Night cloaked the sect as Feng Mo returned to his quarters, the blood jade rings cold around his neck. The air carried a strange stillness—no wind, no rustling of leaves, only the slow thump of his heart and the persistent echo of Yun Lian's voice in his mind.
"He must never know… he was forged."
Inside the hut, Feng Mo knelt before the Requiem altar now etched clearly in his blood space. The third one, newly risen, shimmered with pale blue soul fire. In its center hovered a fragmented memory crystal, swirling with ghostly light.
Soul Branding – Initiate Ritual
Speak once every 7 days. One question. One voice. One soul.
He placed his hand upon the altar.
"I want to speak to Yun Lian."
The soul fire surged.
A figure formed—translucent, shimmering in red silk robes. Her face was exactly as it appeared in the crystalline tomb wall: elegant, stern, yet warm beneath the weight of secrets.
"My son…"
Feng Mo's breath caught. "You knew I'd come here. You left this for me."
She nodded faintly.
"You were not born. You were woven. My final act… a rebellion wrapped in blood."
"Why?" he asked, his voice cracking.
Her soul flickered. "To stop them."
"Who?"
"The ones who wear crowns made from corpses. The sect you serve is built atop a lie. A war buried in ash."
The image rippled. From the flames, scenes began to project around the hut—memories Yun Lian passed to the Requiem:
A throne room burning, its walls of gold melted under black flames.
Thousands of corpses, branded with strange marks: ⸸, the Crimson Crown Rune.
Five sovereigns, each with a glowing crown of runes, devouring the souls of their fallen cultivators to extend their lives.
"They were the Crimson Crown Sovereigns," Yun Lian whispered.
"They used a forbidden art—Requiem Immortalis. They created realms by sacrificing whole bloodlines."
"Our sect's founders were among them."
Feng Mo's fists clenched. "Then the sect I serve is…?"
"Built from bones. But not all within it are evil. Some were born into this legacy, just as you were."
"Then what do I do?"
Her gaze grew intense.
"The Blood Requiem chose you not to inherit… but to end the cycle."
"But before you can rise, you must first walk where the Veinborn fell."
She leaned closer.
"Seek the Cradle of Silence in the forgotten ravine. There sleeps the last memory of the Fourth Vein."
The flames flared—
Ritual complete. Communication sealed.
Yun Lian's image shattered, leaving only warmth behind.
Feng Mo collapsed, his breath ragged.
Later that night, the girl with silver-black eyes appeared outside his door.
"You spoke to her."
He nodded.
She placed a parchment in his hand—old, brittle, sealed with wax.
"This belonged to her. She left it with me, in case you lived long enough to awaken the Third Vein."
Inside was a map—drawn in blood and ink.
The Cradle of Silence.
A forbidden zone sealed by the sect generations ago. Said to hold nothing but death and madness.
But beneath it… lay the Fourth Vein.
And now, he had to reach it before the sect found out.
Meanwhile, deep inside the Silent Executor's Hall, an urgent meeting was underway.
The porcelain-masked assassin spoke, "He's awakened all three Veins. The soul flames have lit again after eighteen years."
Another nodded. "We must kill him before he reaches the Fourth. If the Cradle speaks his name…"
The Executor's voice was flat. "Then the cycle begins again."
They stood before a dark orb.
Inside it, an image of Feng Mo flickered.
Kill Order Initiated: Target — Feng Mo
Executioner Assigned: Rank V—Star Reaper.
As the stars faded behind dawn, Feng Mo prepared to leave.
He didn't know what awaited in the Cradle of Silence.
But he knew now:
He was no longer just a disciple.
No longer a mistake.
He was a blood-forged rebellion, a vessel of ancestral rage, and the last hope for the buried truth.
"Let the dead guide me."
And the living beware.
To be continued…
⚔️ Chapter 9 Highlights:
First communication with Yun Lian through the Soul Branding altar.
Revelation of the Crimson Crown Sovereigns and their bloodline-devouring reign.
Map to the Cradle of Silence discovered—a forbidden zone holding the Fourth Vein's legacy.
Assassins mobilized against Feng Mo; the Star Reaper begins tracking him.