filled air with streaks of deadly light. He tested his limits, pushed his body, poured every ounce of strength into each movement, and for the first time in a long while, he breathed freely.

Only a few meters remained.

The Breeder reared higher, preparing to unleash a shockwave of energy. He felt the pressure building, raw, unfiltered essence gathering at its core.

Feiyin leapt.

He spun mid-air, saber coiling with oscillating saber Intent. Time slowed.

Then he struck.

The blade plunged deep into the pulsing sac, acting as a conduit as Feiyin's Saber intent fed on his essence qi to let loose inside his opponent. A surge of light erupted, tearing through the battlefield. The Breeder spasmed violently. A soundless scream vibrated through the air, echoing from every Hive creature that was born from it.

They collapsed. One by one. A wave of stillness washed over the world.

Feiyin dropped to the ground, overlooking the scarred battlefield with an excited smile. His breaths came slowly, each one inhaling essence as his three nexuses spun and converted it into essence qi

Then the trial shifted.

Far above, in a space between trials, a spirit stirred. The guardian of the ruin observed the many trials as its eyes narrowed.

Among the ripples of soul and essence, one presence shone differently.

That one...

It focused on Feiyin's path. The residual echo of his last strike. The coordination of saber intent and spiritual depth. And more notably, the presence of something uncommon.

"An Awakened Intent... not a mere seed. He has already begun to shape it."

The spirit hovered silently, thoughts deepening.

"Interesting," it murmured."