Far North – Edges of the Floating Sector
The journey took four days. No roads. No trails. Only craggy cliffs and ancient formations that bent space subtly, making every step feel longer than the last.
By the fifth day, they stood at the base of the Celestial Rise — a sheer wall of gray stone stretching into the clouds. At the peak, floating just beyond sight, hovered a massive structure.
A citadel built on nothing.
Dark towers.
Sweeping bridges.
Silent.
Still.
Unreachable.
---
Sang Lian squinted up at it. "That's the place?"
Jiang Xuan nodded. "The Citadel of Hollow Sky. Built by the Demon Crown's architects. It floats without anchor, bound by ancient qi currents."
"How do we reach it?" she asked.
Emei pulled a small talisman from her sleeve — a cracked jade disc pulsing with weak light.
"The original teleportation gate was shattered centuries ago," she said. "But fragments remain. I found one."
Jiang Xuan tilted his head. "Where?"
Emei pointed to the edge of the cliffside.
"Buried in a shrine of wings."
---
The shrine sat in the shadow of a broken cliff, covered in moss and overgrowth. Its stone steps led to a half-collapsed archway shaped like a bird in flight. Runes faintly shimmered beneath the vines.
Inside, the talisman pulsed brighter.
Sang Lian ran her hand over the stone. "Feels like blood was spilled here."
Jiang Xuan crouched beside a shattered statue.
He brushed away the dust — revealing a face half-carved in serene smile, the other half shattered and blackened by fire.
"This was a gateway priest," he said quietly. "They guarded the Sky Path."
Emei stepped into the center of the shrine and placed the talisman on a shallow pedestal.
The floor trembled.
The air rippled.
And above them, a crack of light split the sky.
---
A rift opened — not violent, not loud. Just there. A vertical slit in the air, humming softly.
Beyond it: clouds.
Wind.
A bridge of light.
Sang Lian whistled. "Looks like we've got a way up."
Jiang Xuan stepped forward. His mark burned faintly.
The gate accepted him.
---
Bridge of Light – Ascending to the Hollow Sky
They walked in single file, wind curling around them from all directions. The bridge was narrow but firm underfoot — made of condensed qi and old formations.
Below them… nothing.
Just endless blue.
Jiang Xuan didn't speak.
But his gaze never left the shape of the citadel ahead.
As they neared, the details sharpened.
Stone towers with clawed rooftops.
Balconies like wings.
Massive gates with carvings of falling stars and black crowns.
It was beautiful once.
Now it looked asleep.
---
They reached the outer wall — and the moment Jiang Xuan stepped onto the landing platform, the gates trembled.
Runes lit up.
Not in threat.
But recognition.
The doors slowly creaked open.
Sang Lian raised an eyebrow. "It remembers you."
Jiang Xuan stepped forward.
"It should."
---
Inside the Hollow Sky
Dust floated in beams of weak sunlight. Long hallways stretched into shadow, lined with statues of generals and war beasts.
Emei touched the nearest wall. "The wards here are still active. They were built to respond to a single bloodline."
Sang Lian glanced at Jiang Xuan.
"Yours."
He didn't deny it.
They passed a grand hall — pillars reaching into the dark above. At its center: a black pedestal.
Upon it sat a crown.
Not gold.
Not jeweled.
Just bone — carved into thorns.
Sang Lian stared.
"That was yours?"
Jiang Xuan didn't move.
"I never wore it."
----
Inside the Hollow Sky – Throne Corridor
The moment Jiang Xuan turned his back on the bone crown, the lights in the corridor dimmed.
Faintly.
Subtly.
Not as if the citadel rejected him — more like… it held its breath.
Sang Lian whispered, "That thing—why didn't you wear it?"
Jiang Xuan walked on. "Because once I did, I couldn't take it off."
---
They moved deeper into the fortress.
The path led through echoing halls layered in dust and time. Giant stained-glass windows flickered with fractured light, each panel depicting a battle from the Demon Crown's old wars.
Emei paused beside one.
It showed Shenlian — taller, more monstrous — standing atop a mountain of corpses, one hand raised, holding a flaming sphere.
Sang Lian stepped beside her.
"Is that the Heavenly Core?"
Jiang Xuan stopped, his voice calm.
"No. That's the First Sect's sun. He devoured it."
---
Farther in, they reached what looked like a war council chamber.
A round table.
Empty chairs.
Symbols carved for seven generals — each now wiped clean.
Sang Lian noticed something etched into the center of the table.
Words. Not runes.
Just a phrase.
"We served the crown, not the man."
She read it aloud. "What does it mean?"
Jiang Xuan didn't look at her.
"It means they died for something I became, not someone I was."
---
Emei stiffened suddenly.
She turned her head toward the darkened stairwell behind the throne.
"There's movement," she said.
Jiang Xuan didn't hesitate.
He drew Echo Fang.
Its edge hummed like a tuning fork in a cathedral.
The others followed.
They descended into the lower chambers.
---
The Heart of the Citadel
The steps wound down tightly, then opened into a vast chamber deep within the sky fortress — a training hall, wide and circular, its walls scorched from countless battles.
And in the center…
A figure stood.
Tall.
Barefoot.
Wrapped in red silk robes that fluttered despite the still air.
A blindfold covered his eyes, but his head turned toward them immediately.
Sang Lian stepped forward. "Another remnant?"
"No," the figure said, smiling slightly.
"I am alive."
---
He bowed slowly toward Jiang Xuan.
"I have waited."
Jiang Xuan's eyes narrowed. "Name."
The man tilted his head. "I was called the Red Monk once. But to you… I was Fang Yao."
Emei flinched. "Fang Yao? The traitor general?"
The monk chuckled. "All things are perspective."
---
Sang Lian's blade was already in her hands. "You betrayed the Demon Crown during the collapse."
Fang Yao shrugged. "I survived."
He stepped forward, just one pace.
"But when the world burned… I stayed behind. The others ran. Died. Hid. I remained in the sky."
"For what?" Jiang Xuan asked.
Fang Yao's smile faded.
"To see if you'd come back."
---
The two stared at each other — neither moving.
Then Fang Yao's expression softened.
"I see it now," he said. "You aren't him. Not yet."
Jiang Xuan said nothing.
Fang Yao bowed again, low this time.
"I offer myself freely," he said. "To serve, to fight… or to die here."
Sang Lian glanced at Jiang Xuan. "Are you going to kill him?"
Jiang Xuan stared at Fang Yao.
Then said—
"No."
---
He sheathed Echo Fang.
"You'll march with me. But if you betray me again…"
Fang Yao smiled. "You won't need to say it."
Emei whispered, "This is dangerous."
"Everything worth doing is," Jiang Xuan replied.
---
Later, under the open sky
They returned to the citadel's highest spire — the wind stronger now, clouds below them glowing in silver moonlight.
Fang Yao stood on the balcony beside Jiang Xuan.
"You've awakened parts of the world that have long been still," he said.
"I know."
"You will awaken more."
Jiang Xuan looked out over the mountains.
"I need to."
Fang Yao turned toward him, blind eyes somehow still piercing.
"Then don't hesitate next time."
---
End of Chapter 25