Chapter 10: Council of Shadows
The dawn mist still clung to the rooftops of Qinghe when Ren Yu returned.The city bore scars from the storm — broken tiles, shattered lanterns, the faint scent of ozone lingering in the air. Yet life persisted. Merchants reopened stalls, cultivators in training robes repaired walls with spiritual energy, and guards patrolled the streets with forced calm.
To ordinary eyes, Qinghe had survived.But Ren Yu could feel the imbalance pulsing beneath its surface — the residue of the Heaven's Judgement Array still poisoning the ley lines.
He moved silently through the back alleys, his cloak pulled low. Since the Council collapse, his name was on every wanted list across the city."Ren Yu, the traitor who defied the Martial Council and awakened forbidden power."He smirked bitterly. "So this is how history rewrites itself."
As he crossed into the old quarter, faint whispers reached him. Two men in dark armor stood near a tea house, their insignias glowing faintly with the Council crest — a sword through a spiral sun.
"...three elders dead. The Array's core shattered. The Council has declared martial law," one said."And the heir?""No trace. They say he vanished into the storm.""Vanished?" The guard spat. "Men don't vanish. Not ones like him."
Ren Yu moved past them unnoticed, his qi masked by the new technique he had forged in the wilderness — Heart of Balance. It wrapped his energy in stillness, rendering him invisible to aura detection.
He ducked into a narrow courtyard behind the tea house.Waiting there was a familiar figure — Lira Han.
Her hood was drawn low, but her eyes lit up the moment she saw him."You're alive," she whispered.
"Barely." Ren Yu smiled faintly. "You left a trail for me."
"I wasn't sure you'd follow it," she said, stepping closer. "After what happened at the tower… I thought—"
"I don't die that easily." He studied her for a moment. "The city's in chaos?"
Lira nodded. "The Council fractured after the Array failed. Some elders blame Shen's faction for the disaster. Others want your head to cover it up. But the real power now sits with the Inner Council — the ones who never show their faces."
Ren Yu's eyes narrowed. "The ones who ordered the seal's activation."
"Yes. They're meeting tonight in the lower sanctum beneath the Council Hall." She hesitated. "Ren, if you go after them, there's no turning back. These aren't ordinary cultivators. They use forbidden techniques — shadows of the old dynasty's power."
Ren Yu looked toward the skyline where the broken tower loomed. "Then it's time I meet the ones who stole my ancestor's legacy."
The Shadow Council
Night fell over Qinghe like a drawn blade.
The Council Hall — now half in ruins — was guarded by patrols of spirit-armored soldiers. But beneath its foundations, through corridors untouched by sunlight, lay the Sanctum of Judgment, a circular hall carved entirely from black stone.
Twelve figures sat in a ring, their faces hidden behind silver masks.At the center hovered a faint orb of crimson light — pulsing, alive. It projected the city's spiritual network in intricate threads.
One of them spoke, voice deep and measured. "The anomaly persists. The dragon's resonance still lingers within the ley lines."
Another answered, sharper. "Then Ren Yu lives. The seal must be completed. If he reaches awakening, the old blood will rise again — and the Council's dominion will end."
A third, with a voice like silk, laughed softly. "Perhaps it's time we let it. The old blood is what built this world. Without it, we are hollow."
The chamber fell into uneasy silence.
From the shadows near the ceiling, a faint ripple stirred.Ren Yu materialized — silent, unseen.
He listened, memorizing every word.
"Prepare the secondary seal," one of the elders said. "At dawn, the capital will send envoys to investigate. Before they arrive, I want Qinghe under our control — or reduced to ash."
Ren Yu's heart tightened. The capital. The Council's true seat of power.They feared exposure — meaning the truth about the Array's purpose went deeper than even he suspected.
He dropped silently to the floor.
One masked elder turned too late. A golden flash — a whisper of light — and the man was pinned against the wall by a thread of qi shaped like a spear.
"Who dares—" another shouted.
Ren Yu stepped forward, his cloak falling away, his eyes glowing faint gold. "Ren Yu. Son of Ren Housheng. Heir to what you tried to bury."
The air erupted into chaos. Three elders stood instantly, summoning their qi.From their sleeves poured black mist — shadow energy, condensed and twisted. It coalesced into blades that hummed with the sound of weeping spirits.
"You should have stayed gone," one hissed. "Now your blood will complete the seal."
Ren Yu raised his hands, forming two golden seals midair."Try."
The hall exploded with light.Golden and black energies collided, carving runes into the stone walls. Ren Yu weaved between strikes, each motion fluid, balanced — the dragon's power responding to his calm rather than fury.
He extended his palm. "Dragon Vein Art: Ascendant Coil!"
A spectral dragon burst from his aura, swirling upward and tearing through two shadow constructs like paper. The shockwave threw several elders to the ground.
The leader, mask cracked, shouted in rage. "He wields the Heart! Kill him!"
The crimson orb in the center pulsed violently. The formation lines across the hall ignited, trapping Ren Yu in a sphere of crimson light. Chains of spiritual energy lashed out, binding his limbs.
Ren Yu gritted his teeth. The pressure was crushing — the same energy used in the Heaven's Judgement Array, now focused entirely on him.
"You cannot bind the dragon," a voice thundered inside his mind — the ancient spirit's tone sharper than ever. "Remember your balance."
Ren Yu closed his eyes. The wild golden flames that usually erupted from his veins turned inward, forming a quiet glow that spread through his body like sunlight on water.
The chains trembled.
He whispered, "Heart of Balance — Release."
The crimson sphere shattered.
The explosion that followed ripped through the Sanctum, collapsing the outer ring of the chamber. Dust and rubble filled the air. When it cleared, the elders were gone — vanished into shadow portals, their presence erased.
Ren Yu stood in the ruins, chest heaving. A faint trail of blood marked the corner of his mouth.
From the stairwell above, Lira appeared, her face pale. "Ren! You shouldn't have—"
"I had to see them," he said quietly. "And now I know where they're going."
"Where?"
Ren Yu looked at the crimson orb's remains. "The capital. Everything leads there."
He stepped past her, his aura still faintly aglow.
"Then that's where the real war begins."