Leaving Yunling
The village stood silent as Li Shen and Jinhai passed through the gates. No grand farewell, only watchful eyes and solemn nods. Elder Hui handed Li Shen a sealed scroll before he left.
"Don't open it until you reach the Peaks," the old man said. "You'll know when."
Behind them, Yunling faded into the mist.
Before them, the Crimson Path stretched across forests, ravines, and cursed lands—all leading to the towering Sky Shattered Peaks.
Li Shen walked with resolve.
Jinhai walked with ghosts.
Hunted
On the second day, it began.
The scent of tracking talismans filled the air. Their stalkers didn't attack immediately—they waited, learning their rhythm.
At dusk, Li Shen drew a thread across the campfire.
"Three of them," he said. "High-body cultivators. Mercenaries."
Jinhai's eyes narrowed. "Echo Corps?"
"Too subtle."
They came just before dawn, cloaked in crimson leather, masks hiding branded faces. Twin sabres. Spirit-binding ropes.
[Enemies Identified: Sect-Hired Executioners – Grade: Elite / Variant Qi Cultivators]
[Warning: Their blades suppress Root Affinities. Caution Advised.]
Li Shen moved first.
Thread shimmered around his fists.
"Let's end this fast."
Thread Versus Blade
The first executioner lunged, blades humming with sect suppression runes. Li Shen ducked low, weaving a Soulbreaker Thread that sliced through the man's left hand.
Jinhai flanked right, her Shadowflame Thread forming a burning whip of foresight, coiling around the second attacker's ankle.
[Skill-Up: Shadowflame Thread (Rank 1 → Rank 2) – Foresight improves. Delay attacks before they happen.]
[Adaptive Thread Unlocked: Echo Delay – Project illusionary thread movement to feint.]
They fought like a storm and smoke.
When it ended, two lay dead.
The third dropped to one knee, trembling.
"I was told you were just a failed root experiment…"
Li Shen stepped close, pressing a thread to the man's throat.
"Tell whoever sent you: this Root grows wild."
Then he cut his mask.
The man fled.
Reflections in Firelight
That night, Jinhai sat close to the flame, her face pale.
"Do you ever think about what we're becoming?"
Li Shen didn't look away. "Every day."
She looked at her hands. "I feel them—inside me. Not just voices. Versions. All the ones before me that died in chains."
He reached out, touching her wrist gently.
"I don't know if we're still the same people we were back in Yunling. But we still choose. That makes us more than echoes."
A moment passed.
Then she smiled. Small. Real.
"Then let's keep choosing."
The Broken Watchtower
On the fifth day, they came upon an old sect outpost—shattered long ago by sect war. Inside, a mirror fragment pulsed with faint qi.
Jinhai froze.
"This is a Memory Mirror. It records soul-essence."
She reached toward it.
The image shifted—
—Li Shen, older, wearing a black robe embroidered with roots. Blood covered his hands. Dozens knelt before him in chains. A throne of living wood rose behind him.
He was smiling.
"All things rooted in suffering. All things bloom in control."
Then the image vanished.
Jinhai stepped back, pale.
Li Shen's fists clenched.
"I'll never become that."
But the seed was there.
Waiting.
[Root Unseal: 91% → 94%]
[Memory Seed Revealed: Throne of the Bound – A possible future tied to your Root's final form. Fate not yet locked.]
[Trait Gained: Echo Rejection – Increases resistance to inheriting Root-based visions or behaviours.]
Ambush on the Ridge
They crossed a narrow ridge on the seventh day, only to be met by another squad.
These were different.
Crimson Moon Sect elites.
Qi scorched the air. Their leader—a silver-haired woman—wore a bone mask and wielded a whip of crystallised blood.
"Forsaken boy," she said, "return the Oracle. Her visions belong to the Moon."
Jinhai's eyes blazed.
"I belong to no one."
Li Shen's threads flared, brighter than ever.
"Then let's show them what unbound power looks like."
[Combat Initiated: Crimson Moon Vanguard (5 Elites)]
[Fusion Skill Unlocked: Rooted Flame Bind – Combine Ashthread and Shadowflame into a high-tier immobilising field. Slow time inside the radius by 1.4 seconds. Cooldown: 2 hours]
[Jinhai Sync Level Increased – New Bond Trait: Dual Pulse Meditation – Accelerates qi regeneration by 15% when within 10 meters.]
They fought like thunder.
No mercy. No chains.
Only freedom is earned with blood.
Road to the Peaks
After the ambush, they stood overlooking the horizon.
The Sky Shattered Peaks loomed in the distance—tall, broken, crowned in storms.
Li Shen felt the Root inside him stir.
Not in fear.
In anticipation.
"We're almost there," he said.
Jinhai nodded.
"Then let's finish what they started. And rewrite what we were never allowed to become."
They walked forward.
Unbound.
[Main Quest Updated: Reach the Shattered Peaks – 1 Day Away]
[Root Unseal: 94% → 97%]
[Next Threshold: Final Revelation – Unlock the Sovereign Root Core]
[Warning: Multiple Sects Converging. Final Conflict Approaches.]