The wind was thinner now. Shenhai's breaths came hard, burning in his chest. Above him, the summit was a jagged crown of black stone, surrounded by a ring of crimson lightning that never faded. The shrine pulsed at its center—small, ancient, and terribly alive.
Yun'er's footsteps had grown softer behind him, her presence still constant, but heavy with unspoken fear.
As Shenhai stepped across the threshold of the outer shrine, the ground beneath his feet sighed.
And then he heard her voice.
"My child. My flame."
It wasn't in his mind—it was inside his blood.
His knees buckled. Visions surged forward.
A woman wrapped in robes soaked with blood, eyes like rubies, floating over a battlefield.
Warriors with crimson sigils on their chests falling, laughing, screaming.
Chains made of words, looping around her arms and neck, trying to pull her into the earth.
"You are mine. You always were."
Shenhai clutched his chest—where the second tally now burned. His soul was changing, becoming something… older.
Far below the mountain, Xiao Lan and Wu Feiyan reached the edge of the Black Hollow Library—a forbidden archive sealed in spiritual iron beneath the ruins of the Temple of Withered Eyes.
Inside, they found records from the Founding War—the conflict that shaped all current sects. And in them, a name appeared over and over:
"Qing Xue—the Bloodmother. Former Heavenly Oracle. Banished for soul-forging forbidden spirits."
Feiyan whispered, "She wasn't born a demon. She was made one by betrayal."
They found sketches of her followers: a splinter cult known as the Red Veil Sect, once wiped out, but never entirely erased.
"If Shenhai's soul is bound to her legacy, the Red Veil will come for him," Xiao Lan said.
"No," Feiyan corrected. "They will come to crown him."
In the heart of Mount Ruomu, within the Shrine of First Blood, the Guardian watched the sky darken. Each breath he took drew blood from the air, turning snow to ash.
Mo Xuantai stood before a pillar inscribed with his sins—each one a soul he had burned in the name of justice, each one echoing Shenhai's path.
He whispered to the storm:
"You are too much like me, boy."
Then, for the first time in centuries, the shrine's gate opened—and Shenhai stepped into view.
Back at the Azure Cloud Sect, chaos erupted.
Elder Huang had discovered Elder Lei's message trail. His betrayal was undeniable.
"He's aligned with a traitor and a fugitive assassin. Strip him of title, rank, and protection!"
The Grand Council prepared to send the elite Heaven-Piercing Division—warriors trained to eliminate soul-bound threats.
But before they left, a messenger arrived from the east.
A single scroll sealed in red wax. One word etched in ancient tongue:
"Awakened."
Elder Huang went pale. "She's stirring."