Chapter 5: The Master's Favor

The Sect Master's private chamber reeked of rotting herbs and ambition. Kai knelt on the bloodstained mat, watching as the old man produced a skeletal scroll from his robes.

"The Bone-Thread Sutra," the Sect Master crooned, his yellowed fingernails tracing the human vertebrae used as its spine. "A technique to weave poison into your very bones. Survive its cultivation, and no blade will ever pierce you."

Kai accepted the scroll, his fingers tingling where they touched the cursed parchment. A tracking sigil pulsed beneath its surface—crude, but effective. The old viper wanted to monitor his progress.

"Your generosity humbles me," Kai lied, bowing low enough to hide his smirk.

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The Dungeon

That night, Kai slipped past snoring guards into the sect's underbelly. The air grew thick with the whimpers of failed experiments—disciples locked in cages, their bodies melting from within.

A familiar jade hairpin glinted in the torchlight.

Lian stood before a cell where a twitching girl oozed black fluid from her eyes. "They call this **mercy**," she said without turning. "A slow death is better than disappointing the Master."

Kai studied the dying disciple. "Her veins are crystallizing. You used Frostbloom Venom in her last test."

Lian's fan snapped open. "Clever. But not clever enough to survive what's coming." She pressed a note into his palm:

"The crows are nesting in the east tower. Burn this."

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The Gift

Back in his chamber, Kai unrolled the Bone-Thread Sutra—and laughed. The technique was flawed, designed to explode a cultivator's meridians. But its principles...

His Void Maw devoured the tracking sigil as he rewove the sutra's essence into something far deadlier:

"Ghost-Fang Armor"—a living poison that would **consume** any blade that cut him.

As dawn approached, a scream echoed from the dungeon. The test subject had finally died.

Kai closed his eyes, listening to the Soul-Eater Crows cawing outside his window.

Soon, he promised the shadows. Soon.