Chapter 204: The First Test

Ru Yi had stopped dreaming about Ashen Fortress. That was what she told herself, at least.

For the first few nights after the ring broke, she had awakened with Qingyue’s name on her lips, her heart pounding as though she had been running through the mountains trying to reach her.

She would sit in the darkness and stare at the empty space on her finger, remembering the warmth of the ring before it had shattered.

The face changed from Qingyue to Yexue and finally to Lieyin. Eventually, however, the dreams became less frequent.

Or perhaps Ru Yi simply stopped allowing herself to remember them.

By the seventh morning, she was standing in the underground training chamber with General Sheng watching from the edge of the formation. The Eclipse Relic hovered behind her, its dark surface reflecting the faint glow of the spiritual formations carved into the floor.

"Today will be different," General Sheng said.

Ru Yi looked at him. "How?"

"You’ve learned to summon the shadow. You’ve learned to control its shape, and you’ve learned to drain spiritual energy from formations."

"And now?"

"Now you learn whether you can control it when someone is trying to kill you."

Ru Yi’s expression tightened. "Someone?"

The doors behind her opened and five men entered the chamber.

They wore dark armor and carried different weapons, ranging from swords to short spears. None of them looked familiar, but their spiritual energy was strong enough that Ru Yi immediately understood why Sheng had chosen them.

"They’re cultivators from my army," Sheng explained. "They’ve been instructed not to kill you."

Ru Yi looked at the five men. "And if they do?"

"Then they will have failed their orders."

One of the men smiled.

"Don’t worry, Lady Ru Yi. We were told to be careful."

Ru Yi didn’t answer.

The doors closed behind them and General Sheng immediately stepped outside the formation. "Begin."

The first attack came before Ru Yi had time to think. A sword swept toward her shoulder. She twisted aside, barely avoiding the blade, and immediately summoned her shadow. It shot across the floor and wrapped around the man’s ankle.

She pulled and he stumbled, falling to the ground. Another cultivator rushed toward her.

Ru Yi released the first man and raised her arm, allowing the shadow to form a shield between them. The spear struck the darkness and stopped. The impact sent a tremor through her body.

Ru Yi gritted her teeth as she pushed forward. The shadow wrapped around the spear and yanked it from the man’s hands. He fell forward. She stepped aside and struck him with her elbow.

Another cultivator attacked from behind.

Her shadow reacted before she could. It surged across the floor and slammed into him, throwing him against the stone wall.

Ru Yi froze as the man’s groan filled the space. She stared at him. He was still conscious. She could have left him there. Instead, she turned toward the other three.

"Again."

The fight continued.

Ru Yi moved faster with every passing minute. Her shadow began responding to her thoughts before she consciously summoned it. It stretched beneath her feet, rose around her arms and struck whenever an attack came too close.

But the longer the battle continued, the more difficult it became to control. Her breathing grew heavier. Her heart pounded.

Then one of the cultivators managed to catch her across the ribs. Pain exploded through her side before she stumbled.

The shadow beneath her feet changed. It darkened. The air around her seemed to become colder. She watched the cultivator raise his sword again.

It made something inside Ru Yi snap. Her shadow exploded outward and wrapped itself around the man’s body before he could react.

He screamed while Ru Yi stared in horror.

The darkness was moving through him. She could feel his spiritual energy pouring into her. She immediately tried to pull the shadow away. "Stop!"

It didn’t listen.

The cultivator dropped to one knee before his sword clattered against the floor.

Ru Yi’s eyes widened. "Stop!" This time, the shadow obeyed.

The man collapsed forward, silence filling the chamber.

Ru Yi stared at him. "Is he dead?"

General Sheng stepped into the formation. "No."

Ru Yi looked at the cultivator. His breathing was shallow, but he was alive. "What did I do?"

"You drained him," General Sheng answered, his voice void of any emotion.

"I didn’t mean to."

"I know." Sheng looked toward the other soldiers. "Leave us."

The men carried their injured companion from the chamber.

Ru Yi remained where she was, but her hands were shaking. "I could have killed him."

"But you didn’t, focus on that. There’s no need basing your emotions off something that didn’t happen."

"I almost did."

General Sheng studied her carefully. "You were frightened. That is to be expected when you’ve never been in real combat."

"I was angry."

"Both."

Ru Yi looked down at her shadow. "I couldn’t control it."

"You managed to stop it." He gave her a stern look. "Stop undermining your own skills. Don’t be the one person that does not believe in you."

"After it had already taken his energy. I’m just as bad."

"But you stopped it."

She shook her head. "You don’t understand."

Sheng’s expression remained calm. "I understand perfectly. There’s no need to crucify yourself, you’ll just need to stop it before that point." His answer was so blunt that Ru Yi stared at him.

General Sheng didn’t soften "Power without control is simply another form of weakness."

Ru Yi lowered her eyes. She hated hearing it, because she knew it was true.

That night, she sat alone beside the window of her room. The mountains were dark outside, and the moonlight barely reached the stone courtyard below. Her fingers moved unconsciously toward the empty place where the ring had once rested.

She stopped herself.

She didn’t want to think about anyone tonight. Ru Yi’s eyes closed and the shadow beneath her feet began moving as if sensing her feelings.

She opened her eyes. "Don’t."

The darkness continued curling around her ankle.

She looked away. "I don’t want to remember."

The next morning, Ru Yi returned to the training chamber. General Sheng was already waiting for her.

"I want to try again."

He looked at her. "Are you certain?"

Ru Yi nodded, flexing her arms. "Yes."

"You may lose control again," he warned her.

"Then I’ll learn from it."

General Sheng studied her for a moment before nodding. This time, Ru Yi entered the formation willingly and the cultivators returned.

The battle began again.

She fought harder than before, but she did not allow anger to guide the shadow. She learned to feel the moment before it became hungry, the instant when the darkness wanted more spiritual energy than she was willing to give.

By the end, all five cultivators were still standing and Ru Yi was exhausted. Her clothes were torn, and her side still hurt, but she remained on her feet.

General Sheng approached her. "You improved. Faster than I thought possible."

Ru Yi looked at him. "That’s all?"

"For now."

She looked toward the Eclipse Relic. "Then I’ll improve again tomorrow."

Sheng smiled faintly. "You’re beginning to understand. Your shadow isn’t becoming stronger because you’re angry."

She waited.

"It’s becoming stronger because you are finally willing to accept what you feel."

Ru Yi said nothing. She looked down at the darkness beneath her feet. She wondered if she didn’t need to destroy her feelings to become powerful. But there was one feeling she wasn’t ready to release.

Love...

Because somewhere beneath the anger and betrayal, she still loved the princesses. And that frightened her more than the shadow ever had.