Ashes Of The Phoenix: The Crimson Pact

The day after the banquet, a cold wind swept through the Nine Gates Sect. It didn't match the sky—blue and cloudless—but something in the air whispered warning.

In the council chamber, the obsidian box from the Shadow Serpent Sect sat at the center of the long table.

Unopened.

Untouched.

Its snake-like carvings shimmered faintly under the sunlight filtering through the lattice windows.

Li Feng stood before it, arms crossed, gaze razor-sharp.

"I don't like it," Elder Xun said flatly. "There's something wrong. It resists all spiritual probes."

Another elder frowned. "Perhaps it's cursed."

"No curse I've studied reacts like this," the head alchemist said. "It simply refuses to yield."

Li Feng had been silent for a long time.

Then finally: "We destroy it."

"But—"

"No arguments." His voice left no room. "It's not a gift. It's a threat, disguised."

The First Attempt

Down in the outer cliffs near the fire purification pit, the box was set atop the sacred flame altar.

Li Feng stood before it with Elder Xun and two guards, one of whom specialized in fire spiritual arts.

The man raised his hands and summoned a roaring crimson flame. The heat blasted outward, making the stone crack and the air shimmer.

The flames wrapped around the black box.

But it didn't burn.

It didn't even heat.

The fire danced over it like mist over a stone.

The flames grew hotter.

Still — nothing.

Li Feng's jaw clenched. "Step back."

The guards hesitated, then obeyed.

Li Feng stepped forward.

He extended one gloved hand and pressed his palm directly against the surface of the box.

Nothing happened.

Then—

CRACK.

The box split open.

Inside was a single object: a scale.

Large, flat, and pitch-black. But when the light hit it, subtle colors rippled across its surface like oil over water.

It pulsed faintly.

Li Feng stared at it.

"…It's alive."

Before Elder Xun could react, the scale moved.

It twitched—then shot forward, like a snake striking.

It pierced through Li Feng's robes and vanished into his chest.

"Sect Leader!"

Li Feng stumbled back, gasping.

He clutched his chest. The place it entered felt like a burn.

His body convulsed once.

Then he dropped to one knee.

The guards ran forward, but Li Feng raised a hand. "No—don't touch me—!"

He grit his teeth, eyes flickering gold for a split second.

The pain stopped as quickly as it came.

His heartbeat steadied.

He rose slowly, shaking slightly.

Elder Xun stepped forward. "What happened? Is it a parasite? A curse?"

Li Feng closed his eyes. He could feel it.

It wasn't just a scale.

It was a poison.

But not a normal one.

It didn't destroy—it hid.

Like a serpent coiling inside his veins.

Spiritual poison. Ancient. Clever. Waiting.

"It's inside me," he said. "And it's not going to leave."

Back Inside the Sect

Elder Xun tried again. "Let me call the healing division. They need to—"

"No."

Li Feng's voice was sharp. Dangerous.

"No one can know."

Xun stared. "But—"

"Not even Shen Yun," Li Feng said firmly. "Especially not Shen Yun."

"You don't understand how rare this poison might be. If it starts affecting your core—"

"I will handle it. Alone."

Xun hesitated. "Why not tell him? He cares for you. He'd—"

Li Feng's gaze went cold.

"He'd panic. Or worse—blame himself. And if he knows, Xie Wuchen wins."

The elder's lips pressed into a thin line.

"You intend to keep pretending?"

"I intend to stay alive. Long enough to end this."

He turned and walked away, his crimson cloak trailing behind like blood over snow.

That Night…

Shen Yun waited outside the archive steps, arms crossed, staring up at the moon.

He'd heard that Li Feng had been absent from both afternoon drills and the evening warding session. Unusual.

He wasn't worried.

Okay, he was worried.

He was about to head back when he saw Li Feng approach from the far hallway.

"Where were you?" Shen Yun asked.

Li Feng's steps didn't falter.

"Busy."

Shen Yun narrowed his eyes. "Busy doing what?"

"Handling something," Li Feng said.

Shen Yun stepped in front of him. "Are you… okay?"

Li Feng paused.

Then offered a smile.

It was almost convincing.

"I'm fine."

Shen Yun believed it because he just thought Li feng would never hide something important from him.. Afterall they trust each other now..maybe not fully but still they did right?

Shen Yun gave li feng a smile back. Then he left for dinner with other disciples.

Inside Li Feng's Chambers

He sat on the floor, shirt undone to the waist, staring at the faint black vein stretching across his chest.

It pulsed — almost invisible. But he could feel it.

Every time his heart beat, it whispered.

It wasn't killing him.

Not yet.

But it was feeding.

On something.

"You knew I'd touch it, didn't you, Wuchen?" he murmured. "You knew I wouldn't let anyone else open it."

The realization made his blood run cold.

A slow game.

A poison that doesn't strike all at once — it waits. Burrows. Eats.

"What are you trying to turn me into?"

He leaned back against the cold wall, breath shallow.

He could feel it even in his spiritual core now.

A flicker of something… changing.

And the worst part?

He can't stop it..

Meanwhile… Shadow Serpent Sect

Far away, beneath a moonless sky, Xie Wuchen stood on the high terrace of his fortress temple.

He held a lotus cup of wine in one hand.

A shadowed figure approached behind him.

"It's done," the figure said. "The scale has entered him."

Wuchen smiled faintly.

"Good. Now we wait."

"Will he survive it?"

"Oh, he'll survive...for now," Wuchen said lazily. "That's the beauty of it. The poison doesn't aim to kill immediately..it slowly eats a person inside..slowly Li feng will be weak..really weak then no one will be able to defeat us or come in our way"

Wuchen laughed saying it sipping the wine in front of him. It was evil.

That same night…at Nine Gates Sect

The chamber was silent, save for the flicker of candlelight against the stone walls.

Li Feng sat alone, cross-legged in the center of the warded seal array he had drawn himself in blood-red ink. His robes lay discarded beside him. His skin was pale, sweat glistening along his back, and across his chest, the faint black veins from the scale pulsed like a heartbeat.

It had begun to crawl.

Not fast. Not fatal. But constant. Creeping. Corrupting.

He could feel it threading into his spiritual core — trying to fuse with it.

He didn't panic. He never panicked.

Instead, he exhaled.

"Binding Veil," he whispered, his fingers forming the first hand seal.

"Second Layer… no. It won't be enough."

He knew this wasn't a poison you could simply cleanse or suppress with ordinary means. It was older than curses, crafted by the Shadow Serpent Sect's original founders, and laced with blood from a legendary venom beast. It was alive inside him.

He began to chant softly.

"Binding Veil — Third Layer Seal."

"Lock, split, isolate. Bind within the inner chamber. Chain with silence."

As the words left his mouth, glowing sigils formed in the air. They rotated, spinning faster, locking into one another. A circle of light expanded beneath him, flaring outward in red and black bursts.

His body trembled. A sharp pain lanced through his chest.

But he didn't stop.

He pressed his palm over the exact spot the scale had entered — the black mark. Blood welled instantly from the contact, sizzling against the spell circle.

CRACK.

The light flared violently — then collapsed inward.

A cold shockwave burst from his core. The veins under his skin vanished. The pulsing stopped.

Silence.

Li Feng's eyes opened — dimly glowing gold, then fading.

His breathing was ragged.

But he was alive.

"Sealed…" he muttered, voice hoarse. "For now."

He looked down at his palm. A new mark had appeared — the shape of a coiled serpent curled into a circle — just above his heart.

The price of using the Third Layer Binding Veil?

He would lose 30% of his spiritual strength every time he used his powers at full force.

He had 14 days until the seal weakened — unless he reinforced it again through painful re-channeling.

But this was his burden alone.

Not Shen Yun's.

Not the sect's.

Just his.

The Next Morning

Training Courtyard

Shen Yun was mid-way through practicing sword movements when he spotted Li Feng approaching from across the training field.

Dressed immaculately, not a single strand of hair out of place. Robes clean. Eyes calm.

No one would've guessed anything was wrong.

"Back from being 'busy'?" Shen Yun asked, raising an eyebrow as he blocked his partner's next swing.

Li Feng stopped beside him, arms folded behind his back.

"Elder Xun forced me into three scroll reviews."

"Mm-hm. You look like death, by the way."

Li Feng tilted his head. "Charming."

Shen Yun's lips twitched, but he said nothing more. Somehow… seeing Li Feng here, talking like usual — it reassured him. Even if something still nagged at the edge of his instincts.

Li Feng turned to leave. "Train harder. Your last form was too shallow."

"I meant to slip," Shen Yun muttered.

Li Feng said nothing — but his faint smile lingered a second longer.

Elsewhere — The Hidden Wing of the Alchemy Pavilion

Elder Xun stared at the scroll in front of him.

Ancient serpent scale. Binding blood seal. Third Layer Veil.

"If it reaches the heart root… it will devour the host's qi completely."

He swallowed.

They had 14 days.

And even then — if Xie Wuchen had more than one of these scales…

The war had already started.

Only no one knew it yet.

Shadow Serpent Sect — One Day Later

"Li Feng sealed it," the messenger said.

Xie Wuchen's expression didn't change. He tapped the side of his wine cup once. Twice.

"I expected no less," he replied. "That's why I prepared the second."

The messenger stiffened. "You… you plan to send another?"

"Oh, not to him. Not directly." Wuchen turned to look out across the blood lake.

"I've learned something," he said softly. "There's a boy. Blue robes. Always near him."

"...You mean—?"

Wuchen's smile sharpened like a blade.

"If you can't break the beast, break the leash."

End of Chapter 14