The sun had barely risen when Feng Mo left the sect's outer borders, clad in a gray traveling cloak that concealed his presence. He moved swiftly, using qi compression to vanish from spirit-detecting talismans. The map from Yun Lian's letter led him westward, toward the ravines that marked the ancient boundaries of the sect—lands so cursed even spirit beasts refused to tread.
The locals called it the Cradle of Silence.
Not because it was quiet.
But because nothing ever screamed there… even when it should.
By noon, he stood before a chasm split through the earth like a wound left by a god's blade. Jagged black stones pierced the mist. Rotting trees leaned like crooked sentinels, whispering secrets in the wind.
"This place is drenched in soul echoes."
Feng Mo touched the ring of blood jade. His Blood Requiem Space pulsed.
As he stepped into the ravine, the very air changed—time felt slower, qi ran thinner, and the whispers grew louder.
Not long in, he stumbled across the remains of an ancient camp. Ruined flags, half-buried skeletons, and shattered weapons littered the gorge.
Suddenly—
SCREEE—
A blade sliced through the mist.
Feng Mo ducked, pivoted, and countered with Soul-Eater Fang.
Clang!
His blade met a pitch-black glaive wielded by a figure in tattered robes. Its eyes glowed like dying embers.
"You are not worthy of the Fourth Vein," it rasped.
"Leave, or be unmade."
The figure was no mere remnant—it was a Wraith Guardian, bound to test those who entered.
"I carry the name of Feng Mo," he growled. "The first three Veins have risen. I am the vessel."
The wraith paused.
"Prove it."
Then it attacked again—faster, fiercer, relentless.
Feng Mo fought defensively, but the guardian adapted quickly, mimicking his forms. The mist thickened around them. Every strike drained qi from his limbs.
Then—deep within—the black tree in his blood space stirred again.
A new bud formed at its center.
And it bloomed mid-battle.
Fourth Vein Awakening: Echo Rebirth Unlocked.
Reforge technique from soul echo and reshape qi memory.
Suddenly, time slowed. Feng Mo saw the guardian's technique unravel—he could feel the memory of its strikes, the rhythm of its battle, and its origin technique.
He copied it mid-motion.
His blade shimmered with ghost light, and he matched the Wraith's final attack—
CRACK!
Both blades shattered.
The guardian dropped to its knees.
"You are of the Fourth Vein," it said. "Go deeper."
As it crumbled into dust, its final essence flowed into Feng Mo's palm.
Memory Absorbed: Phantom Severing Glaive Technique.
Grade: High-Human (Upgradeable)
At the ravine's heart stood a shrine.
Not grand. Not glowing. Just silent.
But as Feng Mo approached, the ground bled. Literally. Red mist seeped from the soil, and dozens of old spirit marks flared around him—soul brands, remnants of fallen cultivators.
Then he heard a voice.
Not Yun Lian's.
Not his own.
"You came late… but you came."
"I am the last bearer of the Fourth Vein."
"Step forward… and witness the truth of our fall."
From the shrine, a spectral figure emerged—old, cloaked, but noble.
A dying soul.
"I was once called Bai Xian. Betrayed by my sect, sealed here to die in silence."
He raised a single, broken blade.
"I've waited for the next Vessel to finish our requiem."
Feng Mo's heart thudded.
This was not a battle for power.
It was a battle of memory.
The old soul raised his hand.
"Let our legacies clash."
Feng Mo entered a Soul Duel, his consciousness ripped into a mirrored realm of thought and pain.
He saw Bai Xian's memories:
Friends betrayed.
Requiem Vein sealed.
Silent execution.
But he didn't flinch.
He showed his own:
Whispers in the blood.
Mother's fading smile.
Refusal to break.
The shrine began to quake.
Then, at last, Bai Xian wept.
"You are worthy."
He pressed his palm to Feng Mo's chest.
"Accept my fragment."
A torrent of energy surged.
The Fourth Vein fully awakened.
Echo Rebirth perfected.
Phantom Severing Glaive upgraded to Earth Grade.
Feng Mo's soul imprint evolved.
And then—silence fell.
When he opened his eyes again, the shrine was gone.
Only a single stone remained, carved freshly:
"Here fell the old."
"Here rose the new."
Feng Mo — Vessel of the Fourth Requiem."
But above, on the cliffs—
A figure watched him.
Porcelain mask.
Robe of shadows.
Eyes of void.
The Star Reaper had arrived.
To be continued…
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⚡ Chapter 10 Summary:
Feng Mo enters the Cradle of Silence and awakens the Fourth Vein: Echo Rebirth.
Gains the Phantom Severing Glaive technique.
Meets the dying soul of Bai Xian, the last Fourth Vein inheritor.
Proves himself through a Soul Duel of memory and legacy.
The Star Reaper, elite assassin from the sect, is now watching him.