Leaving the Blood Sect alive was easy but leaving it unnoticed was not.
Ren Kairo didn't even make it past the outer walls before the crimson moon turned a deeper shade—and a scream split the sky.
Not a scream of pain.
A scream of rage.
The Vault Guardian had awakened.
Kairo tensed. "They noticed."
Yi Meilan didn't ask how. She didn't need to.
A gust of corrupted qi thundered across the stone path behind them, followed by the bone-rattling howl of a saint-ranked spirit losing its chains.
A crimson-robed elder stepped into view atop the Blood Sect gate. "Guest Elder... your exit was not approved."
Kairo glanced up. "Then you should revise your policy. I gave the Vault a five heavenly star review— anything less would be an insult to the heavens and a slap to this elder's honor."
A moment later, the elder lunged.
[Combat Alert: Blood Sect Elder – Peak Spirit Rank]
[Chainbind Reversal Ready. Duration: 5 Seconds.]
[Warning: Overuse may cause Mental Fracturing.]
Kairo waited until the elder was almost upon him then he snapped his fingers.
The mark on his left palm ignited.
Crimson runes laced across his forearm as the Chainbind Reversal activated.
Chains made of curse essence erupted around the elder's limbs, warping mid-air and crashing inward like a beast returning to its master.
The man's eyes bulged. "W-What the hell is this?!"
Kairo stepped forward calmly. "Just borrowing your own karma."
"You bastard, Ahhhhhh!" the elder screamed as the chains twisted his spiritual core. He dropped mid-flight, smashing into the ground with a sickening crack.
Yi Meilan exhaled sharply. "That wasn't just a technique."
"No," Kairo said. "It was a truth."
They didn't stick around for applause.
Using a spirit-stepping talisman Yi Meilan had snatched from the vault earlier, they warped half a province away—reappearing beside a quiet cliff overlooking the Wanxiang River.
The night wind was mercifully silent.
Kairo sat, leaned back against a rock, and let the backlash settle.
His nose bled.
His vision flickered at the edges.
[Chainbind Reversal cooldown: 3 hours.]
[Mental degradation: 12%]
[Recommended action: Rest. Silence. Reflection.]
He ignored the last part. Silence and rest were for people who could afford time. He couldn't.
Yi Meilan offered a cloth. "That thing in the vault... you said it was a prison. Not a throne."
Kairo nodded slowly. "Someone tried to refine a throne fragment into a usable technique. But they underestimated the curse. Instead of mastering it, they locked it away... and forgot."
"Why would anyone hide something that dangerous instead of destroying it?" asked Yi Meilan.
"Because destruction is easy," Kairo murmured. "But covering up mistakes? That's a cultivator's favorite technique."
[Codex Memory Echo – Fragment Synced.]
[New Thread Available: Crimson Requiem Pact – Origin: Blood Sect Founding]
[Summary: Blood Sect was built atop the remains of a failed throne cultivation experiment. Founders swore a pact to harvest throne fragments from across the Ninefold Sky. Purpose: Unknown. Status: Incomplete.]
So that was it. The Blood Sect wasn't just a cult of blood-mad lunatics.
They were collectors.
Harvesters of thrones. Failures. Fragments.
Pieces of a power they didn't understand but feared deeply.
Kairo stood.
"We're going to need to visit all the sects connected to the Five Clans."
"Why?"
"Because each one is hiding a fragment like this."
"And you're going to steal them all?"
He gave her a look.
"I'm not a thief."
Yi Meilan stared doubtfully at kairo.
"…Okay. I am. But this time, it's for a good cause."
They traveled east, avoiding major cities. The Blood Sect would soon label him a traitor. Rumors would spread fast but Kairo didn't care. In fact, he welcomed it.
Let them look for the Thousand Thorn Elder who "defiled" their vault.
Let them wonder how he escaped.
Let them fear what he found because fear made people reckless and reckless people spilled secrets faster.
Three days later, they reached the ruined village of Qiling Hollow.
It had once been a border trade town between the Thousand Grasses Sect and the Cloud Piercing Sect.
Now it was dust.
Buildings half-burnt.
Ash mixed with the soil.
But beneath the ruins, the Codex trembled.
[Fragment Detected: Dream-Class Throne Residue]
[Codex Note: This village was erased to bury a throne dream gone wrong.]
Kairo crouched in the center of the hollow and placed a hand against the ground. His spiritual sense pulsed downward and For a moment, the world flickered.
Then he saw it.
A girl screaming inside a dream.
Chains made of moonlight.
Eyes watching from behind mirrors.
And a voice.
"Break the loop, Kairo. Before it breaks you."
He snapped out of the vision with a sharp inhale.
Yi Meilan steadied him. "What did you see?"
"The beginning of a loop," Kairo whispered. "A throne that tries to trap you inside a dream... so real, you will not even know that you've been stuck for years."
Yi Meilan paled. "And that happened here?"
He nodded.
"Someone failed to break the dream. The village became collateral."
[Codex Update: Thread Linked – Dream Throne Fragment #7 Located]
[Status: Dormant. Recovery requires Dreamwalk Key.]
And just like that, another path opened.Another step toward unearthing the full truth.
As night fell, they sat under the ruins of an old pavilion. Kairo lit a small fire, using a few withered spirit-stems.
The flames crackled softly.
Yi Meilan looked at him for a long moment.
"You're changing," she said.
Kairo glanced up. "What do you mean?"
"You're colder. Sharper. I used to feel warmth in your voice. Now it's all edge."
Kairo stirred the fire absently.
"Warmth didn't save me."
"But it saved others," she said quietly. "Don't forget that."
He didn't respond.Not because she was wrong but because deep down, he knew something else:
That each throne he claimed wasn't just reshaping his cultivation.
It was reshaping him.
And one day, he might not be able to tell the difference.
Between Ren Kairo...
And the things he used to fight.