The sea surrounding the Ember Isles roared beneath storm-filled skies. Once a sanctuary for philosophers and retired nobles, the isles had become a clandestine war conclave. Massive ceremonial torches lined the black marble docks, their flames flickering wildly as the night wind howled. The Compact's last bastion had been raised in blood and treachery, and now it prepared to strike from the shadows once more.
In the central obsidian tower, Dongfang Zihan stood before a war table made of volcanic glass. Beside him were Jin Moxuan, his jaw tightly clenched, and Shi Jainhong, face shadowed beneath his crystalline circlet. Their eyes studied the flickering projection of the Empire, now divided and bleeding.
"So," Zihan began, voice cold, "the people anoint Mengtian as Warden Regent. Not Emperor, but close enough. This farce has grown wings."
"We underestimated the reach of his alliances," Jin Moxuan muttered. "And the force of his narrative. The commoners believe he is a savior."
Shi Jainhong's fingers tapped against a thin crystal blade embedded into the map. "Let them believe. Faith cannot shield a city from fire."
Zihan turned slowly. "Project Crystalheart?"
Shi smiled faintly. "Nearly ready. It draws power from sacrificial blood offered through our leyline channels. A false celestial array... but potent. Once activated, it can target and collapse any spiritual resonance field."
"Blood for power," Jin Moxuan said quietly. "You truly are your father's son."
"And yet here we stand," Shi replied, eyes gleaming. "Not in chains."
Meanwhile, in a mist-wreathed coastal town west of Snowveil, chaos raged. Three crystalline golems, each pulsing with unnatural red light, rampaged through the merchant quarter. Buildings collapsed in their wake. Civilians fled. And standing at the town center was Hallmaster Yue Mei of the Luminous Veil.
Her breathing was shallow, her glamoured robes torn. But her resolve shone like the illusion-clones now surrounding her. Each was a flickering echo of herself, blades of radiant light spinning through the air.
"You were made by stolen knowledge. But light, even false, will always reveal the truth," she murmured, stepping forward.
A golem swung, its arm cleaving a stone archway. The illusion shattered, but the real Yue Mei emerged behind it, launching a beam of spectral radiance directly at the golem's core. Cracks spread. Then it howled—a shriek of corrupted mana and human agony.
Another golem grabbed her from behind.
"Got you," a voice said.
She smiled faintly. The Yue Mei in its grasp flickered—a clone. The real one leapt from above, driving a searing light lance through the top of its head. It convulsed and fell, dead.
She collapsed to one knee, blood trickling from her lip.
Atop the high cliffs of Tianzhen's northern border, Hallmaster Lan Qiu stood still, his wind-dancer robes fluttering in the gales. Lightning cracked in the distance. Then, the glint of steel.
A single rider galloped beneath him—too fast for a merchant. Too deliberate for a refugee.
Lan Qiu whispered into the wind.
"Chain-weave... bind."
From the clouds descended translucent storm-wires, entangling the rider's legs. Horse and courier crashed to the ground.
Lan Qiu descended like a phantom, boots touching earth with barely a sound. He approached the courier, who struggled against bindings.
"Compact?"
The man spat.
Lan Qiu lifted a hand, and the storm-wires squeezed tighter. "Spare the heroism. What's in your satchel?"
The courier, panicked, screamed. Lan Qiu calmly reached in, extracted a scroll sealed with black wax—the sigil of Shi Jainhong.
Later that night, inside the Sanctuary of Beasts, Lan Qiu unfurled the scroll before Mengtian.
"It's a complete map," he said. "All known Compact strongholds. Defensive array timings. Garrison sizes. Even coded phrases for internal orders."
Mengtian, eyes glinting like lightning, murmured: "Then it's time."
Within the War Archives of the State of Records, the Ten Hallmasters stood before Mengtian. Outside, thunder rolled like an ancient drum.
Mengtian spread the Compact map before them.
"We strike in three days," he said. "Three prongs. Three strongholds. The triad that anchors their resistance."
"Name them," said Rao Lin.
"First, Crimson Dagger Hold in the north. Perched atop a serrated ridge in the northern ice-barbed spires beyond Frostveil Chasm, Crimson Dagger Hold was once a border fortress built by the Peng family during the old Empire's frontier campaigns. Now converted into a fortified supply base, it commands narrow, avalanche-prone passes and frozen ravines.
As for terrain and climate—thin, glacial air makes breathing difficult for most cultivators. Sub-zero temperatures disrupt qi flow, especially for fire-based techniques. Frequent snow squalls and unstable cliffs make ranged warfare and movement treacherous.
It is reinforced with Nullsteel barricades, rendering spiritual attacks nearly useless in direct combat. Stationed with Crystal Clan-augmented heavy infantry wearing soul-dampening armor. Contains early iterations of soulbound ballistae targeting flying formations.
The one who's guarding it is Peng Hongxuan, a brutal war tactician known for grinding down opponents with slow attrition. He is aided by two renegade Crystal cultivators acting as 'Tidecallers,' who can summon avalanches.
"Second, Silent Ember Garrison in the east. Hidden within a narrow volcanic rift near the Eastern Faultlines, Silent Ember Garrison sits between two dormant fire veins. The terrain is a labyrinth of black obsidian cliffs, ashfall chambers, and natural fumaroles—lethal for unprepared cultivators.
As for terrain and climate—obsidian mist interferes with sound and echolocation, crippling the Hall of Echoes. Constant low-level tremors and fissures make mass formation charges risky. The Garrison is protected by lava-channeling wards, repurposed by Compact mages.
It is guarded by long-range crystal cannons capable of firing bursts that warp qi flow in a 50-meter radius. Volcanic fire spirits, sealed by Shi Jainhong's clan, patrol the inner magma ring. Coated walls with liquid soulfire, which burns through memory and identity—creating disoriented enemies. Shi Zhenhai, son of Shi Jainhong, leads this front. Uses fire-illusion weaving to create phantom armies and trigger ambushes. Backed by a rogue Jin enchanter, Jin Xuirong, who manipulates supply trails with currency magic.
"Third, Crystalheart Obelisk in the Ember Isles. At the center of the Ember Isles, encircled by a ring of storm-broken reefs, stands the Crystalheart Obelisk—a towering, humming spire of ancient crystal and Compact-forged alloys. It is the operational core of Project Crystalheart.
This stronghold is designed to draw life energy from blood offerings, converting it into celestial energy pulses. It can alter the leyline structure of surrounding lands—ripping spiritual balance apart. Rumored to hold a shard of the lost Stellar Codex, allowing limited fate intervention.
Guarded by the Shi clan's elite crystal golem legion, each over three meters tall, impervious to standard physical attacks. The reef around the Isles is filled with mine-spirit traps—living oceanic bombs. Zhao Fenglie's naval fleet, stationed nearby, serves as both shield and rapid reaction force.
Strategically it's challenging because entry is only possible during tide reversals, when the reef tunnels open. The air around the Obelisk constantly fluctuates with reality warps—portals may fail, time moves inconsistently. Emotional memories fuel the Crystalheart Obelisk—so emotionally disturbed attackers may find their thoughts pulled into visions and illusions."
To Inara and Kaisen, Mengtian said, "Take Ironblood and Dawnriders into the Sable Fang mountains. Cut through their narrowest terrain pass. Strike the Crystalheart array from below and use subterranean tunnel-bursters, forged by the engineers of the Truehold Financial Bastion, to collapse part of the Hold's foundations from beneath. A rotating phalanx tactic will bait the heavy infantry into exposed kill zones for Rao Lin's Hall of Valor's shock troopers."
Kaisen grinned. "We'll ride until stone turns to ash."
Next he turned to Lan Qiu.
"You'll take to the skies. Disrupt all high-altitude scrying nets. I want the Tempests to deliver storm payloads to all their lookout points before our main assault begins. Hall of Tempest will strike from above using wind vortexes to disperse the volcanic mist."
Lan Qiu nodded. "The winds are ready."
Hall of Echoes, led by Kai Chan, will deploy new vibration-based clarity domes to pierce the silence field.
Mengtian personally instructed Yue Mei to deploy her light clones in staggered waves, confounding illusion arrays with mimicry.
To Ji Yeyan, Mengtian spoke last.
"Your mission is to infiltrate the isles during the shadow tide and disable the blood-seal core from within."
Lan Qiu and Yue Mei will use synchronized dual-spellcasting—storm and illusion—to cover Ji's infiltration.
The Hall of Astral Command, under Xuan Le, will deploy an astral bubblefield to trap reinforcements outside the reef line.
Mengtian sent a special soulwoven dagger—"The Mourning Fang"—capable of disrupting the Crystalheart's tether spell, to be used at the climax.
Ji bowed once. "Then I speak nothing."
And he vanished into the floor.
Mengtian's gaze swept across them all.
"This war is no longer one of factions. It is for the breath of the world. Each of you carries thunder in your veins. Show them that the storm remembers."
Lightning cracked.
And the war to end the Compact had begun.