The wind howled still over the heights of the Night Chain, but Lian Yu was no longer there. He was now traversing the misty ravines of the Ancient Trail, a land where even shadows feared to move. His body, wrapped in his black robe, seemed to float above the ground, as though it were no longer entirely made of matter.
Since the Awakening of the Blade of Silence, the natural laws trembled at his passing.
Beneath his feet, the vegetation withered. Not from heat or poison, but from absence. Lian Yu did not fly; he glided through the world like an impious thought. The mist twisted, refusing to touch him. Even the creatures of the night, masters of this region, watched him from above, trembling, unsure whether to flee or sink into the earth.
City of Ashes.
That was his destination.
A territory between two powers — neither fully virtuous nor corrupted. A fragile border where the laws were dictated by the strongest, and the memory of ancient fires held sway. They said that souls could get lost there, that blood pacts held more value than oaths sworn before the heavens.
For Lian Yu, it was a step. A place to disappear, understand, and evolve.
But the world, it seemed, had other plans.
A few leagues lower, in a damp valley where gnarled trees intertwined with black swamps, a group of cultivators had gathered around a corpse.
— "Devoured from the inside… This is the third victim this week," growled a man in shattered jade armor.
— "This isn't the work of a demonic beast. The heart has been reversed, as if it had been consumed by its own karma…" whispered a woman wearing a copper mask.
— "It's coming from the north, I tell you. From the Night Chain."
All fell silent. The word froze their blood.
— "A wandering cultivator? A practitioner of the Obscure Path?"
— "No… something else. Someone."
Above them, invisible to the eye, Lian Yu stood in silence, hidden by the veil of his technique. He was watching. Not out of curiosity, but out of necessity. The world was already speaking of him, like a whisper that could not be suppressed.
He descended without a sound.
When his feet touched the ground, the birds stopped singing. The leaves froze. And one of the cultivators shivered, though he did not know why.
"Too soon," thought Lian Yu. "I must slip away."
But just as he turned, a howl split the valley. A beast appeared — three meters tall, part serpent, part crow, a corrupted spawn of the Souiled Mountain.
The cultivators screamed, drawing their artifacts. The shadow struck its wings, breaking a tree in two.
Lian Yu sighed. He did not want to fight. But the world insisted.
He raised his hand.
The Blade of Silence appeared, as black as the creature's throat. He took a step.
Silence fell. True silence. Absolute. As though the world had ceased to exist.
Then, with a single gesture.
The beast froze. Trembled. Then collapsed into a pile of ash.
The cultivators recoiled. Lian Yu hadn't even turned his head toward them.
— "Do not speak my name," he whispered.
And he disappeared.