The sky tore open at dawn.
A rift, jagged like a scar across the heavens, pulsed with ancient light. Thunder echoed without clouds. Cultivators from all sects stood in stunned silence as a gate descended from the tear—a circular obsidian ring inscribed with primordial runes that defied understanding.
A single phrase echoed through the minds of all who watched:
"Enter the Fallen Realm. Only those who defy destiny shall return."
---
Skyreach Plateau – Central Arena
Elder Wuyin of the Void Spirit Temple stepped forward, his expression grim.
"This trial… is not of our making. It predates the Sect Tournament. This is a test from the higher planes."
Gasps spread among the crowd. Even the usually composed masters of the Four Great Sects exchanged troubled glances.
One of the Divine Envoys, clad in silver scale armor, addressed the crowd.
"The gate will choose twenty. None may interfere. Those chosen must walk the path alone."
Before anyone could react, streams of golden light shot from the obsidian gate—piercing the chests of select cultivators.
Jing Hao was nearly blinded as one beam struck him. "Wha—?! Me?!"
Another struck Ruyue.
And the final beam landed on Xuantian's heart, where the Celestial Seal briefly flared to life.
As the light wrapped around them, Xuantian heard a voice within his soul. Cold, ancient, and heavy with memory.
"You who were sealed by the gods. Will you climb once more?"
He did not answer.
But his silence was enough.
---
Fallen Realm – Unknown Space
The twenty chosen found themselves standing on a desolate plain beneath a red-black sky. Fragments of shattered mountains floated in the air. Rivers of light flowed upward instead of down. The laws of this world were twisted—broken.
Xuantian inhaled sharply.
"This… isn't a realm. It's a grave."
Ruyue stood nearby, her face pale. "I sense… remnants of celestial energy everywhere. Was this a battlefield?"
"No," Xuantian whispered. "This was a world."
Before them, five paths unfolded. Each pulsed with different auras—rage, sorrow, longing, despair, and silence.
A stone tablet rose from the ground, words seared into it with fire:
"To ascend, you must conquer yourself."
---
Trial One – The Path of Sorrow
Xuantian stepped into the path of sorrow. The air grew thick, each breath dragging memories from his soul.
He saw himself kneeling before tombs—his sect destroyed in a night of fire and betrayal.
He saw disciples begging for mercy. A blade in his own hand.
He saw her.
The woman he had loved once… now forgotten by time.
A voice echoed, not from around him, but within:
"You abandoned them all… in pursuit of eternity. Would you trade power for a single day with them again?"
Xuantian closed his eyes. "No."
"I live so that their memory survives."
The world shuddered. The illusion broke.
He emerged from the path, eyes darker, heart steadier.
---
Trial Two – The Path of Rage
Jing Hao, wielding twin sabers, howled as illusions attacked from all sides.
Phantoms mocked him, tore at his pride, repeated every failure.
"You're not a genius. You're a burden."
"You'll always be in Xuantian's shadow."
He fell to one knee… then grinned.
"Yeah? Then I'll be the brightest damn shadow you've ever seen."
With a surge of Qi, he cut through the illusions, burning with a fiery determination only he could forge.
---
Trial Three – The Path of Silence
Ruyue walked a path with no sounds—only stillness.
Time stood still.
She stood on a frozen lake, staring at her reflection, watching as it split into three versions of herself.
The warrior. The child. The killer.
Each asked her the same question: "Who are you, without your blade?"
She dropped her sword.
And whispered, "Someone who chooses."
The lake cracked—and the silence shattered.
---
Center of the Realm
Only ten emerged from the five paths.
The others were gone—either lost to their trials or consumed by the realm's twisted rules.
As the survivors gathered at a floating shrine, they were met by a colossal figure—half-human, half-statue, its eyes blindfolded, wings shattered.
"You have walked the paths. You have faced yourself."
"Now face the truth."
The sky exploded.
Fragments of divine weapons fell like meteors, and with them descended avatars of ancient gods—half-forgotten deities who once ruled the skies before the modern cultivation world was born.
Each chosen cultivator was paired with an avatar.
A final trial—combat, not of body, but of will.
---
Xuantian vs. The Forgotten Flame
Xuantian stood before a burning colossus, its voice thunderous.
"I am the Flame That Consumed Heaven. Your seal was forged to imprison me. You are my jailer."
Xuantian raised his hand.
"I am your end."
The fight shook the realm.
The colossus unleashed divine fire that could erase souls.
Xuantian, channeling the Celestial Seal, defied it—turning flame to frost, turning death into silence.
At the final moment, he unleashed Celestial Art – Ninth Echo: Void Beyond Memory, shattering the colossus into ash and silence.
---
End of the Trial
The survivors were cast out of the Fallen Realm, their bodies collapsing on the arena floor of Skyreach Plateau.
Crowds gasped.
Of the twenty who entered, only six returned.
Jing Hao. Ruyue. Xuantian.
And three others—none with the same light in their eyes.
Xuantian slowly stood, his robes scorched, eyes glowing faintly.
He had seen the past.
Fought its remnants.
And in his soul, something had changed.
The second Seal had fully awakened.
But above them, in a hidden mountain temple, a figure watched through a scrying mirror.
The twisted lotus glowed again.
And the demonic voice whispered:
"Now he is ready. The final key is in motion."