DEMON SOVEREIGN'S REIGN

A morning mist coiled through the valley, draping the newly christened Sect of Sovereigns in an eerie calm. For the first time in centuries, the former Sect of Shadows pulsed with life—not of fear, but of purpose.

Liu Shen stood at the highest terrace of the main pavilion, his eyes sweeping over the dozens of cultivators training below. The weak stumbled. The lost cried. The broken bled. But none turned back.

He turned as Yu Meixing approached, wrapped in her dark silks, strands of her hair caught in the morning wind.

> "They're still coming," she said. "Over a hundred new arrivals in two days. Mostly vagabonds and wanderers. A few beastkin. One was a former enforcer from the Pale Flame Temple."

> "That temple burned under Heaven's wrath twenty years ago," Liu Shen replied.

> "He still wears their ashes."

Liu Shen nodded, silent for a moment. Then, "How is morale?"

Yu Meixing hesitated.

> "Hopeful. But thin. They believe in the idea of rebellion, but most don't believe in themselves. You've made them dream again, Liu Shen… but dreams don't win wars."

He turned back to the horizon.

> "Then let's forge them into something more."

---

A Test of Will

Later that day, the central courtyard was filled with over three hundred cultivators. All eyes turned to the elevated platform where Liu Shen stood, flanked by Shen Yue and Lei Qing.

> "You have answered my call," Liu Shen said, his voice calm yet unrelenting. "But answering a call is not loyalty. It is not resolve. It is not strength."

> "The Sect of Sovereigns will not be built on hopeful hearts. It will be built on unbreakable will."

He raised his hand, and from the side, Lei Qing stepped forward, carrying an ancient scroll sealed with black demonic wax.

> "This is the Oath of the Sovereign Flame," Liu Shen declared. "To sign it is to bind your soul to the cause. If you waver, it will consume you."

A ripple of anxiety coursed through the crowd.

Liu Shen met their gazes one by one.

> "There is no shame in stepping back. But know this: once signed, there is no retreat."

The first to step forward was a young woman with burn scars across her arms. She took the brush and, without hesitation, signed her name in blood.

One by one, others followed.

By sunset, 142 names blazed on the scroll.

And none had turned to ash.

---

Yu Meixing's Inner Turmoil

That night, Yu Meixing stood alone in the Dreamweaver Sanctuary—a moonlit grove deep within the Sect grounds where spiritual techniques were honed.

She traced the runes carved into the trees, her fingers trembling slightly.

> "Why do I remember this place?" she whispered.

Visions flickered behind her eyes: shadowy thrones, whispers of the Ninth Shadow, and a crimson-eyed Liu Shen… not the man she knew now, but a god of destruction, neither mortal nor sane.

> "Was I… with him back then?"

She tried to focus her qi, attempting a deep-sea meditation trance. As she slipped into the dream realm, a voice greeted her.

> "Still clinging to names and titles?"

She spun.

Standing before her was her past self—the true Ninth Shadow—draped in silk, her eyes hollow, her voice a song of sorrow.

> "You sealed your memories to protect him… but now, they must return. Or you will die the next time he falls."

> "Falls?"

> "He is walking toward the edge again. Just like before."

> "What edge?"

> "The abyss. The place where gods break and demons are born."

---

The Hollow Emperor's Gambit

Far to the north, the Hollow Emperor knelt before the half-awakened Abyss Gate. One chain remained intact, glowing with celestial sigils.

> "It resists," muttered the emperor.

A figure approached—her features obscured by a veil of gold and shadow.

> "Then break it," she said.

> "Even I cannot shatter a Heaven-forged seal. Not alone."

The woman extended a hand.

> "You have your armies. I have my priests. But together, we can give the Gate what it craves."

> "And what is that?"

> "Despair. Betrayal. And a Sovereign's scream."

---

The First Mission

Back at the Sect of Sovereigns, Liu Shen gathered his core group: Yu Meixing, Lei Qing, Shen Yue, and six elite cultivators from the Voidflame Core.

> "We've received word from an old contact in the Duskgate Marsh," Liu Shen began. "There's a ruined temple that may hold a Fragment of the Sovereign Eye."

Shen Yue's expression darkened.

> "Those fragments are dangerous. They drove men mad during the last Demon War."

> "And that's exactly why we need it before the Hollow Empire finds it," Liu Shen replied.

> "What's the plan?" Lei Qing asked.

Liu Shen turned to the team.

> "Simple. We move at dawn. Silent entry. Swift extraction. Kill only if necessary. We don't want to alert the Heaven's Pact that we're chasing artifacts."

Yu Meixing folded her arms.

> "And if the fragment awakens something?"

Liu Shen smirked.

> "Then we remind it… that the Sovereign has returned."

---

Night Before the Storm

That evening, before departure, Liu Shen stood alone beneath the starry sky. The wind whispered through the trees, carrying fragments of memories—some his, some not.

He held a jade pendant in his hand, one he had found in the ruins of the Blackglass Ravine. The same pendant worn by his late lover in his past life.

> "Even now, I don't remember your name," he murmured. "But I remember your death."

Yu Meixing approached silently behind him.

> "We leave early," she said.

> "I know."

> "Will you be able to lead them?"

> "Will you be able to follow me… if I become something else?"

She paused, her eyes meeting his.

> "Only if you promise to return to yourself when it's done."

He smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes.

> "I'll try."