Chapter 20: Shattered Horizons

The Sovereign's shard seared Lin Wei's palm, its pulse syncing with the corrupted rhythm of Thunder Valley's war drums. Yuelin marched ahead, her forge-bonded arm glowing with molten runes, the entity within her whispering plans only she could hear. Lin Mei lingered at the rear, her void-tinged ghostfire casting jagged shadows that seemed to recoil from her own presence.

"The drums are closer," Lin Wei muttered, his Qi Refinement senses straining. "They're not just hunting us anymore. They're herding us."

Yuelin's dagger—now fused to her flesh—twitched. "North. The Blackwater Fen. The Sovereign fears what drowns there."

Lin Mei's flames dimmed. "The Fen is a graveyard. Even the Patriarch avoided it."

"Then it's perfect," Yuelin said coldly.

The Fen was a swamp of liquid shadow, its waters swallowing light and sound. Skeletons of ancient leviathans jutted from the mire, their bones etched with warnings in dead languages. Thunder Valley's scouts lined the ridges above, their void-black eyes tracking the group's every move.

Lin Wei waded into the stagnant water, the shard's heat hissing against the fen's chill. "If we die here, make sure the shard doesn't reach the Sovereign."

"You won't die," Yuelin said, her voice overlapping with the forge-entity's growl. "I need you alive. For now."

Lin Mei's ghostfire ignited a path through the water, revealing submerged ruins. "There's something down there. Something… awake."

The fen stirred. Tentacles of ink-black water lashed out, dragging Lin Wei under.

The shard's glow pierced the darkness, revealing a submerged temple. Lin Wei's lungs burned as Sovereign energy flooded the water, repelling the fen's guardians—twisted eel-like creatures with human faces. He breached the surface inside the temple, gasping, as Yuelin and Lin Mei materialized beside him, the forge-entity's power shielding them.

"Charming," Lin Mei spat, wringing voidwater from her hair. "Next time, I pick the route."

The temple's walls pulsed with bioluminescent fungi, illuminating faded murals of the Sovereign's first defeat—a battle waged not by cultivators, but by mortals. Lin Wei traced the imagery: farmers, blacksmiths, children driving back the void with raw, unfiltered qi.

"The Sovereign's weakness," he breathed. "It's not cultivation. It's belief."

Yuelin's dagger hissed. "Mortals are relics. Their power is a myth."

"Then why are we here?" Lin Mei challenged.

A tremor shook the temple. The murals moved, their figures stepping free of the stone, spectral and glowing.

[Ancient Guardians Awakened: Mortal Spirits (Qi Unknown).]

The spirits encircled them, their voices a chorus of echoes. "The Sovereign's shadow returns. You carry its taint."

Lin Wei raised the shard. "And its weakness."

The spirits recoiled, then stilled. One—a child's ghost—reached out, touching the shard. Light erupted, purging the voidwater's corruption from Lin Wei's veins.

[Sovereign's Corruption: 58% → 42%.]

[Temporary Immunity: Mortal Qi Infusion (Duration: 12 Hours).]

Yuelin's forge-arm crackled. "What did you do?"

"What you couldn't," Lin Mei snapped. "Adapt."

Thunder Valley's scouts descended, their corrupted bodies faltering at the temple's edge. The mortal spirits turned, their qi coalescing into a barrier of pure light. The scouts disintegrated on contact, their void essence screeching into nothingness.

Lin Wei stepped forward, the shard now humming with borrowed power. "We can end this. Not by running, but by remembering."

Yuelin's dagger trembled. "Sentiment is a chain. Break it."

"No." She wrenched the blade from her palm, blood and molten metal spraying. "We break you."

The forge-entity roared, its form unraveling as mortal qi severed its bond. Yuelin collapsed, her arm lifeless, but free.

[Forge-Entity Symbiosis: Terminated.]

[Yuelin's Cultivation: Crippled. Mortal Qi Residue Detected.]

The spirits faded, their task complete. The fen's waters stilled. Lin Wei crouched beside Yuelin, pressing the shard to her chest. "Why?"

She laughed weakly. "Turns out I… hated the voices."

Lin Mei's hybrid flames enveloped them, warm for the first time. "The Sovereign's coming. And it's pissed."

Above, the sky split. The Sovereign's true form descended—a colossal void-wrought serpent, its maw devouring the horizon.

"You dare wield mortal filth against me? I am inevitable!"

Lin Wei hefted the shard, now resonating with the spirits' light. "And we're annoying."