Chapter 28: Crucible of Ascension( Part 2)

When Zhang Yan opened his eyes, dawn had deepened into steady light. Yet, to him, the world remained painted in shades of crimson and shadow. Power coursed through every fiber of his being; a sensation so vivid it bordered on overwhelming. His muscles felt reinforced, his senses honed to an almost preternatural sharpness. Every thought was a blade, every instinct a precise calculation.

Behind him, the battlefield lay silent. The fallen insurgents' bodies cooled in the morning air, their blood darkening the soil. The Blood Banner's unit moved among the ruins, their voices low and strained as they tallied losses and stripped the camp of anything valuable. Zhang Yan stood apart, his shadow coiled tightly around him like restless smoke, its edges flickering with an eerie, flame-like life.

The Infernal Sanguine Heart pulsed in his chest, each beat echoing like war drums, sending fiery surges of qi through his veins. The Devouring Nine Shadows, darker and hungrier still, writhed beneath the surface. It had fed on the essence of the fallen, yet its hunger remained insatiable.

This is only the beginning...

Footsteps crunched across the blood-streaked earth, and the commander approached, his scarred face a mask of neutrality. "Zhang Yan," he said, his tone clipped. "Don't mistake survival for victory. The righteous sects won't take this lightly. They'll send stronger forces; cultivators who won't fall so easily to shadows and daggers."

Zhang Yan met his gaze, cold light flickering in his eyes. "I will be waiting."

The commander's lips twitched, caught somewhere between a smirk and a sneer. "Confidence is a weapon. Arrogance is a liability. Remember that." He took back the merit token, now emptied, the 150 merits now within Zhang Yan's own sect medallion. The other disciples watched from a distance, their eyes darting uneasily to the shadows that clung to him like a second skin.

As the unit readied to depart, Zhang Yan lingered at the camp's edge. His gaze swept over the horizon, where the rising sun painted the sky in hues of blood. This battle had been a test; a crucible; and he had emerged sharper, hungrier. Yet it was only a taste of what lay ahead.

The righteous sects would retaliate. The Blood Banner would demand more; and within the sect's walls, factions like the Corpse Courtyard and the Fire-Wine Pavilion watched, waiting for any sign of weakness...