Cracks in Faith

Yu Xiaogang woke with his fingertips still trembling.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands. Cold sweat had seeped into the lines of his palms, while the notebook in his hand, newly filled with half a page of notes, emitted an exceedingly faint blue glow. Like a lamp on the verge of going out, it stubbornly refused to go completely dark.

The fragments from the illusion still churned through his mind. He had watched the theoretical works he had accumulated over thirty years get torn apart page by page. He had seen Tang San kneel before him and say, "My teacher's theories can't explain my situation." He had seen Old Qin's honest smile and that herb glowing with a pale blue halo. Every scrap of paper had been like a blade, cutting into the understanding he had thought unshakable.

But he had not gone mad.

Because those few lines Old Qin had written with twenty years of his life in that notebook were like an anchor, firmly holding onto Yu Xiaogang's consciousness as it nearly drifted apart.

Do not kill. Do not hunt soul beasts. Obtain soul rings through symbiosis.

Plants look at one's intentions, not one's years.

I have lived in these woods for twenty years. They treat me like family.

This was not a fallacy. This was another possibility, proven over a lifetime by a living, breathing person.

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath and pressed the notebook tightly against his chest, his knuckles turning white. The grand structure he had spent thirty years building had indeed collapsed, but perhaps something new could still grow beneath the ruins.

"Master?"

Tang San's voice came from beside him. Yu Xiaogang looked up and saw Tang San leaning against a tree trunk, his face pale, his forehead drenched in cold sweat, his lips bitten bloody. But his eyes were clear. There was no vacancy in them, no collapse.

"You... woke up?" Yu Xiaogang's voice was terribly hoarse.

"Mm." Tang San nodded and looked down at his wrist. Blue Silver Grass quietly wound around it, its dark purple leaves carrying a soft sheen beneath the moonlight. There was no metallic texture, no restless agitation. The effects of the Purifying Erosion Dew remained, but it was not merely the medicine at work.

What he had seen in the illusion had been another scene.

Yu Xiaogang stood high above him, looking down at him coldly as he said, "You have disappointed me." Xiao Wu was covered in blood, reaching a hand toward him, but he could not move. That helplessness had flooded over him like a tide, nearly suffocating him.

But just as he was about to give up, he suddenly remembered what Chen Xuan had said while crouching in front of him.

"The thing you hate most is being treated like a chess piece and manipulated."

That was right. In this life, he had first been Tang Hao's chess piece, sent to live in seclusion in Saint Soul Village. Then he had become Yu Xiaogang's chess piece, carefully cultivated according to the path of Blue Silver Grass. And now he was the chess piece of the world's will, forcibly stuffed with all kinds of "compensation." When had he ever lived for himself?

Everything he did had been to fulfill other people's expectations. His father's expectations, his teacher's expectations, the setting of some so-called "child of destiny."

Tang San raised his head, looked at the condescending "Yu Xiaogang" in the illusion, and suddenly smiled.

"You're not my teacher," he said. "My teacher isn't as cold-blooded as you."

Then he turned toward Xiao Wu in the pool of blood, walked over step by step, crouched down, and took the hand she had stretched toward him.

"I won't abandon you," he said. "Not for justice. Not for some mission. Simply because you are Xiao Wu, my little sister."

The illusion shattered like glass.

Tang San opened his eyes, and the first person he saw was Xiao Wu. The girl was curled up beside a rock near the stream, her shoulders twitching, tear tracks hanging at the corners of her eyes. But her breathing had already steadied. She was awake, and she had awakened even before him.

"Brother." Sensing his gaze, Xiao Wu raised her head. Her eyes were still red, but her gaze was firm. "Just now... I dreamed about my mother."

She did not say what the dream had been about, but Tang San understood. As a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, her greatest fear had never been death, but losing everything she had now and returning to those days when she had been hunted by soul master hunting parties, never knowing whether she would survive the next day.

"I dreamed that they separated me from my mother. I ran with everything I had, ran and ran, but no matter what I did, I couldn't escape." Xiao Wu wiped away her tears, stood up, and walked to Tang San's side. "But then I understood. I couldn't escape because I had always been running. What if I stopped running? What if I stood right here and told them, 'I'm not going anywhere'?"

She raised her hand, and an extremely faint pink halo appeared around her fingertips. It was not soul power, but an older, purer power of origin. The instant she drew on that power, the hair on both sides of her head lifted slightly, vaguely revealing the outline of a pair of fuzzy, translucent rabbit ears.

But they appeared for only an instant before disappearing again.

"I won't hide anymore." Xiao Wu looked at Tang San and spoke seriously. "No matter what lies ahead, I'll face it with you."

Tang San looked at her for a long while, then nodded. He reached out and rubbed Xiao Wu's head, just as he had done countless times before.

"Alright."

All three of them had awakened.

Chen Xuan still lay beside the campfire, facing the depths of the forest, while five Light-Shadow Stones slowly revolved in his palm. Hearing the movement behind him, he did not turn around and merely said indifferently, "Not bad. None of you went insane on the spot. Better than I expected."

He sat up and poked at the fire that was about to go out. Sparks crackled and burst forth.

"Those things just now were called Light-Shadow Beasts. They are guardians formed from the lingering will left behind after the ancient Light-Shadow God fell. They do not attack the body. They only attack faith."

Chen Xuan turned around, his gaze sweeping over the three of them in turn.

"Yu Xiaogang, your faith was, 'My theories are the truth.' So it tore apart your theories and made you watch them become waste paper."

"Tang San, your faith was, 'I must meet everyone's expectations.' So it showed you that no matter how hard you tried, you could not save those you cared about, nor gain your teacher's approval."

"Xiao Wu, your faith was, 'I must hide my identity, or I will die.' So it showed you that everything you desperately tried to hide would ultimately still be lost."

The three remained silent. No one refuted him, because what Chen Xuan said was exactly what had happened within their minds just now.

"This is the greatest difference between the Light-Shadow Path and the soul master system." Chen Xuan stood and brushed the dust from his pants. "Soul masters grow stronger by plundering the power of soul beasts. At its core, it is plunder. The Light-Shadow Path relies on the purity of faith. What you believe in determines what power you can gain. If your faith is impure, the power will backlash against you."

He walked up to Yu Xiaogang and looked down at the blue-glowing notebook in the old man's arms.

"You made it through because of this." Chen Xuan pointed at the notebook. "Not because your faith was so firm, but because you finally admitted your own limits. Someone willing to admit, 'I don't know,' is closer to the threshold of the Light-Shadow Path than someone who insists, 'I know everything.'"

Yu Xiaogang clenched the notebook tightly. His lips moved, but he said nothing.

Chen Xuan then walked over to Tang San, his gaze falling on the Blue Silver Grass around his wrist.

"You relied on 'choice.' You chose to stop being anyone's chess piece. You chose to live for yourself, just once. That choice was painful, but clean."

Finally, he looked at Xiao Wu.

"You relied on 'facing it head-on.' You stopped running and hiding. Even if a mountain of blades and a sea of flames lie ahead, you will stand beneath the sunlight. So what if you are a hundred-thousand-year soul beast? Before the Light-Shadow Path, all living beings are equal."

Xiao Wu bit her lip and lowered her head to look at her fingertips. The warmth of that pink halo still lingered there.

"Now," Chen Xuan said, turning and walking deeper into the forest, "it's time for you to sense the power of light and shadow for the first time. Stay close. Don't fall behind. The Light-Shadow Beasts won't attack you on their own anymore, but the living creatures in this forest won't be so polite."

The four set off again.

This time, no one lagged behind. Yu Xiaogang walked third, gripping that notebook tightly in his hand. His steps were much steadier than before. Tang San and Xiao Wu walked side by side. Their hands occasionally brushed against each other before quickly separating again, like a silent understanding.

Chen Xuan walked at the front. Every so often, he would stop, and the five Light-Shadow Stones would rise from his palm and slowly spin in the air, guiding their direction. Tang San noticed that whenever the stones turned, the Blue Silver Grass on his wrist would faintly resonate, as though responding to a certain frequency.

"Your Blue Silver Grass reacts to the power of light and shadow." Chen Xuan spoke without looking back. "Because it is a plant by nature, it is innately close to the laws of the wood attribute. That is also why the world line chose it as a vessel—plants are more easily assimilated by rules than animals."

Tang San's heart tightened. "Then will it...?"

"It will." Chen Xuan cut him off. "But for now, it is safe. Because your faith now contains the element of 'refusing to be controlled,' it does not dare act rashly. But once we reach the altar, things will be different."

"What kind of place is the altar?" Xiao Wu could not help asking.

"The burial ground of the Light-Shadow God." Chen Xuan's voice was calm, as if he were merely commenting on the pleasant weather. "It is also the source of rule power. There, you will face a second trial. The first was 'faith.' The second is 'choice.'"

"Choice?"

"That's right." Chen Xuan stopped and turned to look at the three of them. "The Light-Shadow Path does not grant power for free. If you want something, you must exchange something of equal value. Yu Xiaogang, if you want to complete your theories, you must give up the arrogance of believing yourself omniscient and omnipotent. Tang San, if you want to completely escape the world line's control, you must give up your identity as the child of destiny. Xiao Wu..."

He looked at Xiao Wu and fell silent for a moment.

"If you want to stand beneath the sunlight, you must give up your hundred-thousand-year soul beast cultivation and become human again."

Xiao Wu's face went pale.

Tang San clenched her hand. "I won't let you give up anything."

"That is not up to you." Chen Xuan spoke calmly. "This is a rule. I did not make it; the Light-Shadow Path did. Of course, you can also choose not to enter the altar. Then you can return with your current hidden dangers and regret it when that thing fully erupts someday."

The four continued onward.

The forest grew denser, and the light grew dimmer. The humidity in the air was astonishing; with every breath, they could feel the moisture. All kinds of unidentifiable vines hung from the trunks like snakes, swaying slowly in the wind.

They walked for another two hours.

Chen Xuan suddenly stopped.

Tang San followed his gaze, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

Deep within the dense forest ahead, in an open clearing, stood a translucent altar glowing with five-colored light. The altar was circular, built from some unknown white stone. Its surface was covered in intricate runes that flowed with a mysterious gleam under the moonlight.

At the center of the altar were five grooves arranged in a ring, their sizes and shapes perfectly matching the five Light-Shadow Stones in Chen Xuan's palm.

Around the altar lay more than a dozen dried-out skeletons.

The postures of those skeletons were startlingly identical—all of them knelt in worship toward the altar, their hands stretched forward as though pleading for something. Decayed weapons lay beside some of them. Others wore soul master robes that had long faded to grayish white. And some... wore the same Shrek Academy uniforms as Tang San and the others.

Clearly, many people had come here before them.

Some had died within the illusions of the Light-Shadow Beasts. Others had died in the altar's trial of choice.

The wind swept through the clearing with a sound like mournful sobbing. The corners of the skeletons' clothing swayed faintly in the breeze, as though silently telling a story.

Chen Xuan walked to the edge of the altar and stopped. He turned back to look at the three behind him.

"We're here," he said. "Now, you still have one last chance to turn back."

Yu Xiaogang looked at the skeletons. His throat moved, but he did not take a single step back. He raised a hand and pressed the notebook in his arms firmly to his chest, as though encouraging himself.

Tang San held Xiao Wu's hand, his palm drenched in sweat, but he did not let go.

Xiao Wu raised her head and looked at the five grooves in the center of the altar. There was no fear in her eyes, only an almost resolute calm.

"Let's go," Tang San said.

Chen Xuan nodded, turned around, and walked onto the altar.

The five Light-Shadow Stones slowly rose from his palm, hovering in the air as they descended toward the grooves at the altar's center.

At the instant the first stone was about to fall into its groove, the entire altar suddenly lit up. Five-colored light shot into the sky, illuminating the entire forest as brightly as day. An ancient, vast aura bearing the weight of endless years spread out from the depths of the altar.

At the same time, the scales on Tang San's back suddenly burst open without warning.

End-of-chapter hook:

Amid the five-colored radiance, a distant sigh seemed to emerge from the depths of the altar, as though it had crossed tens of thousands of years. Then an aged voice sounded directly in the minds of all four of them.

"The fifth one has finally arrived."

"But this time, the stakes are greater than ever. Because the last person who attempted to bear the five Light-Shadow Stones was called... Tang Chen."

Tang San jerked his head up, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.

Tang Chen.

The founding ancestor of the Clear Sky Sect, his great-grandfather's elder brother, the peerless Douluo said to have fallen nearly ten thousand years ago.

He had come here?