Eastern Borderlands – Two Days Later
The mountains sharpened the further east they traveled.
Gone were the whispering forests and broken cities. Here, the land cracked beneath their boots. No birds. No insects. No wind. Just jagged stone and silence that pressed against the ears like pressure under water.
They stood at the base of a black ridge that rose like a sword out of the earth. In the center, an enormous archway carved into the mountain itself. Its doors were sealed shut, chained with symbols that glowed faintly red despite the centuries.
Sang Lian eyed them warily. "These aren't mortal runes."
"They're not," Jiang Xuan said. "They're mine."
---
The massive iron chains looked brittle, but radiated power. On each link, ancient glyphs pulsed like heartbeats. They had been placed not to keep something out…
…but to keep something in.
Emei stepped closer, her voice low. "This is the Temple of Binding, isn't it?"
Jiang Xuan nodded slowly. "The gods called it that. I called it the Pit."
Sang Lian turned to him. "What did you bury in here?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he stepped forward.
The chains rippled in response.
Not in protest.
In welcome.
---
With one gesture, the mark on his neck flared — faintly, but enough.
And the chains began to unwind.
The glyphs shimmered, one by one, then faded.
With a groan that shook the cliffs, the doors of the Temple of Binding opened for the first time in five centuries.
And the breath that came out of the darkness wasn't wind.
It was warm.
And hungry.
---
Inside the Temple of Binding
The interior was a sloping tunnel carved from obsidian and reinforced with forgotten formations. The walls were covered in etchings of screaming faces — some human, some not — all twisted in agony.
Sang Lian's voice was tight. "This place… it isn't just a prison. It's a monument."
"To fear," Emei said.
Jiang Xuan walked ahead, torchless, blade at his side.
He didn't look back when he said, "This was the only thing I was ever afraid of."
---
They reached the bottom after what felt like hours — time didn't move properly in this place. The chamber at the end was massive. Black stone. A circular pit in the center, covered by a thick seal — a plate of metal etched with glowing runes.
The seal trembled as Jiang Xuan approached.
It sensed him.
And responded.
A voice rose from beneath the plate.
"Shenlian…"
Emei stepped back instinctively.
That voice was layered — male, female, child, beast — as if something too large for a single form was trying to speak through human air.
Jiang Xuan didn't flinch.
"You're still here."
---
The voice shifted tones.
"We waited."
"They forgot. But you didn't."
Sang Lian gripped her glaive. "What is this thing?"
Jiang Xuan finally turned to them.
His eyes, for just a moment, gleamed with crimson beneath obsidian.
"I don't know what it is," he said. "Only what I did."
He approached the seal slowly.
"I carved this place with my own hands. I used blood to temper the runes. I sealed it not with chains…"
He pointed to his neck.
"But with this."
---
The voice beneath pulsed again.
"You were the only one strong enough to lock us away. Now you are weak."
The seal glowed.
The chamber trembled.
Sang Lian readied her weapon. "It's trying to break free."
"No," Emei said, eyes narrowed. "It's asking."
---
Jiang Xuan stood over the seal.
His heartbeat echoed in his ears.
The mark on his neck burned — not painfully, but eagerly.
The Demon God Physique recognized what was below.
Not an enemy.
Not a servant.
But a part of itself.
---
Inside the Temple of Binding – Seal Chamber
Jiang Xuan stood over the pulsing seal, gaze locked on the swirling runes beneath his feet.
The thing below hadn't moved.
But its presence filled the room like fog — heavy, suffocating, almost familiar.
Sang Lian held her glaive at the ready. "We should go."
"We came this far," Emei said softly. "He needs to see it."
"See what?" Sang Lian snapped. "Whatever's down there isn't natural."
"It's not meant to be," Jiang Xuan murmured.
He placed his palm on the seal.
The mark on his neck burned hot.
---
The runes responded instantly.
One by one, they began to spin in opposite directions — unwinding a centuries-old pattern. Light flared, then died. And then…
Crack.
The seal split.
Not entirely — just a fracture across the middle, wide enough for the black mist to rise.
And from the mist…
A hand emerged.
Long fingers. Clawed. Charred black. But elegant — disturbingly so.
It curled slightly, not in a threat… but in a gesture of greeting.
---
A voice echoed again, softer now.
"You were the only one who didn't run."
Jiang Xuan's face remained calm, but the others noticed how still he stood — too still.
"You remember me," he said.
"You sealed me. You fed me your hate. You gave me your name."
Sang Lian blinked. "Wait. You named it?"
Emei's voice dropped to a whisper. "This isn't just a creature. It's a fragment."
Jiang Xuan nodded.
"This was born from me."
---
The hand pulled back.
The mist thickened.
And a form began to rise.
A silhouette — tall, thin, with horns like broken blades jutting from its head. Its body pulsed with veins of red light, its skin cracked like volcanic stone.
Eyes opened — glowing silver.
Not human.
But not entirely inhuman either.
---
It stood within the pit, staring up at Jiang Xuan.
Then bowed.
A single, respectful gesture.
"You are not whole yet," it said.
"But I see you."
---
Sang Lian whispered, "What is it doing?"
"It's waiting for an order," Jiang Xuan said.
Emei stepped forward. "Are you going to give it one?"
"I don't know."
"Because it listens to the Demon God," Sang Lian said. "And you're not him yet."
Jiang Xuan looked down into those silver eyes — ancient, loyal, and filled with hunger.
"No," he murmured. "But I remember enough."
---
He raised Echo Fang — not in threat, but in command.
And the creature knelt.
"Then I wait," it said.
"When the crown rises, I will walk again."
---
With a sharp flick of his wrist, Jiang Xuan resealed the crack.
The mists snapped back.
The clawed hand vanished.
The seal hummed softly and returned to its dormant state.
---
Silence returned to the chamber.
Only the three of them remained — but the air was heavier now. Changed.
Sang Lian lowered her glaive. "That wasn't a monster."
"No," Jiang Xuan said. "It was a weapon."
Emei stared at him. "One you made."
He nodded.
"And one I might need again."
---
Outside the Temple of Binding – Nightfall
They camped just beyond the ridge, where the wind returned and the stars blinked above like scattered sparks.
Jiang Xuan sat alone, sharpening Echo Fang in silence.
Sang Lian joined him eventually, leaning on her glaive.
"You didn't release it."
"I'm not ready."
She hesitated. "Do you want to be?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he said, "Do you think I built that thing because I was evil?"
She considered.
Then said, "No. I think you built it because you were afraid."
He gave a soft, bitter smile.
"Then I haven't changed at all."
---
Emei appeared beside them.
She placed a small scroll in front of Jiang Xuan.
"It updated," she said.
He opened it.
The map.
A new mark had appeared — further north.
A citadel in the sky, once unreachable.
His next empire fragment.
---
Jiang Xuan rolled up the scroll slowly.
Then looked toward the horizon.
"The past isn't done with me yet."
---
End of Chapter 24