The Fallen Leaf Clan's revival was swift but fragile. Under Lan Yi's command, farmers-turned-fighters drilled in Shadow Steps and Starfall Formations, their movements synchronized like a seasoned army. Yet whispers of dissent festered among the elders.
"These tricks won't protect us from real cultivators," Elder Wen spat, eyeing Lan Yi's scrolls with disdain. "Where is your 'strategist' now? Hiding like a rat?"
Lan Yi's fist clenched. "He gave us the tools. It's our duty to wield them."
Xiao Mei sat by the clan's rebuilt hearth, her fingers tracing runes in the ashes. The symbols pulsed with memories she could no longer grasp:
Li Wei laughing as they fled a collapsing ruin.
A crown of light burning atop her head.
When Li Wei approached, she recoiled. "Stay back. I don't… I don't know you."
"You did once," Li Wei said softly, placing a Memory Lotus—a rare herb that stabilizes Qi—beside her. "This might help."
Xiao Mei crushed the lotus underfoot. "I don't need your pity."
That night, Xiao Mei's runes blazed to life, searing a map into the ground. The clan gathered, murmuring as the symbols coalesced into coordinates: The Tomb of the First Sovereign, buried beneath the Shattered Peaks.
Lan Yi frowned. "This is a trap."
"No," Li Wei said, studying the runes. "It's an invitation. And a warning."
Deep in the forest, a figure cloaked in obsidian shards knelt before a cracked phoenix core. Lord Kael's voice slithered from its depths:
"The girl's runes are the key. Claim them, and my resurrection begins."
The figure—Jin Rou, her body now a vessel for Kael's will—nodded. "The tomb will be her grave."
Journey to the Shattered Peaks
The path to the tomb was a gauntlet of Rune Guardians, stone automatons activated by Xiao Mei's presence. Li Wei dismantled them with surgical precision:
Guardian 1: He shattered its core by striking the Twelfth Meridian Node, a weakness Zhao Tian had documented.
Guardian 2: Xiao Mei's runes flared, freezing it mid-lunge. "Do you ever stop showing off?" she muttered.
At the tomb's entrance, a massive door bore the inscription: "Only the Sovereign's heir may pass."
Xiao Mei pressed her palm to the stone. The door crumbled, revealing a hall lined with skeletal warriors clutching Rune Blades.
The air thickened with the scent of iron as the warriors stirred. Lan Yi stepped forward, but Li Wei halted her. "They're not here for you."
The warriors ignored the clan, bowing to Xiao Mei. "Welcome home, Sovereign."
Xiao Mei staggered, clutching her head as visions flooded her:
A throne room drenched in blood.
Zhao Tian standing over her past life's corpse.
"You… killed me," she whispered, turning to Li Wei.
He met her gaze unflinching. "And you've hated me for it ever since."
At the tomb's heart lay a skeletal figure clutching a Rune Crown, its jewels dark. When Xiao Mei touched it, the crown ignited, searing her brow.
Xiao Mei's past self, the Rune Sovereign, forging an alliance with Zhao Tian.
Zhao Tian betraying her, stealing her crown to fuel his wars.
"You monster," Xiao Mei hissed, her runes lashing out at Li Wei.
He didn't dodge. The runes grazed his cheek, drawing blood. "I won't ask forgiveness. But I need you to trust me now."
Jin Rou struck as the clan fled the collapsing tomb. Her obsidian blade aimed for Xiao Mei's crown—but Li Wei intercepted, the phoenix sword shattering on impact.
"Pathetic," Jin Rou sneered. "Your power is borrowed. Hers is eternal."
Xiao Mei roared, the crown's energy vaporizing Jin Rou's arm. As the tomb collapsed, Kael's laughter echoed: "You've awakened her, Zhao Tian. Now watch her destroy you."
The clan escaped, but Xiao Mei's crown glowed ominously. Lan Yi eyed Li Wei. "Who are you?"
"A shadow," he replied. "Nothing more."
In the forest, Jin Rou's body twitched, her eyes now burning with Kael's hellfire. "The game changes now."