Mystique Soul: A Cultivator's Flame
Chapter 132: Start of the Trial

Chapter 132: Start of the Trial

The gates loomed high before them, not the ornate spires of a palace or the cold marble of an imperial estate, but an archway made entirely of ancient, living roots. Twisted and dark with age, the roots formed a jagged, pulsating tunnel into a thick green mist. Something about it seemed alive, not in the way a forest breathes, but the way a beast watches in silence.

The trial had officially begun.

The maze breathed like a living thing, its walls a tangle of towering trees whose bark pulsed faintly with green-blue light, as though veins of magic ran beneath their surface. Vines drooped from their branches like withered fingers, some twitching of their own accord when brushed, others recoiling with a hiss. The ground was uneven and spongy, thick with moss that muffled footsteps but exhaled the scent of damp earth and rotting leaves. Above, a canopy of luminous foliage filtered the sunlight into shards of gold and green, shifting with the wind in eerie silence. Every turn brought a new texture: the sharp crackle of brittle thorns underfoot, the cloying sweetness of flowers that lured with perfume before revealing rows of hidden teeth, and the ever-present whisper of something slithering just out of sight.

The air was thick with enchantment, warm one moment, frigid the next and it carried with it distant growls, flutters, and sometimes voices that weren’t real. Certain paths shimmered with illusion, mirroring safety where danger lay in wait. Magic clung to the skin like mist, buzzing at the edge of awareness, and the deeper one wandered, the more time and direction seemed to blur. It was not merely a test of survival; it was a place designed to peel back the layers of fear, instinct, and trust.

"This is the Verdant Labyrinth," the instructor had said earlier that morning, voice booming through a crystalline orb floating in the sky above the crowd. "A maze where your instincts, intellect, and survival will be tested. Within its paths lie not only beasts, but flora with venomous temperaments. Your task is simple: reach the other side alive."

Simple. That was generous.

Feng Jiao Xue stood beside Mo Tianze, gazing into the maze. Around them, others shifted nervously, some adjusting their weapons, others drawing protective talismans. No groups had been formally assigned, but it was clear that few wanted to go in alone.

"They’re afraid," Mo Tianze murmured. "And some of them can’t even hide it."

Feng Jiao Xue didn’t answer immediately. She was scanning the perimeter, noting how the vines at the entrance seemed to twitch when someone stepped too close.

"There’s reason to be," she said finally. "This maze doesn’t just test power. It tests who you are when you’re hunted."

A sharp chime sounded in the air, and the roots of the archway shifted, parting just enough for two people to pass side by side.

She turned to Mo Tianze. "Stay near me."

He nodded, silent. But as they stepped through the entrance together, he quietly slipped his fingers around the edge of her sleeve, just enough to brush cloth.

Not to hold her back. Just to be sure she was there.

Inside, the air was thicker, saturated with magic. The trees towered unnaturally tall, their bark covered in glowing runes. Strange petals fluttered down from above like snow, only to disintegrate before touching the ground. The air smelled like herbs and blood.

"Poison lingers here," Feng Jiao Xue muttered.

Mo Tianze flexed his fingers. "And we’re being watched."

She nodded once. "Three beasts. Left side. Hiding in the roots."

He didn’t ask how she knew.

They kept walking.

The first attack came like a whisper, vines lunging from a stone wall, aimed not for the throat but the ankles. One wrapped tight around Mo Tianze’s leg before he could move, yanking him forward. Feng Jiao Xue’s blade was already unsheathed before the growl echoed. She slashed the vine clean through, the tip of her blade glowing faintly with wind energy.

Mo Tianze fell forward but twisted mid-air, rolling as something massive lunged behind him. a boar-like beast with thorns for fur and tusks shaped like jagged branches. It screeched as he narrowly avoided it, then bared down again with renewed fury.

Feng Jiao Xue flicked her wrist, sending a gust of wind forward. Not strong enough to kill, but it slammed into the beast’s side, unbalancing it long enough for Tianze to leap and slam a weighted punch into its jaw. There was a sickening crack bone breaking.

The beast twitched. Then collapsed.

Tianze breathed hard, chest rising and falling.

"Are you hurt?" she asked, stepping to him.

He shook his head but didn’t meet her eyes. "No. Just... surprised."

"At?"

"That you didn’t hesitate. Not even for a second."

Feng Jiao Xue’s gaze was steady. "I told you, didn’t I? I’ll protect you."

This time, he did meet her eyes and held them.

Hours passed. The maze bent and shifted behind them as if alive. Every time they turned a corner, the path rearranged, roots curling in to close previous ways and open new ones. Illusions shimmered in the distance, and more than once, they had to cut their way out of a trap disguised as beauty.

But despite the danger, there were moments of strange, almost peaceful wonder.

At one point, they passed through a glade bathed in soft blue light, where trees whispered lullabies in an unknown tongue and time seemed to slow. Mo Tianze paused beneath a tree bearing translucent fruit. One fell into his hand, soft and glowing faintly.

Feng Jiao Xue studied it. "It’s called a Moonfruit. Rare. Eating it restores spiritual clarity, but too many will numb the senses."

He tore it in half and handed the larger piece to her.

"I trust you more than it."

She accepted it without a word, but a flicker of surprise passed through her eyes. Their fingers brushed as the exchange was made brief, but lingering in her thoughts far longer than it should have.

Later, the tension returned.

As they stepped through a stretch of hanging moss, a series of sharp shrieks echoed nearby. A pair of students stumbled out of the brush, bruised and bleeding. Behind them came something enormous a beast that didn’t belong in this realm.

A chimeric creature with six legs, two serpent-like heads, and glowing markings along its scales. It hissed, eyes locked on its prey.

Feng Jiao Xue didn’t hesitate. "Get behind me."

The other two students, terrified, bolted in another direction.

But Mo Tianze stepped up beside her. "I’m not letting you fight this alone."

"You’re not fully recovered---"

"I don’t care."

The beast struck. fangs snapping at impossible speed. Feng Jiao Xue moved like a whisper, her blade weaving patterns through the air. She danced between strikes, slicing into exposed flesh, while Tianze launched a brutal uppercut into the beast’s chin, flames flickering across his knuckles from an inherited technique he’d never spoken of.

For a moment, it looked like they might lose, the beast was relentless.

Then Feng Jiao Xue’s foot struck a hidden glyph in the ground. Magic surged. Wind and light exploded upward, blinding the creature.

"Now!" she shouted.

Mo Tianze didn’t hesitate, he drove his fist into the beast’s chest, through scales and bone. The creature howled and thrashed, then fell still.

The two stood breathing hard, blood and sweat painting their skin.

She turned to him. "You’re improving."

He managed a tired grin. "Must be the company."

Feng Jiao Xue gave a rare smile faint but real.

They moved deeper into the maze. Now, silence accompanied them more often than beasts. A silence filled with heavy magic and unspoken emotions.

Eventually, they came upon a wide clearing with a small spring bubbling at the center. The air was still here, the ground soft with moss. It was a place of rest, perhaps the only one in the labyrinth.

Feng Jiao Xue sat on a stone, loosening the tension in her shoulders. Mo Tianze knelt beside the water, rinsing his bloodstained hands. For a while, neither spoke.

Then, softly, he said, "Why are you trying so hard to enter this academy?"

She didn’t answer immediately.

"I’m looking for something," she said at last. "And to find it, I need to grow stronger. This academy... it’s a step."

"Is that all?" he asked gently.

She looked at him. "Isn’t that enough?"

"It is," he admitted. "But I hope one day, you’ll fight for something that’s yours. Not just duty."

She looked away, the springlight reflecting in her eyes. "Maybe I already am."

A quiet fell again.

Then Mo Tianze stood and offered her his hand, calloused, a little bruised, but steady.

She looked at it for a heartbeat. Then took it.

When she rose, their hands lingered, fingers brushing not quite holding, not quite letting go.

In that clearing, with the stars above and the maze pressing silently around them, it was not a promise.

But it was something close.

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