Wind screamed down the northern ridge. From miles away the disciples stationed as lookouts could see the fortress blaze like a second dawn. The snowfields that had been pale blue moments before turned crimson beneath the reflected light. Then came the sound—an impact so deep it shook the marrow of the mountains.
"Retreat!" someone shouted, but the command was lost in the roar. The cliffs cracked; avalanches tore free. Those who looked back saw the dragon-jaw gate buckle outward, smoke and fire pouring from its teeth. From the heart of the explosion rose two flares—one red, one silver—spiraling together like twin comets before vanishing into the maelstrom.
Inside, time itself seemed to stutter.
Li Xian forced his way upright through the debris. Every stone hummed with residual power; the walls that had once been alive with sigils now oozed black light like blood. Across the ruined hall, Su Yao stood amid a storm of drifting ash, her aura steady but faint. Between them the crystal heart had shattered, shards hovering in the air, each piece glowing with the breath of something that refused to die.
A whisper rose from those fragments—no language, only hunger.
Su Yao's eyes widened. "This wasn't a vessel," she said. "It was a seal."
Li Xian extended a hand; crimson runes formed, trying to bind the light back into order. The fragments responded by trembling faster, their glow deepening into a violent violet. A pulse erupted from them, throwing both cultivators backward.
Outside, the remaining sentries saw the fortress tower dissolve into a pillar of light that lanced the clouds. The northern night split open, revealing for an instant a shape behind the storm—something vast, like the silhouette of wings stretched across the sky. Then the vision was gone, replaced by a snowstorm so fierce it erased the world.
Within the collapsing hall, Su Yao struggled to her feet. "If that thing escapes fully, the barrier around the entire continent will break."
Li Xian wiped blood from his lip, eyes burning with resolve. "Then we don't let it." He reached for her; their auras met, crimson and silver weaving into a single sphere that pressed against the unstable shards. The light screamed—high, metallic, desperate—but began to bend under their combined will.
Cracks zig-zagged across the ceiling. For a heartbeat, silence. Then the floor gave way, plunging them into a cavern of molten rock far beneath the fortress. The shards followed, raining around them like stars.
Above the collapsing ridge, the disciples watched the ground sink into itself. When the dust finally cleared, the fortress was gone—only a crater remained, pulsing faintly with red light. Somewhere deep inside that wound in the earth, Li Xian and Su Yao were still alive, holding the seal together by sheer force of will.
And in the distant north, far beyond mortal sight, Mo Tian turned from his meditation circle. He smiled as the tremor reached him.
"So," he whispered. "You've broken the first lock for me."