Beneath the weight of stars and the aftermath of judgment, the Spirit Fountain's chamber was no longer a hidden relic—it was a battlefield, a sanctuary, and a revelation.
Li Tianming stood with celestial fire flickering in his gaze. The Starshard pulsed slowly above him, its light now a steady heartbeat of silver-gold brilliance. The cultists who had gathered—marked with inverted stars and blood-sworn oaths—had recoiled from him as if his presence burned. Even Elder Ji, once so calm and composed, now bore sweat along his brow and uncertainty in his stare.
Yet silence held them all—until a single voice shattered it.
"Your defiance will doom the sect."
It was Ji again, voice cold. "You've brought the war here, boy. And we are the ones who will clean the blood."
Tianming stepped forward, blade still sheathed.
"No," he said. "You brought the war the moment you made a pact with the stars that do not sleep."
Mei'er stood beside him, no longer trembling. Her hair lifted faintly in an unseen wind, and her spirit beast aura—once faint—now crackled visibly. The Starshard had changed her too. From girl to flame. From lost to chosen.
Behind them, the other five members of the Moonlit Alliance stood firm. Wei Jian, his spear leveled. Feng Qingxue, her sword gleaming with blood-bound resonance. Shuang'er, with her cold detachment and silent focus. Yun Wuxin, the healer, wrapped in silver qi, eyes narrowed with hidden depth.
Twelve against six.
Odds that once would have seemed fatal.
But now?
The system chimed.
> [Starforge Aura Active. Party Buff Engaged: +12% Focus, +15% Spirit Resistance, Lunar Bond Resonance at 2.7%. Host Potential Threshold Broken. Tier 2 Evolution Unlocked (Pending Completion Conditions).]
Tianming took the first step.
Ji raised his hand.
"Kill him."
---
Moonlight Bloodshed
The battle was instantaneous.
Dark-robed figures moved like whispers of night, their techniques fluid and brutal. Black qi lashed out, shaped into crescent blades and serpent coils. One disciple leapt from the shadows, twin daggers aimed for Tianming's neck.
He parried without effort.
> [Celestial Rend – Activating... Success. Efficiency: 128%]
A shockwave of raw astral energy erupted from his blade, severing the assaulting disciple mid-leap. The body burst into ash, dissolved not by the blade but by the shard's rejection.
"These aren't humans anymore," he muttered.
"They gave themselves away," Mei'er replied, her voice distant. "To something that calls itself 'the returning light.' But it's not light—it's hunger."
Across the chamber, Qingxue and Wei Jian fought side by side—an unlikely pair, but a devastating one. Her sword, forged of jade-tempered spiritsteel, weaved with finesse, while his spear delivered crushing ripostes. One disciple fell, then another.
Yun Wuxin stayed behind, whispering healing chants, her hands glowing. A wounded sect guard—one of the few uninvolved in the conspiracy—lay groaning, and she sealed his punctured lung with qi threads. Her breath came fast, but her hands never shook.
Tianming faced Elder Ji.
Ji's aura rose like a storm. "You think the stars chose you because you're strong?"
"They chose me," Tianming replied, "because I said no."
The clash sent sparks flying.
Ji's spirit blade—Moonflame Edge—crashed into Tianming's own. Each strike rippled with destructive force. But Tianming wasn't just fighting—he was evolving.
With every clash, his system recalibrated.
> [Analyzing Opponent Style... Pattern Acquired. Reflex Timing Adjusted: +0.21s. Projected Win Likelihood: 76%.]
He pressed the advantage.
Ji tried a forbidden technique, one that carved the air into imploding crescents.
Tianming countered with his own:
> [Lunar Form IX: Nightbreaker Symphony. Efficiency: 142%]
His blade split into nine illusions, each striking from a different plane. Ji blocked three, redirected two—but four struck true.
The elder fell to one knee, coughing blood.
"You… cannot stop the rising moon," he gasped.
"No," Tianming said, pressing the blade to his throat. "But I can eclipse it."
He struck.
Ji vanished in a final pulse of black light.
Not dead.
Teleported.
> [Hostile Escape Detected. Tracking Lost. Marking Last Known Qi Signature. Countdown Until Aura Deterioration: 8 hours.]
Tianming exhaled.
Only three enemies remained. They dropped their weapons.
The battle was over.
---
Aftermath and Revelation
The chamber now felt heavy with quiet. Mei'er stepped to the shard and placed a hand upon it. Her eyes rolled back for a moment as visions flooded her.
When she spoke again, her voice was not her own.
> "The throne is cracked. The mirror shatters. The third moon weeps blood. The first eclipse is near."
She fell.
Tianming caught her.
Qingxue looked on, horror in her voice. "She's seen something. A prophecy?"
"No," Tianming said. "A memory."
Wuxin stepped closer, inspecting Mei'er. "She's stable. But her spirit was pulled into something… older."
Tianming rose, facing the others.
"We can't stay here. This chamber—this shard—will draw others. We need to seal it again."
"But we need its power," Wei Jian said.
"And we'll come back," Tianming replied. "But on our terms."
They sealed the chamber using the runes from the scroll, binding the passage with Mei'er's residual energy. Only one bonded to the shard could open it again.
As they left, Tianming felt the eyes of the cosmos watching.
---
The Council Summons
Two days later, the Grand Council convened.
Five elders. Twenty inner disciples. A handful of outer hall masters. Tianming stood before them, alone—though the alliance watched from the shadows.
Elder Su Lanyin called the session.
"Li Tianming. You stand accused of unlawful entry into forbidden chambers, unsanctioned combat, and tampering with sealed archives."
Tianming bowed. "I do."
Murmurs echoed through the hall.
"But I also bring evidence of corruption, of infection, and of betrayal within our sect. I stand as witness—and survivor."
He presented the scroll. The recordings from the system. The names. The auras.
Gasps filled the chamber. Some elders turned pale.
"Impossible," one muttered. "Elder Ji would never—"
"Then where is he?" Tianming asked.
Silence.
Su Lanyin finally nodded. "The Moonlit Alliance will be formally recognized as a sect task force. You will continue investigating—but you act in the sect's name now."
Tianming bowed again.
As he left the chamber, whispers trailed him. Some of awe. Others of fear.
He knew it had begun.
---
Love in the Quiet
That night, he sat beside Mei'er's sleeping form in the Moonlight Garden.
She had not woken since the battle.
But her aura shimmered.
He took her hand.
"I don't know what you saw," he whispered. "But I promise I'll protect you. And whatever's coming… we'll face it together."
She stirred.
"Don't promise things you can't keep," she murmured.
He smiled. "Then let me start with one I can."
He kissed her hand.
She opened her eyes. "Then promise this. When the second eclipse comes… don't face it alone."
"I won't," he said. "Not ever again."
---
[End of Chapter 13: Heart's Shadow]