Into the Forbidden Lands
The wind in Ghost Valley wasn't wind—it was whispering chi.
Jayden walked slowly, his boots crunching over white bones buried in cracked earth. This place had been cursed long before he was born, a battlefield turned graveyard, then abandoned by even the bravest martial sects.
Above him, a black sun pierced the mist.
He carried the Dragon Mirror within his spirit sea now. Each step further into the valley made it pulse faintly, like it was warning him.
But he pressed forward.
The scroll hadn't lied.
The presence that called him was real—and ancient.
The Bone-Faced Monk
He found the shrine just before dusk. A circle of stones. Incense long dead. A single figure knelt before a tombstone, unmoving.
Jayden stopped.
"You've come," the man said, without turning.
His face was hidden beneath a bone-white mask. His robe was torn, his aura warped. He smelled of ash and something colder—decay, maybe.
"Who are you?" Jayden asked.
The man rose.
"I am Brother Noctis. Keeper of the Dragon's Regret. Disciple of your father's shadow."
Jayden's breath caught. "My father trained you?"
"No. He saved me. And failed me. As he failed the rest of the Twelve Heirs."
Jayden blinked. "Twelve?"
Noctis finally turned. The mask was etched with ancient runes, his voice solemn.
"You are not the only child of the Dragon Lineage. But you may be the last."
The Blood Pact Revealed
They sat by a shattered altar while Noctis spoke.
"Your father was the strongest of us. We called him the Fire Crown—burning, brilliant, always ahead. But there were others. Twelve in all. Born from different bloodlines across the empire. Brought together to restore the old dynasty."
Jayden frowned. "What dynasty?"
"The House of the Dragon Form. It ruled when gods still walked among men."
Jayden's pulse quickened. That name again. Always whispered. Always hidden.
"Why didn't he tell me?" he asked.
"Because he broke the pact. He walked away to protect you. But that meant the seal over the Dragon Tomb began to crack."
Jayden stood up.
"The Tomb That Breathes Fire…"
Noctis nodded. "Your Mirror saw it. You know what lies beneath."
"A beast?"
Noctis shook his head. "A god."
Challenge from the Raven Sect
A rustling sound interrupted them.
Jayden turned.
A line of figures in black armor emerged from the mist—Raven Sect warriors, known for necrotic chi and forbidden techniques.
At the front stood a girl with silver hair and a third eye tattooed on her brow.
"You were not invited," Noctis growled.
She smiled. "We make our own invitations."
Her gaze landed on Jayden. "You're the boy who beat Kai Chen."
Jayden raised his guard. "And you're?"
"I'm Raven Yan. Pill master of the Raven Sect. And I challenge you to a refining duel—right here, right now."
Jayden hesitated. He wasn't ready. His flames were still recovering from the last duel.
But then he looked at her eyes.
Cold. Sharp. Calculating.
She wouldn't let him walk away.
"Fine," he said, igniting his god-tier flame. "Let's see if the dead can still feel shame."
Pill Duel in the Mist
They both summoned portable cauldrons, locking them with spiritual seals.
The rules were set.
Three ingredients.
No god herbs.
First to produce a Fourth Grade pill wins.
Raven Yan's chi was eerie—like wind passing through a grave.
Jayden felt it clawing at his senses, trying to pull apart his concentration.
He shut it out.
Focused inward.
His god-tier flame sparked gently beneath the cauldron as he performed the rotations from the Heavenly Spiral Cycle, one of the techniques he barely succeeded in mastering last week.
The herb essence fused, but Yan was already ahead. Her cauldron screamed as dark flames danced over blackened roots. Her speed was monstrous.
Jayden reached for a risky maneuver—Essence Folding—compressing two properties into one. The cauldron shuddered, almost cracking.
His hands bled from the pressure.
But he held.
In the final moments, both stood up, pill cores hovering.
"Reveal," Noctis said.
Yan's pill hovered, gleaming violet.
"Shadow Bloom Pill," she said proudly. "Grade: 4."
Jayden's hovered above his palm, glowing with crimson-gold light.
"Dragon Spine Marrow Pill," he said.
The judges—three spirit guardians watching silently—glowed red.
"Grade: 4… Peak Harmony."
The valley went silent.
Yan cursed. "Impossible. No one perfects that pill—!"
Jayden stepped forward.
"Dead things can't refine what they don't understand."
He crushed her pill with a single finger.
Yan growled and vanished in a cloud of raven feathers.
The First Gate Opens
After the duel, Noctis took Jayden deeper into the tomb.
They arrived before a sealed gate—twenty feet tall, guarded by twin dragon statues.
"You passed the Mirror. You passed the duel," Noctis said. "Now, prove your will."
"What's behind this gate?"
"The first of many fragments. Your father left them for you. And your enemies are closing in."
Jayden placed his palm on the stone.
The Dragon Eye on his chest lit up.
A crack echoed through the air.
The gate began to open—fiery breath slipping out like smoke from a giant's lungs.
Noctis whispered, "Be warned. Beyond this gate… lies the memory of a dragon's rage."