When the new shadows speak, the old age listens.
---
The Hei Lin San Sect was older than any sect still standing.
It was within these hallowed grounds that the Sacred Book of Qasiong was first forged.....
a work unlike any other.
Their very first Grandmaster, Grandmaster Qasiong Ri,
had sealed her own sacred spirit, her history, and her powers within the book itself.
She had taken black magic,
and given it a sacred dimension.
Her black yet sanctified incantations could both purify a soul…
or erase it from existence.
That was why the Hei Lin San Sect was hidden from the world.....
for they possessed spells so terrifyingly holy,
so boundless in strength,
that even the heavens feared their misuse.
It was for this reason alone…
that the Living Crown of King Yu Sui had been entrusted to them.
Only their ancient rites could seal such a cursed, living artifact.
And perhaps… it was also the secret behind their ethereal beauty.....
for Hei Lin San was both the birthplace and resting place
of one of the most powerful spirits in the known world.
The Sacred Book of Qasiong.
---
In the sacred hall,
silence hung heavy.
What had just been spoken…
was no trivial matter.
To divide the Golden Scripture into five separate parts.....
and to do so in such a short span.....
was an act that defied the understanding of even the most learned.
It was no ordinary scripture.
Its divinity alone could shatter unworthy minds.
To guard even a fragment was a trial in itself.
---
The hall remained still,
but inside the minds of the elders,
storms raged.
Questions bloomed like poisoned flowers.
The two Grandmasters.....Bao Fang and Yun Zhi.....
could see it plainly on their faces.
The same question was pounding through every mind and heart at once:
How will this be done?
Is it even possible?
And above all… why?
---
A deep voice finally broke the stillness.
It was Bao Fang.
When he spoke,
it was not the voice of a young man,
but of a weary veteran.....
one who had seen centuries of hope and betrayal compressed into a single breath.
"We know… dividing the Golden Scripture is no simple task.
But it must be done."
His tone did not rise.....
it sank deeper,
pulling everyone into its weight.
"You have all seen…
how greed and betrayal can tear deeper than any blade.
We have lost not one....but both....of our Great Sovereigns.
Many of our most trusted leaders have been slain.
Su Nian, the first and most distinguished disciple of the great king Mo Yan.
murdered without mercy.
And the greatest wound of all...
the High King and King Yu Sui....
cut down on the very day of their union."
Bao Fang paused.
A long, ragged breath left his lips.
His eyes shone....not with weakness, but with the weight of pain.
It was as if a mountain,
long proud and unmoving,
had finally grown tired…
and was ready to fall.
"A new custom will be born.
And with it....a new age.
Our purpose is not just to protect power.....
but to awaken true hearts.
This rite will not only strengthen the worthy.....
it will reveal them.
That… is why we have gathered here today."
---
The faces around the table were still.
The elders listened....
but their silence was no longer that of doubt.
It was the silence of those who feel the earth shift beneath them.
---
Yet still, Grandmaster Yun Zhi had not spoken his full part.
And when he did…
the ritual would truly begin.