Chapter 200: The Shadow’s first hunger

Ru Yi woke before dawn.

For several moments, she didn’t remember where she was. Then the unfamiliar stone ceiling came into focus, followed by the cold walls of the chamber General Sheng had given her.

There were no familiar voices nearby, no sounds of Qingyue and her sisters moving around the room, and no warmth of another person sleeping beside her.

She was all alone.

Ru Yi sat up. Her eyes immediately fell upon her finger. The ring was gone. The broken pieces rested on the table beside her bed. She stared at them until the emptiness returned, then she looked away.

A knock sounded on the wooden door.

"Come in."

The door opened, revealing General Sheng. "It is time."

Ru Yi stood up. "Time for what?"

"To find out how much your shadow can do."

She followed him through the corridors and into the underground chamber. The Eclipse Relic waited at the center.

Around it were several circular formations carved into the stone.

General Sheng stood outside the largest one. "Step inside."

Ru Yi did. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Call your shadow."

"I don’t know how."

"You’ve already done it."

Ru Yi looked down. Her shadow lay quietly beneath her feet.

General Sheng’s voice remained calm. "Stop treating it like an enemy."

Ru Yi closed her eyes. She remembered the ring breaking and the coldness that had settled over her heart. She thought back to the moment Qingyue refused to look at her.

The shadow stirred.

Ru Yi opened her eyes.

Darkness spread across the floor. It moved toward the nearest formation.

General Sheng watched carefully. "Again."

Ru Yi pushed harder and the shadow expanded. The formation began glowing. Then the darkness wrapped around it.

The light disappeared.

Ru Yi’s eyes widened. "What did I do?"

"You drained it."

"Drained what?"

"The spiritual energy."

She stared at the formation while General Sheng stepped closer. "Try again."

Ru Yi hesitated. "Will it hurt someone?"

"Not if I stop you."

She wasn’t convinced, but she tried.

The shadow surged forward. This time, the formation shattered and Ru Yi stumbled backward.

General Sheng was quick to catch her arm.

She stared at the broken stone. "What happened?"

General couldn’t tell if he felt fear or anger. "You destroyed it."

"I didn’t mean to."

"But you did."

Ru Yi looked at her shadow. For the first time, she wasn’t afraid of it. Instead she was curious. "How much can it take?"

General Sheng’s expression changed. "More than you realize." He walked toward another formation. "This is why the Eclipse Relic exists."

Ru Yi looked at the black crescent. "It amplifies the shadow. I want to help you understand the extent of the power you’re carrying inside you."

Ru Yi stared at him.

"You can spend your life suppressing your power and allowing other people to decide what you are, or you can learn exactly what you possess."

Ru Yi’s eyes hardened. "I’m not going back to being helpless."

"I didn’t think you would."

He gestured toward the relic. "Touch it."

Ru Yi hesitated. Something inside her warned her not to. But another part of her wanted to know. Curiousity had her walking toward the pedestal.

The moment her fingers touched the Eclipse Relic, the chamber went dark. Her shadow exploded outward. It climbed the walls and ceiling, swallowing the formations around her. Ru Yi gasped as an enormous shape rose behind her, stretching far beyond anything she had summoned before.

General Sheng took a step backward. For the first time, genuine surprise crossed his face.

Ru Yi stared at the darkness surrounding her. "What is happening?"

The relic pulsed and the shadow responded. Every formation in the chamber began losing its light. Ru Yi could feel the spiritual energy flowing into her.

It was terrifying.

It was exhilarating.

And it felt strangely natural.

Then she remembered Qingyue which only made the shadow grew larger. Ru Yi’s breathing became uneven. She remembered the words that had hurt her most.

I don’t know if I ever loved you.

The darkness surged. Stone cracked beneath her feet. General Sheng’s expression became serious. "Control it."

Ru Yi tried, but the shadow resisted. It wanted more. She could feel its hunger. It wanted the energy surrounding them. It wanted to consume everything.

Ru Yi clenched her teeth.

"Stop."

The shadow continued moving and Ru Yi closed her eyes.

General Sheng started to panic. "I said stop."

Nothing happened.

Then she remembered the ring. She remembered watching it fall to the floor. Something inside her went completely cold.

Ru Yi’s voice turned stern as she shouted, "enough!"

The shadow suddenly stopped and silence returned. Ru Yi opened her eyes. The darkness slowly withdrew until only the small shadow beneath her feet remained.

General Sheng stared at her. "You controlled it."

Ru Yi looked at her hands like they didn’t belong to her. "I did."

"You did something most cultivators would spend decades attempting."

She looked toward the Eclipse Relic. "What happens if I become stronger?"

"You could destroy spiritual formations with a thought."

"And armies?"

"Yes."

"Cities?"

General Sheng’s expression remained unreadable. "Potentially."

Ru Yi was silent.

The old Ru Yi would have been horrified. She would have immediately asked how to prevent such power from hurting innocent people. But the girl standing in the chamber no longer felt quite like that person.

"How do I become stronger?"

General Sheng studied her. "You have already made your decision."

Ru Yi looked at him. "Teach me."

He nodded. "There is one thing you must understand first."

"What?"

"Power responds to intent."

Ru Yi waited—

"If you want to control your shadow, you must know what you want it to become."

She looked at the darkness beneath her feet. "What if I want it to become something no one can ever control again?"

General Sheng smiled. "Then you will need to become stronger than everyone who might try."

Ru Yi looked toward the relic. Her fingers tightened. She had spent so long trying to be loved that she had forgotten what it meant to belong to herself.

Now she wanted something else.

Power.

Not because she wanted to rule the kingdom, but because wanted enough power that nobody could ever decide her fate again. She wanted enough power that nobody could ever look at her and say she was disposable.

She wanted enough power that the people who had once turned away from her would have to remember her name.

Ru Yi stepped toward the Eclipse Relic again. This time, there was no hesitation. The shadow rose behind her.

General Sheng watched as the darkness slowly took the shape of enormous wings. "You should be careful what you wish for."

Ru Yi looked at her reflection in the black surface of the relic. "I already was." Her voice was calm. "And look where it got me."

Ru Yi’s shadow spread across the floor once more, reaching toward the darkness beyond the walls. For the first time, she did not see it as a curse. She saw it as hers.

And somewhere deep inside her, beneath the grief and the heartbreak, something new began to grow. It was not love. It was not forgiveness...

It was pure undiluted hunger.