2026-09-17 23:42:22The heat radiating from the black jade intensified, as if the stone meant to melt its way straight through Lin Ye’s chest. Valerius—still in full command of the body—stepped swiftly from the laboratory ruin, his gaze sweeping the surroundings with sharp, unyielding vigilance. The night wind shifted, carrying a scent that had no place on this desolate isle: expensive lavender perfume mixed with sweet tobacco smoke.
“Who dares set foot upon this hallowed ground of death?” Valerius growled, his voice low and dangerous. From within his mental prison, Lin Ye tried to piece it together. That scent… he knew it. It lingered in the VIP chambers of the Azure Sky Academy, where the elite gathered. But who would follow them here? Merchant Chen? No—Chen was too cowardly to venture into a Void radiation zone alone. Viper? Perhaps, but Viper favoured poison and ambush, not such a direct approach. “To the lakeshore,” Valerius commanded himself. He broke into a run—his movements fluid, efficient, far smoother than Lin Ye’s own rough-edged fighting style. Within moments they stood upon the rocky cliff overlooking Mirror Lake. The once-smooth surface churned. Ripples spiralled inward toward a single point at the lake’s centre. From the mist emerged a small wooden boat, rowed by a lone figure clad in spotless white—a stark contrast against the surrounding darkness. As the boat drew near, Lin Ye saw the rower’s face: an elderly woman with neatly bound silver hair, her face lined yet graceful, pulling the oars with surprising strength. Resting upon her lap lay a small, intricately carved wooden box. Valerius halted at the cliff’s edge. “Madam Bai,” he said, his tone a blend of old respect and deep loathing. “I had not thought you still lived. I assumed you perished in the Red Valley Massacre ten years ago.” The old woman steered her boat to the rocky shore and stepped ashore with effortless grace, landing without a sound. Her pale grey eyes fixed upon Valerius—or rather, upon Lin Ye—with a gaze sharp enough to pierce the soul. “Valerius,” Madam Bai replied, her voice dry as dead leaves. “Or should I say… Lin Ye? Your mask is growing thin, young one.” Valerius smiled coldly. “You have travelled far merely for pleasantries? Or do you bring something that might hold my interest?” Madam Bai lifted the wooden box from her lap. “I bring keys. A key to free you from the jade, should you wish it. Or a key to lock Lin Ye away inside his own mind forever, should you prefer total dominion.” Lin Ye felt his heart—still steered by Valerius—race. The offer seemed too generous to be true. What did Madam Bai stand to gain? She was one of the Three Secret Elders, a neutral power said to rival the Academy’s Rector. Why help them? “And the price?” Valerius asked warily. Nothing in this world came free—least of all from a politician as cunning as Madam Bai. “The price is simple,” she said, setting the box upon a stone. “Information. I wish to know what Shen Kui saw in his final days before he ‘vanished’. And I require your word that you shall not fully open the Void Gate until I give leave.” Valerius laughed, the sound echoing across the cliff. “The word of a tyrant? Do you take me for a fool, Madam Bai? I could seize this box by force, end your life, and tear the truth from your mind with soul-reading arts.” Madam Bai did not flinch. She offered a faint, knowing smile instead. “You could try. But remember, Valerius—you are trapped within a young, unripe vessel. His meridians are fragile. If you strain this body with high-level arts such as Soul-Reading against an opponent of my standing, it will shatter. And you will be cast back into the void—bodiless, forever.” The threat carried weight. Lin Ye felt Valerius’s tension coiled in every muscle. The old mentor knew exactly where they were vulnerable. “Besides,” Madam Bai added softly, “this box holds no physical key. It holds Memory—Lin Ye’s true memory of the night his parents died. The memory you erased. Open it, and he will rise. And his rage… may well be strong enough to cast you out.” Valerius fell silent, his gaze fixed upon the carved wood. It was a masterstroke of psychological warfare. Claim the box, and risk awakening Lin Ye with uncontrollable fury. Reject it, and lose the chance to unravel Shen Kui’s secrets. “I shall consider it,” Valerius said at last, his tone flat. “Leave the box. Go. Before I change my mind.” Madam Bai bowed in acknowledgement and returned to her boat. “Choose wisely, Valerius. Lin Ye’s hour of waking draws near. Dawn approaches, and with it, your hold will weaken. Do not find yourself on the wrong side when the sun rises.” Her boat slipped back into the mist and vanished—leaving Valerius and Lin Ye alone upon the shore, with the box of mysteries between them.
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Chapter 64: Dawn Upon the Ruins
The sun rose over Fengshui, spilling pale gold light through the last wispy shreds of night mist. Rays touched the weathered stone of the Ancient Temple, warming surfaces that had borne witness to a struggle far older and heavier than the city itself. Birds began to sing from the bamboo groves, their bright, careless notes drifting across silent courtyards—life going on, unchanged, as if the fabric of reality itself had not been mended and remade here only hours before. Ratna stirred. She sat up slowly, pressing a hand to her throbbing head, her gaze blurring then clearing as she took in the scene around her. A young man in dark robes stood near the temple’s broken edge, facing the sunrise, his posture straight and quiet. A broad-shouldered dwarf checked the head of his hammer with steady hands. A woman with a dagger at her waist wiped faint streaks of blood from her sleeve. An older man in thick spectacles watched her with eyes that held years of quiet knowledge. Every face turned
Chapter 63: Liberation and the Wound That Remains
Lin Ye knelt beside Shen Kui. His old master’s face was streaked with sweat and etched in deep, unrelenting pain; his eyes flickered erratically between Valerius’s menacing violet and the warm, familiar brown Lin Ye had known all his life. The struggle unfolding within Shen Kui’s mind was every bit as brutal as the one Lin Ye had endured, yet the old man fought alone—no golden light to steady him, no voice to anchor him, only his own will against the remnants of a conqueror’s ego. “Master,” Lin Ye said softly, resting a hand upon Shen Kui’s burning forehead. “I am here. Let him go. Release him into the silence where he can harm no one.” Shen Kui’s gaze cleared. For the first time in weeks, he looked straight at Lin Ye and truly saw him. Tears tracked through the grime on his lined cheeks. “Lin Ye… you did it. You… you grew into who you were always meant to be.” “Because you taught me how to endure,” Lin Ye replied, his voice thick with emotion. “Now rest. You have carried enough.”
Chapter 62: The Predator Reborn
The shift within the mental realm rippled outward instantly, spilling into the physical world like light breaking through a long-darkened sky. Lin Ye’s body—held rigid for so long in Valerius’s haughty, unyielding posture, shoulders squared too high, chin tilted in arrogant disdain—suddenly softened. The tension drained out of him as if chains had been unclasped from his bones. His bowed head lifted slowly, eyes fluttering open. The violet blaze that had burned there with unchallenged dominion flickered, dimmed, then receded entirely, retreating like a tide pulled out to sea. In its place returned warm, deep brown, ringed faintly with a band of glowing gold—the unmistakable mark of wholeness, of humanity reclaimed and strengthened by the gift another had freely laid down for him. He stood straight, not as a vessel, but as himself. Valerius, still lingering at the edge of the temple grounds, staggered as if struck by an invisible hammer. A searing, piercing pain drove deep into his aw
Chapter 61: Invasion of the Mind
Valerius’s presence in the physical world sent a shockwave straight through the boundary between realms, shattering the grey sky of the mental space where Ratna stood. Cracks spiderwebbed across the horizon, revealing blinding violet light that seared even spiritual eyes. Lin Ye’s red pillar buckled, swaying violently as Valerius’s dominance surged, pressing down with crushing weight that threatened to snuff him out entirely. “He knows!” Lin Ye’s voice cracked, raw with terror. “Ratna, run! Get out now before he traps you here forever!” Ratna bit her lip—her spirit-form lip—refusing to take a single step backward. “No. I gave you my word. And I never break it.” She pushed forward through the storm of surging mental energy, every step a struggle against invisible hands trying to drag her away. When she reached the red pillar, she pressed her palms flat against its warm, trembling surface. “Listen to me, Lin Ye. I am giving you a piece of my essence. Our memories. Our friendship. Eve
Chapter 60: The Storm Before Silence
Above the Ancient Temple, the sky turned a menacing deep violet—not the fading of daylight, but the heavy condensation of Void energy gathering in the atmosphere, as if the heavens themselves were drawing a curtain of darkness down over the land. Dark clouds swirled slowly, forming a vast, churning vortex directly above the temple ruins. The air pressure dropped sharply, making ears ring and breath come heavy, as though a great weight pressed against every chest. The wind no longer merely blew; it cut to the bone, carrying faint, whispering voices that rose from nowhere—seeking to creep into every mind, sowing doubt, fear, and despair. The bamboo groves surrounding the temple thrashed wildly, their leaves clattering like chattering teeth in the dark. Ratna sat cross-legged at the very centre of a formation Old Rat had drawn with steady hands—lines of white chalk mixed with a single drop of each of their blood, weaving an invisible bond that felt warm beneath her knees. Before her sto
Chapter 59: The Ancient Temple and the Impossible Choice
The Ancient Temple in Fengshui’s Northern District rose like a forgotten giant—monumental ruins from centuries before the Empire was even founded. Massive stone pillars stood rooted amid dense bamboo groves, draped in thick moss and tangled roots, half-swallowed by the wild forest. An ancient protective formation hummed faintly around the perimeter, casting an invisible veil that shielded the site from magical detection, hiding them from prying eyes. Inside the main hall, where the roof had partially collapsed to reveal a sky strewn with faint stars, Old Rat built a small fire. Its golden light danced across faces worn thin by exhaustion and grief—Ratna, Goran, Elara, and Krog, all gathered in the quiet hush of the sanctuary. Old Rat laid the scroll of aged parchment flat upon a broad stone at the fire’s centre. “Here is the rite,” he said softly. “As I told you, it demands a willing offering. One of you must enter the depths of Lin Ye’s consciousness, find the Jade’s anchoring core
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