The mists were thicker tonight.
Raizen stood at the edge of the Forgotten Ravine, where the moonlight barely touched the earth, and the trees whispered in a tongue only the cursed could understand. The ruined temple behind him pulsed faintly with abyssal energy, spreading corruption like silent ripples through the valley.
> Abyss System Update
[Fear Network: Elder Yun – Link Terminated]
Cause of Termination: Mental Collapse → Spirit Core Implosion
Reward: +4 Abyssal Essence | +1 Passive Skill Unlock
> New Passive Unlocked: [Soul Echoes – Tier I]
Description: "The last scream of the dead lingers in your mind. You may replay it to shatter the will of others."
A thin smirk curled on Raizen's lips.
He closed his eyes—and Elder Yun's final moments came flooding in: the old man clutching his head, screaming at phantoms, kneeling before a memory, begging a shadow for mercy. And then silence.
Raizen opened his eyes again.
"One down," he whispered. "Four remain."
---
Vermillion Cloud Sect – Inner Sanctum
Lian Fei sat before the sacred flame, meditating, but her brows were creased. The spiritual fire, which once burned steady, now flickered with instability. Its light was dimmer than before, its essence agitated.
She opened her eyes and sighed.
> "Yun is dead. I can feel it. But the heavens didn't respond. No divine retribution. No karmic backlash. Only… silence."
That wasn't normal. The death of a Spirit Sea Elder should've sent ripples through the Sect's karmic array.
Unless…
Someone outside the karmic system had killed him.
She stood, grabbed her jade talisman, and left the chamber. Her steps were quick. Her instincts sharper than ever.
She wasn't ready to admit it yet—but in her heart, the name haunted her:
> Raizen.
---
Meanwhile – Outer Sector Forests
Raizen moved silently through the night, his robes darkened with abyssal threads, almost blending into the mist. The trees here remembered him—remembered how he once used to train here as an outer disciple, eating rotten spirit fruit and dreaming of the inner sect.
Now, his dreams were gone.
Only vengeance remained.
> System Notification: [Target – Lian Fei]
Emotional Anchor Detected: "Regret. Shame. Past Connection."
Corruption Potential: High
Reward: ??? (Variable based on outcome)
Raizen paused at a hill where he once sparred with her.
She'd been the only one who hesitated when they crippled him. The only one who looked away when his dantian was shattered.
But she didn't stop them.
"You watched me bleed," he muttered, "and called it mercy."
> System Alert: Quest Branch Available – [Broken Mercy]
A. Kill Lian Fei – Corrupt her spirit, gain direct essence.
B. Spare her – Bind her to your will through guilt and control.
Raizen stared at the options.
For a long moment, neither button was pressed.
Then he turned and vanished into the woods. "Let's see how far guilt can bend before it breaks."
---
That Night – Vermillion Cloud Disciplinary Pavilion
Lian Fei entered the inner chamber where Elder Mo, one of the senior advisors, awaited her. His beard was white, his eyes cloudy—but his mind sharp as ever.
"You've come because of Yun," he said without turning.
"You sensed it too?" Lian Fei asked.
"Of course. His soul lantern didn't just dim. It cracked."
She nodded grimly. "There was no energy backlash. No trace of the killer."
Mo turned to her then. "There's only one type of entity that kills like that."
"System cultivator," they said in unison.
Lian Fei's fingers clenched around the jade at her side. "I think I know who it is."
Mo frowned. "No one returns from the Abyssal Valley."
"Raizen did."
The elder was quiet.
"He shouldn't have," she continued. "But we broke him. And we left him there. If the Abyss answered… we might've created a monster worse than any demon beast."
Mo stood silently, walking to the scroll rack and pulling a tattered record.
"Then let's assume you're right," he said. "How do you stop someone who uses fear and regret as weapons?"
Lian Fei had no answer.
---
Deep in the Ravine – Ruined Temple
Raizen sat once again in lotus position, surrounded by a ring of whispering shadows. The Abyss System's interface floated silently before him.
> Soul Essence: 6
Available Corruptions: 2
Fear Network Expansion Available
He reached out and touched the mist, shaping it into a map of the Vermillion Cloud Sect. Five flickering red lights hovered within — the betrayers. Yun's light had vanished.
Next: Elder Mo.
Then… Lian Fei.
Raizen placed a finger on Lian Fei's mark and held it there.
A ripple surged from the temple, racing silently through the roots and rocks, slithering toward her spirit.
> Whisper of Dread – Activated
Target: Lian Fei
Status: Sleeping
Effect: Invasive Nightmare Seed Implanted
---
That Night – Lian Fei's Dream
She stood on the execution platform once again, watching as Raizen was bound in chains.
The sect elders pointed at him.
She turned to leave.
"Fei."
The voice stopped her.
She turned — Raizen stood there, not broken, but towering. His eyes weren't human anymore. They were voids.
"You watched," he said, his voice like a chorus of the dead.
She opened her mouth to speak—but no words came.
He raised a hand.
The platform cracked. The
chains turned to serpents. The sky bled.
And then—
She awoke, gasping, drenched in cold sweat.
Outside, dawn had not yet come.
And yet she knew—
Something was watching her.