The scroll from the Cult of the Eclipsed Flame pulsed in Liu Shen's hand—hot like searing blood, cold like grave ash.
It was more than a map or offer.
It was a key.
A key to an ancient sin… his own.
---
The Vault of Withered Vows
By midnight, Liu Shen stood with the cult's emissary before a sealed cavern hidden deep beneath the ravine.
The walls were lined with crying statues, their stone faces cracked by eternal weeping.
The cultist whispered, "This was once your sacred tomb… before your rebirth."
Liu Shen stepped forward, brushing his hand across the center altar. Blood symbols flared, recognizing his touch.
A stone chest emerged—iron-clad, cursed, bound in oath-threads.
> "You sealed this yourself, Sovereign… after your betrayal by the Nine Shadows."
Liu Shen's expression turned grim.
> "I remember eight of them."
> "The ninth betrayed you before death. That is the memory you locked away."
---
The Broken Memory
He opened the chest.
Inside lay a fragment of his old soul flame, corrupted and cracked, still flickering with hate.
As he touched it—
> Visions struck.
A dark-robed woman. Her voice like moonlight. Her hand in his.
> "You trusted her," the cultist said. "She was your consort. Your heart."
But in the vision, she drove a celestial dagger into his back—laughing as he fell.
> "Meixing…?" Liu Shen muttered in a daze.
The flame burst. The vision shattered.
> "No," he whispered. "Not her…"
---
Seeds of Paranoia
He staggered back.
The cultist watched silently. "The ninth traitor erased herself from your soul… even in death. That is the power of Heaven's Pact."
> "To erase sins… and memories."
Liu Shen's hands trembled—but not from fear.
> "I will uncover her. And when I do…"
He did not finish the sentence.
The cavern pulsed with his wrath. Shadows thickened. The statues stopped crying. They began smiling.
---
In the Heavens
At the same time, in the Celestial Repository, the Divine Executioner examined Liu Shen's past life records.
But the section listing his inner circle… was incomplete.
> "The Ninth Shadow is missing," the Executioner growled.
"This is a celestial-class deletion."
Only one being had the authority to erase a name from fate:
The Celestial Emperor himself.