The mountain wind felt colder than before.
Max inhaled deeply as he stood on the edge of the trial site's ruins. His robes, though torn and dust-covered, fluttered gently against the breeze. Lian Yue stood beside him, silent as ever, her phoenix seal hidden beneath the collar of her cloak.
No one spoke for a long time.
The elders from the Divine Ember Sect stood at a distance, watching.
Their gazes weren't questioning.
They were reverent—and fearful.
"Did we really just…" Max murmured.
Lian Yue gave a small nod. "We did. But the real trial starts now."
Behind them, the last of the sanctum's ash scattered into the wind. Whatever was left of the inheritance was no longer accessible. It had passed on—its weight, its wisdom, its warning.
⸻
[Divine Ember Sect – Main Pavilion, Later That Day]
Grandmaster Yun Jisoo stared at the glowing crystal orb in her palm. It shimmered with residual Origin Qi—the purest she'd seen since her own youth.
She didn't like what it meant.
"They survived," she muttered, eyes narrowing.
"More than survived," Elder Cho said grimly. "They awakened something."
Yun Jisoo set the crystal down with care.
"What did they bring back?"
"Scrolls," said Elder Cho. "One embedded with Law Resonance. The other… I couldn't even touch. The flame within it ignored me."
"And the boy?"
"…Has changed. His aura is quiet, but layered. His Qi threads have begun shifting."
"Shifting into what?"
Elder Cho hesitated.
Then said, "I don't know."
⸻
[Max – Personal Quarters, That Night]
He didn't sleep.
Not because he couldn't.
Because his body was still working through the Codex.
The Origin Codex wasn't a technique. It wasn't even a cultivation manual.
It was foundational.
Every breath he took filtered Origin Qi differently now. His veins, dantian, and meridians didn't reject it—but they hadn't adapted yet. It was like breathing starlight through mortal lungs.
And yet… it didn't hurt.
It felt right.
"Eidetic Resonance," he whispered, opening his palm.
He closed his eyes—and remembered.
The way the sanctum door shifted when Lian Yue touched it. The exact weave of Law patterns in the final gate. The flow of Ashfire within her flame heart.
Not as memory.
As constructs.
He could recreate them.
"…This is insane."
He focused and formed a tiny Law circuit in midair—one he'd only seen in passing inside the trial. A faint circle of Origin Qi shaped like a triple spiral appeared, glowing blue-white.
It hovered. Stable. Waiting.
"I could teach this," he whispered. "I could—no. I could rebuild it."
A low hum vibrated from his core.
[Origin Codex – Eidetic Resonance Active]
Warning: Host has insufficient Soul Stability to store more than 3 constructs at once. Further loading may cause Soul Fatigue.
Max smiled faintly. "Guess I'll have to train my mind too."
⸻
[Lian Yue – Cliffside Pavilion, Dawn]
She sat cross-legged, breathing slowly.
The scroll she'd taken—Ashflame Mandate—hovered in the air before her, completely open. It responded to her Qi as if recognizing its heir.
But the flame wasn't content to remain bound.
Every inhale risked collapse. Every exhale released too much heat.
Her veins were changing.
The Silenced Flame Channels were not simple upgrades—they overwrote old patterns. Her body resisted. Her soul resisted.
But her will did not.
💭 Max is the anchor. I am the fire. 💭
[Mandate Integration – 12% Complete]
Warning: Ancestral Flame Echo detected. Risk of spiritual conflagration above 40%.
She ignored it.
Instead, she focused on balance. Letting the Ashfire flicker—but not roar.
Letting herself feel every spark.
She was not the sovereign of power.
She was the sovereign of silence.
And that silence was growing louder.
⸻
[Divine Ember Sect – Council Chamber, That Evening]
The meeting was quiet.
Only six were present: Grandmaster Yun, the four Inner Sect Elders, and the masked Elder Baek—the sect's oldest living cultivator.
No one spoke until the masked elder did.
"They must not stay here."
Yun frowned. "Why?"
"You felt it. The realm felt it. The Origin has acknowledged them."
Elder Hae, the youngest among them, slammed a hand on the table. "They're ours. The sanctum was under our territory."
Elder Baek didn't turn. "And when the world finds out what the boy carries? Or what the girl becomes?"
Silence.
"You will not be able to protect them," he said softly.
Yun narrowed her eyes. "You mean to send them away?"
Baek's tone remained even. "I mean to prepare them. For what's coming."
Elder Cho sighed. "Then we begin the old rites."
"The Veiled Path?" Yun asked.
Baek nodded. "And the false peace ends."
⸻
[Two Days Later – Announcement Grounds]
The entire sect gathered.
From Outer Disciples to Core Elders, thousands filled the mountain tiers as the Grandmaster stepped forth.
Max and Lian Yue stood at the center of the platform, robes restored, eyes steady.
Max still wasn't used to the stares.
They weren't hostile—but they weren't entirely supportive either.
Reverence turned quickly to suspicion in sects like this.
Yun raised a hand, voice calm.
"Max of the Lower Pavilion. Lian Yue of the Sealed Court. From this day forth, by decree of the Divine Ember Sect and recognition of the Inheritance Trials…"
She turned toward them.
"…you are both selected to walk the Veiled Path."
Whispers erupted.
Max blinked. "What's that?"
Lian Yue didn't answer. Her face had gone still. Pale.
Yun continued. "You will leave the sect within ten days. Where you go will not be told. What you encounter cannot be explained. Only this is certain—your path will no longer be bound to ours."
She stepped back.
And Elder Baek's voice echoed, solemn and final:
"The world has shifted."
"And so must the ones who carry its weight."
⸻
[End of Chapter 29]
⸻
A/N:
🔥 The world isn't waiting for Max and Lian Yue. The sect is already moving behind the curtain—and the "Veiled Path" is more than just a journey. It's an exile. Or… a preparation. Chapter 30 reveals what the Veiled Path truly is—and what it costs.