Mystique Soul: A Cultivator's Flame
Chapter 133: Trial 1.2

Chapter 133: Trial 1.2

The deeper they moved into the maze, the quieter it became, not in peace, but in tension. Feng Jiao Xue didn’t trust the stillness. The kind of silence that dropped like a blade just before the killing blow. Even the wind no longer rustled the leaves, and the air was heavy, as if the forest itself held its breath.

Mo Tianze was only a few steps behind her, sharp-eyed, ears twitching beneath his hood. They’d made progress through the maze, fending off enchanted vines and avoiding the snarling beasts camouflaged in roots and bark. His presence, so calm and unwavering at her back, had become a quiet anchor in the madness of this test.

Feng Jiao Xue’s gaze flicked to the side. Something was off.

The moment she shifted her weight forward, the trap sprung.

A ripple of movement came from the trees four shadows leaping from above, cloaks swirling, the gleam of blades catching what little light pierced the canopy. Mo Tianze moved first, intercepting a dagger with a harsh clang, the impact sending a jolt up his arm.

"Cowards" Feng Jiao Xue hissed, sidestepping a bolt of fire aimed directly for her head. It seared past her cheek, scorching a line across the mossy ground.

A snarl echoed from the shadows. "It’s nothing personal, sweetheart. There’s limited space in that Academy, and you’re just one less competitor."

She didn’t answer with words. Her fingers flicked, and ice burst upward from the ground in jagged spears, forcing two of the attackers to leap aside. The temperature around her dropped several degrees, frost crackling underfoot. Mo Tianze took her cue and moved with silent efficiency, flanking her like a loyal shadow, blade in hand, tail flicking with focus.

One of the attackers, a tall boy with wild black hair and a blood-red sash, landed directly in front of them, his sword gleaming with runes. "Two-on-four. Seems a bit unfair for you, doesn’t it?"

Mo Tianze bared his fangs. "I like those odds."

The boy lunged. Mo Tianze met him in a clash of metal and strength, ducking low to sweep the attacker’s legs and forcing him to crash into the thick roots. A second foe tried to capitalize on the moment, charging toward Feng Jiao Xue with twin daggers. She stepped back, lifted her palm, and murmured, "Zharnae velora."

A wave of force exploded from her outstretched hand, flinging the ambusher into a tree with a sickening thud.

Another figure, cloaked in black and wielding a staff crackling with green lightning, growled, "So you really are a mage too. That makes you more dangerous than most." She jabbed the staff toward Mo Tianze, who barely rolled aside as a bolt of energy scorched the moss.

Feng Jiao Xue narrowed her eyes. "You ambushed the wrong people."

"You’re not even registered yet," the mage snapped. "Why protect a demi-beast when you could easily join us and walk into the Academy unscathed?"

For a moment, Mo Tianze stiffened.

Feng Jiao Xue’s expression turned glacial. "Because he’s mine."

Magic crackled in her hand again, this time silver with a hint of blue, drawn from deeper reserves. She didn’t wait for another spell. She lunged.

The girl blocked the first blast with her staff but staggered. Her lips moved to cast something stronger, but she was too slow. Mo Tianze leapt from the side and disarmed her with a clean strike, tail whipping her legs from beneath. She fell, and before she could rise, Feng Jiao Xue was already behind her, hand resting on her nape.

"Stay down," she said coldly.

A low whistle cut through the air, the sound of a blade and Feng Jiao Xue ducked, feeling the cold wind graze her ear as a crescent-shaped dagger embedded itself in the tree trunk behind her with a dull thunk. Bark splintered. She barely had time to recover before a second assailant lunged at her from the side, twin sabers flashing like silver arcs in the green-hued gloom.

She twisted her body mid-turn, the motion fluid as water. Her left foot pivoted on damp moss, the scent of iron and ozone thick in the air. With a swift flick of her hand, a ribbon of ice surged from her palm- "Niraeth vel shara!"- and caught the attacker mid-stride, freezing him from the knees down in jagged crystal.

’She really need to learn more spells’ Feng Jiao Xue though to herself.

A cry of surprise and fury ripped from his throat as he staggered, sabers crashing down uselessly against the icy prison around his legs. She didn’t let up. Her next spell, whispered like a blade across silk, summoned a spear of frost that shot upward and grazed his shoulder, pinning him to a nearby tree.

Behind her, Mo Tianze was a blur of shadow and fury. He met the black-haired boy’s runic sword with his own curved blade iron on steel, sparks leaping in every direction as the forest filled with the ringing clang! of combat. Mo Tianze’s movements were raw, primal, each strike calculated with instinct born of survival, not formal training. Yet it was graceful in its own way.

His tail lashed out, slamming into the boy’s ribs with a heavy thud, sending him flying into a thicket. Leaves exploded upward like a burst of green feathers. The demi-beast didn’t wait he bounded forward with feline speed, dodging a ball of crimson flame hurled from a cloaked figure hiding in the brush.

"Think fast, beast!" came the snarl of a female mage, her staff raised high. A jagged bolt of lightning crackled down from the clouds above, drawn by her incantation. The flash illuminated the scene in stark whites and shadows.

Mo Tianze rolled beneath it, the bolt slamming into the ground behind him with a deafening crack, sending a shower of scorched dirt and shredded vines into the air. The smell of burnt ozone filled his lungs. He came up behind her in one fluid motion and knocked the staff from her grasp with a vicious upward strike.

She gasped, stumbling, and turned just in time to see his glowing amber eyes and then his fist, smashing into her abdomen with a soundless force that folded her over and sent her crashing into the underbrush.

"You’re outnumbered!" another assailant cried, darting toward Feng Jiao Xue. The ground beneath him shifted roots pulsing unnaturally, like veins and before he could react, they shot upward, wrapping around his legs like serpents. He screamed, slashing at them with his blade.

Feng Jiao Xue’s lips didn’t even move. The plants responded to her magic as if they lived for it.

"You think numbers matter to us?" she said coldly, her voice like a distant wind on snow.

She raised one hand, and the roots tightened bones cracked audibly. The attacker dropped his sword with a strangled yell, writhing in the plant’s grasp until he passed out.

From the clearing’s edge, the blood-sashed leader, now limping from a blow to his thigh, gritted his teeth. "You’re just a noble girl with tricks and a tamed beast. We’ve fought worse."

"Then you should’ve learned by now not to provoke what you don’t understand," Mo Tianze growled, stepping beside Feng Jiao Xue. His blade gleamed with blood and sap, his eyes narrowed and dangerous.

They moved together then, a synchronized strike.

Feng Jiao Xue’s hands glowed blue with layered magic, her spells condensing into sharp needles of frost that pierced the air with a whistling hiss. Mo Tianze charged, cutting through the remaining ambushers with fluid strikes that aimed for tendons, pressure points, and soft tissue, enough to incapacitate without killing.

The leader raised his blade in one last attempt, only for a wall of ice to rise beneath his feet, throwing him off balance. Mo Tianze’s kick sent him sprawling into the dirt, the wind knocked clean from his lungs.

Silence fell. Harsh breathing. The stench of scorched earth, blood, and crushed plants lingered in the clearing. Branches hung limp and broken above them.

Feng Jiao Xue flicked her wrist, dismissing the last of the frost spears with a shimmer of light. Her breath came in clouds. Beside her, Mo Tianze was panting, sweat trickling down his neck, blade still trembling in his grip.

But their enemies lay strewn and groaning, defeated.

The fight lasted less than three minutes, but the forest was now scattered with groaning bodies and scorched ground. Their attackers, bruised and battered, were no longer smiling.

"You won’t get away with this," one spat from the ground, blood on his lip. "The others won’t let you through so easily."

"Then let them come," Feng Jiao Xue replied, voice like the crack of ice in a still lake. "We’re not here to play fair. We’re here to survive."

She turned away, but Mo Tianze lingered a moment. His gaze rested on the fallen group, quiet and unreadable. Then he followed.

The forest closed around them again, but this time, the silence was heavier.

They walked in silence for several minutes until they found a brief clearing. Vines draped from the trees, and low, luminous flowers pulsed with pale blue light. A broken statue of an unknown deity stood moss-covered in the center. It was peaceful in a haunting way.

Mo Tianze sat on the stone steps, exhaling softly. "I could’ve handled it alone, you know."

"I know," she said, sitting beside him, close enough that their shoulders almost touched.

"But you stepped in anyway."

"I always will."

He looked down at his hands. "They called me demi-beast like it was filth."

"They’re blind."

He looked at her then, truly looked. "Why do you care so much?"

Feng Jiao Xue didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze lingered on the statue ahead, on the wildflowers curling around its base. "Because when I found you, you were bleeding, caged, and yet your eyes were still full of fire."

He swallowed hard. "I thought I was nothing then."

"You’re not," she said simply.

Mo Tianze was quiet again. Then, "I hate that I freeze up when they say those things. I hate that it still gets to me."

"You’ve lived in chains. That doesn’t disappear overnight." She turned slightly, letting her shoulder press against his for a heartbeat. "But you’re not alone anymore."

He smiled faintly, but it was soft, weary. "You always say things that make my heart flutter, you know?"

"I say what’s true," she replied, just as softly.

Their eyes met again. And there, beneath the eerie glow of enchanted flowers and the strange hush of the maze, something fragile passed between them, a gentle warmth in the midst of ruin. It wasn’t a grand confession or a sweeping gesture. Just presence. Just understanding.

She stood first and extended her hand. "Come on. We’ve still got more maze to survive."

He took it without hesitation.

As Feng Jiao Xue and Mo Tianze ventured deeper into the maze, they encountered more and more cultivators and mages trying to take down anyone they meet.