Chapter 13: Sovereign’s Gambit

The void swallowed sound, light, even time. Lin Wei floated in the abyss, the ghostfire ember a dying star in his clenched fist. Around him, the disciples' screams faded as the Eclipse Sovereign's tendrils dissolved their bodies into motes of qi. Yuelin thrashed nearby, her dagger hacking uselessly at the darkness.

"Pathetic," the Sovereign crooned, its voice vibrating through Lin Wei's bones. "Did you think I'd let you steal my core? You are mine, Xue Wei. Always have been."

Lin Wei's Xue blood surged, crimson qi tearing at the void. The system flickered erratically:

[Sovereign's Corruption: 45%.]

[Recommended Action: Surrender.]

"Never." He slammed the ghostfire ember into his chest. The void recoiled as cobalt flames erupted, searing a path through the abyss. Yuelin grabbed his arm, her fingers blistering from the ghostfire's touch.

"What are you doing?" she screamed.

"Surviving."

The ember's light fused with his Xue qi, forming a unstable shield. They crashed onto a jagged platform of petrified starlight—a fragment of the Celestial Graveyard still untouched by the Sovereign. The remaining disciples crawled behind them, their numbers halved.

The platform trembled. From the void below rose skeletal figures clad in ancient Lin armor, their eyes hollow pits leaking Sovereign's qi.

[Voidspawn Detected: Fallen Ancestors (Core Formation Stage).]

[Weakness: ???]

Yuelin staggered back. "Great Ancestors… they're us."

The Voidspawn mirrored the disciples' movements, their strikes perfectly synchronized. A disciple screamed as his own reflection severed his arm. Lin Wei's shield wavered, the ghostfire ember dimming.

"Break the mirror!" Yuelin yelled, dodging a Voidspawn's blade.

Lin Wei hurled the ember at the platform's center. It detonated, shattering the starlight into a million shards. The Voidspawn dissolved, but the blast tore through the disciples, leaving only Yuelin and Lin Wei standing.

[Survivors: 2.]

[Morale: Extinguished.]

Yuelin's dagger pressed against Lin Wei's throat. "This ends now. Give me the ember."

He laughed, blood dripping from his lips. "You think I'm keeping her from you? She's keeping me from you."

The ghostfire flared, revealing Lin Mei's translucent form hovering behind Yuelin. Her voice echoed, fractured: "The graveyard… is a prison. He's… the warden."

The Sovereign's laughter shook the void. "Clever girl. But too late."

The platform disintegrated. Lin Wei and Yuelin fell through layers of memory—scenes of the Silent Patriarch's betrayal, the Xue clan's massacre, the Sovereign's first rise. They landed in a chamber of liquid shadow, its walls pulsing with a monstrous heartbeat.

At its center floated the true core—a black star veined with gold. The system blared:

[Eclipse Sovereign's Core (Sealed).]

[Warning: Direct contact will erase host's identity.]

Yuelin lunged. "For the clan!"

Lin Wei tackled her, their bodies skidding to the edge of the core's orbit. "You die, and the Sovereign wins."

"Then you die first!" She stabbed his shoulder, her eyes wild with grief.

The ghostfire ember flared. Lin Mei's voice hissed: "Strike the core… with Xue blood."

Lin Wei grabbed Yuelin's blade, slicing his palm. "Hold your breath."

He plunged their joined hands into the core.

The world inverted. The Sovereign's scream tore through reality as the core fractured, its power flooding Lin Wei's veins. Yuelin wrenched free, her arm crystallized into obsidian. Lin Wei collapsed, the system's alerts overwritten by a single command:

[Eclipse Sovereign's Core: Partially Absorbed.]

[New Cultivation Base: Nascent Soul (Unstable).]

[Penalty: Identity Fragmentation (7 days remaining).]

The void spat them onto a barren plateau. The Sovereign's voice lingered, weaker but venomous: "You've only delayed the inevitable."

Yuelin stared at her transformed arm, then at Lin Wei. "What… are you?"

He cradled the ghostfire ember, now flickering with faint warmth. "Still broken."

In the distance, Thunder Valley's war horns echoed—a new player entering the hunt.