The marshlands of Duskgate were soaked in ghostlight—an eerie luminescence rising from stagnant pools and half-rotted tree roots. Thick fog hung low, masking the poisonous ground. Creatures with luminous eyes watched from the shadows, but none dared approach the seven figures that moved like wraiths through the mire.
Liu Shen led the way, his presence cloaked by the Thousand Veil Art, his footsteps silent even as he stepped over bone-littered ground. Yu Meixing flanked him, her qi suppressed, though her mind was ablaze with fragments of lost memory.
Behind them, Lei Qing, Shen Yue, and four elite Sovereign disciples fanned out in a formation honed for speed and reaction. They weren't here to fight—unless the enemy forced them to.
> "The temple's close," Lei Qing whispered, gesturing ahead.
> "I feel the fragment," Liu Shen murmured. "It's awake."
Yu Meixing's brows knit.
> "Something's wrong. The spiritual current… it's churning. Like it's expecting us."
> "Then we enter with blades drawn," Liu Shen said.
---
The Ruined Temple
They emerged into a clearing where ancient black stones jutted out of the earth like the ribs of a buried god. The ruined temple of Yaozhi, once a sanctuary for spirit-binders, now lay crumbled and half-swallowed by marsh and time. Weeds grew from altar cracks. Blood runes, long faded, pulsed faintly with a sickly red hue.
> "Defensive wards are shattered," Shen Yue noted. "But something rebuilt the inner core array. Recently."
> "That confirms it," Liu Shen said, eyes narrowing. "Something is guarding the fragment."
They stepped over the threshold, weapons drawn.
Inside, the air grew dense. Silence rang louder than footsteps. Statues of forgotten spirits lined the walls—each defaced, broken or weeping blood from hollow eyes.
At the heart of the sanctuary sat a floating crystal orb, cracked and pulsating with red-gold light—the Fragment of the Sovereign Eye.
> "Wait—don't touch it!" Yu Meixing warned.
But it was too late.
The moment Liu Shen stepped forward, shadows bled from the orb like ink in water. They writhed and condensed into a humanoid shape—faceless, horned, and cloaked in black flame.
> "Who dares disturb the Remnant Eye?" it hissed.
---
Test of Worth
The shadow creature launched itself forward with a soundless scream, its claws seeking Liu Shen's throat. But he didn't retreat. He caught the attack with his bare hand, demonic qi bursting from his palm like a tidal wave.
> "Demonic Sovereign's Grip: Binding Flame."
The specter screeched as black fire surged up its limbs. But instead of dissipating, it absorbed the fire—and grinned.
> "You are him. The one who fell. The one who burned Heaven."
> "You know me," Liu Shen said coldly.
> "I remember your screams."
Yu Meixing and Lei Qing lunged in to assist, but the specter summoned a pulse of spirit-force that flung them back like leaves in a storm. Shen Yue barely shielded them from crashing into a wall.
> "Don't interfere," Liu Shen commanded. "This is mine."
The specter's form grew, thickening with more shadows drawn from the corrupted temple. Twin wings erupted from its back, each feather a shard of pain and memory.
> "You were broken once," it said. "You will break again."
> "That was before I returned," Liu Shen said, stepping forward.
He unleashed a flurry of strikes: a blend of Heavenly martial forms, forbidden demonic art, and his own Sovereign improvisation.
The clash of blows cracked stone and shattered timeworn sigils. The temple shook. The Fragment pulsed in resonance.
Then, Liu Shen vanished.
> "Shadow Dance: Sovereign Reversal."
He reappeared behind the specter, hand piercing straight through its chest.
> "I don't need your test," he whispered. "I remember who I am."
> "Then… take it," the specter rasped, collapsing into smoke. "But know this: The Eye remembers. The Eye judges."
---
The Vision
As Liu Shen grasped the fragment, a jolt of energy surged through his mind.
He was no longer in the temple.
He stood before a burning sky, armies of mortals and demons kneeling before him. Above, a celestial host rained judgment, golden spears blotting out the sun.
He saw Yu Meixing, dressed in the full regalia of the Ninth Shadow, standing beside him—not with love, but resignation.
> "You chose this path," she had said. "You knew what it would cost."
He turned to face his enemies—Heaven's envoys, former allies, even himself.
And then darkness consumed it all.
---
Return and Revelation
Liu Shen gasped as the vision faded. He was back in the temple, the fragment now dark and inert in his hand.
> "You alright?" Yu Meixing asked, steadying him.
He nodded slowly.
> "I saw… a war. A choice. A betrayal. And you were there."
She froze, her face pale.
> "What… did I do?"
> "I don't know. But it wasn't just Heaven that turned on me. It was everyone. Even the ones I trusted most."
---
The Gathering Storm
With the fragment secured, the team withdrew. But something stirred in the deeper parts of the marsh.
A hooded figure watched them from afar, standing atop a decaying altar wrapped in black vines.
> "The Sovereign has taken the first Eye," the figure whispered. "So it begins again."
Another figure appeared behind him—tall, skeletal, with hollow eyes that wept ichor.
> "Should we report to the Hollow Emperor?"
> "No. He already knows."
They turned and vanished into mist, leaving behind only the scent of rot and prophecy.