Chapter 12 – What Bleeds Does Not Break
Arena – Mid-Fight
Wei Zicheng clutched his dislocated arm, face twitching with a mixture of rage and disbelief.
> "You… dare… mock me!?"
The fire around him surged along with anger.
He formed a seal with his good hand. Flames spiraled inward toward his dantian, gathering into his chest like a sun folding into itself.
> "You wanted to stand on the same stage as me? I'll show you what real talent looks like!"
"Burning Veins Art – Third Lotus of Crimson Collapse!"
The crowd gasped.
Some disciples turned pale.
Third Lotus.
An incomplete technique passed down from an ancient elder — said to harm both user and enemy, depending on one's control. Wei Zicheng had never used it in public.
> "He'll really kill Lin Feng!"
"Doesn't he fear sect punishment?"
But no elder intervened.
Not a single one.
They watched like statues — eyes shining, hands unmoved.
And Lin Feng stood silent.
---
The firestorm engulfed the arena.
Stone cracked. Air bent. The sky above darkened as the third lotus unfurled — a crimson mandala of spiraling flame, hungry to erase.
Wei Zicheng vanished within it.
And Lin Feng…
Did not dodge.
He took one step forward.
Then another.
His robes caught fire.
His skin blackened.
But his eyes…
His eyes were not his anymore.
They were mirrors to something deeper.
And then—
> thud.
He fell to one knee.
> His ribs cracked.
Blood streamed from his ears.
The broken sword at his hip glowed dimly.
Inside him, something began to stir.
---
[Body Cultivation Limit Exceeded.]
[Override Initiated — Soul Root Interference…]
His veins bulged. Not with Qi.
They turned black-blue, glowing like runes carved into mortal skin.
His heart — now hammering like a war drum — skipped again.
Then again.
And then it reversed.
> thump-thump-thump… silence… THUMP.
A burst of something erupted from his spine.
And the air twisted.
With weight.
The spectators felt it.
The arena felt it.
Wei Zicheng felt it — even through his burning technique — and for one terrible moment…
> He forgot to breathe.
---
Clash – The Lotus Breaks
Wei Zicheng charged through his own flames, blade drawn from his waist, aiming for Lin Feng's neck.
> "DIE!"
Lin Feng stood as the sword descended.
He didn't parry.
He didn't retreat.
He simply reached out with his blackened hand…
And caught the blade.
Metal screamed.
> CRACK.
It broke.
In his hand.
Wei Zicheng stared in horror.
Lin Feng looked at him, face blank.
And then he whispered:
> "You're not the one I need to beat."
He slammed his fist into Wei Zicheng's chest with marrow-deep force.
Zicheng flew across the stage like a corpse launched from a cannon, slamming into the boundary wall with a boom that cracked stone and soul alike.
Silence.
---
Above – Lan Xueyin Watches
She didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
Her eyes were wide now.
Not with shock.
But recognition.
> "This… can't be…" she whispered.
Somewhere, deep in her cultivation memory — beyond her bloodline teachings, beyond prophecy — she remembered a phrase from the forbidden scriptures:
> "When the soul moves backward… the body is no longer man. It is Remnant."
She looked at Lin Feng.
And for the first time…
She felt afraid.
Not of what he would become.
But of what he already was.
---
Elder's Council....
The Seventh Elder rose from his seat.
The others turned toward him.
> "That technique," one elder whispered.
"It wasn't a technique," the Seventh said softly.
"It was… a scream."
A scream from something still asleep.