"Some crowns are worn by kings.
Others are worn by those who buried them."
— Inscription beneath the Throne of Withering Silence
🌒 A Moment of Rest – But Not Peace
The sky-path behind them faded. The memory of K'Yaruun, the Gateborn dragon, still echoed in Jin's body like a second breath—not his, but not entirely alien either.
He knelt at the edge of the floating sky-isle, gazing down into the mist below.
There were no stars here. No constellations. Only the swirling silence of height—a realm too far from the world to be part of it anymore.
Lin Xue and Su Ren sat nearby, meditating quietly. Ash-Eye cleaned the bladed edge of his staff, though it hadn't drawn blood since the last battle on the Plateau of Waking Dust.
"You're close," Su Ren whispered.
"The Crown is calling again, isn't it?"
Jin nodded.
Not with pride. Not with fear.
Just recognition.
"It's always been calling.
I just stopped pretending I couldn't hear it."
👑 The Mourner's Crown – What Lies Beneath
He closed his eyes.
And descended inward.
The cultivation world spoke of dantian, of sea of qi, of spiritual marrow. But Jin walked a different path—a Hollow Path.
A place without flame.
There, at the deepest part of his soul, the Mourner's Crown floated—neither metal nor energy. It resembled a circlet made from fragmented memories and regrets, turning slowly in the dark.
"You've chosen the path of silence.
But silence carries echoes."
Suddenly, a voice spoke within the hollow:
A voice that was his, and not his.
"What are you mourning?"
🕯️ Echoes of the Past – Jin's First Life
He was pulled—not by force, but by remembrance.
To a time before the Frozen Tomb. Before the Skyless Plateau.
To a field of flame and spears, where Jin had once stood as a war general. A different name. A different face.
He remembered:
The betrayal by his own sect.
The death of his sworn brother by his own hand.
The moment he turned away from cultivation, burying his blade in the snow, choosing death.
But he hadn't died. Not fully.
Something had carried him forward—not for revenge, but for regret.
"You mourn what you failed to protect," the Crown whispered.
"But you also mourn… what you never became."
💠 Crown Awakening – Mourner's Manifestation: Phase I
Jin's breath grew heavy.
The fragments of the crown glowed and began to align—forming a mantle across his shoulders, not visible in the real world, but etched into his soul.
You have unlocked: Mourner's Crown Phase I – "Mantle of the Forgotten Path"
Passive: All qi techniques gain reflective memory—applying a mental echo effect to affected enemies (confuses cultivators by forcing them to relive a memory mid-battle)
Active: "Moment of Stillness" – Freeze time for one breath to all enemies within 10 meters. Costs 20% of total soul-force.
Crown Resonance: 98%
He gasped and opened his eyes.
Ash-Eye blinked.
"You vanished," he said flatly.
"For five breaths. But your heartbeat was louder than thunder."
Su Ren looked over, her voice unusually quiet:
"We're not in the mortal realms anymore, are we?"
"Every step we take here… changes the world below."
⚔️ Meanwhile – A Sect Moves in the Shadows
Far below, within the ruins of the Golden Spear Sect, a meeting was held.
Dozens of masked elders sat around a shattered map of the Hollow Realms.
"The Mourner has awakened the sky-serpent… and now the dragon egg," said the Grand Elder.
"What's next? The Shattered Gate?"
"We must act," hissed another.
"Before he reaches the Crown's Third Phase."
A woman in crimson robes placed down an ancient dagger—carved from sect bone.
"Send the Warborn Host.
Let them taste silence—and break their teeth upon it."
🌩️ The Sky Cracks
Back above, the path ahead twisted.
Not physically—but cosmologically.
Jin and his companions felt gravity shift. A pressure like falling into the sky.
The next realm was waiting.
It bore a name only few dared whisper:
The Hall of Broken Time
Where every cultivator that ever lost themselves… left a version behind.
And those versions still fought.
Jin stood tall, the mantle of regret heavy on his back.
"Let's walk forward."
"I want to meet the part of me… I left behind."