“What are you suggesting?” Fei Yan’s voice was sharp. It cut through the heavy air. Her eyes narrowed. “You aren’t actually thinking of climbing up there. Are you?”
Su Kang shook his head. His gaze locked on the summit. “No. Not yet.” He gestured at the peak. “But listen to me. If a living cultivator were up there, why wouldn’t they have acted? An entity this powerful? It could have wiped us out long ago.”
He paused. His voice dropped to a hushed murmur. “They don’t attack because they can’t. Or… because there is no ‘they’ at all.”
Fei Yan’s expression shifted. Fear warred with contemplation. She stared at the looming peak. “So. You suspect it might be a spiritual weapon? Or perhaps an array?”
”Yes. Exactly.” He nodded.
”I have considered that.” Fei Yan conceded. Her brow furrowed deep. “But a sentient spiritual weapon can be just as dangerous. Even more so.” She paused, her expression grim. “You may be unaware of the difference. A weapon wielded by a Core Formation expert is merely a tool to amplify supernatural abilities. But it doesn’t stand a chance. Not against the artifact used by Nascent Soul cultivators.”
Her gaze grew distant. Filled with a primal wariness. “If an artifact has survived here for millennia, it is likely Legendary grade. At the very minimum. Such a thing possesses its own will. Even Lady Zhu would feel threatened against it. For us? It is a death sentence.”
”But how long can we last like this?” He sighed. Gestured to their surroundings. The dull throb in his head was rapidly becoming a blinding ache.
She steadied her breathing and reached into her sleeve. She produced two round pills. Each one swirled with a faint, gentle azure mist that smelled of fresh rain.
”Take this.” She handed one to him. “It’s a Soul Mending Pill. It will restore your soul force. We have enough to last a week.”
Su Kang looked at the pill. Then, he cast a longing glance at the jade staircase. He suppressed a sigh.
I’ll have to wait.
Every rare artifact. Every ancient herb. They were the result of accumulated time, opportunity, and the blessings of heaven and earth. To Fate, that was simply “Food” waiting to be devoured. If Fei Yan weren’t watching him so closely, he would have already tested if Fate could absorb the massive destiny contained within the jade staircase itself.
Pushing the thought aside, Su Kang swallowed the pill. A refreshing coolness instantly slid down his throat. It washed over his mind. Soothing the searing ache of his exhausted mental faculties.
But just as relief began to settle in… the jade staircase began to glow.
A deep, resonant hum began to vibrate. Golden light swallowed their vision.
Fei Yan’s gaze snapped upward. Her eyes wide with alarm. “What’s happening?”
Before they could react. The world lurched.
The jagged silhouette of the mountains wavered. Like a reflection in disturbed water. The dead, silent halls below flickered. Overlaid suddenly by a vision of pristine majesty. The empty valley was suddenly teeming with life. Hundreds of figures walked the white-pebbled paths, their disciples’ robes a sea of crimson fire and deep, ink-black. The phantom sound of a distant bell echoed through the valley.
”Wh—what is…” Su Kang stammered. But the words died in his throat.
A spike of pure agony lanced through his skull. He clutched his head. Fingers digging frantically into his scalp as foreign memories crashed into his mind—names he didn’t know, faces he had never seen, emotions that were not his own. They poured in like a breaking dam. Threatening to drown his very consciousness.
”Su Kang, beware!” Fate’s voice rang out in his mind. A desperate, chiming alarm. “It is a high-level illusion—”
But the warning was too late. His mental defenses collapsed instantly. His vision bleached into a stark, blinding white.
Light swallowed everything.
Su Kang’s eyes snapped open.
He gasped. Taking in a breath. The air was not cold and dead, but fresh and clean. Filled with the scent of unknown blossoms and a faint, dry warmth like heated stone. Sunlight, sharp and golden, brushed against his skin. He blinked, his vision clearing. Emerald peaks pierced the clouds on either side, draped in vines with leaves that shimmered like iridescent dragon scales.
Below, a central plaza bustled with disciples. Their robes, a sea of crimson fire and deep ink-black, were embroidered with the subtle, elegant motif of a three-legged crow on the sleeves. He stood on a wide staircase. But the luminous jade was gone. Replaced by steps of simple, gray stone. A group of disciples ran past him, their vibrant energy a stark contrast to the abandoned sect he had just experienced.
”Junior Brother Su, hurry up!”
A cheerful voice cut through his confusion. He looked up to see a young man waving at him. A wide grin on his face. “Elder Jing will skin us alive if we’re late!”
Su Kang froze.
Junior Brother Su?
A flood of familiarity washed over him. Memories grafting themselves onto his mind like vines choking a tree. He was Su Wen. A disciple of the Beast Taming Peak.
He looked at the grinning man. He recognized him instantly. Senior Brother Lei.
He knew him. He knew Lei favored roasted spirit boar and had a fiery temper but cared deeply for his juniors. But he also knew, with a chilling certainty… none of it was real.
”Fate?” he called out internally. Projecting his will into the depths of his spiritual sea, seeking the familiar voice for answers.
Silence.
The connection was severed. The metallic voice was gone. For the first time since awakening his memories, he felt truly alone.
I am inside the illusion, he realized. His heart hammered against his ribs. But why… why is my mind still my own? Is it Fate’s work? Illusion arrays were supposed to drown the victim’s true memories, suppressing them until the soul withered. Yet somehow, he knew it was a lie.
”Junior Brother Su? What happened?”
The man, Lei, stepped back up the stairs. His brow furrowed with concern. His body was big. Towering over Su Kang. His skin was the color of burnished bronze, radiating a powerful vitality that spoke of a tempered body. He was a senior inner disciple.
”You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Lei grunted. He reached out a hand, his grip firm on Su Kang’s arm. “Come on. We have an emergency mission.”
Su Kang stared at the hand on his arm. He calmed his heart. Forcing the turmoil from his eyes and schooling his features into a neutral mask. He was trapped. His only choice was to learn more about this.
”I’m coming,” Su Kang said. “Lead the way, Senior Brother.”
Lei’s grip was like iron. He pulled Su Kang along. Descending the stone steps and plunging into the bustling crowd of disciples.
”Senior Brother,” Su Kang began, his voice carefully curious as they walked, “what is the emergency?”
”That’s what the summons said,” Lei grunted. His gaze fixed ahead. “Something about the border city of Wu’An. Demonic beasts are attacking.”
They cut through the plaza. Disciples in crimson and black robes parted before Lei’s imposing figure, offering respectful nods. Most had the same bronze skin tone, their movements carrying a certain rhythm.
Su Kang scanned the bustling plaza while assimilating the new memories. This was the Sacred Flame Beast Sect. A sect whose guardian beast was a three-legged crow.
Where is she? The question appeared in Su Kang’s mind. He searched the faces in the crowd. Is senior Fei here? Does she even remember who she is?
Lei led him toward the same mission hall which he had visited with Fei Yan and Zhu Zhihao. Inside, the hall was alive with a low murmur of activity. Disciples gathered before the massive plaques on the walls. Jade tokens glowed with the light of active missions.
Lei strode directly to a designated counter at the far end of the hall. An elder with a stern face and a long, wispy beard sat there.
”Senior Disciple Lei, reporting as summoned,” Lei said. Bowing his head respectfully.
The elder’s eyes opened. They were sharp and piercing. He gestured to a small group of disciples waiting nearby. There were four of them—two men and two women, all wearing the crimson robes of the sect’s fire lineage. They looked young. Their faces a mixture of seriousness and apprehension.
”You will lead this team,” the elder said, his voice a dry rasp. He pushed a mission scroll across the counter. “The demonic beasts at Wu’An are growing in numbers. It is suspected that a group of demon cultivators are behind this. Go there, and protect the city.”
Lei took the scroll. “It will be done, Elder.”
The elder’s gaze then fell on Su Kang. “Su Wen,” he said, his tone flat. “You will accompany them as well.”
Su Kang bowed his head. “As the Elder commands.”
They came out of the mission hall. They descended the stone steps to a waiting area near the plaza’s edge. Four disciples stood there, their postures relaxed but alert.
Two of the men were clearly body cultivators. They were brothers, Tie Shan and Tie Shi. They were massive, with skin the color of dark copper. Faint tattoos of beasts rippled across their exposed shoulders.
Next to them stood Yan Ling. Heat radiated from her flame-embroidered robes. Shimmering in the air like a desert mirage.
Then there was Gu Yao. Small. Unassuming. A scarlet-eyed fox draped over her shoulder like a living scarf.
”Let’s move,” Lei commanded. “The situation in Wu’An is critical. We take the array.”
He turned and marched toward a large, circular stone building at the plaza’s northern end. The group followed. Su Kang fell into step, his heart skipping a beat at Lei’s words.
Teleportation array.
In the Jiang State, teleportation arrays were myths. They were lost technologies eroded by time. To travel from Liyun City to the borders took weeks of flight. Even the great sects lacked this convenience, forced to rely on spiritual boats.
They entered the stone building.
The interior was a vast, domed chamber. In the center lay a circular platform, thirty feet wide, carved from a white stone that hummed with latent power. Complex runes were inlaid into the floor, forming a geometric pattern.
Su Kang stared at it. He felt a profound sense of loss. This is the legacy we lost, he thought, his gaze tracing the flawless runes.
”Standard transport to Wu’An City,” Lei told the disciple guarding the platform. He showed them the mission scroll.
The guard nodded. Turned to a stone pedestal. Adjusted a sequence of ancient dials. “Platform Three. Wu’An coordinates locked.”
The group stepped onto the platform. Su Kang stood near the edge, trying to suppress his anticipation. He felt the air around him grow heavy. The golden runes at his feet began to glow. Emitting a low, silver light.
The hum reached a crescendo. A pillar of silver light erupted from the runes, blinding and silent.
Su Kang felt a sudden, violent lurch in his gut. The stone hall vanished. The sensation of weight disappeared. It was disorienting. Like falling and flying at the same time.
Then, just as quickly, the pressure vanished.
Gravity returned with a jarring thud. The silver light faded.
Su Kang blinked, steadying himself. The cool, stone air of the sect was gone. It was replaced by the noise of a bustling city.
They stood on an identical platform. But through the open archway, a different world greeted them. Tall pagodas with curved eaves pierced the sky, and the air smelled of burning incense and heated metal.
”We’re here,” Lei said, stepping off the platform. “Welcome to Wu’An.”
Su Kang took a deep breath. Calming his roiling stomach. He looked back at the fading runes of the array. If I can get my hands on this…
He shook his head quickly. Burying the thought. If only Senior Fei were here… he sighed inwardly.
”Let’s report to the sect branch first,” Lei said. Leading the way.
