The air was still, but the sky had changed.
Yun Jian stood at the edge of the Deadshade Ravine, eyes lifted toward the horizon. For the first time in centuries, a new celestial body hung in the sky—an enormous, darkened moon etched with glowing crimson veins.
It hadn't been there before he entered the Labyrinth.
The moment the Eclipse Core merged with him, reality shifted.
The ancient god that once forged the Shadow Arts—the Eclipse God—had opened its eye.
And it was watching.
Three Days Later – Midnight Moon Sect
Atop the highest peak of the Jade Serpent Range, leaders of the most powerful sects in the world gathered in secrecy.
The air was thick with anxiety.
"I felt it," said Master Veneris of the Starlight Pavilion, his white robes billowing like mist. "A distortion in the celestial field. This new moon is no natural phenomenon."
"It is the Eye," whispered Lady Xuemei of the Ice Lotus Hall. "It has awoken after a thousand generations."
"And we all know who is responsible," growled Elder Ru Fen of the Iron Tiger Sect. "That boy—Yun Jian."
No one argued.
They had seen the visions—felt the divine pressure that now seeped through the heavens like oil through silk.
Yun Jian had crossed the threshold.
And in doing so, the old god had stirred.
Elsewhere – Yun Jian's Camp
Mei Lin wrapped fresh bandages around Yun Jian's hand as he sat quietly beside a flickering fire. The forest was still, but not peacefully so. It was the silence of something listening.
"You haven't said a word since you came back," she murmured.
Yun Jian's eyes remained fixed on the flames.
"I saw it."
"What?"
"The truth."
The others gathered closer—Ghostfang curled by his side, Feng Yu sharpening his blade, and Aran pouring tea from an ancient clay pot.
"The Shadow Arts were not created by mortals," Yun Jian began. "They were stolen."
He looked up.
"From a being older than the realms. A god who was split into pieces and sealed across dimensions. The Labyrinth held the first piece. And now, that god sees me as its vessel."
No one moved.
"If I don't stop it…" he continued, "I won't become a sovereign. I'll become its mouthpiece. Its avatar. The new god of shadows."
Feng Yu let out a low breath. "Then we end this before it begins."
That Night – Within Yun Jian's Dream
The fire had long died out.
Yun Jian lay on his bedroll, but his mind drifted into a familiar darkness—one that was no longer just memory.
This time, he was summoned.
He found himself in a chamber of mirrors, infinite in all directions. Each mirror reflected a different version of him—king, tyrant, god, corpse, child, beast.
And standing in the center was a figure made entirely of void.
Eyes like twin eclipses.
"You have taken my Core," it spoke in a voice that echoed inside bones. "You walk my path, even as you pretend it is your own."
Yun Jian stood tall. "I've taken nothing. I earned it."
The figure chuckled, and the sound cracked the mirrors.
"You think you wield shadow. You do not. Shadow wields you."
The being stepped forward. "Let me in… and I will make you eternal."
"No," Yun Jian said.
And in that moment, the mirrors shattered, and he woke in a cold sweat.
The Next Morning – On the Move
Their group traveled northeast toward the Obsidian Crater, an ancient battlefield said to house the Void Spire—the second fragment of the Eclipse God.
If Yun Jian was to stop the god's rebirth, he had to seal the fragments before the Eye fully opened.
But the journey wasn't simple.
On the second day of travel, they encountered their first obstacle: the Order of Null, a cult long believed extinct.
Hooded figures wearing bone masks ambushed them at dawn, their spells darkening the sun and twisting the shadows into serpents.
"Protect the vessel!" one chanted.
Another shouted, "He must not resist the merging!"
Yun Jian didn't wait.
With a flick of his wrist, shadow tendrils lashed outward, severing limbs and silencing voices. But the cultists did not retreat—they welcomed death, screaming praises to the Eclipse God as they burned.
By the time the last one fell, the forest was soaked in blood.
"This will only get worse," Mei Lin said.
Yun Jian nodded. "I know."
Obsidian Crater – Nightfall
The land here was cursed.
No plants grew. No animals stirred. The very ground seemed to reject life.
In the center of the crater stood a black spire half-buried in ash, pulsing faintly with dark energy. Carvings spiraled up its surface—ancient words in a tongue not spoken by mortals.
Yun Jian approached.
Each step made the wind howl louder.
He placed his palm on the spire.
And time stopped.
Inside the Void Spire – Vision Trial
Yun Jian was yanked into a space without light.
He stood before the second fragment—a heart-shaped crystal hovering in an infinite void.
From it radiated waves of despair, hatred, and memory.
"You do not understand power," a voice whispered.
Images flashed before his eyes:
His future self turning empires to ash.
Friends kneeling in chains before his throne.
Ghostfang slain.
Mei Lin's heart pierced by his own hand.
"You will bring ruin," the voice said.
"NO!" Yun Jian shouted, holding his head.
The darkness tried to surge into his chest.
But then…
A glow erupted from his core.
The Eclipse Core within him resonated—not with submission, but rejection.
"I am not your weapon," Yun Jian declared. "I'm your WARDEN."
And he forced the darkness backward—clenching his hand around the fragment and sealing it with his will.
The void shattered.
Back in Reality – Dawn
The group stood around Yun Jian's unconscious body.
When he stirred awake, he held the sealed second fragment in his hand—glowing softly like a dying star.
Mei Lin rushed to him. "Are you—"
"I'm fine," he said, eyes sharper than ever. "Two down."
Feng Yu glanced at the sky.
The eclipse-moon was still there—but it had begun to crack, faintly.
"You're hurting it," Aran observed.
"No," Yun Jian replied. "I'm reminding it…"
"…that it can be forgotten."
Elsewhere – Within the Eye
The Eclipse God stirred.
Its voice echoed across dimensions.
"So the vessel chooses rebellion."
"Then let all my children awaken."
Across the world, shadows deepened.
And hidden cults, cursed beasts, and long-dormant fragments began to stir.
The war for dominion had begun.