Chapter 4 – A Step Beyond Fear

  The morning air thickened with tension.

  Wei Jin’s pulse thundered in his ears. The enforcers stood before him, their presence suffocating. He had fought alongside them once, under the same sect banner. Now, they looked at him as nothing more than a traitor.

  And Shen Mu…

  He just stood there. Watching.

  Wei Jin clenched his fists. His body screamed at him to run, to kneel, to submit. That was the rational choice. The logical choice.

  Yet Shen Mu’s words lingered in his mind.

  There’s always a choice.

  His throat tightened. Did he have one?

  The broad-shouldered enforcer, Fang Lian, cracked her knuckles. “Enough waiting. I’ll bring you back in pieces if I have to.”

  Wei Jin exhaled sharply. “Then come and try.”

  The villagers gasped. Even the thin enforcer, Xu Lin, looked momentarily surprised. Qiao Han, however, merely smiled.

  And then—Fang Lian moved.

  Wei Jin barely saw her. A blur of motion, a burst of golden Ether wrapping her limbs. She closed the distance in an instant, her palm striking out like a hammer.

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  Instinct screamed. Wei Jin’s muscles locked. His mind froze.

  Too fast—

  Shen Mu shifted.

  Not a word. Not a gesture.

  Just a subtle distortion in the air.

  And suddenly, Fang Lian’s attack—so fast, so certain—missed by a breath. Her palm brushed against Wei Jin’s shoulder instead of crushing his ribs.

  She stumbled, eyes widening.

  Wei Jin’s paralysis shattered. He swung blindly, a desperate counter. It was clumsy, slow, predictable—

  But it didn’t need to land.

  It needed to make her react.

  And she did.

  Fang Lian twisted away, instincts overriding logic, her body convinced she had miscalculated.

  A moment’s hesitation.

  And Wei Jin moved.

  Ether flared around his fingertips. Not refined. Not controlled. But desperate. His energy lashed out, raw and unshaped, striking Fang Lian square in the chest.

  She staggered.

  Wei Jin’s eyes widened. He had landed a blow.

  Qiao Han let out a small chuckle. “Interesting.”

  Xu Lin, the thin enforcer, took a step forward. “Enough of this. He’s still weak.”

  Wei Jin turned toward him, but before Xu Lin could attack—Shen Mu spoke.

  “Wait.”

  The word cut through the moment like a knife. Xu Lin stopped, hesitating just long enough for Shen Mu to step between them.

  “This isn’t a battle,” Shen Mu said. “It’s a choice.”

  Xu Lin’s brow furrowed. “What?”

  Shen Mu turned to Wei Jin.

  “You’re standing. That’s the first step. Now, make your second.”

  Wei Jin panted, his chest rising and falling in sharp bursts. His body ached. His Ether reserves were depleted.

  But Shen Mu was right.

  He had taken one step beyond fear.

  And now—

  He took another.

  He inhaled, steadied himself, and raised his hands into a proper stance. His footing adjusted. His Ether realigned.

  He wasn’t running anymore.

  He was fighting.

  Qiao Han nodded approvingly. “Let’s see how far he goes.”

  Xu Lin’s fingers twitched. “Fine. If he wants to be broken piece by piece, let’s oblige him.”

  The fight resumed.

  Shen Mu watched, silent. The threads of reality had begun to shift.

  This was how change started.

  Not with grand gestures.

  But with a single step.