Blood-Forged Ascension

The bell rang in the pitch-dark before dawn.

Wei Lian was already awake.

He hadn't slept.

He sat cross-legged on the cracked dorm floor, robe wrapped tight against the mountain cold.

Breathing.

The ember of Qi in his dantian felt different now.

Stronger.

Firmer.

But beneath it…

That crack remained.

A thin line of pressure waiting to split.

He rose stiffly.

Every joint protested.

Cuts on his palms opened, sticky and raw.

He wrapped them in scraps of cloth.

No one offered him better.

Outside, the wind howled down the cliff paths.

Mist crawled like ghosts around the old stones of the sect.

Lanterns guttered in the wind, throwing crooked shadows.

He walked alone to Copper Hall.

He was first again.

Always first.

He sat in the back corner.

Felt the cold seep through the thin mat.

He closed his eyes.

Waited.

Disciples trickled in, noisier than they thought they were.

Wei Lian listened.

"Another screening soon."

"Think Master Shen will pick Jin Xiu?"

"He's Earth Root. Who else is he going to pick?"

"That latrine rat? He shouldn't even be here."

He didn't react.

Just listened.

Memorized.

Elder Mu entered, robes scraping the floor.

He sat slowly, back straight despite the years.

Silence fell like a blade.

"Breathe."

They did.

Wei Lian shut his eyes.

He felt the Qi in the hall swirl.

It went to the others first, like obedient dogs.

They inhaled it with ease.

He had to drag it to himself like pulling a rope from the ocean.

The ember in his dantian flared.

2nd layer now.

The crack trembled.

He could feel it strain.

He forced breath through bruised ribs.

He pulled in the cold.

The pain.

The hate.

The memory of being called less than dirt.

Qi responded.

Slow.

Grudging.

But it came.

He forced it in.

Every thread burned.

He didn't stop.

Elder Mu's voice rang out.

"Today's lesson: limits."

A pause.

"You were all born with them."

He scanned them with scorn.

"Some of you have Human Roots. Most of you. You will crawl. You will suffer. The world owes you nothing."

"A few of you have Earth Roots. One in a million. Stable. Strong. Worth training."

"Heaven Roots?"

He barked a short laugh.

"None of you have that. One in a hundred million. Don't waste your tears wanting what you can't have."

No one laughed.

The words hit too close.

Wei Lian didn't flinch.

He just listened.

Let the hate settle in his chest.

"If you want more, you fight for it," Mu finished. "Or you die on the path."

He closed his eyes and gestured.

"Continue."

They breathed.

Wei Lian didn't stop even when his vision blurred.

He felt his ribs creak.

He kept going until Elder Mu's command ended the session.

He was last to stand.

Unsteady.

Drenched in sweat.

But inside?

The ember pulsed hard.

Alive.

Waiting.

Outside, the work board was wet with rain.

LATRINE DUTY – WEI LIAN

He didn't blink.

Picked up the shovel.

The latrines were worse after last night's storm.

Mud swallowed his ankles.

The cart was stuck.

He heaved until the wood cracked under his grip.

Blood seeped from his palms.

He wiped it on his robe.

Kept working.

Twice he fell.

The second time he stayed down, face in the muck.

He breathed.

The stench filled his lungs.

He didn't move.

Didn't cry.

Just waited.

Until the shaking stopped.

Then he pushed himself up.

By late afternoon his robe was brown with filth, clinging to his skin.

He dumped the last load at the cliff edge.

Watched it slide into the mist.

He felt nothing.

At dusk he sat in the creek.

Black water swirled around his legs.

He pressed both palms to his dantian.

Closed his eyes.

Inside, the Qi flickered and danced.

2nd layer.

But the crack pulsed.

Like something alive inside stone.

Waiting to split wider.

He inhaled slowly.

Felt pain burn through his spine.

He let it.

Fed it to the ember.

The seal shifted.

Just slightly.

He felt it.

Something old.

Something buried.

Trying to wake.

Wei Lian opened his eyes.

Darkness pooled around him.

He didn't smile.

Didn't curse.

Just whispered:

"Not yet."

Then he stood.

Picked up his torn, wet robe.

And walked back to the dorm.

Because tomorrow, he knew, they'd try to break him again.

And he would let them try.