"You bastard!"
"Stay right there!"
"Don't even think about running!"
On the windswept heights of a mountain peak, the edge of the Dark Abyss loomed like the severed throat of the world. It was the most dangerous place in the entire Verdant Wind Continent, a cursed chasm feared by all and whispered about with both awe and dread. Known as the Abyss of Death, it had devoured countless lives over the centuries.
No one had ever returned.
Even the legendary powerhouses of the continent, once hailed as sovereigns of their realms, had vanished forever into its endless darkness.
And now, at the very brink of this abyss, a youth stood, soaked in blood.
Li Gao Xiong, black-haired and black-eyed, wore silver robes now shredded and stained crimson. His body leaned against a jagged boulder, barely upright. Blood oozed from dozens of gashes, dripping from him like rain, pooling at his feet.
His chest heaved, each breath sounding like a death rattle. His limbs trembled from exhaustion, and only the cold stone at his back kept him from collapsing. Yet his eyes, sharp, cold, unyielding, still burned with fierce defiance. A sneer tugged at his lips, mocking and full of scorn.
Before him stretched a vast crowd cloaked in shadows. They were powerful figures, sect masters, patriarchs, grand elders, blocking every path of escape.
"Li Gao Xiong! You're finished! Hand over the Death Ripper Dagger, and we may let you live!"
"Justice will be done today! That cursed blade doesn't belong in your hands. Give it up, and your death will be quick!"
"Don't be stubborn! You're a mere rogue holding a weapon meant for kings. Surrender the dagger!"
"A man like you isn't worthy of a divine artifact. Relinquish it now, and perhaps Heaven will show you mercy!"
"The Death Ripper only brings chaos in unworthy hands. It must be sealed under the protection of the Verdant Sky Alliance!"
"You should be grateful we've come to relieve you of its burden!"
"Li Gao Xiong, you stole what was never yours. Return it to its rightful guardians, us, and you might keep your soul!"
"Righteousness cannot allow such evil to persist. Step down or be struck down!"
"A filthy rogue shouldn't even breathe near such a sacred relic. Hand it over before Heaven's wrath chooses for you!"
"This is your final chance. Yield the Death Ripper Dagger or be judged beneath the heavens!"
One voice after another rang out, each more self righteous than the last. They cloaked themselves in honor, yet their eyes gleamed with naked greed.
To any passerby, it would have been a staggering sight. This was no mere ambush, but a congregation of titans, figures who once reigned over nations, now gathered like starving beasts circling a dying prey.
Drawn by a single forbidden flame.
And that flame was clutched in Li Gao Xiong's hand.
They had hunted him for seven relentless days. Cornered him at the very edge of the world. And now, they believed victory was theirs.
"You filthy bastards want this?"
Li Gao Xiong's voice cut through the air like a blade.
From his trembling hand, he raised a small weapon. Its blade was short, curved like a crescent moon, forged of black metal darker than night.
The Death Ripper Dagger.
A heaven-defying weapon said to have been forged from the execution weapon of an ancient god. It shimmered with a cold, silvery glow, moonlight dancing on bone.
The moment it appeared, the crowd fell silent. Dozens of gazes locked onto it with awe, hunger, and fear. And yet, even standing on death's doorstep, Li Gao Xiong stared them down.
"Hahaha!"
Li Gao Xiong's laughter echoed across the mountain peak, cold and bitter like the wind that howled through the abyss below. He held the Death Ripper Dagger tightly. He still remembered everything clearly, as if it had happened just yesterday.
The Li family had been more than guardians; they were the sword and shield of the Ye Royal family for generations. Among the five great protector families, they stood as the most trusted, their loyalty forged in blood and sealed with sacred oaths. When the Ye family had first ascended to the throne centuries ago, it was the Li family who had stood beside them, fighting through the chaos of war and politics.
As a reward for their unwavering devotion, the royal family had entrusted them with their most precious treasure,the Death Ripper Dagger, forged from fragments of an ancient god's execution weapon. Only those of pure royal blood could wield its true power, making the Li family its eternal guardians.
But trust, Li Gao Xiong had learned, was a luxury the world could not afford.
The memory of that terrible night still burned in his mind. The coronation ceremony of the crown prince, what should have been a celebration of a new era, had become a massacre. The four other protector families, consumed by jealousy and greed, had conspired with the ambitious second prince and foreign forces to destroy everything the Li family had sworn to protect.
In a single night, the royal bloodline was extinguished. The Li family compound burned. His adoptive father, Elder Li Wei, had died protecting him, thrusting the sacred dagger into his hands with his final breath.
"Run," the elder had whispered, blood frothing from his lips.
"Keep it from their grasp. This is our sacred duty."
For seven days and nights, Li Gao Xiong had fled. Seven days of relentless pursuit, of watching his strength ebb away like water through cracked stone. And now, cornered at the edge of the world, he faced the inevitable end.
"You want to know the truth?" Li Gao Xiong's voice rang out, cutting through their righteous proclamations.
"You call me a thief, a rogue unworthy of this blade. But I am the last guardian of the Li family! This dagger was never yours to claim!"
The crowd shifted uneasily. Some recognized the truth in his words, though none would admit it aloud.
"The royal family trusted us with their sacred treasure, and we failed them," Li Gao Xiong continued, his voice growing stronger despite his wounds.
"You dogs think you're worthy of touching the treasure my Li family ancestors died to protect? If you want it, you'll have to walk over my corpse."
His eyes blazed with fierce determination as he raised the dagger high above his head. The moonlight caught its dark surface, making it gleam like a fallen star.
"You want the Death Ripper Dagger so badly?" he snarled.
"Fine! Take it!"
With a sudden motion, he hurled the weapon toward the crowd.
For a split second, the entire assembly froze in stunned silence. Their minds struggled to process what they were seeing.
Just moments before, this youth had declared he would never let them have the dagger, that he would die before surrendering it. Yet now, he was throwing it directly at them?
Was he surrendering? Had fear finally broken his will?
The moment of confusion lasted only a heartbeat. Then, like a pack of wolves descending on fresh meat, they all lunged forward at once. Sect masters collided with patriarchs, grand elders shoved aside their juniors, and decades of cultivated dignity crumbled in the face of pure, animalistic greed.
They clawed at each other, their hands reaching desperately for the spinning dagger as it arced through the air. Some leaped impossibly high, others pushed off their companions' shoulders, and a few even drew weapons to clear their path.
But just as their fingers were about to close around the sacred blade, Li Gao Xiong jumped backward, his heels now touching the very edge of the cliff. With a casual wave of his hand, as if dismissing a troublesome fly, he made the dagger vanish from their midst.
The crowd crashed into each other in a tangle of limbs and curses, grasping at empty air. Confusion rippled through their ranks as they frantically searched for the weapon that had been there just moments before.
"Looking for this?" Li Gao Xiong's voice cut through their chaos like a blade.
They turned as one to see him standing at the cliff's edge, the Death Ripper Dagger once again in his hand, its dark surface gleaming mockingly in the moonlight.
"Impossible!" someone roared. "You threw it!"
"I did," Li Gao Xiong replied, his smile sharp as winter wind.
"But I never said I was giving it to you dogs."
The crowd erupted in furious shouts, their faces twisted with rage and humiliation. To be fooled by a dying youth, the shame burned worse than any physical wound.
Li Gao Xiong voice growing quieter, more dangerous.
"I've learned something these past seven days. You can chase a man to the ends of the earth, corner him at the edge of the world, but you cannot force him to surrender what he holds dear."
He looked down at the dagger in his hand, then back at the crowd of vultures before him.
"If you cannot have it," he declared, his voice carrying across the howling wind.
"Then no one can!"
"Stop him!" someone screamed, finally realizing his intent.
But it was too late.
Li Gao Xiong spread his arms wide, the Death Ripper Dagger clutched firmly in his right hand, and let himself fall backward into the abyss.
As the wind whipped past his face and the darkness swallowed him whole, his final thoughts were not of fear, but of regret. He had failed to avenge Elder Li Wei, the man who had raised him as his own son..
The crowd above rushed to the cliff's edge, their furious shouts echoing into the void.
But Li Gao Xiong and the Death Ripper Dagger had vanished into the endless darkness below, leaving only the wind and their impotent rage.
The Abyss of Death had claimed another victim.