DEMON SOVEREIGN'S REIGN

The dawn broke cold and gray over the Hollow Empire, casting long shadows over its dead spires and twisted towers. From their high perch on the broken platform of the Temple of Threaded Echoes, Liu Shen and his companions gazed upon the horizon. The Soul Fog had retreated.

And with it, so had time itself begun to stir.

Yu Meixing stood at the center of their circle, threads of silver soul energy drifting around her like falling petals. The ninth Needle hovered above her palm, now dormant, its crimson eye shut after revealing her past.

> "So… what now?" Lei Qing asked, crossing his arms. "We've stirred a hornet's nest. The Hollow Lords will come."

> "Let them," Liu Shen replied coldly, his robes flaring in the breeze. "They're not the threat I'm watching."

He turned his gaze toward the northern peaks—toward the ancient seals hidden beneath the Frostbone Plateau.

That was where the next Needle awaited.

But they wouldn't leave just yet.

Not until they finished what they came for.

---

The Sect of Shadows had always been silent, its presence hidden behind legends and death rites. But now, its remnants had emerged.

An envoy arrived before midday—a robed man with no face, his body stitched together by shadow threads.

He bowed before Liu Shen and Yu Meixing.

> "You have awakened the Ninth. By the decree of the Founding Shadows, you may now enter the Heart Loom."

Liu Shen exchanged glances with Meixing.

> "What is the Heart Loom?"

> "It is the core of our sect," the envoy replied. "The soul-mirror of all our disciples. Only those who pass its test may lead."

> "We don't need to lead your sect," Meixing said quietly.

> "You already do," the envoy said.

> "The Ninth Shadow was never removed. Only sealed."

---

Into the Heart Loom

They were led beneath the ruined sanctuary, past walls etched with soul-bound oaths, into a chamber made entirely of living silk.

A grand loom stood in the center—a spinning mechanism of bone, metal, and thought.

As Liu Shen stepped forward, the loom spun violently, recognizing him.

> "Only one may enter," the envoy said. "The trial recognizes the past. And the Ninth's soul is already whole."

> "Then I will go," Liu Shen said.

Meixing grasped his arm.

> "Be careful. I don't know what it will show you… but I sense it knows who you were."

Liu Shen nodded, placed his hand on the loom—and was pulled in.

---

He stood alone on an obsidian cliff.

Before him, legions of demonic beasts bowed. Behind him, the sky burned red, fractured by divine light.

He saw himself—not Liu Shen, but the Demon Sovereign of old. Wings of darkness spread, a blood-drenched crown on his brow, and a void blade in his hand.

> "You remember now, don't you?" a voice echoed.

A mirror stepped forward—his reflection made flesh.

> "You were never just betrayed. You were hunted, sealed, and marked. Because you dared to challenge the Heavenly Loom itself."

> "The gods weave fate," the mirror hissed. "You cut it."

Visions flooded him—how he once tore through celestial armies, how the heavens used his allies against him.

Yu Meixing.

Lei Qing.

Even the Heaven's Witness.

> "Your fall was never a coincidence."

---

Liu Shen emerged from the Heart Loom hours later, drenched in sweat, his breathing ragged.

> "What did you see?" Meixing asked.

He looked up, eyes glowing crimson.

> "I saw the loom of fate itself. And I saw the thread that binds all of us."

He turned to the envoy.

> "The Sect of Shadows once fought the heavens. Didn't it?"

> "Yes," the faceless man replied. "But we lost. And the Ninth was sealed to end the war."

> "Then it's time we finish what you couldn't," Liu Shen said.

---

The surviving elders of the Sect of Shadows emerged from their slumber—souls bound to the temple itself. They bowed to Meixing and acknowledged Liu Shen as her protector.

> "If you seek to fight the heavens again," one of them rasped, "you will need more than ancient techniques."

> "We need the Forbidden Threads," Liu Shen replied.

Gasps filled the chamber.

> "Those are cursed," another elder growled. "Each woven from the soul of a dying god."

> "Which makes them perfect," Liu Shen said. "Because I'm not fighting to preserve the heavens. I'm fighting to tear them down."

---

With the Sect's oath renewed, Liu Shen and his party prepared to depart. They had what they came for—the Needle, the Soul-Thread Restoration technique, and Yu Meixing's full awakening.

As they stood at the gates, the faceless envoy gave a final warning.

> "The heavens now know the Ninth lives. The Hollow Emperor will not be the only one who comes."

Liu Shen smirked.

> "Then let them come."

He turned toward the sky, where clouds shaped like divine calligraphy began to swirl.

> "They took everything from me in my past life."

He extended his hand.

> "Now, I'll take everything from them."