Victor was standing in front of his family's house. His mother was at the doorstep, smiling warmly at him. His father sat on the porch, waving. Danny, Max, and Jake were standing outside, laughing.

Victor felt his chest tighten.

His mother's voice drifted toward him. "Come inside, dear. We've been waiting for you."

His feet moved on their own.

He reached the door. His hand rose to knock.

Something in the back of his mind screamed, This isn't real.

But his heart felt like it was.

As he reached for the doorknob—

A whisper in his ear.

"Wake up."

His eyes widened.

The illusion shattered.

<[ Your Spiritual Energy Has Successfully Resisted The Illusion ]>

The comforting warmth of home dissolved into a cold, harsh reality. He was still in the Misguided Misty Paths, and the Illusionary Spirit was inches from his face with its hollow eyes boring into him.

Victor roared and swung his sword wildly. This time, a surge of qi erupted from his body, shattering the spirit's form like glass.

It let out a piercing wail, then disintegrated into nothingness.

Victor collapsed to his knees while panting. "Okay. That sucked. Not doing that again."

He forced himself up.

The Misty Paths weren't just hiding threats—they were actively trying to break him.

He moved forward, keeping his guard up as he walked past a tree with scar like mark on its trunk.

Victor walked.

And walked.

And walked.

His gut told him he had covered a ridiculous distance. But then—

He saw something familiar.

A crooked tree with a scar-like mark on its trunk.

His brow furrowed.

Then he saw another landmark—a fallen boulder with deep cracks.

His stomach dropped.

He had already passed these places.

He had been here before.

His face darkened. "No, no, no—I walked in a straight line. I KNOW I did."

But the mist swirled around him mockingly, like it was laughing.

Something was twisting his sense of direction.

Victor gritted his teeth. "Alright, time to cheat."

He took a deep breath and activated Shadow Crescent Strike.

A wave of condensed shadowy energy erupted from his broken blade, slicing forward like a crescent moon.

For the first time—

The mist parted.

For a brief moment, he could see his surroundings clearly.

His eyes widened.

The ground wasn't normal.

It was covered in circular stone platforms, subtly spinning beneath him. They rotated in perfect synchronization, sending him back to the same point over and over.

Victor stared at them, dumbfounded. "This is a giant treadmill?!"

Now that he saw through the trick, he jumped.

The moment his feet left the ground, the spinning platforms lost their control over his direction. He dashed forward, leaping between stable points.

He escaped the loop.

Victor grinned. "Nice try, Misty Paths. But I'm smarter than I look... sometimes..."

Days passed.

Victor had lost track of time again.

The mist was thinning now—he could feel himself approaching the exit.

But his instincts told him to stop.

Something was wrong.

The air felt heavy.

The qi around him… was vanishing.

Victor's body stiffened as a massive shadow slithered out of the fog.

A massive ten feet reptilian beast emerged—a Qi Devouring Beast.

A System Alert flashed.

---

[ WARNING! You have encountered a Qi Devouring Beast! ]

[ Threat Level: High ]

[ Warning: This beast drains all qi within its vicinity! Avoid using qi-based attacks ]

---

Victor's stomach dropped.

His mind screamed one crucial fact—

He couldn't use qi against this thing.

Cultivators knew that Qi Devouring Beasts were nightmares incarnate but Victor was just coming to find that out.

They didn't just suppress cultivation—they fed on it.

Using martial techniques or qi-based attacks would only make it stronger.

Victor tightened his grip on his broken sword.

"Welp," he muttered. "I'm so screwed."

Victor ran.

His feet pounded against the uneven ground of the Misguided Misty Paths, kicking up loose dirt and mist as he desperately fled.

The Qi Devouring Beast enormous body scaled through the fog with unnatural speed as it chased after him.

Victor risked a glance back—and immediately regretted it.

The beast was gaining on him.

He could hear the deep growls and wet sound of its maw snapping shut just inches behind him. He gritted his teeth. I need more speed—

In a panic, he activated Wind Dash.

Qi burst through his meridians, boosting his movement as a sudden gust of air propelled him forward.

For a moment, he thought he might have a chance.

Then—

A horrible sensation washed over him.

His Qi reserves plummeted.

Like an invisible vacuum, the beast sucked the very essence of his energy away, draining him at a terrifying pace. His vision blurred and his limbs turned heavy as his sprint slowed to a stumbling jog.

And the worst part?

The Qi Devouring Beast only grew faster and stronger as it feasted on his energy.

Victor's heart plummeted. "Oh, come on! That's just unfair!"

He tried to stop using qi, but by then, it was too late.

The beast was right behind him.

Before he could react, a massive claw slammed into his back, sending him spiralling across the air. The wind left his lungs as he hit the ground hard and rolled violently across the uneven terrain.

His ribs felt like they had caved in.

He barely had time to process it before the beast was on him.

Victor forced himself up while gripping his broken sword and slashing wildly.

He managed two strikes before his Qi completely ran dry.

"Shit!"

The beast's maw opened wide, and before he could even try to react—

It ripped him to shreds.

<[ You Have Died ]>

---

[ Respawn... ]

Victor gasped as his eyes snapped open.

He was back.

Not far from where he had died.

The thick mist of the Misguided Misty paths rolled around him and the low growls of the beast echoed in the distance.

Victor clutched his head.

"...Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

It had been quite some time since he last died in Ascendant Realms. He had forgotten the feeling.

He glanced around. He still had his broken sword, his stats hadn't changed, and—thankfully—he only lost a few percentage of progress in his cultivation.

But that wasn't the problem.

The problem was that no matter what he did, the Qi Devouring Beast was going to kill him if he encountered it again. He internally decided that he was going to avoid it.

Victor sighed heavily.

"Alright, let's try this again."