Chapter 202: To pay a price

General Sheng finally showed Ru Yi what lay beneath the stronghold three days later. Until then, he had kept the deepest chamber sealed.

Ru Yi had assumed the Eclipse Relic was the heart of the underground complex, but when Sheng opened the enormous stone doors behind it, she realized she had been wrong.

Beyond them was another chamber. It was enormous, stretching farther than Ru Yi could see. Ancient carvings covered every wall, depicting warriors kneeling beneath a black sun, armies disappearing beneath waves of darkness and a crescent-shaped relic suspended above a battlefield.

Ru Yi stepped inside. "What is this place?"

General Sheng followed. "The reason the Eclipse Relic was created."

Ru Yi looked at the strange carvings. "Who drew it?"

"The royal cultivators of the old dynasty," he answered without any hesitation. "To remind the coming generation of what a weapon capable of destroying armies without requiring thousands of soldiers could do."

Ru Yi’s stomach tightened.

General Sheng walked toward the largest carving. "Your shadow was never supposed to exist independently. Just like light and darkness co-exist, the shadow should be a part of us instead of an independent body."

Ru Yi turned. "What does that even mean?" She wished he would explain things in simpler terms that she could digest.

"The Eclipse Relic was designed to amplify shadow-based spiritual energy." He pointed toward the carving. "Someone needed to provide that energy."

Ru Yi stared at the ancient image. A figure stood beneath the crescent moon, surrounded by darkness.

Her breath caught—

"That looks like me," she muttered, taking a step back. "Why..."

"It is supposed to." General Sheng turned towards her. "Because that is a prophecy about you, written years before you were conceived."

Ru Yi looked at him. "You knew about me before you found me."

"I knew there was someone like you." He was truthful with his answer. "I sent one of my messengers to confirm it was really you."

Ru Yi immediately connected the dots. "The man that brought the map to Ashen Fortress."

Sheng didn’t answer. "I couldn’t take you back in Tiancheng, so I had to find a way to bring you to me. That was why I led the princesses back to Ashen Fortress. I didn’t think it would be easy for them to let you go."

Ru Yi’s face morphed into one of rage.

"But that’s because they don’t know all you’re capable of." He nodded towards the carvings. "They’re greatly skilled women, but the information to the power they seek."

Ru Yi stirred the conversation away from the women she didn’t want to think about. "My shadow isn’t natural, is it?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"An inherited spiritual phenomenon." He crossed his arms on his chest. "It cannot be accurately explained."

She frowned. "From whom?"

"That is what I intend to discover."

Ru Yi looked at the relic. "You said my shadow could destroy an army. And I’m guessing you want to control it? Make me into a weapon that you can wield at will."

Sheng’s expression remained calm. "No." That was a lie.

Ru Yi’s eyes narrowed. "There’s no way you went through the trouble of bringing me here with no intention of using me for my abilities."

"Believe whatever you want. But my desire is for you to learn how to control your power."

She stared at him. "Why? What’s in it for you?"

"Because forcing your shadow to obey someone else would eventually destroy you." His answer surprised her.

"You actually care whether I survive?"

General Sheng gave a faint smile. "Don’t misunderstand me." He walked toward the center of the chamber. "A dead weapon is useless."

Ru Yi’s expression hardened. "I told you I’m not a weapon."

"And I told you that I agree."

He turned toward her. "You are a person carrying something that can become a weapon."

The distinction mattered.

Ru Yi didn’t know why. Perhaps because, for the first time since she had been taken, someone wasn’t telling her what she was supposed to become.

Instead, General Sheng was giving her a choice. He approached the Eclipse Relic. "If you want, I can teach you how to suppress the shadow permanently."

Ru Yi looked at him. "Permanently?"

"Yes."

"What would happen?"

"You would lose access to most of its power."

Ru Yi thought about Qingyue. About the ring. About the fortress burning. She shook her head. "No."

Sheng’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Then I can teach you how to awaken it completely."

"What happens then?"

"You’ll be capable of controlling spiritual energy on a scale you’ve never imagined."

Ru Yi looked at the enormous chamber. "And the price?" Yes, she was naive. But she knew also that there will always have to be a price to pay.

"You will have to learn restraint."

She almost laughed. "That’s all?"

"No." Sheng’s voice became serious. "The shadow will become increasingly connected to your emotions. If you allow anger to control you, it will consume everything around you. If you allow grief to control you, it may consume you instead."

Ru Yi stared at him, the scene from her nightmare flashing in her head. "And if I control it?"

"You could become powerful enough to challenge the strongest cultivators in the kingdom."

Ru Yi was silent.

"Tthere is something you must know."

Those words chilled her to the bone. "What?"

"The Eclipse Relic cannot be fully awakened by force."

Ru Yi looked at him.

"It requires consent." He paused briefly. "Your consent."

She stared at the relic. "So you can’t control me."

"Not completely."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then the relic remains dormant."

Ru Yi almost smiled. For the first time, she felt as though she possessed something General Sheng desperately needed. That changed the balance between them. "What happens if I activate it?"

"You’ll see things."

"What things?"

"Places connected to your spiritual bonds."

Ru Yi’s expression changed. "People?"

"Yes."

Her heart immediately jumped. Qingyue. The thought came before she could stop it. She could see Qingyue again...and Yexue. Maybe she could understand why the ring had broken. Maybe she could find out whether Qingyue truly stopped loving her.

General Sheng watched the realization appear on her face. "You’re thinking about them."

Ru Yi looked away. "No."

"Don’t lie to me."

She clenched her fists. "I said I don’t want them anymore."

"But you still want answers."

Ru Yi didn’t respond.

General Sheng stepped aside. "Then awaken the relic."

Ru Yi approached it slowly. Her hand hovered above the black crescent. For one final moment, she hesitated. Then she placed her palm against it and the chamber disappeared into darkness.

A wave of power rushed through her body. Her shadow rose behind her, enormous and almost alive, spreading across the walls like a storm.

Ru Yi gasped.

Images flashed through the darkness.

Ashen Fortress...Qingyue...Lieyin...Yexue. She saw them standing among the ruins. She saw Qingyue touching the jade necklace.

Ru Yi’s heart clenched.

Then the vision vanished.

She stumbled backward but General Sheng caught her before she fell. "What did you see?"

Ru Yi stared at him. "Nothing."

He knew she was lying, but he didn’t press her. Instead, he looked toward the relic. "It has accepted you."

Ru Yi looked at her shadow. Something had changed, she could feel it. The power was no longer merely something inside her.

It was listening.

Waiting.

Ru Yi slowly curled her fingers. "I want more."

Sheng looked at her. "More what?"

Ru Yi’s eyes hardened. "Power." The word echoed through the chamber.

Qingyue had chosen the throne because she wanted enough power and authority to protect her sisters.

If Ru Yi could get enough of it to protect them—

General Sheng looked at her not as the frightened woman he had taken from Ashen Fortress, but as someone who might eventually become far more dangerous than the weapon he had originally come searching for.