The Black-Hearted Serpent's hate-filled gaze was a physical weight. The paralysis from the amulet would not last forever—the System's rewards were powerful, but often fleeting. Every second I stood here was a second closer to the moment it could move again. And when it could, it wouldn't be lunging for the egg. It would be lunging for me.
My brief, glorious moment of victory had soured into sheer terror.
Fang Heng and the surviving 'diversion' disciples staggered back into view. They were bruised, battered, and covered in dirt, but miraculously, they seemed mostly intact. They froze at the mouth of the canyon, staring at the scene before them.
They saw me, standing tall and unflinching. They saw the colossal, smoking serpent, twitching in agony at my feet. The narrative in their heads was writing itself.
"He… he did it," a disciple whispered, his voice cracking with awe. "He defeated it. Alone."
Fang Heng's eyes were wide, but he was processing, analyzing. He saw the dissipating energy from the amulet, the personal nature of the serpent's glare. He was connecting dots I didn't even know existed.
"Master Li!" he called out, taking a cautious step forward. "It's paralyzed! We should finish it now, while we have the chance!"
Yes! Fantastic idea! My thoughts exactly! Someone please hand me an anti-kaiju cannon!
I had no such weapon. I had nothing left. The amulet was a one-shot deal. My spiritual energy was a joke. I couldn't have scratched its scales with a high-grade spirit sword, let alone my bare hands.
But my persona, my terrible, arrogant mask, could not admit weakness.
I gave the twitching serpent a look of utter disdain, as if it were a bug that had inconveniently died on my shoe.
"There is no honor in striking a helpless foe," my voice declared, ringing with false nobility. "Its defeat is total. Its will is broken. To strike now would be an admission that I considered it a threat."
It is a threat! It is a massive, world-ending threat! It has my face on a wanted poster in its tiny, hate-filled serpent brain! Please, for the love of all that is sane, let's kill it with fire! Lots and lots of fire!
Fang Heng stopped, his brow furrowed. He was trying to parse the "wisdom" in my words. "No honor… I see. To defeat it is one thing, but to show mercy is a higher form of victory. You are not just defeating its body, but its very nature as a creature of mindless hate. A profound lesson, Master Li."
The Chains of Acclaim, which had been quiet for a few blessed minutes, tightened with a vengeance.
[Act of 'Mercy' witnessed. Righteousness Level: Unfathomable.]
[The Chains of Acclaim have developed a golden sheen. They now hum with a faint, infuriatingly pleasant melody.]
[Inherent Cultivation Speed: -50%]
Half. My own potential to cultivate was now officially halved. I was becoming a decorative ornament at an alarming rate.
The serpent let out a low, pained hiss. It was starting to regain some movement in its tail. The paralysis was wearing off.
I had to get out of here. My quest was technically complete. I had defended the egg. Subdued the beast. The fact that the beast was now my sworn archnemesis was a problem for Future Li. Present Li was concerned with not becoming a fine paste.
Holding the egg securely, I turned my back on the serpent—a gesture of supreme, suicidal confidence—and began walking away from the canyon.
"The threat is ended," I announced to the dumbstruck disciples. "Return to your duties. Meditate on what you have witnessed today."
Which is to say, get the hell out of here before it gets up and eats the entire front row!
They bowed as one, their faces a mess of conflicting emotions: relief, awe, shame for ever doubting me, and a healthy dose of terror.
As I walked past Fang Heng, he fell into step beside me.
"Master Li," he said in a low voice, "that was an incredible risk. To let it live…"
"Every breath is a risk," my persona retorted, spouting a line of pure, meaningless philosophy.
"But its hatred is now focused entirely on you," Fang Heng pressed, his analytical mind seeing the truth of the new title. "It will hunt you. The title of 'Nemesis' is a brand, a magical link. It can track you anywhere."
I know! Thank you for the reminder! I was trying very hard to forget that part!
I just gave him a sideways glance. "Let it come."
We walked in silence for a few moments, the warm Phoenix Egg pulsing against my chest. The feeling of victory had completely vanished, replaced by the cold dread of a man on death row. I had survived today. But the serpent would recover. It would grow stronger. And it would come for me.
My apathetic facade was beginning to crack at the edges. The constant pressure, the escalating stakes, the sheer terror of it all was taking its toll. I felt an exhaustion so profound it was bone-deep.
We arrived back at the now-empty herb garden. The disciples had scattered. The sun was reappearing from behind the bruised clouds. The air was clean again. It was as if the battle had never happened.
But the new, humming chains around my soul and the phantom feeling of that hate-filled glare on my back were proof that it had.
I looked down at the Phoenix Egg. My 'reward'. My burden. The cause of all this.
Then I looked at my own reflection in a nearby watering trough. I saw the face of a sixteen-year-old boy with the eyes of a haunted old man. I saw the faint, ethereal glow of the Chains of Acclaim that only I could see, wrapping around me like a golden shroud.
I had won. I had survived. I had become a legend.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, my external mask cracked.
A single, silent tear, born of pure, unadulterated terror and exhaustion, broke free and rolled down my cheek.
Fang Heng saw it.
His eyes widened, not with pity, but with a sudden, shocking revelation. It was the last piece of his puzzle.
"The power…" he whispered, his voice trembling with the weight of his discovery. "It's not yours, is it? You don't control it. It controls you."
He stared at me, at the tear, at the phantom glow of the chains he could somehow sense but not see.
"This system… this power you wield… it isn't empowering you," he concluded, his voice dropping to a horrified whisper.
"It's containing you."