Beneath the Ashen Moon

Chapter 8: Beneath the Ashen Moon

The ruins of the Forgotten Court still smoldered behind Shen Liang, the embers dancing like restless spirits in the wind. He stood at the edge of a fractured cliff, the stars above dimmed by the veil of soot that blanketed the skies. The flaming lotus mark on his palm pulsed faintly, as though in sync with a heartbeat not his own.

He had survived.

Barely.

The System's interface flickered across his vision, its edges cracked and glitching like damaged glass.

[System Alert: Core Fragment Stabilized.]

[New Trait Unlocked: Embersoul Constitution — passive regeneration increased. Fire-based techniques gain 10% efficacy.]

Shen Liang exhaled, steam curling from his lips in the cold night. The fight against the cursed wraith had nearly torn him apart, and the revelation of the Flame Lotus Sect's true purpose still echoed in his mind like a gong struck at midnight. They hadn't died out—they had been consumed, their legacy bound in rituals and whispers, waiting for someone like him.

Someone foolish or desperate enough to pick up their legacy.

He lowered himself to the cracked stone, letting his body settle. Around him, the skeletal remains of what was once a great cultivation court lay in shadow. Stone lions stared into nothing, moss growing through their jaws. Wall carvings had been scoured clean by centuries of wind and hatred. But in the silence, he could still hear voices—distant chants, laughter, the crackle of flame.

Or perhaps it was just the System's influence, warping memory into madness.

A flutter of cloth snapped him back. From behind the half-buried statue of a phoenix, a figure emerged. Cloaked in dark azure robes, with a pale mask etched in silver, the person moved like a shadow given breath.

"Who—?" Shen Liang tried to rise but faltered. Blood still clung to his ribs.

The figure raised a hand. "You've done what many failed to. You stepped into the Trial of Ash and lived. That... is rare."

The voice was feminine, smooth, but filled with weariness—as if she had seen the end of empires and grown tired of them all.

"I didn't do it for glory," Shen Liang said hoarsely.

"No one ever does." She moved closer, the hem of her robes drifting without touching the ground. "But the trial marks you. Flame answers flame. You carry the Lotus now."

The figure knelt before him and drew back her hood.

Yue.

But not as he remembered.

Her hair was longer, streaked with red, eyes gleaming with quiet power. The Yue he had seen before had been curious, hesitant. This one carried herself with the certainty of a sword just before it strikes.

"You've changed," he said.

"So have you," she replied. "Time flows differently in the ruins. For you, it's been hours. For me... years."

The words struck him harder than any cultivation blow. "Years?"

"I was taken by the Lotus. Drawn into its heart when I first touched its flame. I've seen echoes of the past—watched the sect fall, watched them choose you."

Shen Liang's breath hitched. "I didn't ask for this."

"No one ever does," she repeated, softer now. "But the System chose you because it recognized something others ignored: your will to stand even when the world falls."

Behind them, the wind shifted. A chill swept over the ruins, and the shadows thickened.

Yue's gaze darkened. "We can't linger. Something else stirs."

The sky cracked like old leather. From the northern mountains, a red light began to rise—like a second sun, angry and unnatural.

[World Event Triggered: Blood Sky Ascension.]

[Warning: Calamity-grade anomaly detected. Zone Corruption increasing.]

The System's voice had never sounded so urgent.

"What is that?" Shen Liang asked, eyes wide.

"Not what," Yue said grimly. "Who."

She turned, and from the folds of her sleeve, drew out a curved blade—the edge humming with suppressed heat. Shen Liang felt the flame in his palm respond, flickering toward her.

"You'll need to awaken more than just the Lotus if we're to survive this. Come. The Sanctuary of Stars is still hidden—but only barely. We can rest there. Learn."

Shen Liang nodded and forced himself to his feet. His legs trembled, but he moved, following her into the darkness between broken pillars and ash-covered stairways.

As they descended into the deeper caverns below the court, Shen Liang's mind wandered.

The System had grown quiet. But its presence lingered, like a god watching from behind glass.

He knew what it wanted now.

Power.

Ascension.

But at what cost?

The descent into the ruins was like passing through a forgotten vein of the world, where the bones of civilization slumbered in silence and soot. Broken columns and melted murals guided them downward, each step releasing a puff of glowing dust as if the ruins themselves still breathed.

Yue moved like memory—fluid, fast, and just out of reach. Shen Liang, despite his pain, kept pace. Part of him feared that if he stopped moving, the shadows would claim him, or worse, the System would.

At last, the stone gave way to ancient glass—a platform buried in soot but still humming with faint celestial energy. Runes flickered beneath their feet like the eyes of spirits watching from below.

"The Sanctuary of Stars," Yue whispered. "This is where the Flame Lotus Sect stored its forbidden knowledge. Before it all burned."

Shen Liang looked up. The ceiling was a dome of shattered starlight. Illusions of constellations blinked in and out, reflecting not the current sky—but one that no longer existed.

"I thought all this was destroyed," he murmured.

"It was," Yue said, stepping forward and touching a floating crystal shard. "But time here folds around belief. The stronger your will, the clearer the sanctuary becomes."

As she pressed her palm to the crystal, the space shimmered.

Dozens of floating tablets, glowing scrolls, and spectral weapons appeared, suspended in a vast circular chamber.

[New Region Discovered: Starborne Archive.]

[Skill Tree Expansion Available.]

Shen Liang staggered slightly as data flooded his mind.

Available Paths:

Lotus Flame Cultivation (Intermediate)

Ashen Root Body Refinement (Rare)

Forgotten Systems Integration Protocol

??? - [LOCKED: Requires Celestial Insight]

"Choose carefully," Yue warned, her eyes locked on a series of celestial glyphs spinning nearby. "Every choice you make now will echo for lifetimes."

Shen Liang moved to one of the tablets. The moment he touched it, the scent of burning incense filled his lungs. Visions spiraled—battles on high cliffs, lotus petals raining blood, fire devouring the heavens.

He pulled back, gasping.

Yue steadied him. "You saw it, didn't you? The truth of the Lotus Sect's fall."

"They sacrificed themselves," Shen Liang whispered. "To trap something... something ancient."

She nodded. "A Celestial Calamity. One of the Sky-Eaters. The Lotus Flame was the seal."

"And I've broken it…"

Yue didn't answer.

But the silence spoke louder than words.

Shen Liang clenched his fists. "Then I'll finish what they started. I'll rebuild the sect, reclaim its honor. And if that means facing a Calamity… so be it."

Yue's expression softened, a flicker of warmth returning to her hardened eyes. "Then let us train. Here, in this sanctuary, time flows as we will it. Days can pass in minutes—enough to prepare for what comes."

Seven days passed within the sanctuary, though only hours passed beyond.

Shen Liang's body burned, reshaped by the Embersoul Constitution and refined under the Ashen Root technique. His veins pulsed with molten qi, and the once-faint lotus sigil on his palm now shimmered like a brand carved into reality.

He learned to harness Ashbind Chains, conjuring glowing restraints of pure cultivation flame, capable of latching onto both spirit and soul. He practiced Lotus Bloom Steps, a movement art that left afterimages of flame, allowing him to blink between shadows.

And at night—when dreams came heavy—he saw the sky split open.

A massive eye, red and lidless, hovering above a black horizon.

Watching.

Waiting.

The Calamity stirs.

On the eighth day, Yue approached with a serious expression.

"It's time. We've trained as much as the sanctuary allows. If we stay longer, we risk fracturing from within."

Shen Liang nodded. "Then let's go."

When they emerged from the sanctuary, the world was darker still.

The red light from the northern mountains had grown, casting a crimson veil across the sky. Winds carried the scent of ozone and sulfur. Villages had gone silent, and sect banners lay torn and trampled on the roads.

But the ruins around the Forgotten Court had begun to pulse with life—flame lotuses growing again through the cracks.

Shen Liang looked to the horizon, where storm clouds twisted unnaturally.

"There's no turning back now," he said.

Yue stood beside him. "No. Only forward."

And in the air, high above where no mortal eye should see, a System Node flared to life in the heavens.

[Global Quest Updated: Ascend or Burn.]

[Objective: Reignite the Flame Lotus Sect — 1/7 Trials Complete.]

Shen Liang narrowed his eyes.

Then let the world test him.

He would rise, ash and all