Chapter 17: A taste of true power

The village disappeared behind him, swallowed by the predawn mist. Jin Ye didn't turn back. There was nothing left for him there.

The road ahead stretched endlessly, winding through forests and valleys toward the distant Azure Sky Sect. The entrance exam awaited him, but he knew he was not ready yet.

He flexed his fingers absently, sensing a subtle increase in his reaction speed, his perception of the world around him heightened. It was as if his very potential had shifted, but he couldn't quite understand how.

It had begun after Wei Rong's death.

Jin Ye's eyes darkened at the memory. He had taken everything from Wei Rong, stripped him of his strength, his status—his very existence. And yet... the sensation of that final moment lingered, like an echo in his soul.

"I didn't just defeat him. I took something more… but what?"

The thought unsettled him, but he had no answers. Not yet.

For now, there was only the road ahead.

And the need to grow stronger.

The further he traveled, the heavier the air became.

At first, it was a subtle shift, barely noticeable. The usual forest sounds—chirping insects, rustling leaves—began to fade.

Jin Ye slowed his pace.

His senses, honed from a lifetime of battle and betrayal, screamed a silent warning.

Something was watching him.

His hand hovered near his sword hilt, his breathing slowing. He didn't see anything yet, but he could feel it—a presence lurking just beyond the trees, hidden in the shadows.

Then, a low growl rumbled through the air.

Golden eyes flickered in the darkness.

A Shadowfang Wolf.

Jin Ye's gaze locked onto the beast as it stepped into view—a massive, Qi-infused predator, its sleek black fur blending seamlessly with the night. Its silver eyes gleamed with intelligence, studying him the way a hunter sizes up its prey.

It wasn't just a wild beast.

This was a cultivator's nightmare. Beasts were blessed with stronger and faster bodies than cultivators at the same level.

Jin Ye's eyes narrowed. Fifth Stage Qi Refinement. Stronger than him, faster than him. A single mistake could be his last.

But he did not run.

Instead, a slow smirk tugged at his lips.

"Great I needed a training dummy."

The wolf moved first.

A blur of shadow and silver, it lunged with terrifying speed, its claws slicing through the air like curved daggers.

Jin Ye barely dodged.

The wind of the beast's movement cut across his cheek, a reminder of how deadly it was.

Fast. Too fast.

The wolf vanished and reappeared, flickering like mist—Shadow Step.

Jin Ye's mind raced.

It's using a movement technique?!

The beast blurred forward again, a black shadow streaking through the trees, its jaws snapping toward his throat.

Jin Ye pushed his Qi to the limit, activating Moonlit Phantom Steps, his body shifting at the last moment—

The wolf's fangs grazed his shoulder.

Pain flared as blood dripped down his arm.

Jin Ye exhaled sharply, adjusting his stance.

"It's not just fast. It's cunning"

This wasn't a mindless creature. This was a hunter, trained by nature itself, its instincts honed through countless battles.

Jin Ye rolled his shoulders, ignoring the pain.

If he was going to win, he couldn't just react. He had to outthink it.

The wolf lunged again, its speed almost too much to follow.

Jin Ye didn't retreat.

Instead, he stepped forward, meeting the attack head-on.

His Scorching Palm ignited, burning hot against his skin as he slammed his hand into the beast's open jaw.

A crackling burst of heat, the scent of burnt flesh filling the air.

The wolf howled in agony, staggering back.

But it wasn't finished.

Jin Ye saw it in the beast's eyes—the same look he had seen in cultivators unwilling to accept their defeat.

A final, desperate charge.

Jin Ye moved.

A single, precise strike—Rising Fang Strike—directly into the beast's throat.

The wolf choked, its body spasming, its movements faltering. Its silver eyes flickered once, then dimmed forever.

The fight was over.

Jin Ye exhaled slowly, wiping blood from his mouth.

He had won.

And yet...

Something felt wrong.

Jin Ye's breath came in slow, measured draws, but inside, his body felt anything but normal. His pulse raced, his Qi churned, and his meridians ached with a pressure he had never felt before.

His gaze locked onto the faint golden-red wisps rising from the wolf's corpse.

They were dying embers, barely visible in the dim light, twisting and unraveling into the air.

And yet…

He could feel them.

Something deep within him stirred, a silent whisper in the back of his mind, urging him forward.

Jin Ye swallowed.

He had seen something similar before—when Wei Rong died.

Then, it had felt like fate itself had shifted.

Now, staring at the beast's lifeless form, he realized—this was not limited to humans.

Fate existed in all things.

And if that was true...

Could it be taken?

His fingers moved instinctively, stretching toward the dissipating threads.

The moment his hand brushed the air above the corpse—everything changed.

A violent surge of heat tore through his body, his veins burning as if ignited from within.

Jin Ye gasped, staggering, his entire form convulsing as an unseen force rushed into him.

His mind fractured with flashes of foreign instinct—

The sensation of moving unseen, like a shadow flickering through the night.

The speed of a predator, reacting to the world in heartbeats.

The moment before a kill, where time itself seemed to slow.

His meridians expanded violently, Qi raging within him.

A barrier shattered.

His cultivation erupted forward.

Fifth Stage Qi Refinement—Breakthrough!

Jin Ye stumbled forward, bracing himself against a tree, his fingers digging into the bark as he fought to remain standing.

His body hummed with stolen power, his movements faster, his breath sharper, his mind clearer.

But it wasn't just power.

It was instinct.

He could feel it in his bones—a fragment of the wolf still lingered within him.

A predator's awareness.

A hunter's speed.

A stolen fate.

Jin Ye slowly straightened, his silver eyes reflecting the moonlight.

"This… this is something far beyond Qi cultivation."

"This is something else entirely."

The stars hung overhead, cold and distant.

Jin Ye sat cross-legged beneath the boughs of an ancient tree, his breath steady, his Qi settling into its new form.

The power of his breakthrough was still fresh, still burning within him. He had taken from the beast… and in doing so, had transcended its limits.

But something felt wrong.

His eyelids grew heavy, his mind drifting.

Then—

Darkness.

A pressure greater than the world itself pressed down upon him.

Jin Ye's eyes snapped open, but he was no longer in the forest.

He stood in a void.

The air was thick with shifting shadows, golden-red threads weaving through the abyss like veins of dying light.

And then—a voice.

Deep. Ancient. Amused.

"Now you see."

Jin Ye tensed.

It was him.

The Forsaken God.

The voice that had whispered to him in the void between death and rebirth.

"What do you want?" Jin Ye's voice was steady, but his fists clenched.

A low chuckle.

"What do I want? No, child. The question is… what do you want?"

Jin Ye narrowed his eyes.

"You already know the answer to that."

The shadows rippled, as if pleased.

"Yes… yes, I do."

The golden-red threads drifted closer, pulsing with unseen power.

"And now, so do you."

Jin Ye remained silent.

He already knew what was coming.

The Forsaken God had no need to explain—not when the answer already pulsed through his veins.

He had felt it when Wei Rong died.

He had felt it when the Shadowfang Wolf fell.

And he felt it now, more than ever.

"The more you take, the more you become."

A shiver ran through him.

The Forsaken God's voice was calm, almost gentle.

"The weak cultivate, hoping to reach power. But you… you are different. You do not cultivate."

The golden-red threads wrapped around Jin Ye's fingers, pulsing softly, like the final heartbeat of something long dead.

"You steal."

A pause.

Then—

"You consume."

Jin Ye's breath hitched.

The words resonated too deeply, the truth too clear to ignore.

His rise in power had not been natural.

Not through slow refinement, not through patience.

It had been through theft.

Through devouring the destinies of others.

He had taken from Wei Rong.

He had taken from the beast.

And each time, he had grown stronger.

The Forsaken God chuckled again.

"You hesitate. Why?"

Jin Ye's jaw tightened.

He saw flashes—a future where he ripped the fates of his enemies from their bodies, leaving only broken husks behind.

A future where he consumed and consumed, until there was nothing left but power.

His own identity—his very self—lost among stolen fates.

Jin Ye exhaled slowly.

"Because power that comes too easily often has the highest cost."

Silence.

Then—laughter.

Dark, knowing.

The golden-red threads danced around him, flickering brighter for a moment before fading into the abyss.

"But tell me, Fate Thief—how long will your will last?"

The darkness swallowed him whole.

Jin Ye's eyes snapped open.

The fire had burned low. The night was silent once more.

But the words of the Forsaken God remained.

"The more you take, the more you become."

His fingers curled against his palm.

The power stolen from the wolf still surged through his body.

He had felt it.

With every stolen fate, he was not just cultivating.

He was reshaping himself.

A slow smirk curled his lips.

"Then let's see my limits."

With that, he rose, stepping into the night.

The road to Azure Sky Sect awaited.

And so did his next prey.