dark descendent lurking fate

1. New Name, Same Fire

Ash left the pill house at dawn, cloaked in a plain brown robe and carrying a forged identity token.

Name: Shen Fei

Background: Wandering alchemist's apprentice.

Origin: "Cloudmere Province," a forgotten mortal district Shen Mu made up.

His hair was shorter now, tied into a warrior's knot. His thrones were hidden beneath a veil of folded spirit aura, a technique Shen Mu refined over three days.

Even those in Core Vein Formation would sense him as just a mid-level Qi Condensation cultivator.

> "From hunted… to hunter," he whispered, stepping onto the merchant trail heading west.

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2. The Legend of the Throne Sutra

That night, beside a dying campfire, Shen Mu spoke.

> "A long time ago, before the thrones were given names… there existed only one."

"It split when the heavens fractured in the ancient war between gods and beasts."

"But one man, a mad saint of the ruined realm, claimed he could reform it."

Ash's eyes narrowed.

> "Did he succeed?"

> "No one knows. But his scroll—the Throne Sutra—was said to be hidden in the ruins of Temple Cael'Rah, buried beneath the Veiled Crater in the Forgotten Belt."

> "Only those whose thrones whisper to each other… can even find the path."

Ash stared into the fire.

> "Then it's waiting for me."

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3. Veiled Crater – A Realm Beyond Sight

Three days later, Ash reached the Veiled Crater.

To the world, it was just a scar in the land. Dry. Lifeless. A wound with no healing.

But when Ash stood on its edge, his thrones began resonating faintly within his soul.

Yin Yang's voice rumbled.

Vulcan's heat rose in his spine.

The Wind throne whispered—step forward.

As Ash walked into the dead soil, everything changed.

The air became heavy, distorted. A ghost of an ancient gate shimmered ahead—a mirage temple with no physical form.

> "Only spirit can enter," Shen Mu warned. "Leave your body behind."

Ash sat cross-legged, and with a deep breath, projected his spirit out of his body—a throne cultivator's rare ability.

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4. Temple Cael'Rah

He entered a temple that defied reality.

Thrones floated in pieces. Spirits of dead throne-bearers stared from within walls.

Words written in forgotten languages burned on stone arches.

> "To unify is to die," one inscription read.

"To defy thrones is to challenge gods," said another.

Ash stepped deeper, facing three trials that tested:

His control over all three thrones (simultaneous usage without collapse),

His willpower against the maddening pull to favor one throne over others,

And his spirit's strength, resisting an illusion that tempted him with godhood if he abandoned the other thrones.

He passed.

Barely.

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5. The Throne Sutra

At the center of the temple floated a scroll wrapped in golden and black flame.

Ash reached for it.

The moment he touched the Sutra, visions of ancient battles, the First Throne, and the mad saint who tried to recreate it flooded his soul.

> "You are not ready. But you have begun."

Ash gasped as the scroll shattered into three sigils—one burned into each of his thrones.

The temple began crumbling.

> "RUN!"

Ash's spirit shot back into his body just before the physical land cracked beneath him—the crater collapsed completely, sealing the temple forever.

But in his soul, the thrones were no longer strangers.

They pulsed… almost in rhythm.

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6. The First Step of Unity

That night, Shen Mu was speechless.

> "You have something now… that not even sect founders dare dream of."

Ash clenched his fists, fire dancing around his arm, wind rippling at his feet, shadow twisting near his palm.

> "This is only the beginning."

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