The pain was unlike anything he'd ever known, every fiber of his being stretched and ripped as though being stripped to the bone.
Yet, through the agony, he felt something else... something cleansing, purging the dark taint that had latched onto his body and mind for so long.
He felt his vision dimming, the golden light searing through him like fire, and just as his consciousness began to slip, the last thought that crossed his mind was one of grim satisfaction.
*****
The pain was consuming.
Feng Chen's body had been split down the middle, torn in two by the searing light of the True Seclusion System.
He felt every agonizing detail... the separation of flesh and bone, the tearing of muscles, the snap of sinew.
Yet somehow, in the midst of it all, his mind remained intact, tethered to consciousness as though held together by the system's will.
