DEMON SOVEREIGN'S REIGN

The Nightshade Accord had reawakened, its daggers sharpened once more. Yet Liu Shen's gaze turned east, to a forgotten ruin buried beneath the Hollow Empire—a place whispered of in fractured memories and old nightmares.

> "The next Needle lies beneath the Temple of Threaded Echoes," Liu Shen murmured, turning the silver-sealed scroll over in his hand. "A tomb for souls that never died… only unraveled."

---

A Web of Remnants

They traveled three days under illusion veils, cutting through border patrols and spiritual surveillance. Ji Suyin led them through desolate cliffs laced with spiderwebs that pulsed like veins.

> "This region is cursed," Lei Qing muttered, drawing his spear closer. "Even the wind feels wrong."

Indeed, the wind didn't howl—it whispered.

At the center of the cliffs, they found the entrance: a spiraling stone staircase leading underground, sealed by threads of pale silver soul silk. The temple doors shimmered, carved with strange markings that shimmered and moved when no one was looking.

Yu Meixing stepped forward.

> "These sigils… they're from the Shadow Loom Clan. My mother's clan."

Liu Shen's brow lifted slightly.

> "Then it seems we were meant to find this place."

---

The Temple of Threaded Echoes

Inside, the temple breathed.

Each step echoed twice—once in reality, once in memory. Ancient tapestries lined the walls, woven with images of souls being pulled apart by needles of light and shadow.

Suddenly, a voice echoed around them.

> "Only the fragmented may pass. Whole souls shall be torn."

A force struck them—a pulse of soul energy that sought to unravel their very consciousness.

Ji Suyin gritted her teeth.

> "What is this?! It's trying to pull apart my past!"

Liu Shen clenched his jaw, dark flames bursting from his core to stabilize his fragmented essence.

> "It's a Soul-Weave Trial. The temple tests whether we've truly let go of our old selves."

Yu Meixing fell to her knees, trembling.

> "I see her… my mother. She's weeping… sewing something into my skin…"

Her body glowed faintly as threads of soul silk erupted from her back, forming phantom wings. Then, all at once, the threads snapped—and Meixing rose with glowing eyes.

> "No more illusions."

She walked forward. The soul-thread gates opened.

---

Tapestry of the Lost

Deeper within the temple, they found a grand hall—circular, with a domed ceiling and floating spools of soul-thread. Each strand carried fragments of memories: a battlefield, a child's lullaby, a betrayal at a palace gate.

In the center, an enormous Soulloom Spider, now dormant, lay coiled around a stone altar.

On the altar rested the third Needle of Lamentation—jet black with a single crimson eye pulsing on its hilt.

Liu Shen approached.

> "Another key to the Skyfall Vault…"

As he reached for it, the spider twitched.

Its eyes opened—eight burning sockets—and a voice boomed inside their minds.

> "You are not welcome, Weaveless One. Only those who've surrendered their soul may touch the Needle."

---

The Trial of Fragmentation

The Soulloom Spider unfurled, revealing a hollow space within its abdomen—swirling with souls stitched together in grotesque forms. Arms, faces, and screams rose from its body like writhing fabric.

> "Brace yourselves!" Liu Shen shouted, drawing his demonic qi into a swirling inferno.

Lei Qing leapt forward, his spear glowing with lightning, while Ji Suyin circled behind, blades ready to strike between the spider's plates.

But the spider didn't bleed—it frayed.

Each attack ripped part of it apart, only for more soul-threads to stitch the damage back together.

Yu Meixing clenched her fists, her wings glowing.

> "Let me try something!"

She stepped forward, chanting in the language of the Loom Clan.

The spider hesitated.

> "Child of Threads… you bear the mark. Speak your desire."

> "Release the Needle," Meixing said. "Or unravel forever."

The spider paused… then thrashed.

> "You would condemn us to silence? We are memory! We are voices forgotten!"

Liu Shen surged forward, using that hesitation to plunge his hand into the altar and grasp the Needle.

At once, the room shattered into black silk.

---

Within the Soulloom

They were cast into a realm of thought and echo.

Each of them stood alone in a replica of their most painful memory.

Liu Shen walked through the burning ruins of his old palace—the day of his betrayal.

He saw himself—kneeling, chained, the heaven's envoy plunging a blade into his heart.

> "You were weak," the illusion said. "You trusted too much. Even now, you cling to shadows and vengeance. Why?"

Liu Shen stared at the vision and whispered,

> "Because I remember."

With a wave of demonic will, he burned the illusion away.

Each of the others did the same, shattering their bindings, reclaiming their identities.

---

The Eye of the Needle

When they emerged, the Needle of Lamentation was in Liu Shen's hand. It pulsed with dormant power.

But unlike the other Needles, this one reacted to Yu Meixing as well.

When she touched it, the crimson eye opened and blinked.

> "It recognizes you," Liu Shen said. "You've awakened something ancient."

Yu Meixing's eyes shimmered violet.

> "Perhaps… a piece of who I once was."

---

The Loom Awakens

Back in the Hollow Empire, Zhao Wenxiu studied the stars through a soul mirror.

> "He has claimed the third Needle."

Behind him, the ancient Loom pulsed with ghostly energy.

> "Soon, Liu Shen will know the truth. Not of betrayal… but of origin."

He turned to a young girl chained to the Loom's core—eyes empty, her body glowing with silver thread.

> "The Ninth Shadow awakens," Zhao murmured. "Let's see what she remembers."