Blackglass Ravine wasn't marked on any map.
A cursed canyon hidden behind veils of illusion and time-distorted wind, its cliffs shimmered with obsidian gloss—reflecting not light, but memory.
Liu Shen, Yu Meixing, and Lei Qing stood before the outer boundary, cloaked in dense fog that seemed to hum with a thousand whispers.
> "This is the Void Veil," Lei Qing said, pressing her palm to the mist.
"It reacts to emotion. Enter with fear, and it devours you."
Yu Meixing stepped forward. "What if we enter with rage?"
> "Then it shows you your past," Lei Qing answered, eyes shadowed.
"And dares you to break."
Liu Shen walked ahead without hesitation.
> "Let it try."
---
The Fog of Remembrance
Inside, the mist thickened.
Liu Shen's vision blurred as images from his past emerged:
—The betrayal atop the Demon Throne.
—The final glare from Flamekeeper Linya.
—The vote of silence from the Celestial Council.
But beneath it all… a face he hadn't expected to see.
A boy.
Slender, pale. Wide-eyed.
> "You promised you'd never abandon me, Liu Shen…"
> "You said we'd reach the top together."
Liu Shen froze.
> "Zhang Min…"
A companion from his youth—one who'd died in the outer sect skirmishes.
One Liu Shen had abandoned for power.
The mist tried to cling to the guilt.
Liu Shen exhaled once.
> "You were a brother once.
But I can't carry your grave anymore."
The illusion shattered.
And the mist parted—revealing Blackglass Ravine.
---
The Hidden Fortress
Tall, jagged towers built into the ravine walls loomed before them.
The stronghold was carved from void-tempered stone, etched with celestial runes and warded by Heaven's Eyes—floating orbs of divine surveillance.
> "The main gate is sealed," Meixing noted.
Liu Shen smirked.
> "Which is why we're going through the corpse vault."
---
A Traitor in the Vault
Deep below the main fortress, they entered the Corpse Library—where ancient bodies of traitors, oath-breakers, and failed envoys were preserved for divine interrogation.
But one of the vaults was already open.
A figure stood before them, dressed in black, half his face covered in a ceremonial veil.
He turned.
> "So… it's really you."
Liu Shen narrowed his eyes.
> "Huang Ze."
An ex-brother from Liu Shen's first life.
One who had betrayed him not with poison, but with loyalty to the heavens.
> "You died during the Grand Purge."
> "I was reborn with a purpose," Huang Ze said.
"To cleanse what you corrupted."
He unsheathed a blade made from starlight and bone.
> "Your flame was divine once, Liu Shen.
But now, it reeks of the abyss."
---
Steel Against Flame
Liu Shen ignited his sovereign fire.
The vault trembled under the clash of ancient hatred and divine command.
Yu Meixing tried to intervene—but Lei Qing held her back.
> "This fight isn't for us."
> "It's for a grave left unmarked."
Flame and starlight clashed in silence.
One born from betrayal.
The other forged by vengeance.