The Primal Veil hummed with latent energy, its obsidian lattice casting long shadows over Li Tian's war council. Maps of the Deadbone Wastes sprawled across the table, marked with crimson sigils where Flame Emperor forces gathered. Xia traced a finger along the eastern ridges, her healing qi flickering with unease. "They've blockaded the Azure Sky Sect's mountain passes. No grain or medicine has reached them in weeks."
Mei Ling frowned, adjusting the Spirit Gathering Array's control stone. "If the Azure Sky falls, the Accord will control the region's spiritual ley lines. We'll be surrounded."
Li Tian's star-flecked eye glowed as he studied the map. The corruption had crept past his jaw now, black veins snaking toward his temple. "We need allies. Sects the Accord has trampled, cultivators they've wronged. They'll fight if given the chance."
Old Guo unrolled a brittle scroll, its edges singed. "The Magic Emperor once united twelve lesser sects against the Stormlords. Their combined might shattered empires."
"And their betrayal shattered *him*," Renshu grumbled, sharpening his hammer. "Trust's a blade that cuts both ways."
Li Tian stood, the Primal Core's light pulsing through his chest. "We don't need trust. We need common cause. Ready the Sky Shrikes—we fly at dawn."
---
**The Azure Sky's Desperation**
The Azure Sky Sect's ancestral peak was a shadow of its former glory. Once-proud pagodas lay in ruins, their splintered timbers jutting like broken bones. Elder Lian, her robes patched and soot-stained, met Li Tian at the shattered gate. "You've come to beg scraps, Primal Bastion? We've none to give."
Li Tian gestured to the Sky Shrikes—ten armored raptors bearing crates of blackstone and medicinal herbs. "Not to take. To give."
Elder Lian's skepticism wavered as healers rushed to unload supplies. "Why? The Accord will punish you for this."
"They already have." Li Tian's gaze drifted to the western horizon, where Stormpeak lightning split the sky. "Join us. Together, we'll break their blockade."
A young disciple stumbled forward, his arm bandaged. "They took my sister! The Nightblades said they'd skin her alive if we resisted!"
Li Tian's corruption flared. "Then let's take her back."
---
**The Raid on Blackridge Pass**
The blockade camp sprawled in the valley below, its banners bearing the Stormpeak's lightning and the Nightblade's dagger. Li Tian's forces struck at moonrise—Sky Shrikes diving silently from cloud cover, their talons shredding sentries before alarms could sound.
"Secure the prisoners!" Yan Mei hissed, her daggers slicing through a tent rope.
Chaos erupted. Stormpeak cultivators scrambled for weapons, but Renshu's hammer shattered their lightning rods. Xia wove through the fray, healing qi mending wounded captives even as she fought.
In the central cage, Elder Lian's granddaughter cowered. A Nightblade assassin materialized, his shadow-blade at her throat. "One step closer, and—"
Li Tian's corrupted hand closed around the assassin's wrist. The shadow-blade dissolved, and the man screamed as primal energy devoured his meridians. "Run," Li Tian told the girl, his voice layered with the Hollow Star's growl.
The camp burned. By dawn, the blockade was ash.
---
**The Cost of Mercy**
Elder Lian clasped Li Tian's arm, her pride warring with fear. "You've given us hope. But the Accord will retaliate."
Li Tian mounted his Shrike. "Then we'll retaliate harder."
As they soared home, Xia tended to his wounds—a shadow-blade had grazed his ribs, the poison sizzling against the corruption. "You're pushing too far. The Core can't sustain this."
He gripped the reins tighter. "It doesn't have to. Just long enough."
---
**The Whisper of Elder Ming**
In the Bloodvine Marshes, where the Accord's reach faltered, a rumor stirred. A hermit cultivator, ancient and wrathful, had slain a Flame Emperor battalion with nothing but a reed flute. Survivors spoke of vines that moved like serpents, of roots that drank cultivators whole.
"Elder Ming," Old Guo breathed when the report reached the Bastion. "The last disciple of the Verdant Dragon Sect. They say he vanished after the Flame Emperor razed his grove."
Li Tian's star-flecked eye narrowed. "Find him. If he hates the Accord half as much as we do, he's already an ally."
---
**The Accord's Fury**
Far to the east, General Krell hurled a scout's head onto Xuan Ji's table. "The Bastion humiliates us! They rally rabble at Blackridge and Bloodvine!"
Lady Nyra's lightning scorched the floor. "Li Tian exploits our mercy. Burn the marshes! Salt the earth!"
Xuan Ji silenced them with a raised hand. "No. Let them gather. Let them hope." His smile was a knife's edge. "Then crush them all at once."
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