DEMON SOVEREIGN'S REIGN

The Crimson Dunes stretched endlessly, a sea of red-gold sand glowing beneath a twin sunset. Each grain was laced with residual spiritual energy—once a battlefield of ancient gods, now a cursed land that even core cultivators feared to tread.

But now, the desert howled again, stirred by the clash of powers awakening its buried wrath.

At the center of the storm, Lei Qing stood bleeding but unyielding, lightning crackling around him as he protected Yu Meixing, who was unconscious and wrapped in a cocoon of soulfire.

Their enemies circled: robed assassins from the Dagger Sect, hired by the Hollow Empire to eliminate the Ninth Shadow before her memories could return.

> "Surrender the girl," growled their masked leader, his voice sharp with killing intent. "Or be buried here like the fools before you."

Lei Qing spat blood. "Come take her then."

With a battle cry, he launched himself forward, lightning flashing from his fists.

---

Clash Under the Suns

The assassins moved in unison, vanishing and reappearing in shadowy flashes. But Lei Qing's Thunderstep was faster—his movements erratic, unpredictable.

> Crack!

He struck the first assassin in the gut, sending him flying into a dune. Another slashed at his back, but Lei spun mid-air, grabbing the attacker's blade with crackling hands and snapping it like twigs.

Still, the numbers pressed in.

> Too many, he thought, panting. If I fall, Meixing—

Suddenly, a wave of moonlight surged from the horizon, freezing the sands mid-motion. Spears of water fell like arrows from the sky, impaling several assassins instantly.

> "Second Shadow," Lei Qing gasped.

Ji Suyin arrived like a goddess of the tides, calm and deadly.

> "Hold them. I'll deal with the leader," she said coldly.

---

Second Shadow vs. Dagger Sect Leader

The leader of the Dagger Sect didn't hesitate. He flung off his robes, revealing a body covered in runes etched with shadowflame.

> "You're no ordinary assassin," Suyin remarked, eyes narrowing.

> "Former general of the Hollow Flame Guard," he said. "Now the Heavens' hound."

He moved first, launching blades woven from cursed qi. They moved like snakes, warping space.

Suyin raised both hands, forming a barrier of liquid moonlight. The blades struck—then shattered, absorbed by her technique.

She retaliated with a wave of Soulwater, aiming not for his body but his spirit.

> "Soulbind Tides!"

The general screamed as memories he'd long buried surged forth—faces of those he killed, children he orphaned.

He collapsed to his knees. "Make it stop…"

> "No," she whispered. "Let it consume you."

She extended one finger and tapped his forehead. The water flowed into his skull, and silence fell.

---

Yu Meixing Awakens

As the assassins fled and the battlefield cleared, Yu Meixing stirred within her cocoon. Her eyes fluttered open—no longer dazed, but sharp, aware… ancient.

> "Where… where am I?" she murmured.

Lei Qing rushed to her side. "You're safe."

She looked at her hands, soulfire dancing between her fingers.

> "I remember the Temple of Shadows… the Ceremony of the Nine. I remember… him."

> "Liu Shen?" Lei Qing asked.

She nodded. "And my oath to protect him. I am the Ninth Shadow. I was reborn to complete our rebellion."

Ji Suyin approached, her expression unreadable.

> "Then your memories have returned."

> "Partially," Meixing said. "But enough to know the Fourth Shadow lies buried beneath this desert… in the City of Glass."

---

March Toward the City of Glass

As the trio recovered, Meixing began tracing sigils in the sand. The ground responded—glowing lines forming a map pointing southeast.

> "There," she said. "The ancient city lies below. But it's sealed by a Heaven-Scribed Array. We'll need the Blood Keys to enter."

> "Blood Keys?" Lei asked.

Suyin answered, "Sacrifices made by the original Nine. Each Shadow offered part of their essence to seal the city's secrets."

> "Then we break it open," Meixing said, her voice low. "The Fourth Shadow must be awakened."

From afar, black smoke rose in the distance—signs of more enemy movement. But now, the reborn Ninth Shadow was ready.

> "Let them come," she said, summoning her twin soulfire daggers. "The heavens will learn what it means to provoke us."

---

Meanwhile: Liu Shen's Discovery

Far away in the Sect of Shadows' inner archive, Liu Shen sat before a sealed scroll. The jade box that held it pulsed with demonic and heavenly qi, barely stable.

> "The Jade Veil…" he muttered.

He broke the seal. Within, an ancient record detailed an abandoned project by the Celestial Bureaucracy:

> The Jade Veil: a metaphysical barrier placed upon the progeny of demonic bloodlines to obscure their origin and potential. Used to control reincarnation cycles and bind fate…

His hand tightened on the scroll.

> "They didn't just erase memories," he growled. "They rewrote who we could become."

And then—he saw a name.

> Project Origin: Subject Zero — Liuxi Shenhua.

His mother's true name.

---

The Storm Gathers

Elsewhere, a council convened beneath a burning sky—the Hollow Empire's Five Thrones sat in cold deliberation.

> "The Ninth and Second Shadows have reunited," spoke the First Throne. "And the Demon Sovereign seeks the truth of his birth."

> "Then we accelerate the Seal of Final Heaven," the Second Throne said. "Before he reawakens the Fourth."

Lightning split the heavens. Somewhere, in chains beneath the desert, a figure stirred—a woman with crystal veins and eyes filled with mirrored stars.

The Fourth Shadow dreamed in silence.