Here is **Chapter Sixteen** of *Rebirth of the Dragon Mount: The Demon Wishbearer*.
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Chapter nine
A Midnight Duel Beneath the Bone Sky**
The air beneath Demonbone Sect's Night Arena was frozen in breathless silence. Midnight cloaked the sect grounds, yet hundreds of outer disciples whispered from the shadows, drawn by one name:
**Lin Yu.**
He stood at the center of the obsidian dueling circle, clad in loose black robes, his arms scarred, blood dried from training and ambushes. Across from him stood **Wei Tian**, the strongest of the outer disciples—a cultivator at the peak of the Bone Forging Realm, known for his cruelty and his ambition.
"You stole a technique that should've been offered to the inner sect," Wei Tian spat. "You're filth. A beast pretending to be a man."
Lin Yu didn't speak.
He let his silence harden the air.
The crowd thickened with quiet bloodlust.
Then Wei Tian struck—fast as lightning, blade glowing with the Qi of the *Rending Serpent Style*.
Lin Yu whispered.
"*Void Chain Descent.*"
The world shattered.
He vanished.
Chains of void rippled across space as Lin Yu reappeared behind Wei Tian like a demon born of nothingness. Before the crowd could gasp, a crimson flash split the darkness.
Wei Tian screamed, falling to his knees. His arm—gone.
You—what are you—?" he gasped.
Lin Yu stepped forward, eyes glowing void black.
"The future."
With one palm strike, he shattered Wei Tian's core.
The crowd fell silent.
From that moment forward, the outer sect whispered not with scorn—but **fear**.
*"He walks the void."*
*"He's no disciple. He's a demon in disguise."*
*"No one survives fighting him twice."*
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The Traitor's Voice**
Inside the Grand Pavilion of Elders, a quiet conversation unfolded behind sealed arrays.
"You saw it yourself," Elder Mo whispered. "That movement art… it didn't belong to our sect. He conjured it from the abyss."
"We must act," said Elder Fang. "Before Mei Lan corrupts the boy any further. His power is dangerous, and the reward from the Upper Plane—"
"Is enough to elevate us for three generations," another elder finished.
Sealed contracts were drawn. A covert missive was prepared.
One sentence inked in blood:
*When he leaves the sect to train, he will not return.*
The betrayal was set.
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The Girl Who Chose the Sky**
Far above in the Celestial Dome of the Crystal Sky Palace, **Xue'er** walked alone in her starlit chambers, a sack over her shoulder, robes traded for common traveler garb. Her usually serene expression was cracked—haunted by truths buried too long.
"Father…" she whispered, staring at the jade token that bore the name **Long Tian**.
A knock echoed.
Her mother—**Mu Yuelan**, the cold sect master—entered. Her eyes, usually emotionless, now shimmered with restrained sorrow.
"You found the scroll."
Xue'er nodded. "You lied to me."
Yuelan sighed. "I did what I had to. If they knew you were his daughter, the Celestial Elders would mark you too."
"And now?" Xue'er asked, voice shaking.
"Now… you must run."
Yuelan pressed a vial into her hand—**Nightflash Dust**, which blinds even celestial senses.
"Go to the Middle Plane. Seek the Demonbone Sect. Find your father. But never look back."
"Will you be safe?" Xue'er asked.
Yuelan didn't answer.
She kissed her daughter's forehead—first time in years.
"He still wears your eyes," she whispered.
Then Xue'er vanished in a burst of dust and light—fleeing the heavens to find the man they called demon.
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The Watcher in the Black**
Atop the Shadow Ridge, **Mei Lan** watched Lin Yu's duel from afar, sipping tea brewed from deathroot petals.
A small smile tugged at her lips.
"They plan to betray you, little flame. And yet… you keep burning brighter."
She turned as a spirit beast slithered into the clearing—a messenger wyrm.
"From the Upper Plane," she mused. "Again."
She crushed the message without opening it.
"You'll have to kill me first."
Her eyes flared with madness, and a darkness stirred behind them—one even the Upper Plane once feared.
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Night Falls, Blood Waits**
Lin Yu stood alone on the cliff's edge that night, the Void Chain Descent still humming in his veins. He clutched the bloodstained scroll left by the assassin.
The wind brought whispers of war.
His wish system pulsed.
> \[Warning: Traitorous intent detected within 100-meter radius.]
> \[New Function Unlocked: Foresight Thread (Limited – 1 use per realm)]
> \[Reveal next fatal betrayal attempt.]
Lin Yu's eyes narrowed."So it begins."
He didn't fear betrayal.He **expected** it.
Because dragons do not kneel.