The path down from Cloudpierce Pavilion wound like a pale ribbon through the mountains.
Qi Shan Wei had walked this road once before—as a boy, aching from training, clutching a little sack of spirit stones and dreams.
Now he walked it as something else.
Silver hair trailing in the wind.Eyes faintly luminous.Prismatic qi flowing around him like a quiet tide.
Drakonix glided lazily overhead, occasionally dropping low to nudge his head against Shan Wei's shoulder before launching up again with a bright "Fwee!"
Behind them, Jin Wei's heavy footsteps shook the stones rhythmically. His golden-black armor gleamed with newly etched runes, faint rings of script spinning around his wrists and ankles with every step.
To Shan Wei's right walked Ling Xueya, cloak fluttering, frost aura barely visible—a thin halo of chill that made nearby leaves rim with delicate ice.
To his left, Feng Qingyue strolled with hands behind her head, phoenix flames twinkling at her fingertips like mischievous fireflies.
Lan Qingyue kept slightly ahead, spear strapped to her back, every movement economical—like someone who had spent most of her life on battlefields rather than in cities.
Qi Longye came last, leaning on his cane, breathing slightly strained but smile steady.
For a long time, no one spoke.
The mountain wind was their only voice.
Then Qingyue broke the silence.
"So," she said casually, "on a scale of one to 'we're all doomed', how dangerous is this Heavenly Auction place actually?"
Lan Qingyue glanced over her shoulder.
"That depends," she said.
"On what?" Qingyue asked.
"On how much Shan Wei decides to embarrass everyone there," Lan replied.
Xueya's lips twitched.
"That seems… accurate."
Qingyue pointed at her.
"Traitor."
Shan Wei exhaled, amused despite himself.
"If we can get through nine days without dying, I'll worry about embarrassment after."
Qi Longye chuckled.
"That is the correct order of priorities."
First Signs of a Wider World
By noon, the mountain path opened into a high plateau, overlooking a sweeping view of the lower lands.
Shan Wei stopped.
The world beyond Cloudpierce's range stretched away in rolling hills, silver rivers, distant forests, and—far, far off—shimmering threads of light that pierced the sky like spears.
Lan Qingyue stepped up beside him.
"That," she said quietly, pointing to the far horizon, "is where the realm thins."
Shan Wei followed her gaze.
Between the distant hills, a faint curtain of blue light pulsed almost imperceptibly.
"The Vale of Azure Feathers," Qi Longye supplied. "Where the spatial gate hides."
Qingyue whistled.
"Looks peaceful from here."
Xueya's expression didn't change.
"That's usually where the lies begin."
As they descended, Shan Wei noticed things he'd never seen this close to his home realm's core.
The trees carried faint inscriptions on their bark—evidence of travelers carving wayfinding sigils.
The stones by the roadside bore unfamiliar boot prints—some shaped like claws, others too large to be human.
Twice, they passed small shrines—simple stacks of stones with burned incense and relic fragments.
Lan Qingyue paused at one, fingertips brushing the air above it.
"Travelers' remembrance," she said. "Those who left this realm and never came back."
Shan Wei touched the edge of one stone.
Three names had been carved in crooked, earnest script.
He didn't know them.
He bowed anyway.
Inter-Realm Travelers
By late afternoon, the group rounded a bend and almost collided with a caravan.
Three wagons.Two spirit beasts pulling each one—fox-like creatures with antlers of crystal.Drivers in layered cloaks.Flags fluttering from the last wagon embroidered with a spiral pattern.
The lead driver yanked back on the reins.
"Whoa—!"
Qingyue hopped aside.
"Hey—watch it!"
The driver stared.
At Shan Wei.At Drakonix.At Jin Wei.
His face paled.
"By the… stars above…"
A second figure pushed aside the wagon curtain.
A woman with silver rings in her ears, eyes marked by the faint glow of someone used to staring into strange skies.
She whispered:
"The Heaven-Breaker…"
Shan Wei stiffened.
"You… know me?"
The woman swallowed.
"No one who trades near the realms' edge has missed the news," she said. "Ka'Rath's awakening. His fall. The signal. The Calamity Heir's movement. And a nameless cultivator at the center."
Her gaze slid to Drakonix.
"And his dragon."
Drakonix puffed up proudly.
"Fwee!"
Lan Qingyue stepped slightly in front of Shan Wei, spear humming quietly, not openly hostile but far from relaxed.
"We're just passing through," she said. "Heading to the Vale."
The woman nodded slowly.
"Then… a warning."
She gestured to the distant blue curtain of light.
"Others go there too. Hunters. Opportunists. Those who want to watch history from a safe distance… and those who want to alter it."
Her eyes returned to Shan Wei.
"The Heavenly Auction Conclave will not be the only power waiting for you."
Shan Wei met her gaze evenly.
"I didn't expect it to be."
The woman searched his face.
Finally, she smiled faintly.
"You have the look of someone who's already seen his own shadow trying to devour him."
Shan Wei didn't answer.
The caravan rolled aside, giving them passage.
As they passed, he heard whispers ripple through the wagons.
"That's him—"
"The Heaven-Breaker—"
"His qi feels strange—"
"Do you think the Calamity Heir is really—"
Their voices faded as the road curved.
Qingyue gave a low whistle.
"Well. You're famous now. Congratulations."
Shan Wei sighed.
"I preferred being the nobody who swept courtyards."
Xueya glanced at him, a faint warmth in her eyes.
"Power doesn't ask what we prefer."
Lan Qingyue added softly:
"It only asks what we do with it."
Ambush on the Plain
They left the mountain path fully by dusk, entering rolling grasslands.
The moon rose early, casting silver across the fields.
Shan Wei was just thinking the place felt almost peaceful when Drakonix's wings snapped wide.
"FWRRRAA!!"
He dove low, circling Shan Wei's head.
Jin Wei stopped mid-step.
"ALERT.KILLING INTENT… CONCEALED."
Lan Qingyue's spear slid into her hand.
Xueya's frost aura sharpened, forming pale motes in the air.Qingyue's flames flared from her fingertips.
Shan Wei expanded his spiritual sense.
It hit something.
Wrong.
The wind sounded almost… muffled, as if something were swallowing its sound.
The grass in one patch ahead didn't sway with the same rhythm as the rest.
Shan Wei raised his voice.
"Whoever you are," he said calmly, "you've had enough time to stare. Come out."
Silence.
Then the ground itself shuddered.
The patch of grass ahead convulsed—then exploded upward.
Beasts crawled out.
Not normal beasts.
Wolves with bone plates growing from their jaws.Serpent forms with too many eyes.A thing with too many legs and no face, its entire front a cracked mask of bone.
Xueya's breath misted.
"These… aren't natural."
"No," Qi Longye murmured, cane tightening. "Beastbone corruption. But… twisted. Freshly touched."
"By who?" Qingyue snapped.
Lan Qingyue's lightning crackled.
"Do you even have to ask?"
Shan Wei's jaw clenched.
"The Calamity Heir."
The beasts moved—but not with a mindless rush. They circled, coordinated, like someone was tugging invisible strings behind their eyes.
Drakonix roared.
"FWRRREEEE!!"
Lan Qingyue smirked.
"I've been itching for a proper warm-up."
Xueya raised her sword.
"Stay close to Shan Wei."
Qingyue entered a low stance, fire swirling around her like a cloak.
Jin Wei stepped forward, placing his bulk between Shan Wei and the encircling beasts.
"DEFENSE GRID ONLINE."
Runes lit across his armor.
The first beast lunged.
Lan Qingyue met it halfway, spear thrust exploding with lightning.
CRACK—!!
The beast exploded into chunks of charred bone and burning flesh.
Three more followed.
Xueya moved like a line of moonlight.
Her sword traced a single arc.
Frozen limbs fell to the ground before the beasts realized they'd been cut.
Qingyue's flames erupted into a sweeping phoenix wave that melted a cluster of serpents, their many eyes popping like blistered fruit.
Drakonix spiraled overhead, releasing controlled streams of prismatic fire—not wild burns, but precise lines that drove the beasts where he wanted them.
Shan Wei watched.
Felt.
Analyzed.
Their coordination.The way the beasts dodged the strongest attacks.The way they hesitated—not from fear, but from receiving… new instructions.
"Someone's watching," he muttered.
"Where?" Lan Qingyue called, spear spinning.
Shan Wei closed his eyes for a fraction of a heartbeat.
His qi shifted.
Just for a moment, he dipped into something deeper—
A thread.
A dark line in the air connecting the beasts to…
"There," he said sharply, thrusting his hand toward a shadowed hill.
For an instant, prismatic light flickered around his fingers like translucent blades.
Fate Severance.
The air screamed.
The line snapped.
The beasts froze mid-motion.
Several collapsed outright.
The others convulsed, suddenly feral—attack patterns messy, instinct-driven.
Xueya's eyes widened.
"That technique—"
Qingyue grinned.
"I KNEW there was more in that pretty head."
Lan Qingyue's gaze sharpened in pure, focused admiration.
"He cut their control thread."
Jin Wei took a single, earth-shaking step.
"ATTACK PERMISSION: GRANTED."
Golden rings spun off his arms, slamming into the nearest beasts.
They detonated in controlled bursts of compressed force, shattering bone and scattering ichor.
The fight ended quickly after that.
Coordinated enemies were threats.
Wild beasts were practice.
When the last creature fell, the plain fell silent.
The wind returned.
Drakonix landed lightly beside Shan Wei, puffing out scorched air.
"Fwee…"
Shan Wei patted his head.
"Good control."
Drakonix preened proudly.
Qingyue sauntered over.
"You too."
Lan Qingyue walked up as well.
"And you."
Xueya came forward last.
"You cut fate," she said quietly.
Shan Wei rubbed the back of his neck.
"Barely. It's like using a blade I don't fully know how to hold yet."
Xueya's eyes gleamed.
"Then we sharpen it."
Qingyue smirked.
"Don't hog his training."
Lan Qingyue folded her arms.
"I intend to help too."
Qingyue pointed at her.
"That's the problem."
Shan Wei sighed.
Here we go…
The Masked Watcher
As they gathered themselves, no one looked high enough.
On a rocky outcrop overlooking the plain, a figure sat with one leg dangling over the edge.
A simple mask covered their face—white clay, painted with a single black teardrop under the left eye.
They'd watched the entire battle without moving.
"What do you think?" a faint voice whispered from a talisman in their palm.
The masked figure tilted their head.
"Raw," they murmured. "But promising. The boy touches fate without understanding it. The dragon is evolving. The puppet… interests me."
"And the girls?" the voice asked, amused.
A small pause.
"Loyal," the watcher said. "Dangerous. Each one a future storm."
A soft chuckle came from the talisman.
"Will you make contact?"
The watcher shook their head.
"No. Orders were clear: observe, not interfere."Their gaze sharpened on Shan Wei."But when Master Yuerin moves… I want to be there."
The talisman pulsed faintly.
"Keep watching, then. The winds are shifting."
The masked figure flicked two fingers.
Their body dissolved into shadow, vanishing into the cracks of the rock.
On the plain below, Shan Wei glanced up briefly, sensing… something.
But the presence was gone.
He frowned, then turned back to his group.
"We move until midnight," he said.
Lan Qingyue twirled her spear.
Xueya nodded.
Qingyue made a face.
"My feet hate you already."
Drakonix flapped.
"Fwee!"
Jin Wei rumbled.
"ENDURANCE: SUFFICIENT."
Qi Longye chuckled softly.
"What a noisy little army you've started collecting."
Shan Wei smiled faintly.
"Let's hope it becomes a big one."
The Azure Glow
They traveled under moonlight.
As the hours passed, the air grew thinner, lighter.
Not weaker.
Just… less attached to the ground.
Lan Qingyue narrowed her eyes.
"We're close."
Ahead, rising from a gentle valley, a veil of faint blue light shimmered—like the ghost of an aurora pinned to the earth.
The Vale of Azure Feathers.
Even from here, Shan Wei could feel the spatial ripple—a soft distortion like walking through the memory of another world layered over this one.
Xueya stepped closer to him.
"Once we pass that curtain, we won't be in the same sky anymore."
Qingyue walked on his other side.
"Scared?"
Shan Wei exhaled.
"Honestly?"
They looked at him.
"A little."
Qingyue blinked, then grinned.
"Good. Means you're not an idiot."
Xueya nodded.
"If you weren't afraid at all, I'd be worried."
Lan Qingyue added:
"Courage is not absence of fear. It's refusing to bow to it."
Drakonix landed on his shoulder, curling his body around Shan Wei's neck.
"Fwee…"
Jin Wei walked alongside, every step a promise.
"IF SKY CHANGES…MY PRIORITY DOES NOT."
Qi Longye laughed quietly.
"Well said."
They crested the final hill.
The Vale opened before them.
Blue light pooled like liquid moonwater, feathers of pure light drifting slowly through the air and dissolving whenever they touched the ground.
At its center, a ring of stone pillars stood, each carved with ancient spatial runes.
The gate.
Shan Wei inhaled.
"It's… beautiful."
Xueya smiled faintly.
"Danger often is."
Qingyue nudged him with her shoulder.
"Last chance to run back to sweeping courtyards."
He shook his head.
"Too late. I already burned that path."
He stepped forward.
As he did, a faint shiver went through the air.
So soft that only Drakonix, Jin Wei, and Qi Longye reacted.
Drakonix stiffened.
"Fwee?"
Jin Wei's eyes flickered.
"…MINOR ANOMALY DETECTED IN SPATIAL FIELD."
Longye's brow furrowed.
"I felt that too. A… misalignment."
Shan Wei paused.
"What kind of anomaly?"
Jin Wei scanned, runes rotating.
"UNKNOWN.PATTERN… FAMILIAR TO RECENT HOSTILE ENERGIES."
A chill crawled up Shan Wei's spine.
"The Calamity Heir's imprint?"
Longye's face darkened.
"…Or someone working for him."
Xueya's grip tightened on her sword.
Qingyue's flames flared higher.
Lan Qingyue's lightning danced eagerly.
Shan Wei looked at the gate.
At the distorted shimmer.
At the road he could no longer turn away from.
"We don't have the luxury of staying here," he said quietly. "If we hesitate, the ones watching will just change the rules again."
He stepped closer, the blue light reflecting in his eyes.
"We check the formation as best we can. We brace for it. And then… we step through."
Drakonix's tail tightened around his arm.
"Fwee…"
Jin Wei nodded once.
"ACKNOWLEDGED.RISK ACCEPTED."
Lan Qingyue grinned.
"Finally. A proper realm-crossing."
Qingyue rolled her shoulders.
"If this thing explodes, I'm haunting you."
Xueya's voice was soft.
"I'll be beside you. On whichever side we land."
Shan Wei smiled at them all.
"Then let's see what waits on the other side of this sky."
The blue light pulsed once.
Very faintly.
Like an eye trying not to blink.
To be Continued
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