The wind howled over the jagged cliffs of Hollow Wind Valley.
Torchlight glowed like a serpent winding through the canyon path — a slow, deadly procession of armored mercenaries, dark-robed assassins, and Qi-bloated monsters. At their head rode a hulking brute with iron rings nailed into his skin, dragging chains behind him that hissed with spirit poison.
Broken Nail.
He was a walking fortress. A butcher of sects. And now… a bounty hunter.
> "Shen Liun," he growled, cracking his neck. "You have something the world wants. And I'm here to tear it out of your bones."
---
Above, hidden in the cliffs, Liun stood watching.
Beside him, Ning'er was calm, arrow nocked.
Ranyi crouched by a ridge, feeding signals to hidden Hollow Wind disciples below.
The old shrine elders had blessed this one battle with everything they had left—spirit formations, hidden flame talismans, and a battlefield rigged to collapse inward like a mouth of flame.
But Shen Liun wasn't relying on tricks.
He was relying on himself.
And his Ashen Verdict.
---
Broken Nail's forces reached the first stone marker.
The moment his boot crossed the glyph, the entire cliffside exploded with flame.
Dozens of hidden runes activated at once—binding chains of Qi lashed out like whips, searing through armor, halting their advance.
Screams echoed in the canyon as several mercenaries were yanked off their feet, pinned to the stone by spiritual restraints.
Liun didn't wait.
He leapt from the cliff with Dawnmourne in hand, flame trailing like a comet behind him.
He struck the earth like a meteor.
The ground shattered.
A wave of golden fire rippled outward, and his Judgment Seal burst into life mid-air—hovering above the battlefield like a divine eye.
Enemies tried to rush him.
They were fast.
But his fire was faster.
One, two, three blades shattered on impact. A seventh cultivator's killing intent turned against him, causing his core to rupture from within. His own rage, reflected back upon him.
Ning'er's arrows rained from above—each one laced with wind-slicing essence, each one blinding or staggering the enemy just long enough for Liun's fire to finish them.
> "You wanted the Ashen Flame?" Liun roared. "Then burn with it!"
He swept Dawnmourne in a wide arc, igniting the battlefield with golden spirals of flame that didn't spread randomly—they circled targets, judged them, then collapsed inward, consuming only the guilty.
Ranyi appeared from the rear flank, tearing into assassins with rapid blade strikes and activating anti-stealth talismans that lit up invisible foes like beacons.
For a moment—it looked like victory.
Until the ground cracked—and Broken Nail finally entered the fight.
---
The brute's aura crushed the air like a hammer.
He strode through flames like they were fog, Qi surging around him in chaotic pulses. Chains flew from his back like serpents, each tipped with a different venom—soul rot, bone melt, mind poison.
"You're no god," he snarled, eyes locking on Liun. "You're just a boy with borrowed fire."
"I don't borrow," Liun said, stepping forward. "I forge."
Broken Nail swung his chain, and the air split.
Liun blocked—but the force sent him skidding back ten steps.
Another chain came—this one alive with screeching wraiths.
Liun spun, flame shield blooming around him as the spirits shattered against his aura.
But Broken Nail was already on him—swinging a fist wrapped in condensed Qi thick enough to crater stone.
Liun met it head-on with Ashen Verdict.
The seal activated mid-strike, and Broken Nail's punch slowed.
His own force turned against him—bones straining, tendons tearing.
He roared and twisted, resisting it. "You think judgment can bind me? I've killed kings!"
Liun's eyes blazed. "Then I'll bury one."
With a final step, he slammed Dawnmourne into the ground, channeling the seal's full power.
> "ASHEN VERDICT — SOULBURDEN!"
The seal erupted into layered spirals of flame and gold, latching onto Broken Nail's limbs, heart, and spirit root. Every sin he had committed—every life taken for greed—crushed down upon him.
Broken Nail fell to one knee, blood pouring from his eyes.
Still, he tried to rise.
> "Impossible…"
"You were judged," Liun said coldly. "And found lacking."
He raised his blade one final time.
And ended it.
---
Silence fell.
The battlefield lay in ruin—flames smoldered in rings, smoke curled into the air, and Broken Nail's corpse slowly turned to ash beneath the Judgment Seal's final glow.
The Hollow Wind elders stepped forward, awe written on their ancient faces.
One knelt.
Then another.
Until dozens did.
Liun sheathed Dawnmourne and looked over the smoking battlefield.
His voice was steady. Calm. Clear.
> "This is no longer about survival."
"This is reclamation."
"Of truth. Of blood. Of the legacy the heavens tried to erase."
"If you believe this world must be judged—stand with me."
And in the silence that followed…
They did.
---
Far away, in a high chamber of white jade, the First Elder crushed the edge of his throne.
"Broken Nail has fallen," an informant said.
The Elder's lips curled.
> "Then it's time to send someone worse."
"Awaken the Crimson Sword of the South."
"Send him… to kill Shen Liun."
---