đ Midnight â Soul-Forged Chamber
The air was heavy, laced with violet smoke from the still-active soul-runes. Jiang Chen stood with his back straight, arms folded behind him, his expression unreadable.
In front of him, the mysterious woman from the Moonlight Abyss Sect held a shimmering orbâno larger than a pearl, yet it pulsed with hidden, ancient power.
> "What is that?" he asked, voice calm but cutting.
The woman, still cloaked in starlit robes, whispered,
> "A Soul Echo Crystal. It records the karmic imprint of the pastâspecifically, your last death."
---
She raised it high, and the air trembled.
The chamber dimmed, and a holographic vision unfolded before them like a dream projected in light.
Jiang Chen watched.
Watched as heâa glorious figure clad in black and gold celestial armorâstood surrounded by his sworn brothers and sisters of the Void Path Sect, the inner circle he trusted more than life.
He watched as their smiles became twisted.
As blades were drawn behind backs.
As the First Betrayal was committedâby his right hand, Xue Lian, the Ice Widow.
Her chilling voice echoed through the vision:
> "You were never meant to rise this far, Ji Tian."
> "The heavens made one mistakeâand we've come to fix it."
The blade she drove through his heart was laced with the poison of the Netherfire Lotusâa toxin only found in the Blood Inferno Abyss, a forbidden realm that no human should've ever accessed.
---
Jiang Chen's fists clenched.
> "Xue LianâŚ"
The woman beside him nodded.
> "She now rules the Glacial Sky Empire. She calls herself the Heaven-Frost Empress, and claims she slew you in righteous vengeance."
Another image emergedâof Master Fei Rong, once a kindly elder who guided Ji Tian's cultivation. In the vision, Fei Rong stood over his broken body, chanting the final seal that shattered Ji Tian's soul.
> "He lives still?" Jiang Chen growled.
> "He leads the Radiant Heaven Sect, a holy empire in the central continent. Worshipped as a saint."
Jiang Chen's voice was now a whisper.
> "And the third?"
The final scene showed Lei Qingsheng, a wild-haired man with eyes of lightning, slicing open the void to send Ji Tian's remnants into cosmic oblivion.
He laughed as he watched Ji Tian die.
> "Even titans must kneel, brother. You were always meant to be the warningânot the victor."
---
The vision faded.
The chamber returned to silence.
Jiang Chen said nothing for a long time. Then:
> "Where are they now?"
The woman spoke in reverence.
> "All three now rule the core regions of the cultivation world. No one challenges them. They hold the heavens by the throat."
> "But they also fear your return."
> "Each has a prophecy locked in their celestial vaultsâforetelling the rise of a tyrant reborn in flame and shadow."
> "You."
---
Jiang Chen turned away, his eyes burning violet.
> "I'm not the tyrant they remember."
He looked down at his palm. It trembled slightlyânot from fear, but from hunger.
> "I'm something worse."
---
đ¸ď¸ Meanwhile â Elder Mo's Private Quarters
Elder Mo slammed his fist against a jade altar.
> "He cannot be allowed to grow stronger."
Beside him, a veiled figure in black knelt. The assassin bowed low, receiving a vial of dark liquid.
> "This poison is made from Moonshadow Root and Heaven's Cry Dew. One drop is enough to silence the soul of a Qi Condensation cultivator."
> "Slip it into his food during the clan feast. Tonight."
The assassin nodded.
> "As you command."
Elder Mo's eyes narrowed like knives.
> "If the heavens won't stop him, I will."
---
đ Next Morning â Jiang Clan Public Feast Ground
A long table stretched beneath a sky lantern canopy. Elders, disciples, and nobles gathered in pretense of unity.
Jiang Chen sat near the end, expression unreadable.
The servant brought a silver chalice to himâfilled with plum wine laced with the most insidious poison known to alchemists.
He lifted it. Paused.
The air tensed.
He smiled.
> "Drink first," he said to the servant.
The servant froze. "M-my lord⌠I cannotâ"
> "Drink. Or die."
The man hesitatedâthen bolted.
CRACK!
He didn't make it two steps before Jiang Chen struck him down with a flick of his finger. The man collapsed, vomiting bloodâhis soul severed instantly.
The feast fell silent.
Jiang Chen stood.
> "I do not dine with snakes."
He looked straight at Elder Mo across the table.
> "This was your first mistake."
> "Your second will be thinking you'll live long enough to regret it."