Long Yan walked into silence.
The forest behind the Ashglass Ruins had already returned to its fallen calm—but ahead lay something ancient, distant, fractured. The path toward the Rift of Sundered Echoes wound through broken hills, obsidian shards, and ashen rivers whose currents whispered in voices half-formed and going blind.
By midday, the air had shifted.
It smelled of old fires—long dead—but the sky glowed faintly in blue, as though the world itself was bleeding dawn. Shadows stretched sideways, and the ground pulsed with memory.
Luo Yanling was first to sense abnormal resonance.
"We're close," she said, voice taut. Her senses, trained by sect and survival, detected more than just energy. She saw cracks—cracks in the spiritual air, across space.
Long Yan didn't respond. He observed nothing and everything. The land felt like an echo chamber built for nightmares.
[System Alert: Sovereign Residue – High Density]
Effect: Memory Echoes +5 per minute | Corruption Risk 4% per minute
Warning: Risk increases exponentially near Rift border
He slowed his steps. Invoking the Sovereign Pulse left unwanted traces—not just of fire, but of being present in the memory of something old.
He checked the mask fragment he wore strapped to his belt. The Mask of the Echoed Flame pulsed faintly. He tapped it softly.
[Fragment Active: Hue of Echo Detected — shows shimmering image of a night battle over glass plains, dragons and gods, and a voice screaming "Remember!".]
He let it fade. Not yet.
By late afternoon, they reached the Rift edge.
A wall of distorted sky hung low—blue lightning arcing through fractured shadows. Beneath lay a bowl-shaped chasm, where fractured ruins floated in mid-air, connected by broken stone bridges bleeding mist.
Ghostly pillars stood in mid-fall; temples twisted in impossible angles bore runic glyphs of flame and bone.
From deep within, voices whispered—singing, screaming, chanting.
Not all alive.
It was as if everyone who had ever tried to cross this Rift had been fragmented—then tethered to soul-fires and echo-hauntings.
[Memory Echo Count: 127 increased to 243 in 30 seconds]
Host Mental Stabilizer Engaged – Aura Sync Required
Warning: Emotional Overload Possible
Long Yan inhaled deeply.
"We cross now," he said quietly. "You ready?"
Luo Yanling nodded, though her jaw was tight. Tao trembled beside her.
They stepped across.
Every bridge triggered a wave of images.
They passed through flashes of past Sovereign candidates—some at blazing heights, golden wings spread; others in ruin, screaming as they burned in floodlight.
Each moment left residue on Long Yan's consciousness—sometimes poetic, sometimes screaming, sometimes begging.
His regenerated body held firm, but the bleeding edges of memory curved beneath his skin.
Halfway through, the temple platform swayed.
A figure appeared at the far end—dressed in scorched robes, half-human, half-dragon, one wing broken and shaped like glass shards.
He stood still, silent.
[Host Recognizes Echoed Reflection]
Name Filter Match: "Azerith" Fragment Active – Sovereign Crown Tint Revealed (Burnt-Gold)
Long Yan's claws creaked. The memories dissolved into sharp heat.
He approached.
"Are you me?" he asked.
The Echo nodded, so slowly it hurt.
And then it spoke:
"I was the first to spark. I fell because I could not bear the flame of my own ambition."
Its voice was layered—human, dragon, regret, and ash.
"My trial ended with wings broken, domain shattered. I became nothing more than echo."
Its eyes burned gold as it raised one broken wing toward the Rift.
"If you follow this path, you will be forced to do what I couldn't—let go."
It vanished.
The bridge beneath collapsed.
Long Yan barely leapt clear. The sheer drop twisted into nothingness, mist swallowing fragments of past trials as they plummeted.
He landed on the final island—a shattered throne room afloat in mid-void.
Statues lay in ruin—carvings of dragons, serpents, kings.
The air crackled.
And at the far end, the Gatekeeper waited.
He looked at Long Yan without moving.
Half his face was bone. Half was burnt flesh. His hand gripped a flaming chain linked to a massive gate made of black steel.
Behind the gate—demonic groans echoed—scores of souls, beasts, broken Sovereign echoes, sealed behind divine iron.
[Spectral Barrier Detected: Sealed Tier – Gate locked until combat resolved]
The Gatekeeper spoke:
"Your presence unbinds these… can your resolve withstand their hunger?"
He swung the chain.
Ghostly forms lunged forward—souls of failed Sovereigns, beasts turned half-human, shadows screaming.
They advanced as one.
Luo Yanling froze.
But Long Yan stepped forward.
Battle Initiation: Sovereign Gauntlet
He raised his gaze and activated Sovereign Pulse. A wave of golden fire expanded, distorting aura.
The souls responded: they crashed into it like water into brimstone.
Some shattered. Others lashed meager claws.
He stared. Controlled.
This was no reckless assault. This was trial.
He dodged flickers of spectral slash, stepping through them with Echostep—the teleportation power he'd learned from the Echo memory.
Blades of flame intersected his path. He slashed back with Sovereign Claw, ripping through ghost flesh.
Luo Yanling fought beside him, blade swallowing spectral arms with silent precision.
But every time she struck, another phantom rose. This was infinite.
The Gatekeeper's chain rattled, a grinding song:
"Finish this, and truth shall open your way. Fail, and join the echoes—bound here for eternity."
Long Yan realized—only he had to survive.
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them—a highest step.
His aura surged: hot. Gold. Black. Light and shadow.
He raised his hand.
[Skill Activated: Sovereign Eclipse]
A sphere formed—black flame edged in gold—then shattered outward in all directions.
It burned phantoms and memory, consuming echoes and absences until only silence reigned.
The Gatekeeper lowered his chain.
The Gate fell open.
Behind it lay a chamber lit with starlight.
At its center, a pedestal holding a glowing crystal shard, swirling with ancient energy.
[Sovereign Fragment Recovered: 2/7 – "Crown of Azure Embers"]
New Skill Unlocked: Ember Sovereign Shift (Partial Draconic Form + Sovereign Shift Combined)
Aura Resonance: +30% to all held echoes slowly
Long Yan approached and picked it up carefully.
Memories flooded—
Flight across blood-red skies centuries ago
Runes etched in flesh
Promises whispered under burning moons
A voice echoing: "You rise in my shadow, but you must burn brighter."
Tough to call it his own—but no longer borrowed.
They began their return journey.
Luo Yanling walked beside him, shoulders back.
After a time, she said quietly:
"You didn't join them."
Long Yan: "I don't crave perpetual memory. I crave sovereignty, forge by choice."
She nodded.
Then she looked up at the Rift, dark and distant.
"You're closer now. They…"
He cut her off.
"Let them come."
Together, they moved.
Back at Ashglass Ruins, the air tasted different.
The Domain pulsed stronger.
The mask fragment glowed faintly.
And in the silence before dawn, across the land, distant rumbling began.
[System Alert: Rift Response – Gravitational Sunder Event Imminent]
Effect: Regional Ether Storm forming | Sovereign Echo pull increased ×2
Requirement: Domain Integrity reinforcement advised
Luo Yanling looked at Long Yan, concern flickering.
He touched her shoulder gently.
"We secure the Domain. Then we burn forward."
As sunlight filtered through the ruins, the new Crown of Azure Embers flickered in his hand.
The path ahead was no longer buried in memory.
It was unbound.
And the Sovereign would rise.