The Glade's Trial

The moment Jiang Chen stepped deeper into the Verdant Moon Glade, the world around him shifted.

The air grew denser, charged with an energy unlike anything he had encountered before. The sky above was obscured, not by thick clouds, but by a shimmering veil of silver light, like the reflection of a hidden realm bleeding into this one. The trees stretched unnaturally high, their canopies weaving into an endless tapestry of glowing leaves, casting an eerie, ethereal glow upon the ground.

Jiang Chen's steps slowed. Something was wrong.

The ground beneath him rippling slightly, as if the very space he walked upon was unstable. He turned to glance back, just to ensure his direction—

And his heart stopped.

He was standing at the same place he had stepped into minutes ago.

His golden-amber eyes narrowed. A spatial formation? No… this feels different.

He took a step forward—only to find himself back at his original position.

His pulse quickened. A maze? No, there are no paths…

Jiang Chen clenched his fists. He could see the other side of the glade, just beyond a misty stretch of ancient trees. Yet no matter how many times he moved, he couldn't cross the distance.

The realization sank in.

This wasn't a simple barrier.

This place was warping space itself.

Jiang Chen inhaled sharply, his Starshadow Body activating instinctively.

A dark diamond-shaped mark glowed on his forehead, and his golden eyes darkened into an abyssal hue. His body flickered—

Only to reappear in the same place.

Jiang Chen cursed under his breath.

"This fucking place…" he muttered.

His spatial shift wasn't working properly. It felt as if the very air around him was denying his movement. He had used it successfully before, but the environment here didn't allow incomplete mastery.

Again.

He focused his mind, imagining his destination, letting the power of space flow through him instead of forcing it.

The world blurred.

Jiang Chen flickered— and moved.

Not far, but two steps forward.

He smirked.

"So that's how it is."

This glade wasn't just a place of opportunity.

It was a trial.

A deep chuckle echoed through the glade.

Jiang Chen's body tensed as he spun around, spear already in hand.

The air in front of him split apart like a shattered mirror.

From the rift stepped a figure, tall and humanoid, yet clearly not human.

It had the shape of a man, but its body was woven from strands of flowing darkness and shimmering void energy. Its features were obscured, a living shadow wearing a robe of the stars themselves. Two silver eyes peered at Jiang Chen through the void.

Jiang Chen instinctively tightened his grip on his weapon. This was different from anything he had fought before.

"You are unpolished," the being spoke, its voice both deep and layered, as if echoing from multiple dimensions. "Yet your blood… your very existence carries the weight of space itself."

Jiang Chen exhaled, keeping his stance firm. "If you're here to kill me, get it over with."

The being laughed softly.

"Kill you? No. If I wished it, you would already be scattered across the void."

Jiang Chen's expression darkened. He couldn't sense this entity's strength at all.

"So what do you want?"

The Guardian's silver eyes gleamed. "To test you."

Before Jiang Chen could react, the being raised a single void-infused hand—

And the battle began.

BOOM!

A blast of compressed void energy shot toward Jiang Chen like a collapsing star.

His instincts screamed.

He flickered, shifting just in time, narrowly avoiding the brunt of the attack. Even so, the sheer force of the spatial distortion behind him sent a shockwave crashing into his back, sending him tumbling across the ground.

Jiang Chen rolled to his feet instantly, his grip tightening around his spear.

That was just an opening move.

Before he could even recover, the Guardian stepped forward—

No, it didn't step. It simply appeared.

A hand flickered through space, aiming straight for Jiang Chen's chest.

His body screamed danger.

Jiang Chen reacted on instinct.

He twisted, his spear lashing out in a wide arc—only to hit empty air.

The Guardian had vanished mid-motion.

Then—

A crushing force slammed into his ribs.

Jiang Chen skidded back, spitting a thin stream of blood. His golden eyes flared with defiance.

The Guardian tilted its head. "Still too slow."

Jiang Chen wiped the blood from his lip and sneered.

"Yeah? Let's see how you handle this."

Chaos Qi along with 3 other forces coiled around Jiang Chen's spear.

The world trembled.

Darkness and Space energy swirled, merging into the chaotic current, shaping into something that was neither element nor law, but something far more destructive.

Jiang Chen's eyes locked onto the Guardian.

This wasn't just a battle.

This was a proving ground.

He stepped forward, vanishing in a flicker of void energy.

The Guardian's silver eyes gleamed.

Jiang Chen reappeared above it, spear descending like divine judgment.

"STARSHADOW BURST!"

BOOOOOOM!

The ground shattered.

A gaping void tore through the battlefield, space itself bending under the sheer force of the impact. The Guardian was engulfed in the attack—

And for the first time, it moved backward.

A deep silence followed.

Then—

Laughter.

The Guardian laughed.

Jiang Chen's heart pounded.

"What…?"

The void-shrouded being stepped forward, its form flickering back into focus. Its robe of starlight shimmered.

"That… was unexpected," it admitted, its silver eyes gleaming with intrigue. "You grasp power beyond your realm, yet you wield it without refinement."

Jiang Chen panted, still gripping his spear.

The Guardian continued.

"Your ability, Starshadow Burst, is a force of destruction." It paused. "But tell me, boy… how many times can you use it in battle?"

Jiang Chen's breath hitched.

That attack had drained him massively.

The Guardian nodded as if reading his thoughts.

"You see the problem."

Jiang Chen gritted his teeth.

The Guardian clasped its hands behind its back.

"I have no intention of killing you. But I will leave you with this lesson."

It raised a single finger—

And space collapsed inward, pulling the attack's residual energy into a singularity.

Jiang Chen's eyes widened.

"You wield space and darkness, yet you rely on brute force alone."

The Guardian's gaze bore into him.

"Control. That is the key."

With that, the being turned.

"If you wish to survive the Verdant Moon Glade, you must not simply wield the void—you must become one with it."

It began to fade, the fabric of reality swallowing its form.

Jiang Chen clenched his fists.

He had won the battle—

But he had just begun to understand true power.

As the Guardian disappeared, Jiang Chen exhaled sharply.

He had come here seeking strength.

And now, he knew what he lacked.

He wasn't ready to leave this place yet.

Not until he mastered control over the void.

His journey through the Verdant Moon Glade…

Had only just begun.

Jiang Chen stood before the Glade Guardian, his breath still heavy from their battle. The ethereal being towered over him, its presence vast yet strangely serene. The luminous antlers upon its head pulsed softly with an otherworldly radiance, its golden eyes locked onto him with something between curiosity and solemn recognition.

For the first time, Jiang Chen felt as though he was standing before a force of nature itself.

The Guardian spoke, its voice neither male nor female, but something beyond the constraints of mortality.

"You are reckless, but your instincts are exceptional."

Jiang Chen smirked, despite the pain lacing his body. His injuries still throbbed, but his blood surged with power, the remnants of the battle fueling his fighting spirit.

"Reckless? Maybe. But I won, didn't I?"

The Guardian exhaled, a soundless gesture, as though laughing in a way only a being of its nature could.

"Barely. And only because you relied on raw talent rather than true understanding. Power without knowledge is a blunt blade. You wield great strength, but your grasp on what you possess is crude. Unrefined."

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes. The Guardian was right. His Starshadow Burst had devastated the battlefield, but when he thought back on the moment, it had felt… unstable. He had activated it purely on instinct, channeling Space and Darkness energy into his Chaos Qi without fully understanding what he was doing.

He wasn't in control.

The Guardian took a step forward, the very air trembling at its movement.

"Your body was not meant to be bound to a single place. It carries the touch of the Void, yet you do not yet comprehend it."

Jiang Chen's brows furrowed. "The Void?"

The Guardian nodded.

"You are one who walks between presence and absence. The Void is not merely empty space, nor is it merely an element. It is the boundary between all things—the tether between worlds, the line between existence and nonexistence."

Jiang Chen felt his breath slow.

The boundary between all things…

He had never thought of Space in such a way before. He had only seen it as an element, a force to be wielded. But the Guardian was speaking of it as something beyond force—a fundamental law of reality itself.

"Those who truly comprehend the Void can move without movement, strike without striking, exist without existing."

Jiang Chen's heart pounded. This wasn't just about teleportation. This was about transcendence.

The Guardian's gaze darkened slightly.

"Yet you are far from that. You are still bound by the constraints of mortal perception. The Void will not obey you until you understand its nature."

Jiang Chen scowled. "Then teach me."

The Guardian studied him for a long moment, then slowly lowered its head.

"Very well."

A pulse of energy surged outward, and suddenly, the world around Jiang Chen shifted.

The Trial of the Void

Jiang Chen blinked, and the Guardian was gone.

No—everything was gone.

He stood in a vast expanse of absolute darkness. There was no ground beneath his feet, yet he did not fall. There was no sky above, no horizon, nothing but an endless abyss of black stretching in all directions.

He turned, but there was no sense of direction. No up, no down.

He tried to step forward—nothing happened. His body would not move.

Panic flickered through his mind.

Where was he?

"This is the Void," the Guardian's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.

Jiang Chen gritted his teeth. "What kind of test is this?"

"You cannot move because you still believe you require movement."

Jiang Chen frowned.

"You do not understand the Void. You do not trust it. Therefore, it does not trust you."

He exhaled sharply, closing his eyes.

This was a test not of strength, but of perception.

Jiang Chen focused, recalling what the Guardian had said. The Void was the boundary between all things. It was not movement—it was the absence of the need to move.

He began to comprehend, to feel the void around him and understand it. He sat cross legged as the guardian watched from above.

"Hmm, should be about a year before he can feel it. This one is promising."

3 months later

Jiang Chen's eyes suddenly snapped open, bright like the starry sky. 

He stood up.

Slowly, he willed himself forward.

For a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then—

The world shifted.

One moment, he was standing in one spot. The next, he was elsewhere—without ever having moved.

His eyes snapped open. He had traveled through space, but it hadn't been teleportation. It had been something deeper, something intrinsic to his being.

The Guardian's voice returned, this time with a note of approval.

"You begin to understand."

"This kid is even better than I thought. I guess I was underestimating the Starshadow body. 

Jiang Chen's mind whirled.

This wasn't just a technique—it was a fundamental shift in how he interacted with the world.

He wasn't controlling space.

He was becoming one with it.

Jiang Chen gasped as he found himself back in the clearing, the Guardian standing before him once more.

His body felt different. Lighter. More fluid.

The Guardian watched him carefully.

"You have merely touched upon the surface. What you have learned is not yet power—it is knowledge. And knowledge must be refined."

Jiang Chen nodded, still processing what had happened.

"So… what now?"

The Guardian's eyes glowed.

"Now, you leave."

The world trembled. The air twisted.

A swirling void opened before Jiang Chen—a portal, its edges lined with flickering shadows and distorted space.

The Guardian stepped aside.

"Step through, and you will be free of this place."

Jiang Chen's gaze hardened. He knew this was another test.

He clenched his fists, exhaled, and stepped forward.

The moment his foot crossed the threshold—

The world collapsed.

His body twisted, stretched, and for the briefest moment, he felt as though he was everywhere and nowhere at once.

Then—

He emerged.

The cool night air hit him like a tidal wave. He staggered slightly, his body reorienting itself. When he looked around, he realized—

He was beyond the Verdant Moon Glade.

He had done it.

The Guardian watched from inside and smirked. "Maybe I wasn't just underestimating the Starshadow Body, but the kid instead."

Jiang Chen exhaled, a slow smirk spreading across his lips.

"Even though it took me a long time, I still profited massively from the Verdant Moon glade. My understanding of the void and my Starshadow body has improved. HAHA what a gain!" He laughed. 

This place had baptized him.

Not just in battle, but in knowledge.

And now?

He was ready for whatever lay ahead.

As he stood on the outskirts of the glade, Jiang Chen flexed his fingers.

His understanding of Space had evolved. He still wasn't at the level where he could freely manipulate it, but he had taken the first step toward comprehending the Void. The mysteries of the Daoist Path of cultivation were slowly beginning to reveal themselves, however, he hadn't quite gotten to that level yet. 

He wasn't just a brute forcing his way through cultivation anymore. He was refining himself, learning, evolving.

And now, for the first time, he felt ready to leave the forest.

His gaze turned north.

The Heaven Sundering Sect awaited.

Jiang Chen smirked.

It was time to take his next step toward dominating the world.