🌑 Scene I: Descent into the Fractured Sanctum
The ancient winds howled through the fractured canyon, guiding Jiang Chen and his companions deeper into the second sanctum of the Obsidian Tomb—a valley split by time and blood.
The canyon walls glowed faintly with soul-binding runes, pulsating with a rhythm too unnatural for nature. Shadows moved without light. Whispers echoed from bones that should have long turned to dust.
> "This is where the flame sleeps," Xiao Bai murmured, his eyes hidden behind cloth, yet seeing more than any mortal sight.
Lin Yue's fingers danced along her vials. "No," she said coldly. "This is where the cursed flame waits to be devoured."
At the end of the gorge stood a colossal gate—obsidian black, wrapped in chains of bone and burning soulfire. Upon its surface was a distorted version of the Ninefold Soul Destruction Sigil, carved backward as if mocking its creator.
Jiang Chen stepped forward.
As his Tyrant Bloodline pulsed, the gate groaned and cracked open—responding not to his mortal shell, but to the soul that had once ruled celestial planes.
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🔥 Scene II: The Guardian of the Fragment
The chamber beyond the gate was cavernous and drowned in an unnatural dusk. Faint rivers of lava ran along the edges of the walls. Floating above a shattered altar was a fragment of the Obsidian Moon Flame, pulsing like a heartbeat.
But it was not alone.
From the dark rose a hunched figure—half-man, half-shadow, limbs charred and bound in cursed chains etched with divine symbols.
He spoke with a throat scorched by ages:
> "You took everything from me... Sovereign Jiang. Now I return it in death."
Wei Long, once an elite disciple of Jiang Chen's army, had been the guardian of the Obsidian Flame. Betrayed by Lei Qingsheng, his soul had been sealed and warped into a living prison.
His cultivation? Long dead.
His will? Fueled by rage and endless suffering.
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⚔️ Scene III: The Duel Begins
The air shattered with the first clash.
Wei Long surged forward, dragging his cursed chains behind him. His presence twisted gravity. Every step left cracks in reality.
Jiang Chen countered with the Voidbinding Chains, forming a net of black fire. The ground erupted in waves of obsidian spikes as they exchanged blows.
Wei Long screamed.
> "You let them betray us!"
Jiang Chen's eyes burned. "I died for our sect! You failed yourself!"
Chains collided. Runes flared. Time fractured. Their duel echoed across dimensions.
Wei Long summoned cursed flames that corroded the very laws of cultivation. Jiang Chen answered with the Tyrant Flame Domain, trapping them in a sphere of eternal dusk.
Seconds felt like hours. Every strike tore deeper into their souls.
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🧠Scene IV: Duel of Minds
Suddenly, Wei Long collapsed—not from exhaustion, but from an internal rupture.
> Jiang Chen had infiltrated his soul sea.
Inside, he saw it all: the betrayal, the torture, the moment Lei Qingsheng had bound Wei Long to the Obsidian Fragment and twisted his mind.
> "You were meant to be my sword," Jiang Chen whispered.
> "I only wanted your approval," the dying soul whispered back.
Jiang Chen reached out—and instead of destroying Wei Long, he offered peace.
With one final breath, Wei Long smiled for the first time in a thousand years.
> "Free... at last."
His soul passed on.
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🔥 Scene V: The Flame Awakens
The fragment of the Obsidian Moon Flame reacted.
It surged forward, intertwining with Jiang Chen's core. Flames danced through his meridians—burning, remaking, empowering.
He saw visions:
A future where he ruled the Celestial Star Realm.
A past where his own sect had always feared his power.
A hidden prophecy—nine flames, nine betrayals, one rebirth.
> He was never just reborn. He was sent back—to conquer.
Jiang Chen screamed as the flame fused entirely.
When it ended, he rose slowly.
> "Stage Four," Xiao Bai whispered. "He's reached it."
Jiang Chen opened his eyes, and they were no longer human.
They were stars burning in void.
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⚒️ Scene VI: Forging the Tyrant's Weapon
Jiang Chen stood before the altar, where the remains of Wei Long's soul chains and cursed relics still hovered.
With the flame still fresh in his veins, he began to forge.
Using celestial energy and soul residue, he crafted a weapon unlike any seen in the current world:
> The Tyrant Halberd.
It crackled with soulfire and wept black light.
> "With this, I reclaim the heavens."
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🩸 Scene VII: Revelation – The Name of the Next Betrayer
As they prepared to leave, a crystal embedded in the altar shimmered.
It revealed an image—another betrayer.
Xue Lian.
Her voice echoed across the sanctum:
> "Jiang Chen... the real betrayal hasn't even begun."