DEMON SOVEREIGN'S REIGN

The campfire crackled in eerie silence. Shadows stretched long across the Whispering Pillars, ancient stones once used by the Sect of Shadows for communion with their dead. But tonight, they whispered only one name in Liu Shen's ears—Ninth Shadow.

Yu Meixing sat quietly, her gaze distant as though peering through time itself. Her cultivation aura had grown more volatile since the encounter with the Hollow Envoy, tinged with both celestial clarity and demonic unrest.

> "You heard it too," Liu Shen said, approaching her.

> "A voice… my voice… but not mine," she replied softly. "She called out to you."

> "The Ninth Shadow lives within you. That message wasn't just an echo—it was a summons."

Yu Meixing clenched her fists. "I thought I was just another piece of the puzzle… but now I wonder if I'm the key."

Liu Shen nodded solemnly. "Then it's time we descend into the Abyss."

---

The Path Below

At dawn, they left the Whispering Pillars and followed the ancient carvings that spiraled down the Hollowedge Cliffs. Legend said the Abyssal Gate was sealed beneath these mountains—buried in darkness, protected by forgotten wards.

As they ventured deeper, Shen Yue whispered, "The qi here… it's suffocating."

> "Not qi," Lei Qing corrected. "It's resentment. The aura of thousands of betrayed souls."

Indeed, black mist pooled along the walls, pulsing with unfulfilled grudges and fragmented memories. But Liu Shen's presence parted the fog, as though the abyss itself remembered him.

> "This path was once mine," he murmured.

They arrived at a massive gate—thirty meters tall—covered in chains and demonic glyphs. Carved atop it were the words: "When the Ninth Calls, the Gate Weeps."

Yu Meixing stepped forward. As her hand brushed the gate, the glyphs ignited in violet flame. Her shadow lengthened unnaturally behind her—twisting, fracturing—and for a moment, a second silhouette stood beside her.

> "She's awakening," Lei Qing said in awe.

---

Voices from the Abyss

As the gate creaked open, the world darkened. They stepped into a vast cavern—the Abyssal Court—once a seat of power for the Shadow Sect's secret order: the Nine Shadows.

Ghostly figures lined the walls, silent judges who once ruled from the darkness. As the party entered, spectral energy surged, focusing on Yu Meixing.

From the center of the chamber rose a towering throne of obsidian, and seated upon it appeared a translucent figure—the Ninth Shadow herself.

> "Sovereign," she spoke, voice echoing both through the chamber and within Yu Meixing's mind.

> "You sealed yourself," Liu Shen said, recognizing the presence. "To hide from the Heavens' gaze."

> "And in doing so, I fragmented. But now, the threads reconnect."

The figure reached out, and violet light passed into Yu Meixing's chest. Her body convulsed, and her aura exploded outward—spiritual runes dancing along her skin.

> "She's undergoing a memory re-integration," Liu Shen warned. "Don't interfere."

---

The True Face of Betrayal

As Yu Meixing collapsed to her knees, her eyes glazed over. She saw visions—images of the past—of her standing beside Liu Shen in black regalia, leading an army of shadows.

She remembered a palace of obsidian being burned by celestial fire.

She remembered a man… Zhao Wenxiu, once an ally, placing a seal upon her soul.

> "You betrayed me," she whispered, voice layered with both past and present.

> "No," a voice echoed behind them.

Zhao Wenxiu stood at the cavern entrance, cloak tattered, eyes weary.

> "I saved you," he said. "If I hadn't sealed your memories, the Heavens would've obliterated your soul."

> "You sealed me and then left me to rot!" Yu Meixing shouted, fury erupting in waves of shadowflame.

Liu Shen raised a hand. "He has answers. Let him speak."

Zhao bowed his head. "The seal was incomplete. I feared… if you ever awakened too early, the Ninth Shadow's power would consume you. You were more than a weapon. You were the failsafe."

> "Failsafe?" Liu Shen asked sharply.

> "To destroy the Heavens' Divine Lattice," Zhao said. "The Ninth Shadow was created to shatter their control over fate."

---

The Breaking Point

Yu Meixing's aura burst again. Her pupils darkened into full black, and her voice echoed with that of the Ninth Shadow.

> "Then let it shatter."

The throne room trembled. Ghostly chains snapped, and the spectral judges bowed.

Liu Shen stepped forward and gently touched her forehead.

> "You are more than the Ninth Shadow," he said. "You're Yu Meixing… and you choose who to become."

Her breath steadied, and slowly, her shadows receded.

> "I… remember now. But I'm still me."

A moment of silence followed before Shen Yue broke it.

> "So what now? What is this place?"

> "It's a resting place," Zhao replied. "But now that the Gate is open, the world will feel its tremor."

Liu Shen turned toward the exit. "Then let them tremble."

---

A New Path Forward

As they left the Abyssal Gate, Yu Meixing stood straighter, her aura refined—no longer unstable, but empowered. A new tattoo-like rune now glowed at the base of her neck: the mark of the Awakened Shadow.

> "The Hollow will come for this power," Lei Qing warned.

> "And they'll find only ruin," Liu Shen replied coldly.

But inwardly, he knew the tides were shifting. With the Ninth Shadow awakening and the Hollow Empire seeking the next Fragment, the veil between realms would soon tear.

And when it did, only the prepared would survive.