Jin Huang opened his eyes to a sky the color of dying iron, without a single cloud or star.
The heavens above were vast and empty, painted in streaks of crimson and black as though the sunset had been left to rot for a thousand years.
Ash drifted lazily through the air like black snow.
Jin Huang remained still, looking around at this new environment.
His first instinct was not to draw upon his internal energy, but simply to take it all in.
A battlefield stretched endlessly before him.
Broken spears jutted from the earth like grave markers. Torn banners flapped weakly in a wind that carried no scent of life.
Rusted blades lay half-buried in the dirt, some still clutched in the armored hands of long-dead warriors.
Everywhere he looked, there signs of war, but strangely enough...
No blood. Not even the scent of anything foul.
Only the aftermath, and the hollowness.
"Another illusion." His voice disappeared into the empty wasteland.
Jin Huang slowly crouched, pressing two fingers into the blackened soil beneath him.
It was dry and cold- it felt real enough to fool anyone unaware.
He rose and turned in a slow circle, gradually letting the sand fall.
There were no visible exits, or monuments, or glowing runic nscriptions on an array formation.
There wasn't even a floating old man waiting to explain things dramatically.
"What's up with this place?"
Jin Huang walked further into the battlefield, observing silently.
Eventually, he felt it. Some presence locked onto him, but carried no killing intent or hostility with it.
Jin Huang turned.
Far in the distance, standing atop a slight rise in the barren earth, was a dark figure.
It stood still, remained silent, and watched.
Its body appeared humanoid, but only barely. It was made entirely of shadow- an absence of light shaped vaguely like a person. Its edges shifted like smoke in the calm air.
There was no face, nor were there eyes. No distinguishing features to speak of. Just a silhouette.
Jin Huang narrowed his eyes. "What am I supposed to do with you?"
The figure did not respond. It just stood there like it was waiting for something.
Several long moments passed in complete silence.
Jin Huang took a cautious step forward, and the figure remained still.
He took another step...
Still nothing.
He stopped, several paces away now, close enough to make out the unstable contours of its body.
No breathing. No spiritual fluctuations. No weapon.
Now that he was closer though, it felt strangely familiar to him. Like hearing an unfamiliar song played using the sound of your own heartbeat.
Jin Huang circled it slowly.
The figure turned only enough to continue facing him.
Still no aggression, and no reaction.
"You're not attacking, so what's your purpose here?"
Silence.
Jin Huang frowned. This did not feel like the previous illusion.
The first one had tempted him- made him want it to be real. This one felt like it was waiting for him to make a mistake.
His gaze dropped briefly to the figure's empty hands, then back to its featureless face.
"Do you want some dumplings? Wait, can I even-"
He tried to access the storage space within his ring, and realized that he couldn't.
"Crap! If I get hungry I'm doomed!"
The shadow tilted its head, the movement unnervingly human.
Jin Huang immediately stepped back, half-expecting an attack that did not come.
He exhaled slowly.
"Fine." He raised his fists into a loose defensive posture. "Let's test this."
He moved first, exerting just a bit of force that was completely devoid of killing intent.
This was just a simple, probing strike aimed at the figure's shoulder.
The moment his fist entered its range... the shadow moved.
Fast. Far faster than its stillness had suggested.
Its arm rose in a perfect parry as its other hand struck toward Jin Huang's ribs in the same manner as he had attacked.
Jin Huang twisted just in time, but the strike still clipped him hard enough to send him skidding back just a bit.
He dug his heels into the earth and stopped.
"So you're fast."
He looked down, finding himself entire unharmed.
That exchange had been clean, efficient and precise. The kind of movement he recognized immediately.
It looked like-
His thoughts halted and he looked up sharply.
The shadow was changing, its previously unstable frame beginning to solidify.
The vague outline of shoulders became broader as its posture and stance shifted.
Now, its right arm hung slightly lower than the left. Exactly like his.
Jin Huang's expression darkened. "Are you..."
The shadow raised its hands, mirroring his exact stance.
Jin Huang face was a mask of confusion, "...copying me?"
Its face remained blank, but now its body proportions were beginning to resemble his own.
Jin Huang stared at it, then at his own hands, before finally staring back at the thing before him.
"No."
The shadow stepped forward, moving all on its own for the first time.
It gave no sign. There was no hostility to feel, nor was there an intent behind its movements for him to sense.
Jin Huang's eyes sharpened, and the battlefield erupted with the sounds of battle.
Every attack he received, he returned in kind, while every counter he made was answered by another attack from the shadow.
His fist of flesh collided with its fist of shadow, his power output increasing with each exchange. Even so, the shadow's power rose to match him exactly.
Jin Huang lunged forward the instant the shadow advanced, refusing to surrender momentum.
His right fist tore through the air like a cannon shot, carrying enough force to shatter stone.
The shadow met it head-on, their fists colliding in an explosion of raw power.
BOOM!
The ground beneath them cratered.
A violent shockwave erupted outward, sending rusted weapons tumbling through the barren field.
Jin Huang's eyes narrowed. "That was exactly equal."
Not nearly, or approximately- exactly.
The shadow slid back one step, and so did he.
Then both moved again. Jin Huang drove a knee toward its abdomen-
The shadow mirrored the movement.
Knee struck knee and a crack like thunder split the air. Jin Huang pivoted immediately, sweeping low toward its legs.
The shadow leapt, and its heel came crashing down toward his shoulder.
Jin Huang crossed his arms just in time, but the impact drove him knee-deep into the earth.
He gritted his teeth, then suddenly smiled.
"This is kinda fun!"
With a violent burst of strength, he launched upward and threw the shadow backward.
It flipped through the air with impossible grace before landing smoothly.
Jin Huang rolled his shoulders and rushed forward again.
He punched; the shadow blocked. He attacked with his elbow; the shadow countered. He kicked; the shadow returned a kick.
Every strike he delivered came back to him. Every opening he created was answered by another.
It was like fighting his own reflection in turbulent water, each collision splitting the earth further and sending tremors racing across the battlefield.
Jin Huang began increasing his output even more, this time causing his internal energy to surge through his meridians like a flooding river.
Golden light flickered beneath his skin and in his eyes, his strikes growing heavier, faster and sharper.
Now, the battlefield began collapsing beneath their exchange.
Despite all this, the shadow rose to meet him exactly.
When Jin Huang increased his speed, so did it.
When he sharpened his timing, it did the same.
When he poured more spiritual energy into his strikes, the shadow responded in perfect proportion.
Always equal.
Jin Huang twisted beneath a punch and slammed his palm into the shadow's chest.
The attack landed cleanly, and its body distorted violently before snapping back into shape.
Then its own palm struck his chest, and Jin Huang was blasted backward like a cannonball.
He crashed through broken stone pillars before skidding to a stop, coughing violently.
Blood splattered onto black earth, his chest screaming in protest.
"Tch!" He stood slowly.
Across the battlefield, the shadow remained motionless.
Its form shifted again, more complete. More human.
Its shoulders now matched his frame exactly, and its stance- its proportions- were identical.
And now, features began appearing.
A jawline. A nose. The faint outline of eyes.
Jin Huang stared as his breathing slowed.
"Copying me is one thing, but now you're stealing my whole look!"
The shadow tilted its head, then shook it.
Jin Huang froze, feeling that that motion had carried intention. Meaning.
"You're not copying me…?"
Realization crept in like ice water down his spine.
The shadow raised one hand, then pointed directly at him. Its unfinished face reflected nothing, but somehow, Jin Huang understood the silent message.
'Look carefully.'
Then it rushed him again, faster than before. Jin Huang barely crossed his arms before the strike landed.
BOOOOOOM—
The battlefield ruptured.
Jin Huang was launched through the sky like a meteor. As he tumbled violently through the air, he saw it for the briefest moment.
The shadow's face, though not fully formed, was unmistakably his.
His own eyes stared back at him.
For the first time since entering this illusion, Jin Huang felt something dangerously close to fear.