Location: Deep within the Bloodroot Forest – Midnight
The moment Qin Huaian crossed the barrier into the Bloodroot Forest, the world shifted.
The sky vanished. Trees closed in around him—twisted, veiny trunks pulsing with dark red energy. Fog rolled low across the roots like a ghost's breath.
No sounds of birds. No wind.
Only heartbeat-like thumps in the ground beneath his feet.
His Void Flame dimmed, flickering erratically. Even the Hollow Star Ring trembled as if afraid.
This was no ordinary forest.
🧠 The First Illusion: Mother's Death
Huaian's eyes blurred.
When he blinked again, he stood in a cold room filled with incense and grief. His mother, Lady Lianhua Shaw, lay on a bed, her face pale, her lips trembling.
She reached toward him with one hand—frail, desperate.
"Why didn't you save me, Huaian…? I was your mother…"
Her eyes filled with tears—and blame.
"You had the Supreme Bone. You had the power. But you were weak. You let them take it… and let me die."
Huaian fell to his knees, his breath shaking. The illusion felt real—too real.
Then a voice echoed from deep within his spiritual sea:
"False memory. She never blamed you."
It was Fengyuan's voice—no, not his real one… a fragment left behind in Huaian's Void Flame as spiritual protection.
Huaian clenched his fist. The phantom meridians in his body activated, surging with invisible Void threads.
"You're not my mother."
The illusion shattered like broken glass, and the forest shifted again.
💔 The Second Illusion: Xiaoxiao's Death
This time, he stood in the bamboo courtyard.
Qin Xiaoxiao lay in the snow, blood staining her robes. Her twin blades were shattered. Her eyes stared at the sky—lifeless.
Elder Qin Yao stood behind her, laughing.
"She followed you. She died for you. All because you walked the Void path."
A thousand voices joined him.
"You're cursed."
"You'll bring death to those you love."
"She died… because she waited."
Huaian screamed—but this time, his Void Flame flared in response.
"ENOUGH!"
From his body burst a wave of Void Pulse—ripping the illusion apart. The trees recoiled. The roots screamed.
Huaian stood alone again.
Sweating. Trembling. But awake.
🌑 The Blood Tree Appears
As the illusions collapsed, the forest changed. The fog parted. In the distance, something massive pulsed.
A tree.
Wider than a temple tower, its bark was blackened and scarred. Its roots bled crimson energy that hissed like boiling blood. And in the heart of its trunk… was a mirror—smooth, silver, and reflective.
Huaian stepped toward it slowly.
The mirror didn't show his face.
Instead, it showed a figure cloaked in flame and shadow—himself, but older, eyes glowing with Void runes, standing atop a broken battlefield with Xiaoxiao and Yueru at his side.
"Is this… my future?"
A single voice echoed from the tree:
"Only if you survive."
Suddenly, the roots around him moved.
⚔️ Bloodroot Guardian: The Twisted Echo
From the shadows rose a Bloodroot Guardian—a mutated spiritual beast made from the regrets of those who had failed this trial.
It lunged.
But Huaian, fueled by memory and Void, unleashed his new technique:
Phantom Thread Pulse!
Invisible Void threads shot from his palm, entangling the guardian mid-air and shattering its qi core before it could scream. The beast collapsed, twitching, before turning to dust.
🕯️ End of the Trial
The Blood Tree shuddered. Its silver mirror cracked… and then glowed, releasing a surge of energy.
Void Essence poured into Huaian—refining his phantom meridians, expanding them to a new layer. A brand etched itself on his back—an ancient mark once worn by a long-lost Void King.
He didn't just pass the trial.
He tamed it.
📜 Chapter Summary:
Qin Huaian overcomes powerful illusions of guilt, failure, and fear.
Activates his Void Flame as a tool of clarity, not destruction.
Defeats the Bloodroot Guardian using his first full Void combat technique.
Breaks through to Void Realm 4 – Soul Stirring Thread (Early Stage).
Leaves the Bloodroot Forest with a Void King's Mark—a legendary seal thought lost to history.
🌸 Back at the Qin Estate
When he reappeared at the edge of the forest, elders gasped. His robes were torn, his eyes glowed faintly violet, and behind him… the cursed forest wilted for the first time in a century.
Elder Qin Yao paled.
Fengyuan smiled faintly.
Xiaoxiao… cried and ran straight to him.
"You idiot!" she shouted. "Don't do that again."
But she hugged him anyway.
He said nothing.
But gently, he hugged her back.