The End Of The Trial

Jinshen remained there in the passageway, undisturbed as he slept peacefully in a deep, dreamless slumber as he snored, his arms crossed over his chest.

As Yanwei wandered the labyrinth, his hand instinctively reached for the sheath at his waist—and froze. It was empty.

A cold sweat ran down his temple. Panic wrapped its claws around his chest. His eyes were widened and his pupils were dilated.

Didn't... Didn't Jinshen absorb my sword? What do I do now?! He immediately turned around, retracing his steps as he started running as fast as his body and Qi would allow, in hopes of getting to where Jinshen was sleeping but the Elders had other plans.

Just like when Jinshen had first entered the labyrinth, the passageways and walls started shifting, grinding against each other occasionally, the movements making it seem like it was a living thing.

But it also had an effect, Yanwei had memorized the path back to Jinshen, but there wasn't a proper path anymore making it nearly impossible for Yanwei to get to Jinshen in any efficient way.

His heartbeat roared in his ears. His breath came in short, sharp gasps. He clutched at his chest, stumbling towards the ground.

N-Not again!

He felt jolts of fear run down his spine as he leaned his back against the wall and slid down to his knees, the area around his chest being in immense pain as he gasped for air, barely managing to keep himself conscious. He felt as if he was going to vomit.

Damn it.. What am I supposed to do now? He thought to himself as the panic and fear slowly went away but he remained on his knees holding his head.

All of a sudden, he heard the footsteps of a small group of people approaching straight towards his current location, he immediately stood up from the ground reaching for his sword but remembering that its not there anymore. A sense of dread washing over him as his eyes widened.

Shit... I'm screwed. 

A white arrow of Qi screamed toward him, glowing like moonlight. He threw himself aside just in time—the blast shattered the stone wall behind him, the sound of the stone crumbling increased the fear in his heart.

"What do you all want?!" He yelled out into the dark passageways of the labyrinth, he thought his voice was firm but the echo that came back towards him revealed his fear and dread that he was hiding underneath.

Slowly a few figures started coming into view, they were normal looking people but there was one that stood out.

A young man with short silver hair and glowing white eyes, he was wearing a long white robe with black lightning embroidery that round his waist like a belt. He was holding a pale silver bow with a crescent-shaped riser and translucent limbs that glow under moonlight, it seemed simple but there was this ethereal Qi coming off of it.

The sight of being outnumbered and most likely, out skilled as well, made Yanwei take a few steps back before his back suddenly hit the broken wall behind him, making him fall through it as he tried to run away.

The young man remained nonchalant as a strange thing happened, the Qi arrow that had broken the wall and been buried by the rubble rose up and sped towards the unaware Yanwei who was thinking he had managed to escape.

I just have to get to Jinshen, I feel bad for relying on him once more but I have to if I want to survive-

He suddenly tensed up, his eyes widening as he felt a piercing pain in his stomach, the arrow that was behind him had reached its intended destination as it tore through his side. 

For a moment Yanwei was quiet as he processed the pain before he let out a pained yell, clutching at his stomach which was not only damaged, but had been also been frostbitten, the inside of the wound was as cold as ice.

I'm.. I'm dead aren't I?

He slowly fell the the ground, his body was slowly turning more and more cold and stiff, like he was turning into a block of ice, his breath was now faintly visible as steam despite the warm environment of the labyrinth, his skin had started to turn blue as he felt that the blood in the veins of his hands had frozen, evident by his enlarged and hard hands that were completely blue.

His senses were dulled and his eyes were nearly closed, his body was pulled up in a sitting position by a hand as he was made to lean against the wall by the young archer.

The latter had a sense of regret as well as resignation in his eyes as he hesitated for a moment before speaking

"I'm deeply sorry, but. I must survive." He paused for a moment before continuing in a gentle tone that had hesitance in it. "Is there anything I can do? Maybe take care of some affairs? Complete a goal of yours?"

Yanwei just remained silent, unable to speak, his mind had yet to register that he was getting spoken to as he had slowly gone unconscious.

Inside of Yanwei's body, the nanites Jinshen had planted had activated, they started healing his injuries and had started to revitalize him. The frostbitten skin of his wound going back to normal as it near instantly healed as well as his hands.

The young man noticed this as his eyes widened, he saw the steam rise from the wound, skin knit itself back to normal and his hands going back to normal. All within a few moments.

He tried to reach out for the healed wounds of Yanwei but suddenly, he was punched in the gut sent hurtling like a cannonball, breaking through a few stone walls in succession before landing in the rubble, his eyes widened and a few drops of blood streaming out of his mouth. 

W-What attacked me? He muttered under his breath as his vision blurred for a moment before he saw none other than Jinshen standing in front of Yanwei with nothing except a blazing rage in his glowing blue eyes.

He was holding Yanwei's sword in his hand, gripping the handle tightly as he glared at the young archer intensely before he turned around, crouching down to gently put Yanwei's sword back into its sheath on Yanwei's waist.

He slowly stood up straight taking a deep breath before looking over his shoulder as he clenched his fist, his whole body shaking in anger, he spoke through clenched teeth, his Qi rising ferociously as it form a wispy aura of blue Qi around his body.

"Listen here, I'll give you a choice." He spoke to the Young Archer who had only now gathered his bearings "Either you beg for forgiveness or die."

The young man slowly stood up from lying on the rubble, holding his stomach in pain but he stood his ground, taking a deep breath before his eyes momentarily showing their true black color before they started glowing white, his own body getting covered in aura of white Qi, albeit it was less ferocious than Jinshen's.

"Neither," He paused readying his bow as a Qi arrow materialized into the string "I'll be the one who'll be defeating you."