The days since the tournament had passed with quiet rhythm. Lan Wu, having returned to his usual duties, was seen tending the Lily Garden atop Cloudpetal Terrace, a serene space reserved for outer disciples with gentle spirits and peaceful hearts.
Lan Wu was kneeling, brushing condensation from the pale violet petals of a moon lily. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing the healing scars on his wrists from his last physical training regime. Though tired, he hummed softly, the light sound carried away by the mountain breeze.
"Junior Brother Lan Wu?"
A tall senior disciple approached. Clad in pale blue robes, his eyes respectful.
"The Grand Elder has summoned you."
Lan Wu's hands paused, fingertips still on the stem of a lily.
"...Me?"
"Yes. You are to go at once."
The Grand Elder's Inner Chamber
The inner sanctum of the Grand Elder was hidden behind a curtain of white silk and ancient runes. Few ever entered here. The scent of plum incense and spiritual lotus oil filled the air. Candles of spiritual wax burned steadily, their flickering lights casting strange shadows along the jade-tiled floor.
Lan Wu entered with careful steps, his arms tucked together in a bow.
At the far end of the circular chamber, seated upon a meditation rug shaped like a lotus leaf, was the Grand Elder.
Her robes were long and ethereal—white silk embroidered with waves of pale jade and rising clouds—but her posture was relaxed, leaning to one side, a fan lazily twirling in her fingers.
Her gaze fell upon him.
"Come in, child."
Lan Wu bowed deeply.
"Grand Elder… you summoned me?"
"Mn." She smiled softly, the corner of her lip curving. "I merely wished to assess your progress. You've been working hard… and hard work should never go unnoticed."
Lan Wu felt his cheeks warm.
"I am grateful. I only do what I can… I want to be useful."
"Yes," she said, eyes narrowing faintly. "Useful indeed."
Inscription and Deception
Lan Wu stepped forward as directed, the faint glowing lines beneath his feet drawing his attention.
"Stand there for a moment."
The inscription circle beneath him was subtle, etched into the very marble of the floor with silver spirit ink. It pulsed once—softly. Then twice, brighter.
The room seemed to breathe.
Lan Wu tilted his head.
"Is this a formation for—"
"Sleep."
Her voice was gentle, but carried the full weight of cultivation law. A silent incantation, a binding command woven with spiritual seals.
Before Lan Wu could even form a thought, his legs buckled.
His eyes flickered.
And then he collapsed.
Stillness, Then Storm
The moment his body hit the floor, the spiritual atmosphere shifted.
The candles along the walls flared to life, their previously white-blue flames turning a rich, unnatural violet. The temperature plunged. The very air trembled.
Fwishhh—
Chains of spiritual essence snaked upward from the inscription circle, binding Lan Wu's wrists, ankles, and shoulders. A translucent barrier rose around him in a perfect dome, isolating his body from the rest of the chamber.
The Grand Elder stepped closer, her eyes now cold and clinical.
In her palm was a yellow talisman, brushed with blood-red ink.
She pressed it to Lan Wu's back with gentle precision. It sizzled, sank through cloth and skin, glowing violently.
The effect was instant.
The Return of Wuixe:
Lan Wu's body began to convulse—softly at first. Then violently.
His limbs twitched, his fingers curled inward. His back arched slightly, the veins on his neck glowing faintly purple. The chains clattered under strain.
Then his hair grew, unraveling like shadowed silk—dark, thick, wild.
His eyes snapped open.
No longer soft and sky-hued, but glowing a deep, cold, unnatural amethyst.
His Qi turned foul. Heavy. Dark.
The air rippled around him.
"...Tch."
" This place tastes of virtue... Disgusting"
He turned his head slowly, blinking away the fog of sleep, and glared straight at the Grand Elder with unfiltered disdain.
"You…"
His voice was lower than Lan Wu's. Still a boy's, but hoarse, cold, and laced with venom.
"You reached into the soul."
"Correct," the Grand Elder said, folding her arms behind her back. Her expression was calm, her cultivation pressure subtle but firm.
"How…?"
"Did you think you could hide forever, child?" she said gently. "Even in peace, a predator still breathes. I smelled your rot from the moment he arrived."
Wuixe snarled, the chains groaning beneath his weight.
"So… what do you want then? To kill me? Seal me away? Parade my remains before your righteous little minions?"
"No." Her eyes narrowed with curiosity. "I want to understand you."
Wuixe's eyes flicked with distrust.
"You're playing a dangerous game, woman. That boy—Lan Wu—you don't want to see what happens if he sees what I really am."
"I've already seen," she said. "And yet, he remains untouched."
Wuixe laughed.
A slow, cracking laugh, filled with mockery and some underlying madness.
"You speak like you care. But I know you cultivators. Always pretending you want peace, while secretly craving war. Is that why you brought me out? To make me your little monster?"
The Grand Elder didn't flinch.
"I brought you out... to weigh your worth."
Wuixe's breath caught for just a moment. Not in fear—but in interest.
She stepped closer, within the barrier. Her spirit pressure began to leak gently from her body. It felt like cloud and sword all at once.
"You are evil," she said, plainly. "But not mindless. And not without purpose. That much is clear."
"...So?" Wuixe growled.
"So," she continued, "I want to see if you are truly beyond salvation, or if you are simply what the heavens left behind."
Wuixe blinked.
He didn't understand her game, but she had his attention.
"You're mad."
"Perhaps." She turned away, letting her long sleeves trail across the chamber floor. "Or perhaps the sect needs a sword that cuts both ways."
" So now I have questions. And you will answer them"
Wuixe chuckled, shifting in the chains.
"And if I don't?"
"You will. Because you're tired of being forgotten, aren't you?"
He stilled.
"Very well," he said at last. "Ask your questions, Jade Witch."
Questions Beneath the Flame
"What is your name?"
"Wuixe," he replied. "The name they screamed when I tore through temples and silenced sects."
" An irony your name is"
"Where are you truly from?"
"Not here." His eyes narrowed. "A continent far from this one—Qing Continent. A place where the righteous hide behind silken robes and divine excuses. Where the heavens meddle like spoiled gods."
"And how did you arrive here?"
Wuixe's face twisted.
"I was judged. Broken. By a divine puppet—the Heaven's Lap dog, Shengyun." His words laced with venom. "The bastard descended in shining armor and tore me apart in the name of justice. My Dantian shattered. My soul shredded. My sect burned. All for a crime that Heaven birthed itself."
He laughed bitterly.
"I wasn't spared. I survived. Because survival is a curse the heavens forgot to forbid."
The Grand Elder didn't blink.
"And now… you dwell inside Lan Wu's soul?"
"Lan Wu?" Wuixe sneered. "That... thing? That weak, spineless flower-child you all nurture like he's the next Saint of Virtue? He's not me. But somehow… he is. The soul we share—broken in two."
"Why didn't he awaken to you?"
> "Because he doesn't know I exist," Wuixe replied coldly. "And I'd rather keep it that way."
A silence settled between them.
"You speak of cruelty… but you show restraint now."
"Don't mistake interest for mercy," Wuixe replied. "I hate you. I hate this sect. I hate the heavens. And I hate that boy more than all of them combined. But I'm patient."
What Kind of Evil Are You?
"Then tell me," the Grand Elder finally asked, stepping forward until she stood just outside the inscription barrier. "What kind of evil are you?"
Wuixe tilted his head.
His voice softened into something almost... thoughtful.
"The kind that remembers."
"I remember pain. I remember betrayal. I remember when the heavens were silent, when I was a boy screaming for help and no divine beast or cloud-robed elder descended."
"I am the evil that doesn't lie to itself. I do not cloak my ambition in virtue. I burn openly. I devour with reason. I am the child they threw away—who crawled back from the abyss with teeth bared."
He paused, eyes gleaming with unnatural light.
"I am not evil because I kill. I am evil because I enjoy it... and I never pretend otherwise."
Decision at the Edge of Blade and Spirit
The Grand Elder regarded him in silence. Her fingers brushed the edge of her sleeve.
"You are evil," she said calmly. "And yet... you are not without logic. You are not chaos incarnate."
"You're not surprised," Wuixe noted.
"No. Because I've seen what blind virtue can do. I've seen kind men slaughter children for the promise of a place in Heaven."
She turned away slightly, her hair catching the candlelight like silk.
"You are not the result of one wrong moment. You are the result of many. Nurture, yes. But also… nature."
Wuixe raised a brow.
"So then what will you do? Bind me deeper? Strip me from this soul and crush what remains?"
She met his gaze once more.
"No. For now… I will observe."
"Tch." Wuixe clicked his tongue. "You would risk your sect?"
"I would risk much for the truth," she said. "And I sense that Lan Wu's growth depends, somehow, on your existence."
"Careful, woman," he growled. "You may grow to regret this."
"Perhaps," she said with a soft smile, turning back to her lotus seat. "But perhaps... you will, too."
Lan Wu Awakens
The barrier faded. The talisman burned away in quiet silver flame.
Chains withdrew into the floor.
The candles returned to soft blue light.
Lan Wu stirred, slowly sitting up, eyes blinking.
"I—I'm so sorry," he said quickly, bowing low. "I must have dozed off... I didn't mean to disrespect your time, Grand Elder."
The Grand Elder's expression was unreadable.
"It's alright, child," she said, her voice as smooth as before. "Rest must come to all who carry burdens."
Lan Wu offered a nervous smile and bowed again before leaving, unaware of the shadow that had stirred within him.
Whispers on a Mountain Breeze
As the boy vanished from the room, the Grand Elder remained still, eyes on the dimming candles.
"A soul torn in two," she whispered, "one half forged in violence, the other bathed in light. What curious karma the heavens have delivered to me."
She folded her arms, face softening.
"A blessing... and a curse."
Outside, the wind blew gently across the sky pavilions of the Azure Sky Cloud Sect.
Somewhere far within the boy's soul, behind bars of light and chains of sin, Wuixe smiled—and began to plan.