[Yao Tower · Outer Ring Defensive Line]
Flames and ash churned through the night sky. The runes on the tower's body flickered erratically, like a heart-vein on the brink of rupture.
Below the stone steps, countless Yao-armored troops stood in formation, war banners snapping hard in the wind.
Li Yan advanced in full armor. His plate was streaked with soot and blood, yet his gaze remained steady as bedrock.
He had just led his forces to seal off the western streets when, through the blaze, he saw several familiar figures cutting through the chaos toward him.
That white robe, tinted pale gold by firelight. Hair sweeping past smoke and cinders.
It was her.
You Qing, also Gu Xingyu.
Behind her stood the Four Yao and the Three-Generals' corps. Si Mo Heng and You Qing walked side by side, their expressions different, yet equally unshakable.
Firelight crossed between them like a mark of fate, still burning after countless wars.
Li Yan froze for a long breath, then finally spoke, voice rough but sincere.
"Xingyu… you're finally back."
She lifted her eyes. Her smile carried the calm of someone who had crossed the furnace and survived.
"It's been a long time, Li Yan."
The wind swept by, dragging smoke away, lifting ash from their armor like old dust shaken free.
Luo Ye arched a brow, breaking the brief stillness.
"Save the reunion for later. If Yao Tower keeps spiraling, the whole city dies with it."
Lin Lie had already unfurled his Golden-Yao warstaff. His voice cut clean and cold.
"Form up. Take the tower as the heart-vein and stabilize the flow pulse!"
Cang Yuan spun up Water-Yao power, mistlight surging in his palm.
"This aura… it's like someone's stealing the Yao Source."
Sang Qi answered in a low voice.
"If the array-veins are taken, Yao Capital becomes a phantom prison."
You Qing turned, eyes fixed on the chaotic, stuttering light at the tower's peak. Her gaze hardened.
"Then we'll be the ones to make this city remember… the direction of light."
Firelight painted every face.
The Five Yao stood shoulder to shoulder again.
After the Holy Temple War, this reunion was no longer fate's arrangement. It was a choice they made together.
Flames roared. Yao Tower rose against the scorched night, its runes flickering and spasming like a maddened heartbeat. Each pulse trembled through the earth; fire crawled along the stone, turning into streams of burning light.
The Five Yao, the Three Generals, Si Mo Heng, and You Qing stood aligned before the tower.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath, as though waiting for their decision.
Li Yan drew his greatsword. The blade caught the fire and threw back a blood-red glint.
"All units hold the outer ring! No one enters the tower without my order!"
The Yao-armored troops answered as one, a thunderous roar that echoed beneath a fractured sky.
Luo Ye spread his twin rings. Flame ignited in his palm.
"This fire isn't right… it's like someone planted an inverse-veil sigil in the tower's core."
He looked up; the tower's peak flashed a sinister red. "The Fire-Yao array has been hijacked. If we don't stop it, all of Yao Capital turns to ash."
Lin Lie moved without hesitation, carving array lines in the air, voice cold and steady.
"I'll rebuild the lock-heart vein. Cang Yuan, use the water-vein to suppress the blaze. Sang Qi, steady the breath with Wood-Yao. Li Yan, hold the western array wall!"
Cang Yuan let out a light laugh. Water-Yao surged into flowing mist, coiling around the tower's body and forcing the flames down by a fraction.
"It's been a while. Fighting side by side again… almost makes this chaos worth it."
Sang Qi flicked his fingers. The hairpin-whip snapped out as Wood-Yao became vines climbing the tower's stone.
"Wood births metal, restrains fire. Focus on breath." His voice stayed grounded. "Don't let the flame swallow the core!"
Fire and mist interwove overhead, light and shadow colliding like tides.
And then—
Si Mo Heng stood at the tower's base, cloak whipped up by the wind, eyes like blades, locked on the unstable red glare at the top.
"This isn't simple rune failure," he said low. "It's the aura of a Rift-Yao. Someone is controlling the illusion-veins from above."
Li Yan lifted his gaze; his eyes sharpened instantly.
"Then we cut our way up there."
With his command, armor clashed like a storm. The Three Generals moved to secure the four directions; the troops formed a ring.
Firelight struck thousands of blades, glittering like an inverted galaxy.
You Qing raised the pocket watch. The Yao Seal on its surface bloomed with fivefold light.
The radiance flowed like water, drawing everyone's power into a single shared rhythm.
She closed her eyes, voice a quiet incantation.
"By Yao as the tether, return chaos to the heart… awaken the Yao Array!"
"—Array, rise!" they answered together.
Fivefold power resonated at once. Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth: five colors braided together.
The tower's runes were pressed down beneath the light; the shaking steadied.
But the next instant, a deep boom rolled from the peak—
BOOM!
Red-black Yao light erupted from the tower's core like a vein lashing back. The entire tower jolted; stone shattered and fell. Illusion-flames burst outward, roaring into countless beast-shapes.
Cang Yuan lifted his blade to block, waterlight surging.
"Phantom beasts… taking form?! They're using Yao Tower as an altar!"
Lin Lie's voice dropped even colder.
"No. A Rift-Yao has bound the tower with soul-sacrifice—trying to seize the Source itself!"
Fire and windstorm slammed through the air. Inside the tower, the light-veins twisted out of control; the core crystal began to crack.
You Qing pressed one hand to her watch. Her eyes held like steel, her voice clear as a blade.
"Whoever is taking it—this city is the heart of the Yao Realm. We will not let it fall."
She looked up. Fire burned in her gaze—something close to destiny, and even closer to resolve.
The Five Yao stood together. Their light surged again.
Luo Ye's Fire-Yao flames unfurled into wings. Cang Yuan's Water-Yao condensed into a shieldflow.
Lin Lie locked the pulse-heart with golden runework. Sang Qi mended the tower's fractures with Wood-Yao breath.
Li Yan, clad in Earth-Yao armor, anchored beneath the core, resisting the tower's recoil alone.
Si Mo Heng drew his sword, voice low and heavy.
"I'll take people up the tower. The Rift-Yao is above."
His gaze brushed You Qing; his tone was steady. "Qing'er. Don't let the light go out."
You Qing nodded once.
"Go. We end this battle together."
Night wind howled. Above Yao Tower, fivefold light tangled with Rift-flame.
A moment where destiny crossed blades—
Light and shadow, truth and illusion, faith and fate—
finally colliding inside the tower's heart-vein.
[The Battle at Yao Tower · Upper Levels]
At the tower's summit, the wind screamed like thunder. Red-black flames rolled through the air, tearing the night open. Half the tower was devoured by fire; shattered stone fell like a rain of burning meteors.
Deep within the core, the Rift-Yao revealed itself—
a figure in tattered black robes, a "Yao Crystal Heart-Core" embedded in its chest, corroded by stolen power. Vein-light ran wild across it, like countless lives twisting in pain.
"So you've come… Five-Yao bearers."
The voice sounded like a mirror cracking, male and female overlapping, threaded with the whispers of resentful souls.
Si Mo Heng stepped forward with sword in hand, eyes still as ice.
"You stole the array-veins, broke the heart-core—trying to swallow the Source?"
The Rift-Yao chuckled, extending a withered finger. The tower shuddered at once.
"The Yao Realm has been bright for too long. It's time to return to black. You think guarding light lets you defy fate?"
Before the words even landed, hundreds of phantom beasts burst from the core, lunging as shadows of condensed power.
Luo Ye's rings spun. Flames flared like a phoenix spreading its wings, sweeping dozens of phantoms into fire.
"You talk too much. If you've got the guts, stop hiding behind illusions!"
Cang Yuan surged in next, long blade carving waterlight. Water-Yao became a silver river, shredding the beasts into scattering mist.
"Water quenches fire… and cuts through lies. Move!"
Lin Lie stepped onto broken stone. His Golden staff shifted in his grip; sigils blazed.
"Lock-Yao: Domain Array—unfold!"
Golden lines formed a net, sealing the space and severing the Rift-Yao's outward pulse.
Sang Qi lashed his hairpin-whip. Wood-Yao became binding vines around the core, suppressing the crystal's violent surge.
"The tower's still holding! Give me one more breath and I can stabilize the core's respiration-vein!"
Si Mo Heng's eyes flashed. He kicked off the stone, silver light slicing the air, and blinked into place directly before the Rift-Yao.
"The sins of this realm… are settled tonight."
The Rift-Yao sneered and struck. The collision shook heaven and earth. Metal and black power slammed together; the air rang like a bell.
Cang Yuan shouted, "Third Prince, watch out!"
But Si Mo Heng blocked with a reverse sweep. Black fog scraped across his armguard—then shattered under the force of his will.
His voice stayed cold. "I crawled out of the mud. I won't be swallowed by darkness again."
The Rift-Yao retreated, laughter climbing into madness.
"The light you guard is only illusion. The true Source—belongs to me!"
It snapped a seal. The heart-core at the summit split open, and pure black power exploded outward like an abyssal tide.
Down below, You Qing's eyes flew open. The Yao Seal on the pocket watch shook violently.
"No—he's taking the Source's heart-vein!"
She rose, firelight burning in her eyes. "Five-Yao Seals… merge!"
All five powers surged at once: Gold locking, Wood breathing life, Water stabilizing flow, Fire reversing flame, Earth rooting the foundation.
She pressed her palm against the tower's wall, whispering the command:
"By life as the tether… return the Source to the heart!"
Light poured out of the watch, piercing the entire tower and answering the battle above.
The cracks on the tower's wall halted in an instant. The fivefold runes reignited.
Li Yan stood beneath the core, armor rattling under the pressure.
"I can hold it! Xingyu—keep it steady!"
One hand braced against the ground, his power pressed down like a mountain range, anchoring the tower's roots.
You Qing looked back, voice firm.
"Li Yan—hold on. I'll make the light beat again!"
[Upper-Level Finale]
The Rift-Yao threw its head back and roared. The crystal heart-core shattered completely.
Black power condensed into a colossal half-transparent phantom body, wrapped in endless afterimages.
Si Mo Heng wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Full force. No restraint."
Luo Ye's rings became blazing wheels; Cang Yuan's water-blades spiraled with them. Fire and water fused into a reverse vortex.
Lin Lie fed Golden-Yao into it, locking the vortex into a core array. Sang Qi's Wood-Yao turned to thorned branches, spearing through the phantom's fissures.
Si Mo Heng raised his sword. His entire aura detonated. Silver light struck downward—
"Seal the summit of Yao Tower!"
All power converged into a pillar of blinding white, punching from the tower's heart straight into the sky.
The Rift-Yao screamed as its black aura shredded inside the light.
But as the pillar neared completion, the Rift-Yao's remaining soul whispered with a smile:
"Fools… when the light dies… that's when rebirth truly begins…"
Then the phantom body exploded. Black shards scattered. The tower convulsed.
Si Mo Heng staggered back; Luo Ye and Cang Yuan moved together to stabilize him.
Lin Lie's voice turned sharp.
"It destroyed its own heart-core. The Source is… below!"
They all looked down—
Deep within the tower, red-black veins were flowing into the earth, intertwining with the core array where You Qing stood.
You Qing lifted her head, drenched in fivefold light. Her figure trembled in fire and radiance; the pocket watch beat in her hand like a living heart.
She whispered, almost to herself:
"If light can fall… then I'll make it rise again."
Behind her, fivefold power unfolded—
Gold like a mirror, Wood like vines, Water like a river, Fire like wings, Earth like a wall.
The five streams braided into a ring, and within it, the seal of the realm appeared.
Slowly, she raised her hand. The Yao Seal in her palm bloomed. Her voice cut through flame and storm, clear and bright:
"—By the Yao Seal as the key: the heart of the Yao Realm… return to its place!"
The veins reversed. The tower shook. The raging flames were pulled inward, swallowed back into the core.
The black clouds split across the sky began to peel away, inch by inch, under the light.
Up above, everyone fell silent at the sight.
Li Yan murmured, "She… she really sealed the Source back into place."
Luo Ye let out a low laugh. "Hah. Still the same. Always catching people off guard."
Cang Yuan lifted his eyes, voice softened.
"No. She's light… the kind that makes you forget darkness."
At last, the tower's glow stabilized. Its runes shone again, like a heart reborn.
And the night of war… finally, finally quieted.