The moon hung full over Azure Sky City, bathing the capital in cold silver light. Yet tonight, it brought no comfort—only a sharp, breathless stillness, as if the world held its breath.High within the Inner Palace, Empress Dowager Lian stood alone before the Observatory Pavilion. Her silken robe fluttered in the breeze, but her eyes remained fixed on the heavens. The court astrologers had already fled. Only she understood what those shifting constellations foretold.Behind her, Grand Chancellor Xun entered quietly. “The stars are wrong, Your Grace. They’ve shifted.”“No,” she whispered. “They’ve been forced to shift.”Xun bowed. “Then it is true. Yunlei has awakened the imperial breath. He has passed the four anchors.”Lian’s fingers tightened around her jade scepter. “And now… something ancient knows his name.”Miles away, in the drifting ruins of the Crimson Veil Sect, smoke and ash still clung to the bones of shattered pavilions. But deep beneath the rubble, a pulse of dark energy

The skies above Jinzhao turned a bitter gray as ash continued to drift from the ruins of the Eye’s Gathering. In the heart of the forest to the east, a hidden camp now stirred with new urgency.Yunlei stood beneath a centuries-old plum tree, its branches burned bare by a recent battle. The Kirin robe he wore had been patched at the shoulder, but he remained unbowed. His eyes scanned a map spread across a cracked stone table—locations marked with red dots: ancient strongholds, dormant sects, long-lost allies.“We’re scattered,” Meilin muttered, stepping beside him. “And the factions that did side with us are fractured. Half of them don’t trust each other. The rest are still recovering from the shadowbeasts.”Jun limped into the clearing with a satchel slung over his back. “Bad news. The Lantern Sect’s monastery was overrun. Survivors fled into the Ice Fang Valleys. No word on casualties.”Suyin emerged next, her once-pristine robes torn from the battle beneath Jinzhao. Despite her inju

The shores of Lake Zhen were silent, save for the rhythmic lapping of water against ancient stone pylons. Mist clung to the surface like a veil, hiding the lake’s secrets from casual eyes. Yunlei dismounted, his boots sinking into the damp grass. Behind him, Jun, Yongli, and Meilin disembarked in silence, their horses restless with unease.“This lake wasn’t here a hundred years ago,” Jun murmured. “Used to be a city called Xiangbei. Swallowed whole in one night.”Yunlei nodded. “The Oracle Scroll said the lake was created to bury something. Something the Eye couldn’t destroy.”Meilin knelt by the water’s edge, dipping her fingers in. “Still Qi-active. It’s not natural. There’s a barrier under here, ancient and alive.”Yongli’s hand went to her saber. “And we’re just going to walk into it?”“No,” Yunlei said. “We dive.”Lady Xue appeared behind them, her approach as quiet as mist. “There’s a temple beneath the lakebed—submerged during the Celestial Collapse. Legend calls it the Temple

The desert came like a wound in the earth—vast, sunless despite the burning sky, and ringed with jagged canyons. Yunlei and his companions stood at the edge of the Vale of Echoing Bones, staring into the maw of a place no map dared name.Winds howled through the canyons, not with mere air but with whispers. Faint voices echoed from below—some pleading, some screaming, others laughing like madmen. Every sound felt like a memory trying to crawl back into flesh.“I thought this place would be dry,” Yongli muttered, peering into the gloom. “But it smells like rain and rot.”“That’s not rain,” Meilin replied, tightening the sash around her robes. “It’s blood. Old blood. From when the Vale was a battlefield between gods and men.”Yunlei said nothing, his eyes locked on the narrow path winding into the canyons below. According to Ji Rong’s map, the Starborn Key was buried at the heart of the Vale, guarded by a Sentinel older than any dynasty. And if legend was true, the Key was sentient—capa

The moment Yunlei’s blade snapped in the Watcher’s fingers, silence fell like a death knell. The clash of swords, the cry of war—gone. Even the howling wind of the Red Tundra quieted.Yunlei stumbled backward, staring at the broken edge of the Dragonfang Sword. For the first time in years, he held no weapon in hand. A chill, deeper than frost, seeped into his chest.“You broke it…” he whispered.The Watcher’s stitched mouth didn’t move, but his voice echoed around them like thunder in a cave.“You think power comes from steel. But the Eye sees truth, not illusions.”From behind, Meilin gasped. “That wasn’t an illusion. That sword was blessed by three immortal clans!”“Doesn’t matter,” Lady Xue growled, pushing Yunlei behind her. “He used Void Qi. That strike didn’t shatter metal—it erased the concept of resistance.”Yunlei’s fingers closed around the broken hilt. The Starborn Key pulsed faintly in his pouch, sensing his hesitation. In that moment, doubt threatened to bloom.But then t