Aduin’s figure flickered in and out of the eerie twilight that had descended upon the Hollow.
After his brief skirmish with the elders, he had retreated deep into the forest, into the heart of the Spore Vault, an underground labyrinth of roots and fungal growths. The Vault was part of the Ancient Altar, a sacred space where no light reached — only shadows, secrets, and whispered calls from those long forgotten by the world above.
Here, Aduin felt safe, at least for now. He was untouchable in his domain.
But there was a price to pay.
A thick parchment scroll lay before him — Zhu Yunlan’s Forbidden Cultivation Manual. It had been buried deep within the Vault for centuries, locked away by those who feared the power it held. Yet, with his spore-weaving technique, Aduin had uncovered its hidden location.
The manual was covered in strange glyphs, some familiar, some foreign. The calligraphy was pristine, yet there was a palpable sense of dread emanating from it.
“Is this... really it?” Aduin whispered to himself.
The name Zhu Yunlan was notorious in the cultivation world.
Known as the Demon of the Depths, Zhu Yunlan had once been a renowned cultivator, celebrated for her breakthroughs in body cultivation and the mystical arts of rot and regeneration. Her techniques could tear the very essence of a cultivator’s soul apart, twisting it into something darker, something more powerful.
But her methods had been deemed forbidden, and Zhu Yunlan had been cast out. The righteous had turned against her, calling her a monster, a devil, and worse.
Aduin ran his fingers over the parchment.
The manual contained techniques of soul refinement, blood manipulation, and, most terrifyingly, the art of death and rebirth — the very same techniques that had allowed Zhu Yunlan to transcend mortality itself, becoming an immortal being who could feed on the life essence of the world.
But Aduin was no fool.
He knew that to master the techniques within this manual, one had to embrace darkness. It would twist his essence, corrupt his being, and break him in ways unimaginable.
But could he afford to turn back?
As Aduin read through the first technique, he felt his blood freeze. The Immortal Rot, as it was called, was designed to extend life by consuming the life force of others, slowly weakening them while strengthening the cultivator. The process involved draining the soul of the victim, turning them into nothing more than a hollow shell.
To use this technique, one had to sacrifice something dear. A piece of their soul, perhaps a memory. A bond. A connection.
Aduin closed the manual and leaned back against the wall.
The air around him felt thick, charged with dark Qi. The roots of the trees whispered, urging him to embrace the power within the scroll. But he hesitated.
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“If I take this path… there is no return,” Aduin thought, his heart pounding in his chest. “But the Storm Lantern Pavilion won’t wait. They’ll come for me, again and again, until I am no more.”
The next morning, after a restless night, Aduin took the scroll again, his fingers trembling as they touched the ancient parchment. His eyes burned with determination.
“Power is the price. I’ll pay it.”
He began to read the next section, Rotting Rebirth — a terrifying technique that allowed the cultivator to regrow their limbs and heal wounds by absorbing the life force of others. But there was a catch: the cultivator’s body would eventually decay, becoming an unrecognizable mass of corruption, unless the technique was perfected.
This was the price of immortality.
Aduin clenched his fists, the desire for power now outweighing his fear.
“I must advance. Even if it consumes me.”
His body trembled with newfound power as he activated the technique. He channeled the Immortal Rot into his spiritual core, and immediately, a painful sensation spread through his veins. It was as though his very soul was being torn apart, but at the same time, his body felt stronger, more alive than it had ever been.
And then, an unsettling thought crept into his mind:
“How long before this technique consumes me?”
But there was no time to waste. The Pavilion was coming.
Aduin emerged from his lair, his eyes now glowing with a faint, eerie light. His body had begun to change. His skin was still smooth, but his veins pulsed with an unnatural darkness, the Rotting Rebirth technique slowly altering his form.
He needed to test his power. And so, he sought the first of his enemies.
In the distance, he saw the First Elder of the Storm Lantern Pavilion, Yuan Shibo, a man who had once been a formidable foe in Aduin’s old life. The elder had led the attack on the Hollow earlier.
Yuan Shibo was standing atop a large boulder, overseeing the entire land, his robes fluttering in the wind. The lightning talisman that powered his strength buzzed with energy.
But as he turned, his eyes met Aduin’s, and the elder froze.
“You... survived?”
Aduin’s lips twisted into a smile.
“I’ve transcended. You have no idea what I’ve become.”
With a swift motion, Aduin drew the sporeblade from his waist, its tip dripping with toxic Qi.
Yuan Shibo’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll show you why I am the First Elder.”
He raised his hands, and the air crackled with energy. Thunder roared above them, the spiritual lightning crackling around his body.
The two collided with a speed and force that could have torn apart the land.
Yuan Shibo’s lightning-talismans shot out in a barrage of crackling arcs, but Aduin was faster. With every movement, his body seemed to decay and regenerate, allowing him to dodge, to twist, to strike from impossible angles.
Yuan Shibo’s attacks were relentless. The thunder shattered trees, turning them to splinters. Yet Aduin seemed to flow around the blows, his body moving with an eerie grace.
“How?!” Yuan Shibo shouted, stepping back.
Aduin’s smile widened.
“I no longer fear death.”
With a swift slash, Aduin’s blade found its mark, cutting through Yuan Shibo’s protective talismans and grazing his shoulder.
The elder roared in pain.
Aduin didn’t give him a chance to recover.
He pressed forward, his spore-covered blade sinking into the elder’s chest, releasing a burst of toxic spores that consumed Yuan Shibo’s body from within.
The elder collapsed to the ground, his life force drained.
“Another sacrifice,” Aduin whispered, watching the life drain from his former adversary.
But as the elder died, Aduin felt something stir within him.
In that moment, as Yuan Shibo’s body fell to the ground, Aduin felt a surge of power like never before. His body trembled, but this time, it wasn’t from weakness.
His spiritual core hummed, and his Qi felt unstoppable.
For the first time since beginning his cultivation journey, Aduin felt invincible.
“This is the true path of the Forbidden Cultivation,” he thought.
But deep down, a voice whispered in his mind.
“Is it worth it?”
Aduin stood over the fallen elder, his expression dark, resolute.
The rot was spreading. His spiritual Qi was now undeniably powerful, but at the cost of his humanity.
He turned and walked away.
The storm was not yet over.
And the Hollow awaited its next test.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]