Whispers of the Jade Saber

The Pilgrimage Begins

The journey to the Cradle of Origins was not just a march—it was a pilgrimage through history.

Lin Feng, Liang Yue, Yan Zhen, and a united front of over six sects and rogue orders crossed ancient battlefields, spirit-forged canyons, and the scorched remains of cities long swallowed by time.

The Cradle was located at the heart of the Verdant Hollow, a lush but haunted land where nature twisted around forgotten weapons, and qi flowed like rivers in the air.

No map showed the way.

The Ashen Saber guided them—glowing faintly when they strayed from the path, and pulsing warmly when the true road appeared.

On the eighth day, as crimson winds rose from the east, the earth itself split open, revealing a staircase of jade and obsidian descending into a lightless abyss.

They had arrived.

---

The Origin Chamber

At the bottom of the abyss lay a vast underground temple—not man-made, but grown. Roots of ancient trees wove through pillars. Rivers of spiritual fire trickled like veins.

In the center stood a monolith carved in the image of the first Ashen Saber bearer, whose name had long been lost to time. Above him, a massive disc hovered in the air—spinning slowly, humming with an unnatural resonance.

"The Cradle," whispered Liang Yue. "This is where memory, flame, and will were once fused to form the first Sovereign Blades."

Lin Feng stepped forward.

And the moment he did, the saber floated from his side and embedded itself into the monolith.

Flames erupted—not wild, but harmonic.

The spinning disc above flickered—

Then split.

From its center, a single figure descended in silence.

---

The Crimson Mirror Appears

He was Lin Feng's reflection—perfectly identical, save for the mirror shard embedded in his forehead and the red lotus tattoo that bloomed along his arms.

"Hello… brother," said Lin Xun, the Crimson Mirror.

Gasps rose across the chamber. Even hardened cultivators stepped back at the uncanny resemblance.

Lin Feng didn't flinch.

"You've taken my memories. My life. And now you want the source."

Lin Xun's voice was calm, almost gentle. "I was never given anything, Lin Feng. You inherited the flame. I inherited the shadow."

"I would've shared it."

"I didn't want half your light. I wanted to be seen."

Behind him, the spinning disc of flame transformed into a mirror of ash—pulsing with inverted qi.

"I will rewrite the world. Not conquer it. Not rule it. But erase the memory of its cruelty. I'll make a world with no betrayal. No history. No past."

Liang Yue stepped forward, blades drawn. "You'd make everyone forget… just so you won't feel alone?"

He nodded. "If memory is the root of pain, then I will become the sword that severs it."

---

Clash of the Bloodline

The chamber darkened.

Lin Xun raised his hand—and summoned a weapon forged from reflection and resentment:

> The Mirrorbrand Saber — a blade that could absorb, mimic, and distort techniques from others.

Lin Feng gripped the Ashen Saber, now thrumming in fury.

The brothers charged.

Their blades met in a blinding explosion of flame and light, echoing across the cavern.

Mirror against fire.

Memory against emotion.

Every strike Lin Feng landed was twisted and reflected—but every time Lin Xun copied him, a small crack formed on the mirror shard in his head.

The Ashen Saber grew hotter—its soul now awakened to full Phase V: Sovereign's Descent

> A divine technique that sears through falsehood and reflection—but at the cost of physical deterioration for the user.

"Feng, you can't!" Liang Yue screamed.

"I have to! If I don't end this now, the world forgets what love even is!"

---

Liang Yue's Breakthrough

As Lin Feng began to weaken, bleeding from the eyes and knuckles, Liang Yue ran forward—her heart blazing, her spirit unraveling.

She grabbed him mid-fall, tears burning her cheeks.

"Don't do this alone!"

In that moment, her body pulsed.

The frost qi from her Snow Lotus inheritance surged outward—not cold, but sharp, blooming, endless. A pillar of white and silver light exploded from her, freezing the mirror's surface across the entire chamber.

Her voice thundered with qi:

> "Snow Lotus Final Path – Heaven's Fracture Bloom!"

And in that instant—she broke into the Core Blooming realm, with a Heaven-grade Lotus Core.

Her blades formed a spiral of frost petals that cut straight through the false mirror above, shattering Lin Xun's illusory barrier and buying Lin Feng the opening he needed.

He rose again—half-broken, half-burning.

And swung the saber down—

> "For the truth we lived. And the pain we survived."

---

Shattering the Mirror

The Ashen Saber struck the Mirrorbrand—

And broke it in two.

The shard in Lin Xun's forehead shattered, exploding into smoke and memory fragments.

He collapsed to his knees, vision flickering.

As the chamber trembled, he whispered, "Was I… ever meant to exist?"

Lin Feng knelt beside him, catching his brother before he hit the ground.

"You existed. And you mattered. I remember… every time you cried through me."

"I… remember too," Lin Xun whispered, before falling unconscious.

Not dead.

But freed.

---

The Flame Reborn

The Cradle of Origins calmed.

The monolith now bore two names:

> Lin Feng – Flame Sovereign of the New Era

Lin Xun – Mirror of the Forgotten

As the united sects helped seal the crater and build a sanctuary above it, Lin Feng and Liang Yue sat beneath the rising sun.

"You broke through," he said, smiling weakly.

"You nearly broke apart," she said, punching his shoulder.

They leaned on each other in silence.

Then she whispered:

"Marry me."

Lin Feng blinked. "I was going to ask you."

She shrugged. "I'm faster."

They both laughed.

For the first time in months—it wasn't a laugh of survival.

It was a laugh of hope.

---

End of Chapter 16