Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Echoes of the Skyborn

Steel screamed as blades collided, sparks flashing in the storm-lit dark. Xiao Lian's Windblade, though fractured, moved like a living thing in his hands—fluid, precise, and alive with ancient resonance. Every swing channeled the wind's fury, every parry danced on the edge of unseen currents.

Lei Feng met him strike for strike. His blade was cold and jagged, carved from blackened soulsteel—dead metal pulsing with corrupted qi. Where Xiao Lian's strikes flowed with nature, Lei Feng's crashed with the wrath of ambition.

"You don't understand," Lei Feng growled, deflecting a sweeping arc and countering with a lightning-fast thrust. "The world doesn't need balance—it needs control. And I'll be the one to bring it."

"You'll break the sky before you tame the wind," Xiao Lian replied, pivoting aside. He drew the breeze around him like a cloak, disappearing for a heartbeat and reappearing behind his opponent. He slashed—but met air.

Lei Feng moved just as fast, perhaps faster.

"You've grown strong," Lei Feng admitted, circling. "But not strong enough."

From the shadows, the other assassins stepped closer. Five figures, each cloaked in darkness and wielding twisted weapons etched with blood runes. Their movements were soundless—like predators in perfect harmony.

Mei Lian moved to Xiao Lian's side, her twin sabers drawn. Her breathing was steady, eyes narrowed. "We'll never reach the tomb if we fight them all."

Xiao Lian nodded. "Then we break the circle."

Together, they lunged.

What followed was chaos laced with elegance. The two warriors—one forged in discipline, the other in desperation—moved like streaks of silver and starlight. Wind roared and shadows hissed. Trees bent. Earth cracked. The Whispering Hollow itself trembled under their duel.

And then—it stopped.

A pulse echoed from the crumbling archway.

The sky above split with a column of light, and the ground beneath their feet began to shake. The tomb's seal—dormant for centuries—was awakening.

Lei Feng froze, his eyes wide. "No... not yet…"

But the gate had already begun to open.

Stone doors ground apart, revealing a staircase descending into an impossible light. On the wind, a voice—calm and ancient—spoke in a tongue neither modern nor forgotten.

> "The Aetherbound have returned. The wind remembers. The blade remembers."

Xiao Lian's heart pounded. It was not fear he felt—but recognition.

The tomb was calling him.

Lei Feng snarled and moved to strike again—but the wind flared like a shield, hurling him back into the dark. The assassins scattered, recoiling from the force.

Only Xiao Lian and Mei Lian remained standing, bathed in the tomb's glow.

She turned to him, her voice quiet. "Are you ready?"

He nodded.

"No more doubts," he said. "No more running."

Together, they stepped into the light—and descended into the Tomb of the Skyborn.

....