Chapter 18: Veil’s Requiem

The Veil's Forge loomed like a bleeding wound in the earth, its spires of molten metal twisting skyward as screams of trapped souls reverberated through the air. Lin Wei's corrupted veins pulsed in rhythm with the forge's heartbeat, each step closer sending jolts of agony through his body. Lin Mei flickered beside him, her ghostfire now streaked with oily tendrils of Sovereign energy. Yuelin trailed behind, clutching Uncle Tao's dagger like a lifeline.

"It's alive," she muttered. "And it's hungry."

The forge's gates yawned open, revealing a cavernous maw lined with chains of liquid starlight. Inside, the air thrummed with the Silent Patriarch's qi—familiar and suffocating. Lin Wei staggered, the system's warnings drowned out by the Sovereign's laughter in his mind.

[Sovereign's Corruption: 31%.]

[Warning: Proximity to forge accelerates assimilation.]

Lin Mei's form shuddered. "He's here. The Patriarch… and others."

Shadows congealed into figures—fallen cultivators, their souls chained to the forge's walls. At the center stood the Silent Patriarch, his spectral form bound by threads of Sovereign qi. His voice echoed, fractured by millennia of torment: "You should not have come, Xue Wei."

Lin Wei's blood boiled. "You cursed us. Made us your prison."

The Patriarch's gaze softened. "To save the world… I had no choice. The Sovereign's core was too strong. But you… you can end this."

Yuelin stepped forward, dagger raised. "How?"

"Destroy the forge. Shatter the Veil's heart."

Lin Mei's ghostfire flared. "That's suicide! The Veil's tied to my existence—to his soul!"

The Patriarch's chains rattled. "Yes. And the Sovereign knows it."

The forge trembled. Molten metal surged, coalescing into a towering guardian—a grotesque fusion of Sovereign void and the Veil's starlight. Its roar shook the chamber, disintegrating the nearest soul-chains.

[Guardian Entity: Veil's Warden (Nascent Soul Peak Stage).]

[Weakness: Xue Bloodline.]

Lin Wei charged, his corrupted qi clashing against the guardian's void-forged armor. Yuelin darted beneath its limbs, Tao's dagger carving feeble scratches into its hide. Lin Mei's ghostfire lashed like a whip, but the guardian absorbed her flames, its strength growing.

"Stop feeding it!" Yuelin screamed.

Lin Mei's form fractured. "I can't… it's pulling me in!"

The guardian seized her, Sovereign energy threading through her ghostfire. Lin Wei's vision reddened.

[Sovereign's Corruption: 44%.]

[Lin Mei's Corruption: 90%.]

"Let. Her. Go."

He slammed his bloodied palm onto the guardian's chest, Xue qi surging. The forge shrieked as the guardian dissolved, its energy flooding Lin Wei's veins.

[Temporary Cultivation: Nascent Soul (Unstable).]

[Sovereign's Corruption: 58%.]

The forge's heart lay exposed—a pulsing orb of starlight veined with rot. The Patriarch's chains tightened. "Now, Xue Wei! Destroy it!"

Lin Mei's voice tore through the chaos. "No! The heart holds the Veil's essence—destroy it, and you erase me!"

Yuelin grabbed Lin Wei's arm. "There's another way. The dagger—it's made from forge metal. Let me sever the Patriarch's chains. The forge dies with him."

The Patriarch's eyes widened. "You would condemn me to eternal silence?"

"You condemned us first," Yuelin hissed.

Lin Wei hesitated. The system flickered:

[Choice: Destroy the Heart (Kill Lin Mei) or Sever the Chains (Kill the Patriarch).]

[Penalty: Sovereign's Victory.]

The forge's walls cracked, Sovereign energy flooding the chamber. Lin Wei made his choice.

Yuelin's dagger struck true. The Patriarch's chains shattered, his spectral form dissolving into starlight. The forge screamed, its molten veins hardening to ash. Lin Mei's ghostfire imploded, her essence merging with the dying heart.

"Find me… in the abyss…" her voice echoed.

The Sovereign's roar was thunder. "You dare—!"

Lin Wei collapsed as his Nascent Soul crumbled, the corruption receding like a tide. Yuelin dragged him from the ruins, the forge collapsing behind them.

[Sovereign's Core: Damaged (Recovery Time: Unknown).]

[Lin Wei's Cultivation: Qi Refinement (Irreversible).]

[Lin Mei's Status: Missing. Essence Traces Detected in Void.]

In the ashes, Yuelin stared at the dagger—now fused with forge remnants. "What now?"

Lin Wei's voice was raw. "We find her. And finish this."

Above, the stars blinked out one by one. The Sovereign's laughter faded, replaced by a new voice—cold, ancient, and unmistakably alive—whispering from Yuelin's blade:

"Hello, child."