chapter:6 interrogation

Li Wei didn't wait.

With a single breath, he activated the Step of the Wind Tiger, vanishing into the shadows just as a tendril of bone lashed toward him. The force of the attack split a tree in half.

"Don't stop," Yu Long said. "That thing is no ordinary cultivator—it's possessed. Whatever was sealed under this forest has already infected him."

The ground trembled behind him as the Revenant Cultist gave chase, faster than Li Wei expected. His bone-plated feet shattered roots as he closed the distance with unholy speed.

Li Wei turned, eyes narrowing, and formed a hand seal mid-air. Blazing Lotus Art—a series of three fire orbs—exploded behind him as he leapt across a ravine.

The blasts weren't meant to damage.

They were meant to buy time.

He landed hard on the other side, rolled, and bolted.

But the cultist was still coming.

"Left, into the ruins!" Yu Long yelled. "There's an old formation buried there. I think I can use it."

Li Wei didn't hesitate. He dove into the mouth of a moss-covered crevice, sliding down slick stone and crashing into darkness. The cultist's scream echoed behind him—no longer human.

He landed hard, twisting his ankle. Gritting his teeth, he limped forward.

The chamber before him pulsed faintly. Carvings covered every inch of the walls—ancient, glowing with a soft golden hue.

At the center of the chamber stood a broken monolith, and within it—a stone scroll half-embedded in crystal.

"The Akashic Fragment," Yu Long whispered. "I didn't think it would be here."

"What is it?"

"A piece of your inheritance. Touch it."

Li Wei reached out.

The moment his fingers brushed the crystal, the entire chamber lit up. Runes raced across the walls, and power surged through his limbs. His eyes widened as an ancient voice echoed in his mind—not Yu Long's, but one older. More commanding.

"Bearer of Innocent Soul… you have awakened the Akashic Flame. Speak the Oath, and claim your path."

Li Wei trembled. The scroll glowed brighter, words forming across its surface in a tongue he somehow understood:

"My path is mine alone.

Let heavens judge and earth bear witness.

I walk the way of fire and truth.

I am not chained to fate.

I am the heir of the Heavenly Way."

As he finished the oath, the scroll shattered into light, and entered his chest.

He screamed.

His veins turned gold for an instant—before fading.

Silence fell.

Then, the cultist dropped into the chamber.

"You shouldn't have done that," he hissed.

But this time, Li Wei didn't flinch.

He stood straighter. Calmer. Stronger.

"You don't scare me anymore."

The cultist sneered and hurled a wave of black bone spears.

Li Wei stepped forward—hand blazing with Akashic Flame—and slashed upward with an open palm.

The fire cut through the attack like paper.

The cultist stumbled back, snarling.

Li Wei's eyes narrowed.

"This flame," he said, "was born to destroy monsters like you."

He dashed forward, this time not fleeing—but attacking.

The battle was swift and brutal.

Where normal flame would have been resisted, the Akashic Flame devoured.

Every strike Li Wei landed burned deeper, unraveling the dark spirit inside the cultist. His body withered as the parasite screamed, and in one final blast of golden fire, the creature disintegrated into ash.

Li Wei dropped to one knee, panting.

"You've only unlocked a spark," Yu Long whispered. "But that spark… is enough to change this world."

The chamber began to crumble.

Li Wei forced himself up and ran.

Morning arrived with an eerie stillness.

News of the Bone Wraith and the cultist attack spread through the sect like wildfire. Three disciples were dead. Two more were missing. The elders locked down the outer forest.

Li Wei was summoned to the Sect Pavilion.

He stood before the inner circle—Elder Xu, Lady Ling, and the Grandkeeper of Trials. Beside them stood Fei Lan, silent, watchful.

"What did you encounter?" Elder Xu asked, voice grave.

Li Wei hesitated, but answered honestly. "A Bone Wraith. Then a man—possessed. Not from the sect."

The elders exchanged glances.

"You should not have survived either encounter," the Grandkeeper said. "Yet here you are."

Li Wei met his gaze. "I don't intend to die easily."

Fei Lan finally spoke. "He burned the Revenant from the inside. The fire wasn't normal."

Lady Ling's eyes narrowed. "Show us your hand."

Li Wei hesitated, then raised it.

There, faint but real, glowed a mark—the Akashic sigil, shaped like a lotus wrapped in flame.

A stunned silence followed.

The elders whispered among themselves.

Then Elder Xu nodded slowly. "We must inform the High Sect. And the Shrine of Stars. This boy… is not ordinary."

Li Wei felt the pressure mounting.

"This is only the beginning," Yu Long said in his mind. "You've set the heavens in motion, Li Wei. Now… let's see if you're ready."

The Trial Forest was behind him, but Li Wei's troubles were far from over.

Word of his encounter with the Bone Wraith had spread through Ironheart Sect like wildfire. Most disciples whispered his name with awe or suspicion. A few, like Jin Zhen, watched him with veiled calculation. And others, like the Outer Hall elders, were deeply unsettled.

Li Wei stood at the base of the outer courtyard, facing a tribunal.

"Li Wei," intoned Elder Mo, his voice thick with distrust, "You claim to have survived an encounter with a Revenant Cultist. And not only survived—but destroyed a Bone Wraith? At Qi Gathering Fifth Level?"

Li Wei didn't flinch. "Yes, Elder."

"Impossible."

A murmur ran through the watching disciples. The council of elders—five of them—sat on elevated thrones under the jade-roofed Pavilion of Discipline.

From behind them, a cloaked figure leaned against one of the jade pillars, arms crossed, face shadowed by a deep hood. He said nothing.

Elder Mo sneered. "And this guardian spirit of yours. A reptile, you said?"

Yu Long popped his head out from Li Wei's robe and blew a puff of smoke. "Watch your tone, old man."

Gasps echoed through the courtyard.

"You dare!"

The elders surged with spiritual pressure. Li Wei dropped to one knee under the weight, but didn't cry out.

Just then, the cloaked elder finally spoke.

"That's enough."

His voice wasn't loud, yet it silenced the air. The spiritual pressure vanished like mist under sunlight. The other elders froze. Even Elder Mo paled.

"Elder Han…" he said, swallowing.

Elder Han stepped forward, hood falling back to reveal a youthful face with silver-threaded hair and sharp eyes that shimmered like steel under moonlight.

"Li Wei," he said. "Follow me."

The watching crowd parted like waves. None dared speak. None dared move.

---

They walked in silence through a bamboo grove behind the sect's inner sanctum, away from prying eyes. Only once they reached a secluded shrine did Elder Han speak again.

"You've grown faster than I expected," he said.

Li Wei blinked. "You know me?"

The elder turned, and in the dappled sunlight, Li Wei saw it. The same eyes. The same sharp nose. The resemblance was uncanny.

"I was your mother's brother," Elder Han said.

Li Wei reeled. "My—?"

"She died protecting the seal that bound ....