The fifteenth day arrived inside the Rivercloud Demon Sealing Ruins without sunlight.
Broken Ravine was still buried beneath a heavy grey sky when Fang Lin sat behind the low stone barrier and quietly counted what remained in his possession. Pills spent. Spirit stones gained. Storage pouches still unopened. Techniques stored but unsuitable. Debts taken. Debts owed. Night Burial Sword rested beside his hand, silent and dark, while the Dark Bud within him remained still like a seed hidden beneath cold soil.
He had not finished sorting the numbers when the back of his hand turned cold.
It was not the cold of frost. It was deeper and quieter, like a flame that had forgotten how to give warmth. The black flame mark left by the Black Judgment Lamp trial stirred beneath his skin, and at almost the same instant, Fang Lin's restrained divine sense caught a change in the surrounding space.
Across the barrier, Feng Jiu'er raised her head.
Su Wanqing's expression changed as well.
The three of them did not speak. There was no need. The mark beneath their skin had awakened at the same time.
Around them, the Green Bamboo Alliance disciples also sensed the ruins changing. Li Shan gripped his sword. Luo Chen rose with the Battle-Scar Spear in hand, his face still pale from the previous night's injuries. Murong Yue's smile vanished, and Bai Qing moved closer to Han Zhi without realizing it. Zhao Feng looked up at the grey sky and muttered, "This better be the exit."
Then light descended.
Most of the cultivators in Broken Ravine were wrapped in a pale grey glow. It fell around them like mist, soft but impossible to resist. Their bodies blurred as if the Rivercloud Demon Sealing Ruins had finally remembered the fifteen-day limit and was driving them out.
But around Fang Lin, Feng Jiu'er, and Su Wanqing, the light was different.
It was black at the center and gold at the edge, thin as a burning thread. It did not fall from the sky. It rose from the mark beneath their skin.
Luo Chen's eyes widened. "Senior Sister Feng!"
Feng Jiu'er turned sharply toward the Alliance disciples. For the first time that morning, her calm almost cracked. "Stay together after you leave. Report everything to Thousand Leaf Immortal Sect. Do not let the Faction side separate you."
The pale light swallowed Li Shan, Luo Chen, Murong Yue, Bai Qing, Han Zhi, Zhao Feng, and the other Alliance disciples before they could answer.
Murong Yue's lips moved as if she wanted to say something sharp even then, but the light took her first.
Fang Lin's gaze shifted once toward Feng Jiu'er, then toward Su Wanqing. Both were being pulled by the same black-gold force. He did not resist. The spatial pressure around the mark was too deep, and struggling blindly in an unknown transfer was the kind of stupidity that killed talented people before enemies had the chance.
The last thing he saw in Broken Ravine was Luo Chen vanishing with the Battle-Scar Spear clenched in both hands.
Then the ravine disappeared.
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Outside the Rivercloud Demon Sealing Ruins, the camps had been waiting since before dawn.
The great sect banners stood in the windless air. Thousand Leaf Immortal Sect's leaf insignia shone with restrained green light. Heavenly Sword Lake's silver-blue banner hung like a blade over still water. Scarlet Sun Palace's red-gold emblem burned even without flame. Black Tortoise Mountain, Moon Reflection Valley, Ancient Beast Hall, Silent Night Pavilion, Hundred Formation Tower, Pill Dawn Sect, and Demon Suppression Temple each occupied their own guarded area, while medium and smaller sect camps clustered behind them like smaller hills behind mountains.
When the first ejected cultivators appeared, the entire entrance stirred.
Wounded disciples fell onto the ground one after another. Some landed standing, some collapsed, and some vomited blood the moment the ruins' pressure left their bodies. Elders stepped forward, but very quickly, the expressions across the camps began to change.
Too many important people were missing.
"Where is Ye Qinglan?"
"Jian Wuchen has not returned."
"Chi Yao is missing too."
"Xuan Beihai did not come out?"
"Moon Reflection Valley's Yue Qingning is absent."
"Gu Man, Ning Shuang, Luo Qianji, Su Lianxue... none of them have appeared."
The questions spread from camp to camp, each one heavier than the last. These were not ordinary disciples. They were the names each sect had sent into the Rivercloud Demon Sealing Ruins with confidence. Some were legacy disciples. Some were extraordinary talents. Some were hidden blades meant to compete for inheritance without making too much noise.
Now, when the fifteen-day ejection arrived, they were nowhere to be seen.
A Domain Forging Realm pressure rose for half a breath from the Heavenly Sword Lake camp before being forcefully restrained. Across from it, Scarlet Sun Palace's elder narrowed her eyes, red-gold heat gathering around her sleeves. Black Tortoise Mountain's guardian stood like a silent cliff, but the ground beneath his feet sank slightly.
No one made a move.
Not yet.
Too many powers were watching, and no one knew whether this was disaster, opportunity, or a trap.
On the Green Bamboo Sect side, Li Shan and the others were thrown out together. Luo Chen landed on one knee, the Battle-Scar Spear striking the ground beside him with a heavy sound. Han Zhi caught Bai Qing before she fell. Zhao Feng rolled twice, sat up, and immediately looked around.
"Where are Senior Sister Feng and Su Wanqing?" he asked.
No one answered.
Murong Yue's face had lost its usual teasing curve. She looked toward the entrance of the Rivercloud Demon Sealing Ruins, then toward the major sect camps where panic was being covered by discipline. "They did not come out."
A Thousand Leaf Immortal Sect elder appeared before all of them and questioned. His robe was green-white, and the pressure around him made the injured disciples instinctively lower their heads. "Speak clearly. What happened before the ejection?"
Li Shan cupped his hands despite the blood on his sleeve. "Senior, some disciples received strange black flame marks from a trial inside the Rivercloud Demon Sealing Ruins. When the fifteenth-day light descended, the rest of us were ejected, but those with marks were pulled away by another force."
The elder's eyes sharpened. "Another force?"
"Yes," Li Shan said. "It did not feel like the exit."
Around them, similar reports began to erupt from other camps.
A River Sword Sect disciple shouted that Xu Hanjiang had vanished with the marked ones. A Crimson Flame Hall survivor swore that several marked elites were taken by black-gold light. A wounded disciple from a smaller sect cried that his senior brother had received a black flame mark and disappeared instead of returning. Some people claimed the marked cultivators were chosen for fortune. Others said they had been swallowed by the ruins. A few simply trembled and refused to speak.
The elders outside the Rivercloud Demon Sealing Ruins listened, and their faces became increasingly ugly.
And they inferred, "Something else has happened this time."
They could confirm the dead only when someone had seen a corpse. They could confirm the returned because they stood before them. But the missing were the most troublesome. Missing disciples could mean death, imprisonment, hidden inheritance, betrayal, or something the sects had never prepared for.
And the worst part was simple.
The ones missing were mostly the strongest.
Inside the black-gold spatial pull, Fang Lin felt the world fold around him.
It lasted only a breath, yet in that breath his soul tightened. He did not release his divine sense widely. The pressure around him was too ancient, too layered, and too clean. It was not like the crude formations he had seen in Rivercloud City, nor like the temporary transfer node in Broken Banner City. This force did not ask the surrounding space for permission. It simply moved people.
When his feet touched solid ground again, Fang Lin's fingers were already near Night Burial Sword.
He did not draw attention to the movement. He only steadied his breath and looked ahead.
A plaza stretched before him, vast enough to hold an army.
The ground was paved with dark jade stone, each slab carved with patterns so old that even looking at them for too long made the eyes ache. Towering pillars stood at the edges of the plaza, each one engraved with different marks: flames, swords, beasts, pills, stars, mountains, rivers, and symbols Fang Lin did not recognize. Beyond the pillars were enormous closed halls, their doors sealed and silent. Some released faint heat. Some carried sword pressure. Some smelled faintly of herbs. Some were so quiet that the silence itself felt like a wall.
Above the plaza was not the grey sky of the Rivercloud Demon Sealing Ruins.
It was a dome of distant ancient light, dim and majestic, like the inside of a treasure that had slept for countless years.
Cultivators began appearing across the plaza one after another.
Fewer than five hundred stood there in total.
Most wore the emblems of major sects. The rest came from medium sects, smaller sects, or no sect at all, but none of those who appeared looked simple. A person who could stand here without a major sect banner had either strength, luck, conviction, or a master powerful enough that ordinary sect rules could not press them down easily.
Feng Jiu'er appeared only a short distance from Fang Lin. Her white-red robes moved slightly as the spatial force faded, and a restrained crimson-green aura gathered around her for a breath before she controlled it. Su Wanqing arrived several steps behind her, one hand pressed lightly against her storage treasure, her expression calm but her eyes colder than before.
When Su Wanqing saw Fang Lin and Feng Jiu'er, she exhaled quietly.
"Only us," she said.
Feng Jiu'er's gaze moved across the plaza. She saw no Li Shan, no Luo Chen, no Murong Yue, no Bai Qing, no Han Zhi, and no Zhao Feng. Her fingers tightened around her sword hilt, but her voice remained steady. "They should have been sent outside."
"Should have," Fang Lin said.
She looked at him.
Fang Lin did not explain further. In a place like this, certainty was expensive. He would not spend it without proof.
A few cultivators nearby recognized him almost immediately.
"Silent Mountain Sword... Shen Mo?"
"He entered too?"
"Of course he did. After what happened in Weapon Resting Hall and Broken Ravine, it would be stranger if the mark ignored him."
The comments remained low and brief. No one had the leisure to gossip properly. The plaza was too unfamiliar, and too many famous figures were standing in the same place.
Names began to pass through the crowd in waves, not because anyone announced them, but because people recognized robes, emblems, weapons, and pressure.
Ye Qinglan of Thousand Leaf Immortal Sect stood beneath a pillar marked with leaf patterns, her green-white robes untouched by dust. Jian Wuchen of Heavenly Sword Lake appeared with a silver-blue sword aura around him, his expression as cold as a blade washed in water. Chi Yao of Scarlet Sun Palace stood with red-gold sleeves fluttering despite the still air, her beautiful face carrying obvious irritation at being moved without consent.
Xuan Beihai of Black Tortoise Mountain did not speak after arriving. He only looked at the sealed halls, his black and deep-green armor-robes making him seem even heavier than before. Yue Qingning of Moon Reflection Valley stood in pale blue and silver, moonlight-like mist curling around her feet. Gu Man of Ancient Beast Hall laughed once when he saw the plaza, but even his laughter held caution. Ning Shuang of Silent Night Pavilion appeared near a shadowed pillar, and several people only noticed her after she had already been standing there for several breaths.
Luo Qianji of Hundred Formation Tower had already lowered his head to study the plaza lines, his smile thinner than usual. Su Lianxue of Pill Dawn Sect checked the condition of the cultivators around her before looking toward the sealed halls. Kong Mingyuan of Demon Suppression Temple stood among white-black-gold robes, his prayer beads still moving, his face solemn enough to make weaker disciples believe he was thinking only of righteousness.
Fang Lin knew better.
Not far away, Xu Hanjiang appeared with several River Sword Sect disciples. The moment he confirmed Jian Wuchen's position, his expression changed. The anger he had carried toward Fang Lin did not vanish, but it was folded beneath a respectful smile.
He walked toward the Heavenly Sword Lake group and cupped his hands deeply. "Senior Brother Jian, River Sword Sect's Xu Hanjiang greets you. This place is strange, and River Sword Sect will naturally follow Heavenly Sword Lake's lead."
Jian Wuchen glanced at him once. "You have news?"
Xu Hanjiang lowered his voice, but Fang Lin's soul perception was sharp enough to catch the movement of his lips from a distance. "There is a rogue cultivator named Shen Mo. He hides his background and has taken several treasures. He is difficult to deal with alone, but he has also offended more than one side."
Jian Wuchen did not immediately respond.
That was enough for Xu Hanjiang. A dog did not need its master to praise it before it learned where to sit.
Fang Lin looked away without changing his expression.
He had expected Xu Hanjiang to look for backing. A man who lost face in public either swallowed it and grew stronger, or borrowed a larger shadow and called it strategy. Xu Hanjiang had chosen quickly.
Beyond the major sect disciples, Fang Lin noticed others who drew attention precisely because they had no great banner behind them. Mo Yuanli stood with plain black martial robes and iron-thread wraps around his wrists, his body-pressure quiet but heavy. Ji Xuechan, a pale-robed young woman with a thin frost needle sword, watched the plaza without speaking to anyone. Lei Yunhe's sleeves carried faint lightning burns, and his eyes kept moving as if still searching for the fastest escape route. Chu Wumian wore a dull black cloak and an expressionless mask, one hand resting on a curved saber whose pressure made nearby disciples keep their distance.
There were also familiar faces from the outer region. Duan Qingshan of Iron Spear Valley stood with his heavy spear across his shoulder, while He Lanyue of Cloud Crane Manor watched everything with a graceful smile that did not quite reach her eyes. Lan Meiyu of Jade Mist Palace appeared near the Moon Reflection Valley side. Lian Qing of Blue Reed Pavilion looked stunned at first, then saw Fang Lin and Feng Jiu'er and gave a small, grateful nod from far away. Even Qin Xiaodie, the rogue technique broker from Broken Banner City, stood among the marked cultivators with a look that said she was already wondering whether this disaster could somehow become business.
Fang Lin nearly smiled.
Almost.
The plaza suddenly trembled.
Every conversation came to an abrupt halt.
An ancient voice spread from the dark jade beneath their feet, calm and vast, neither male nor female, neither near nor far.
"The outer measure has ended. Those who bore the flame have arrived at Myriad Halls Plaza."
No one moved.
The words were simple, yet they landed with the weight of a mountain.
Outside, the sects were waiting for their chosen disciples.
Inside, the chosen disciples stood together beneath sealed ancient halls, watched by enemies, allies, rivals, strangers, and powers none of them understood.
Fang Lin's hand rested lightly near Night Burial Sword. Feng Jiu'er stood at his side, her gaze fixed on the closed halls ahead. Su Wanqing sealed her storage treasure more tightly and took half a step closer to them.
Across the plaza, Kong Mingyuan's prayer beads paused for the first time.
Xu Hanjiang's smile deepened.
And above them all, the doors of Myriad Halls Plaza remained shut, as if the ancient place was waiting to see who among these marked cultivators would be the first to lose patience.
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