The world shattered.
One heartbeat, Lin Xuan stood beneath the jade platform.
The next—light ripped open the sky, swallowing thousands of cultivators at once.
He fell through a storm of runes, every glyph flashing with the might of ancient arrays. His body trembled under the spiritual pressure. Then—impact.
Stone exploded as he crashed into the ground.
When the dust cleared, he found himself standing amid ruins older than memory.
Broken pillars jutted from crimson sand.
The air was thin, heavy with burnt qi, and above, a sun of black fire burned against a storm-gray sky.
"The Preliminary Path…" Lin Xuan muttered. "So this is the trial ground."
No response came—only silence.
He reached out with his spiritual sense but felt nothing. The domain had cut off divine sense beyond a hundred meters. Everyone was scattered.
"Yu Ling. Chen Mu…" he whispered. "Stay alive."
Then he froze.
Footsteps.
Soft. Slow. Measured.
He turned sharply—nothing. Only shadows crawling along the ruins.
A whisper followed, faint, echoing through the air.
"Lin… Xuan…"
His pupils contracted. They know my name.
Before he could react, the ground beneath him pulsed with light. Symbols flared—an ambush formation. He leapt back just as the sigils detonated. Blades of condensed spirit energy shot upward, slicing through stone like paper.
He landed hard, sliding back across the sand, breath steady.
"Crimson Sect scouts. They've already begun."
Elsewhere — within the Crimson Camp, deep inside the domain.
A vast crater stretched across the landscape, lined with runic stones forming a blood-red array.
At its center knelt dozens of crimson-robed disciples, eyes closed, hands forming seals.
A massive orb floated above them, swirling with mist and faint screams.
The Second Elder stood before it, his expression carved from ice.
"The resonance is confirmed," he said. "The fragment's energy is active. He is within the western sector."
One of the disciples hesitated. "Elder, this domain suppresses divine sense. Tracking him precisely will—"
The Elder raised a hand.
Flesh split open along his palm, dripping crimson flame.
"Then I will burn a piece of Heaven to see him," he said quietly.
He pressed his hand against the orb.
The mist turned blood-red. Thousands of whispers filled the air—each one a tortured soul bound to the Crimson Sect's secret art.
Images flickered—mountains, ruins, shadows—and then finally, a single figure standing among broken pillars, holding a faintly glowing jade token.
The Elder's lips curved.
"Found you."
He turned to his disciples.
"Fan out. Leave no corpse unburned. I want his head before the third bell."
Lin Xuan moved quickly, navigating shattered temples and silent valleys. He'd already sensed the pursuit closing in—three signatures, all familiar, all hostile.
Crimson Sect Core Disciples.
He hid behind a cracked statue, breathing evenly. The jade token in his sleeve throbbed again—hotter this time, as though urging him to move.
"Not yet," he murmured. "Show me what you are first."
A soft hum answered him. The token's light pulsed—and suddenly, the carvings on the nearby stone walls ignited. Lines of ancient text glowed, forming an illusionary map across the ruins.
Path of the Fallen Sun.
Trial of the Forgotten Emperor.
Lin Xuan blinked. "You're… guiding me?"
Before he could follow, a flash of red light exploded across the sky.
A blade screamed through the air, splitting the ground beside him.
"Found you, rat!"
A Crimson Sect disciple emerged from the smoke, eyes burning with killing intent. Two more landed behind him, forming a triangle formation.
Lin Xuan's hand slid to his sword.
"Three Core Disciples," he said quietly. "Too few."
The leader sneered. "Still arrogant while running? You should've stayed hidden, traitor."
The crimson aura around them surged. Flames rose, twisting into spirit serpents that hissed and circled him.
Lin Xuan's stance lowered. "You talk too much."
He moved.
In a blur, his sword drew a silver arc.
The air howled. The nearest disciple's guard shattered as the strike hit his chest, sending him flying through a pillar.
The second roared, summoning a crimson spear—but Lin Xuan was already there, blade flashing. Sparks erupted as steel met spirit.
The impact shook the ruins.
"Impossible—his qi's not suppressed?!" the disciple gasped.
Lin Xuan's eyes turned cold.
"Suppression only matters if you fear it."
He shifted his stance, channeling the strange pulse of the jade token through his arm. His blade flared with golden light. One clean slash—
—and the disciple's head fell.
The last one turned to run. Lin Xuan didn't chase. He simply raised his hand, and the air itself trembled.
The ground burst open, swallowing the man whole.
Silence returned.
He stood amid the ruins, blood dripping from his sword, breath steady.
Then, far away, he felt it—the faint echo of a much greater power awakening.
The Second Elder had entered the domain.
Inside the Crimson Camp, the Elder's eyes snapped open.
The orb before him cracked, spilling crimson smoke.
"The resonance… shifted," he muttered. "The fragment reacted to his blood."
He turned toward the western horizon, voice low and cold.
"So be it. I will come myself."
He stepped into the array. Blood-red lightning flashed, and in the next moment—he was gone.
Lin Xuan looked up as the black sun flickered, momentarily turning red.
A pressure descended—vast, suffocating, and ancient.
He exhaled slowly.
"So, the Elder moves personally…"
His grip tightened on the jade token.
"Then I'll show him what the Crimson Sect truly fears."
The ground trembled as light gathered around him. The token pulsed, and a faint whisper—ancient, distant—echoed in his mind.
"Child of the Fragment… awaken."
And the ruins began to move.