**The air itself** trembled as the celestial warriors descended.
Their golden robes shimmered with unnatural light, their faces hidden behind featureless masks of white jade. Where their feet touched earth, grass blackened and died in spreading circles of decay. The lead warrior raised a hand—and five rebel fighters *burst* into crimson mist.
Min-jun's Eclipse Rot flared in response, the black veins pulsing up to his shoulder like live wires. The pain nearly dropped him to his knees.
Xia grabbed his arm, her nails digging into corrupted flesh. "Don't let them sense your brand!"
Too late.
The lead celestial's head snapped toward them. Its mask split vertically, revealing a gaping maw lined with rotating teeth. A sound like grinding bones issued forth—words formed from noise:
***"Defective specimen detected. Purge protocol initiated."***
Liao shoved them both backward as a beam of golden light vaporized the ground where they'd stood. "MOVE!"
The rebel camp dissolved into chaos. Celestials moved through the panicked crowd like reapers, their every touch bringing instant death. A child screamed as a warrior's fingertip brushed her shoulder—her body withering to a desiccated husk in seconds.
Min-jun's vision went red.
The Second Form unleashed itself before he'd fully decided to attack. His fist connected with a celestial's chest—and the Eclipse Rot *reacted*. Black veins lashed out like living things, burrowing under golden robes. The celestial shuddered, its perfect movements faltering for the first time.
Xia's eyes widened. "The corruption... it hurts them!"
Liao wasn't listening. He'd pulled a strange dagger from his belt—the blade made of the same obsidian as Min-jun's shard. With a roar, he plunged it into another celestial's mask.
The warrior *screamed*, an unearthly sound that shattered nearby pottery. Its body collapsed inward like a deflating balloon, leaving only empty robes.
The remaining celestials froze.
***"Containment breach. Alert the Ascended."***
Then they *retreated*, floating backward into their glowing gate, which snapped shut behind them.
Silence fell over the ruined camp.
---
**"They feared the dagger."**
Liao wiped black ichor from the obsidian blade. "This is Void-forged. One of the few things that can permanently kill them."
Min-jun clutched his corrupted arm, now throbbing with alien energy. "Why did my Eclipse Rot affect them?"
Xia wouldn't meet his eyes. "Because..." She took a shuddering breath. "Because Heaven's Fist was never meant to fight the Void Lords. It was designed to *serve* them."
The truth hit like a physical blow.
"The celestials," Min-jun realized. "They're..."
"Former masters of the technique," Xia finished bitterly. "The first humans who willingly merged with Void energy. They became... that." She gestured to the empty golden robes. "The Ascended are worse."
Liao nodded grimly. "Which is why we need the Third Form now more than ever." He sheathed the dagger. "It's the only technique that can purge Void corruption without turning the user into *them*."
A rebel scout came sprinting into camp. "The Jade Serpent forces are regrouping! They'll be here by nightfall!"
Xia suddenly grabbed Min-jun's corrupted arm. "There's another way." Her black eyes burned with desperate intensity. "The Eclipse Rot makes you toxic to them. If we accelerate the spread—"
Liao's blade was at her throat before she could finish. "I wondered when you'd show your true colors."
Xia went very still.
Min-jun looked between them. "What is this?"
"Ask her," Liao spat. "Ask why a disciple of the Shattered Sky Sect survived when all her masters perished. Ask how she knew exactly where to find that jade tablet."
Xia's tattoos began glowing an ominous red.
"Because," she whispered, "someone had to live long enough to finish their work."
Her hand *twisted*—
—and Min-jun's corruption *exploded* up to his collarbone.
**TO BE CONTINUED...**