Night had fallen over the shattered ruins of the Celestial Archives.
But Feng Mo didn't rest.
He couldn't.
The black carriage on the horizon had vanished into the mist—but its presence lingered like an omen. The Nine Wraith Envoys weren't like the Star Reaper. They didn't hunt prey.
They extinguished bloodlines.
"I need more strength. The Sixth Vein won't be enough."
He knelt beside the scorched remains of the library and unfolded the next piece of Yun Lian's forbidden map.
A single location was circled in blood-red ink:
The Soul-Forging Plains.
Where cursed cultivators are reforged or destroyed.
The Land Where Souls Burn
Located beyond the Sect's exile borders, the Soul-Forging Plains were once used by rogue clans to temper rebellious prodigies.
An open battlefield of corrupted qi storms, living flame winds, and soul-tempering geysers.
Only the broken dared enter.
And only the transformed ever left.
Feng Mo arrived by dawn. The air sizzled. The very sky bled heat, and bones littered the cracked terrain.
The Blood Requiem Space pulsed in excitement.
The black tree released a crimson lotus bud from its branches.
The Seventh Vein sleeps here, it whispered in his mind.
Trial by Flame
To awaken the Seventh Vein, Feng Mo would have to enter the Flame Cistern—a volcanic soul pit at the heart of the plains. It was said to devour one's identity, burning away lies and weakness.
Feng Mo stood at the rim of the cistern.
"No formation. No shield. I go as I am."
And he jumped in.
The heat didn't burn his skin.
It burned his truth.
Memories surfaced and blistered:
His cowardice when his mother first coughed blood.
The day he begged the sect elder to spare him humiliation.
His moments of hesitation… fear… compromise.
"I don't want to be weak."
"Then let your weakness die."
The Bloodstorm Lotus bloomed fully within the Requiem Tree.
The Seventh Vein: Ashborn Requiem
The pain reached a crescendo—then silence.
Feng Mo opened his eyes in the heart of the Flame Cistern.
Skin cracked. Robes ash.
But eyes glowing with gold and crimson fire.
Seventh Vein — Ashborn Requiem Awakened.
Allows user to absorb flame and soul pain to create "Ash Avatars," reborn from battle essence.
He raised his hand—and a flaming silhouette emerged from the ground, an echo of one of the enemies he had slain. It bowed.
Ash Avatar: Phantom Star Reaper created.
He smiled.
Now he could fight… not alone.
An Unexpected Visitor
As he exited the cistern, a shadow stepped forward.
A young woman in tattered white, hair like silver silk.
Her face was veiled, but her voice was sharp:
"You carry the Requiem Tree," she said. "I was sent to kill you."
She drew a blade—but didn't strike.
"But I've seen what the sect does to those who awaken their truth."
"So I ask you this once—"
She pulled off the veil. Her eyes were burning with vengeance.
"Let me fight for you instead."
Feng Mo didn't hesitate.
"What's your name?"
"Ling Xue. Former assassin of the ninth envoy. Now… yours."
The Army Gathers
With Ling Xue by his side, and the Ashborn Avatar following silently, Feng Mo set up camp at the edge of the plains.
The Blood Requiem Space had evolved.
The black tree now bore seven full Veins, each glowing with its own power.
And from within the space, a new gate began to crack open—
A path to the Eighth Vein… the Vein of Resentment.
But before he could step through—
He felt it.
A soul quake from the east.
A sect army was moving. Thousands of soldiers and cultivators, carrying the banners of judgment.
The Nine Wraith Envoys were no longer hunting.
They were coming to exterminate.
To be continued…
🔥 Chapter 13 Summary:
Feng Mo enters the Soul-Forging Plains to awaken the Seventh Vein: Ashborn Requiem.
Gains the ability to create Ash Avatars from defeated enemies.
A former enemy, Ling Xue, defects to his side.
The sect has begun mass mobilization to destroy him completely.
The Eighth Vein stirs, but war now looms.