The torchlight flickered across the newly refurbished council chamber. Gone were the sinister statues and fear-laced oaths that once defined the Sect of Shadows. In their place stood unity forged through blood and betrayal.
Liu Shen sat cross-legged at the center of the room, meditating. Around him, his three closest allies—Yu Meixing, Lei Qing, and Shen Yue—discussed quietly.
> "We've reactivated the old shadow networks," Lei Qing reported. "Our informants in the Hollow Empire say something is stirring beneath the capital. Rumors of an ancient gate."
Yu Meixing's eyes narrowed.
> "Abyssal energy?"
> "No doubt," Shen Yue replied. "If it's the Abyss Gate, we must act fast. That artifact was sealed during the final years of the First Reign. Even the Heavens feared what lay beyond it."
Liu Shen opened his eyes, deep red pools of ancient power.
> "Then we move. But we'll need more than whispers and shadows—we need allies."
---
A Call to the Forsaken
Later that day, Liu Shen stood before a massive black obelisk at the edge of the Sect's borders.
This was the Monolith of Exiles—a relic that once broadcast the Sect of Shadows' decrees across the continent. Now, he would use it to do something no Shadow had dared for centuries:
Issue an open summons.
Channeling his demonic qi, Liu Shen's voice echoed across the land like thunder wrapped in silk.
> "To the cast-off, the forgotten, the betrayed. To those broken by Heaven's blade or trampled by Imperial boots. I am Liu Shen, Demon Sovereign reborn. I have no throne, no sect, and no salvation to offer—only war, truth, and vengeance."
> "Come to me, you forsaken sons and daughters of the world. Join the Sect of Sovereigns. Let us burn the heavens."
The monolith cracked with power.
From a dozen regions, eyes turned toward the darkening skies.
And they began to move.
---
Elsewhere: Eyes in the Clouds
Far above, within a floating fortress bathed in sunlight and illusion, a masked figure turned from a glowing scrying mirror.
> "He speaks again."
Another figure—a man clad in robes of silver and white, bearing the insignia of the Heaven's Pact—stepped forward, scowling.
> "We killed him once. We can do it again."
The masked one shook their head.
> "Not this time. He's changed. The shadows obey him. The forsaken believe in him."
> "Then we wipe them all out."
> "We could. But we'd only feed the flames. No, this time… we break his belief."
The white-robed man frowned.
> "How?"
> "By killing what's left of his heart."
The mirror shimmered—showing the image of Yu Meixing.
---
Back at the Sect
Three days passed. Refugees, mercenaries, and vagabond cultivators trickled into the Sect of Shadows.
Among them were former disciples of exiled clans, rogue elders, demonic beasts in human form, and even a few reformed heretics from Liu Shen's past. Each bore scars, stories, and a thirst for justice.
Yu Meixing stood watching them arrive, her gaze distant.
Shen Yue approached.
> "Troubled?"
> "They're broken," she whispered. "We've called them, but can we hold them together? Liu Shen is a symbol… but symbols can fracture."
> "He's more than a symbol."
> "He has to be."
From the courtyard, Liu Shen approached, his steps silent despite the heavy wind. He looked over the growing crowd.
> "This is not an army," he said. "It's kindling."
Yu Meixing looked at him sharply.
> "Then what's the spark?"
He smiled faintly.
> "The truth."
---
Training the Sovereigns
Within a week, the Sect's courtyards rang with the clash of weapons and the roar of cultivation.
Liu Shen restructured the Sect into six battalions, each led by a core figure:
Shen Yue, commanding the Eclipse Division, trained in shadow evasion and assassination.
Lei Qing, leading the Iron Wind Division, focused on brute strength and battle formations.
Yu Meixing, forming the Dreamweavers, specialized in illusions, psychic warfare, and spiritual defense.
Liu Shen himself mentored the Voidflame Core, a unit of elite cultivators who could handle Heaven-tier techniques.
> "We don't just train warriors," he told them. "We mold Sovereigns."
---
The Hollow Empire Moves
In the obsidian halls of the Hollow Empire, dark rituals continued.
The emperor—clad in living armor—stood before the Abyss Gate, sealed in chains of celestial gold.
A dozen blood priests knelt, chanting in forgotten tongues.
> "Our Sovereign awakens," the emperor whispered. "Let the Demon think he is building a rebellion. When the Abyss opens… we will have our army."
A single chain broke with a deafening snap.
And from the gate… a whisper emerged.
> "Return me… to him…"
---
Nightfall: Visions and Omens
That night, Liu Shen meditated alone on the cliffside behind the Sect.
The wind was cold, the stars silent.
Then, a presence.
He opened his eyes—and saw her.
A pale woman, cloaked in silken darkness, with eyes like broken glass.
> "You survived," she said.
Liu Shen stood slowly.
> "Who are you?"
> "You knew me once, in a life where you were still human."
She raised her hand—and reality trembled.
In a flash, Liu Shen saw glimpses:
A gate beneath the world.
A crown made of thorns and stars.
A boy's corpse burned under heavenly fire.
> "What… was that?"
The woman turned.
> "Your beginning. And your end."
And then she vanished.