The threads surged forward.

  Three creatures rushed Ren at the same time, their jagged limbs scraping violently across the stone. Their hollow eyes glowed faintly as they closed in from different directions, trying to surround him.

  Ren tightened his grip on the Tsubasa Stone. The crystal pulsed.

  Thin threads extended from his fingers—but this time they did not remain pale strands of energy. Darkness gathered along them. The threads turned black.

  Shadow flowed through them like ink spreading through water. The first creature lunged straight at his chest. Ren did not retreat. He stepped forward instead.

  His fingers spread slightly and the threads shot outward, weaving together in front of him. In a blink they formed a wide web that stretched across the ridge.

  But the web did not shine. It swallowed the moonlight.

  The creature crashed into the shadow web and its limbs tangled instantly. It struggled violently, its claws tearing against the strands, but the more it fought the tighter the web pulled around its body.

  Ren moved in.

  The shadow threads wrapped around his forearm, thickening as they gathered together.

  They hardened. A narrow blade of condensed darkness formed along his arm. Ren drove it forward.

  The shadow blade pierced between the plates of crystal on the creature’s chest. The impact pushed the creature backward as the blade tore through its shell. Ren twisted his arm and ripped it free.

  The creature collapsed. But the other two were already attacking.

  One leapt high while the other rushed low across the ground. Ren ducked under the airborne strike just as the second creature’s claws slashed across his thigh.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  Fabric tore. A line of blood followed. Pain shot up his leg. Ren’s balance faltered for half a second.

  The creature above him slammed into his shoulder and drove him backward across the ridge. Stones scattered under his feet as he struggled to regain his footing.

  The Tsubasa Stone flickered. Using the shadow techniques was draining what little energy remained in the crystal.

  The creatures advanced again. Ren inhaled slowly. Then his foot pressed into the shadow beneath him. His body sank into it.

  The creature’s claw cut through empty air as Ren vanished from where he had stood.

  He reappeared a step to the side, threads bursting upward from the shadow beneath the creature’s legs.

  They wrapped tightly around its limbs. The creature shrieked and tried to pull free. Ren rushed forward before it could.

  His threads tightened and yanked the creature off balance. At the same moment Ren grabbed the edge of its jagged shell with his bare hand. He twisted.

  Muscles in his arm strained as he lifted the creature’s body and slammed it headfirst into the rock wall beside the ridge.

  The impact echoed through the night. The shell along its skull shattered. Ren did not stop.

  He drove his elbow down into the cracked shell again. And again. Fragments broke away with each strike until the creature finally went limp.

  Only one remained. The last creature screeched and rushed him wildly. Ren raised his arm to block. Its claw tore across his forearm.

  Blood spilled down his wrist. The creature lunged again immediately, jaws snapping toward his throat. Ren stepped into the attack.

  His threads shot forward and wrapped around the creature’s neck. Instead of pulling back, Ren tightened them and dragged the creature closer.

  His knee slammed into its torso. The brittle crystal shell cracked under the blow.

  Ren twisted his wrist. The threads tightened like a wire. With a sharp jerk he dragged the creature sideways and smashed it into the ground.

  The impact split the crystal plating along its back. Ren drove his heel down onto the crack. The shell collapsed inward with a dull crunch.

  The creature convulsed once. Then stopped moving. Silence slowly returned to the ridge.

  Ren remained standing, breathing heavier than before. Blood ran down his arm and soaked into the fabric around his thigh.

  The Tsubasa Stone in his hand glowed faintly now, its light dimmer after the strain of battle.

  Ren glanced toward the opened chest. The strange crystal still rested inside his sleeve.

  It had not reacted during the fight. Yet the energy inside it felt steady… calm in a way that ordinary cultivation crystals were not.

  Ren crouched beside the chest again. The battle had ended.

  But the ridge was not entirely quiet. Somewhere beneath the broken stone, something shifted faintly. Ren’s eyes narrowed. Another presence remained.