The Silent Wards trembled as the spectral figure stepped forward, its luminous robes billowing as though caught in an unseen current. The murals along the chamber's walls flickered with life, shifting between past and present, as if the very essence of history was awakening. Jiang Chen stood unwavering, his gaze locked onto the celestial scholar before him.
Xiao Yue instinctively placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, her body tense. "A test," she whispered, her breath visible in the cold air. "This place was not meant to be entered by just anyone."
The scholar's voice, both ancient and weightless, filled the chamber. "Only those who carry the burden of wisdom may claim what has been sealed. Prove your worth, or be lost to the echoes of forgotten time."
Without hesitation, Jiang Chen stepped forward. "Knowledge is not a weapon," he said calmly. "It is a light that must be wielded with wisdom, or it will blind those who hold it."
The scholar raised a translucent hand, and the room convulsed. A ring of ethereal fire encircled Jiang Chen, separating him from his companions. The talisman at his waist flared with light, resonating with the energy surging through the chamber. A series of stone platforms rose from the ground, each inscribed with celestial symbols, glowing faintly.
Lao Yun's eyes narrowed. "This is a test of memory and truth. Jiang Chen must choose correctly, or the wards may collapse upon him."
Before Jiang Chen, three paths materialized, each leading to an altar holding a different relic. One glowed with golden inscriptions of celestial law, another shimmered with dark runes, while the third pulsed faintly, its energy nearly indistinguishable from the chamber's whispers.
The scholar's voice echoed once more. "Choose the truth that shapes destiny."
Jiang Chen inhaled deeply, focusing not on the relics themselves, but on what they represented. His sealed memories stirred—faint recollections of celestial debates, sacred oaths, and the weight of knowledge misused. His exile had been punishment for seeking forbidden truths, but had the celestial order truly understood what they had lost in casting him down?
Xiao Yue clenched her fists, watching helplessly. "Jiang Chen…" she murmured. "You have always carried the truth within you."
A spark ignited in Jiang Chen's mind. He stepped forward and chose not the glowing artifacts, but the altar with the faintest energy—the one that had nearly gone unnoticed. The scholar's eyes gleamed as the chamber erupted with light.
A voice, now familiar yet distant, resonated through Jiang Chen's soul. "The forgotten truth is not the loudest nor the most revered—it is the one buried beneath the weight of history."
The trial had been passed.
The ethereal fire receded, and the murals solidified into their final form. Jiang Chen's talisman pulsed, absorbing new knowledge, fragments of the Celestial Chronicle lost to time. The scholar gave a slow nod. "You walk the path of those who seek not power, but purpose. The knowledge of the Forgotten Order is now yours to bear."
As the figure dissolved into shimmering light, the Silent Wards trembled once more, not in resistance, but in recognition.
Jiang Chen turned to his companions, his expression unreadable. "We now hold a truth that was meant to remain hidden."
Xiao Yue stepped beside him. "Then we must protect it."
The Vanguard had uncovered another fragment of history—but with it, they had also awakened forces that had long remained silent. And in the shadows beyond the Wards, something had begun to stir.
The storm was not over. It had only just begun.