The mist thickened as Zian pressed forward through the canyons of bone. Every step sent ripples through the soul-rich soil beneath him, and the deeper he went, the more twisted the qi became.
It was wild, ancient—primal.
He paused at the edge of a crater, where the bones gave way to scorched obsidian. A symbol burned faintly in the rock—a fang encircled by three broken stars.
Zian knelt and touched it.
"This isn't just the Realm's energy," he muttered. "This is… calling to something."
The moment his fingers met the sigil, qi surged upward violently, forming a pillar of black flame that engulfed him.
Memory Realm – Echo of the First Sovereign
Zian opened his eyes to a different world.
He stood in a jungle sky-empire, suspended in the heavens on floating islands of stone and ivory. Towering beasts walked among humans clad in bone armor and flowing flame robes. Above them all hovered a beast the size of a mountain.
A titanic wolf-dragon with six tails, its body coiled in star-forged chains.
Its eye opened—just one—and Zian felt its gaze pierce every memory he held.
"You… carry the Broken Cycle," the beast said, its voice deep and weary.
Zian stood frozen. "What… are you?"
"I am the one who shattered Heaven. The Sovereign Beast Core was forged from my heart… and scattered to prevent my rebirth."
"And now?"
"You have awakened the first shard."
The beast reared its head, and the sky trembled.
"But you are not yet worthy."
Suddenly, black lightning rained from the sky. Zian felt himself pulled upward—weightless—and then…
Spirit Realm – Present
He gasped awake, drenched in sweat, the sigil beneath him gone.
In its place stood a single object:
A black egg.
Small. Smooth. Radiating immense qi.
Zian reached out instinctively. The moment his fingers brushed it, the beast cores within his body hummed in unison. His corpse flame surged. The egg responded—
With a faint heartbeat.
"It's alive," he whispered.
"And it's… mine."
Suddenly, the wind shifted.
Footsteps echoed from the cliffs above.
Zian turned, eyes narrowing.
"I figured I'd find you first," said a voice like silken poison.
From the mist stepped Ren Fei, robed in green and gold, holding a chained hook-blade laced with blood-seeking inscriptions. His eyes were calm—but the beast core at his chest glowed crimson.
"You're not the only one hunting Sovereign fragments, Shen Zian."
"You want the egg," Zian said quietly.
"No. I want your core. That… thing inside you. The way it warps qi. You shouldn't exist."
"Funny," Zian said. "People keep saying that. I keep surviving anyway."
Ren Fei snapped his fingers.
From the canyon walls leapt shadow hounds—beasts with skull faces and stitched flesh. They snarled in unison, their qi tinted by corpse talismans.
Zian didn't hesitate.
He picked up the egg and slid it into his spiritual pouch, hand igniting with blue-violet corpse fire.
"If you think I'm giving you anything," he said, "come and take it."
The hounds charged.
Zian met them with Panther Step, dancing between fangs and claws, striking back with precision—Tremor Pulse into Fang of the Forgotten, his flames devouring the stitched flesh.
But Ren Fei wasn't idle.
He leapt, blade spinning toward Zian's neck.
At the last instant, Zian ducked, activating his Molten Veil, coating his body in a defensive aura. The blade scraped across it with a shriek of burning metal.
"Not bad," Ren Fei smirked. "Let's see how long you last."
Elsewhere – Spirit Realm, Jade River Region
Mei Xuan sprinted across a bridge of glowing lotus petals, chased by a serpentine flame beast.
She turned mid-step, unleashed a shard of frost qi, and froze the beast mid-lunge.
Her breath was ragged. Her eyes burned.
"Zian," she whispered. "I hope you're still alive."
From the lotus bridge, she looked west.
Where a single pillar of black flame had risen only moments before.
Back in the Canyon
Ren Fei's cloak smoldered. Blood dripped from his ribs. His smile had faded.
Zian's corpse flame flickered low, but steady. One arm hung limp—likely dislocated—but he stood unbowed.
"You're not like the others," Ren muttered. "You've already been broken."
Zian's eyes burned with resolve.
"That's why I won't lose."
He clenched his good hand and drew on a new beast echo—one born from the realm itself.
From the egg?
From the memory?
He didn't know.
But as he punched forward, the world around him howled—
A Sovereign Beast Howl.
Ren Fei screamed as the force crushed him back into the canyon wall, blood splattering behind him.
Silence fell.
Zian exhaled.
"I don't need Heaven's approval," he said to the egg in his pouch. "I have something better."
"You."