Volume 7 — The Peach Spirit's Pact
Hei Xu strode into the peach grove like a walking eclipse. The glowing petals dimmed around him, shrinking away from his presence. Lin Feng clung to Caiyi's sleeve.
"Why does he look even scarier up close?" Lin Feng whispered.
"Because he is," Caiyi whispered back.
The ethereal woman—the Peach Spirit—hovered above the grove, her form flickering like moonlight on water.
"You must not face him as you are," she said. "Your cultivation is incomplete."
Lin Feng threw his hands up. "Yes! Exactly! So let's run!"
But Caiyi grabbed his wrist. "What do we do?"
The Peach Spirit extended her hand. "Make a pact with me. Allow me to merge my power with yours. Only then can you survive."
Lin Feng blinked. "Merge? Like—share a body? Shared rent? Shared chores?"
"No," she said gently. "Shared strength."
Before he could object, Hei Xu thrust his palm forward. A wave of darkness ripped across the grove. Trees disintegrated. The sky dimmed.
Caiyi dragged Lin Feng behind her and raised her sword, but the force was overwhelming. She coughed blood, falling to her knees.
"Caiyi!" Lin Feng shouted, catching her.
Hei Xu's voice echoed. "Surrender, boy. Watching your protectors die is meaningless."
Lin Feng trembled—not from fear this time, but something fiercer. He stared at Caiyi's trembling form, then at the Peach Spirit.
"Fine. Pact me. Pack me. Peach me. Whatever. Just do it!"
The Peach Spirit smiled sadly. "Very well."
Light poured into him.
It felt like swallowing a star—burning, blinding, overwhelming. His senses exploded with colors he had no names for. His dantian expanded, blooming like a flower under a rising sun.
Peach petals swirled into a vortex around him, lifting him from the ground.
Hei Xu paused, startled. "Impossible… that technique was sealed!"
Lin Feng floated down gently, eyes now glowing with warm golden-pink light. The grove responded to his presence, blossoming brighter.
Caiyi looked up at him, amazement softening her pain. "Lin Feng… you…"
He raised a hand. Peach-light rippled outward, dissolving Hei Xu's next attack like sugar in tea.
Lin Feng stared at his glowing palm.
"…Okay. That was cool."
Hei Xu's expression twisted into fury. "Then show me more."
Darkness surged. Peach light answered.
The clash shook the mountains.
The true awakening had only just begun.