DEMON SOVEREIGN'S REIGN

The Hollow Path deepened.

What once was mist now gave way to a sprawling labyrinth—its walls formed of immense skeletal remains. Bones of beasts long extinct, of cultivators whose souls had shattered, and of ancient creatures that had never been named.

The five stepped cautiously into the Bone Catacombs.

"It's not just the Hollow Sovereign's body," Elder Qin murmured. "It's every being consumed by the Abyss."

Each step echoed with whispers. Not just voices—regrets.

Liu Shen's aura thickened, suppressing the encroaching madness. "We walk through death. Steel yourselves."

---

Echoes of the Past

The first corridor split into three paths. Symbols lit the ceiling—ancient Abyssal glyphs.

Yu Meixing deciphered them quickly.

"Left: Blood Trial. Middle: Spirit Trial. Right: Will Trial."

Lei Qing cracked her knuckles. "We split?"

Liu Shen nodded. "The Hollow Sovereign designed this to isolate. We each face what remains of his soul alone."

Meixing frowned. "Alone?"

Liu Shen met her gaze. "If we can't withstand solitude, we can't challenge the heavens."

Without another word, they each stepped toward their chosen paths.

---

Liu Shen – Spirit Trial

Liu Shen entered a chamber carved from black bone. In its center, a throne—broken and crumbling.

And seated upon it, another Liu Shen.

Dressed in robes of the Demon Sovereign. Eyes cold. Lips curled in contempt.

"Impostor," the doppelgänger sneered. "You died. You failed. What right do you have to walk again?"

Liu Shen stepped forward. "I returned not to prove my right. I returned to reclaim my truth."

The double stood. "Then face it."

They clashed—not with blades, but with intent. Soul against soul.

The chamber trembled as spiritual projections battled—one forged in betrayal, the other reborn in vengeance.

At last, Liu Shen whispered, "You are not me."

And with a surge of will, he shattered the double into motes of violet flame.

The throne reformed behind him.

He did not sit.

He walked past it.

---

Yu Meixing – Will Trial

Meixing walked a path of lightless fog. Shapes moved around her—shadows of herself. Some weeping. Some screaming.

One stepped forward—her younger self, terrified and small. "You can't carry this burden."

"I already am."

Another shadow—cold and older—sneered. "You'll betray him again. Just like last time."

Meixing raised her hand, and her shadow dissolved into ink.

"I remember who I am," she said. "And I remember what they took from me."

From the darkness emerged a dagger—her clan's relic, the Shadow Fang.

She took it without hesitation.

---

Lei Qing – Blood Trial

Lei Qing stood before a gate made of pulsating flesh. Her veins throbbed in resonance.

The Crimson Sect's seal pulsed on her wrist, reacting to the chamber.

A voice laughed—one she knew well.

"Ah, my little project," said Grandmaster Yao's ghost. "You never did bloom, did you?"

Lei Qing growled. "Try me."

From the walls emerged blood beasts—abominations made from her childhood memories.

She didn't run.

She didn't cry.

She burned.

Flames exploded from her fists, purging the beasts with every punch. She forged her path in ash.

When she reached the end, a molten gauntlet awaited her.

She placed her hand within.

It fit perfectly.

---

Elder Qin – The Forgotten Trial

Qin's path was quiet.

A library of bones, each ribcage inscribed with lost scriptures. Knowledge the heavens had erased.

One by one, he touched them. Each chant, each verse, embedding itself into his spirit.

A voice whispered, "You steal forbidden things."

He didn't flinch. "No. I remember them."

A final book appeared before him, hovering.

The Script of the Hollow Sovereign.

He opened it—and saw no words.

Only one phrase burned into the first page:

"Truth must be carved into silence."

---

Wei Yan – Trial of Flame and Shadow

Wei Yan's trial was different.

He walked into a chamber of unlit candles.

A voice called, "Light them… or vanish."

He hesitated.

Then drew his brother's dagger.

Each candle he lit showed a memory—not of his life, but of others'. Forgotten souls. Discarded stories.

He wept—but kept going.

When the final candle burned, the room revealed a forge.

A single ingot lay inside.

He understood.

This was not a trial of talent, but one of heart.

He began to forge—not a weapon, but a seal.

His own mark.

His own fate.

---

Return to the Core

One by one, they returned to the center chamber.

Each now carried something new:

Liu Shen, a reforged soul.

Meixing, her clan's blade.

Lei Qing, her bound gauntlet.

Qin, forbidden scripture.

Wei Yan, a crafted seal of his own identity.

The bone walls shuddered.

A deep voice boomed through the catacombs.

> "You have taken the first step.

The heavens did not shape you. You shaped yourselves.

Ascend, Sovereign. The next gate… lies in the Hollow Heart."

The floor split open.

Beneath, a glowing spiral staircase descended into a chamber of pulsing silver light.

Liu Shen raised his hand.

"Let's finish what the Hollow Sovereign began."