"It is not bark you see—it is knowledge engraved by light and flame."
—Elder Calen of Soulshroud
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I. Origins of the Shroudspire
Planted from a living root gifted by the Stellar Codex, the Shroudspire was originally no taller than a disciple's waist. But the soulflames of the sect, the purified energy of countless restored souls, and the presence of sealing formations around it caused it to rapidly evolve.
Over time, the root adapted to its environment and began showing signs of independent sentience:
Its bark glowed with astral veins during major celestial alignments.
Its leaves hummed in resonance with incoming demonic presences, often before anyone else could detect them.
It started marking names on its bark—those of future heroes, traitors, and lost souls.
Eventually, the sect realized: the Shroudspire was no longer just a relic. It was now a watcher, guardian, and teacher.
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II. The Shroudspire's Abilities
1. Early Detection of Fifth-Realm Energy
Before any scout or Lone Star noticed a dimensional breach, the Shroudspire's core would pulse three times, triggering defensive seals across the Hollow and alerting all sect branches via astral signal roots.
2. Memory Archive
Those who meditated beneath its branches could access fragmented visions of past battles, including those recorded by the Codex itself. This allowed new cultivators to train against ancient demonic tactics in dream-borne trials.
3. Stellar Judgment Bark
When someone with hidden corruption walked too close, the tree would sprout obsidian thorns from its base. In one instance, a disguised Fifth-Realm hybrid was impaled mid-step, exposing a massive infiltration attempt.
4. Creation of Starseeds
Once every few decades, the Shroudspire shed silver-gold seeds, which, when bonded with a cultivator, enhanced their soul purity and resistance to demonic influence. These rare artifacts became the heart of the sect's elite guard: The Hollow Crown.
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III. Evolution into a Realm Guardian
By its 120th year, the Shroudspire began to speak—not with words, but with visions, dreams, and glowing runes across its roots. It chose certain disciples and showed them glimpses of stellar events, future threats, and even secret knowledge from the Fifth Realm's ecosystem.
In time, the Codex granted it an official status:
> "Henceforth, the Shroudspire is to be regarded as a Realm Guardian-Class Entity. Harm it at your peril."
It was now interfaced directly with the Codex, relaying and receiving information across realms. Though rooted in the First Realm, its presence cast light across all four.
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Chapter: The Starseed Prodigy
"He was born with silver in his breath, and stars whispering in his veins."
—Shroudspire Root Script, Entry #1127
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I. The Boy Named Auren
He was found crying beneath the Shroudspire on the eve of a red moon. No name, no origin—just a shimmering silver birthmark shaped like a star on his chest.
The tree did not reject him. It bloomed with starlight, a phenomenon never before seen.
He was raised by Elder Veyra, taught the three Pillars of the Soulshroud Sect by age five, and by ten, he was already sealing the souls of minor demons with a glance.
Auren became the first disciple in over a century to be given a Starseed by the Shroudspire at age twelve.
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II. Unnatural Talent
Unlike others, Auren did not cultivate in silence—his soul resonated with celestial harmonics. His every advancement caused minor shifts in the sealing formations of the sect. Some feared him; others adored him.
By fifteen:
He developed a technique called Soulbind Symphony, harmonizing three sealing runes into a melody that could freeze even a fourth-realm demon's core.
He resisted demonic mental influence completely—even from corrupted cultivators.
He began dreaming in a strange language, later confirmed by the Codex to be native to the Fifth Realm's upper courts.
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III. The Shroudspire's Blessing
On the night of his sixteenth birthday, the Shroudspire ignited in pure astral fire and revealed a new chamber hidden within its core.
Auren entered and remained within for three days. When he emerged:
His eyes glowed with deep constellation light.
His energy signature bore markers not from the Fourth Realm—but from something above.
The Codex labeled him:
> "Auren Starborn — Potential Future Star Sovereign. Possible Fifth-Realm Hybrid Reversal Specimen."
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IV. Auren's Mission
At seventeen, Zaxton himself took notice.
He left a message for Auren:
> "You are not a tool. You are not a weapon. You are proof that our realms can create light strong enough to rival even the birthfires of the Fifth. Walk carefully. But walk forward."
Auren now leads a new branch of Soulshroud, called The Eclipse Choir, a mobile unit dedicated to suppressing demon-touched cities, training new purifiers, and preparing for the coming breach—a time the Shroudspire has long prophesied.
Auren and the Withered Moon Province
"A name is more than a word. Sometimes it is an echo… or a warning."
—Sovereign Myrus of Mt. Fai
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I. The Mission Brief
Auren had risen quickly.
When reports reached the Codex of Withered Moon Province—a sealed and long-forgotten territory in the southwestern wastes of the Third Realm—shuddering under a soul plague with no demonic trace, the decision was unanimous:
Send Auren.
The province had been lost for thirty years. Entire sects had vanished. Not even the starborne scouting souls returned.
What made this different was the celestial pattern. The stars refused to shine over the province, and the sky above it shimmered with a cracked, false moon—a soul artifact gone wrong.
He left alone. Just himself, his shadowflame owl, and the silent song of the Codex humming in his bones.
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II. The Withered Province
Auren stepped into a nightmare:
Cities stood frozen mid-breath, citizens like statues held in time.
The rivers ran with echoed memories—liquid fragments of lost souls.
Every whisper in the air called him by name, but not his own… another version.
This wasn't demonic. This was spiritual collapse.
The Codex stirred.
A forbidden name emerged: Moonwraith Sovereign—a once-revered spirit cultivator who had tried to anchor his soul across an entire province. He failed. And became something else.
A ghost king without mercy. And he was searching for a vessel.
Auren was the perfect fit.
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III. The Soul War
The Moonwraith came not in fury, but in familiarity—taking the form of Auren himself, smiling, offering a shared destiny: immortality, legacy, dominion.
But Auren rejected him.
The battle was soul against soul, spirit against spirit:
He conducted the Soul Symphony Requiem, forming a choir from the dying echoes of the frozen.
Faced mirrored specters of his parents—twisted, warm, and false.
Unleashed a sealed past incarnation, a glimpse of an Emperor of the Fifth Realm, bearing the same name—Auren.
In the end, the Sovereign was shattered and bound within a starbone crystal, and the people were released from his grasp. The province would now become a Soul Sanctuary, dedicated to rehabilitation and purification.
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IV. The Invitation to Mt. Fai
From the red clouds of the heavens came a scroll wrapped in phoenix silk and marked with a solar sigil.
> "Come to Mt. Fai. The name you carry has stirred the stones."
—Sovereign Myrus
When Auren arrived, the famed Mt. Fai loomed tall—its stone steps alive with celestial energy. And standing before him were the Seven Sovereigns.
Sovereign Myrus, warden of forbidden knowledge, stepped forward first.
His eyes narrowed.
> "Your power is exceptional. But what troubles me… is your name."
Auren blinked.
> "Auren."
> "Indeed. You share the name of a former Emperor. Auren IX. He ruled centuries ago before retreating into seclusion… into silence."
The other Sovereigns murmured.
Myrus continued:
> "Some say he ascended beyond even the Fifth Realm. Others… that he became a broken god. If your name is more than coincidence, fate may be circling back to where it once began."
Then came Zaxton, burning brighter than the mountain itself. He stepped forward, and without words, offered a gift:
A flute carved from the rib of a fallen Spirit King, etched in the lifeblood of the realm—The Spirit Patriarch Flute.
> "This is a weapon of command, clarity, and cruelty. Spirits will answer. Minds will break. Use it as both blade and balm."
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V. The Spirit Patriarch Flute
Its power was immense:
Summon and command spirits from near realms.
Enter dreams, influence thoughts, banish or bind.
Shatter seals on the soul or imprison spirits inside bodies.
Its final note—forbidden—could cause the living and dead to exchange places for one breath.
As Auren accepted the flute, Sovereign Myrus muttered softly:
> "Let us hope the stars did not send back a ghost."