The lecture hall drowned in crimson.
Lanterns of veiled glass hung from the vaulted ceiling, their blood-red light spilling across the tiered seats like diluted gore. The air was heavy—dense with the suppressed essence of twenty elite Branded. Even restrained, their Dominions pressed faintly against one another, an unseen ocean of predators forced into still water.
Xia Ying sat midway up the hall.
Relaxed posture. Half-lidded eyes.
Yet every sense was awake.
At the front, Instructor Veilwatch raised a scarred hand. The holo-projector flared to life.
Crimson diagrams blossomed into the air—vast, intricate webs of branching lines. Twenty-two fractured pathways spiraled upward toward a distant, blinding apex labeled in ancient script:
**APOTHEOSIS**
Each path was broken.
Shattered.
Incomplete.
The 22 Lost Ascension Chains.
Etched symbols along the hall's walls—partial Chain sigils—reacted faintly to the projection. They whispered in low psychic murmurs, a soundless pressure that made weaker students shift uneasily in their seats.
Veilwatch's gaze swept the cohort.
Her Realm 7 Perception Dominion moved with it—an invisible tide brushing across souls, testing, weighing, peeling.
"Basic overviews first," she began, voice resonant and controlled.
"The 22 Lost Ascension Chains are not myths. They are the shattered remnants of the Originals' weave—paths to apotheosis forged through the embodiment of terror itself."
The diagrams shifted.
Fragments aligned… then broke again.
"Each Chain is a road. Fragmented, dangerous, incomplete. To ascend them, you harvest essence, mix hungers, and reconstruct what was lost—without inviting the abyss that devoured the Originals."
The word *abyss* lingered like a cold draft.
Holograms deepened—illustrations layered over one another.
The Chains had been woven by the 22 Originals to imprison the Veil's cosmic hunger. But the act had splintered their essences, scattering fragments across Dominions, relics, bloodlines, and realms.
Now, aspirants walked broken paths.
"Embodiment," Veilwatch continued, "is raw. No rituals. No borrowed rites. You consume terror directly—from realms, minds, horrors, and existential dread."
A pulse ran through the hall.
"Balance that terror, and you ascend the Nine Realms."
A pause.
"Fail… and dissolution claims you. The abyss does not reject imbalance. It devours it."
Images flickered rapidly:
— A cultivator burning alive in self-generated flame.
— A shadow user dissolving into sentient darkness.
— A nightmare ascendant tearing their own mind apart.
"The Flame Chain," Veilwatch said, shifting the projection, "embodies aggressive consumption. Fast ascension. Immense clash power."
A blazing path roared across the hologram.
"But unstable."
Another shift.
"The Shadow Chain favors subtle harvest—slow, sustained dread accumulation."
Dark threads coiled elegantly upward.
"And Nightmare Chains…"
The image warped—psychological distortions, screaming silhouettes, dream fractals.
"Rarer. Psychological embodiment. Greater depth… greater abyssal risk."
Xia Ying's gaze sharpened slightly.
Around him, reactions stirred.
Zuo Flameheart leaned forward with a confident smirk, faint heat shimmering from his shoulders.
"My clan's Chain burns pure," he said. "Aggression forges the fastest ascension."
Several students nodded eagerly, scribbling notes.
A speed-type Branded wrote frantically about ascent rates.
A mutation user tugged sleeves lower to hide twitching skin.
Veilwatch cut the momentum instantly.
"Purity dissolves in isolation."
Her voice struck like a blade.
"Chains demand synergy. Embody together—or starve alone."
Silence followed.
Xia Ying remained motionless, but his thoughts moved.
*Fragments… as leashes.*
*Reconstruct the Chains… bind those who rely on them.*
His lips almost curved.
*My sovereignty needs no chain.*
Questions began.
A lore-binder raised a hand. "Instructor—reconstruction mechanics?"
"Harvest synergies," Veilwatch replied. "Joint embodiment. Mixed Dominions. Balanced terror."
Her eyes hardened.
"Fail… and the Veil hungers closer."
Then came the segment on rare fragments.
Her tone shifted subtly.
"Some Dominions echo the Originals more deeply. Concealed depth invites stronger abyssal attention."
Her scarred eyes landed on Xia Ying.
Perception Dominion focused.
A probing wind brushed his core—cold, invasive, searching.
It met the veil of his Title:
**Lord of Nightmares**
The probe slid… then dulled.
Like fingers tracing the surface of an endless ocean without finding bottom.
The lecture ended soon after, warnings echoing:
"Control your Flaws. Embody wisely. Or join the shattered remnants you study."
---
### Post-Lecture Probe
As students filed out, Veilwatch gestured.
"Xia Ying. Stay."
Whispers sparked instantly.
He approached calmly.
Her eyes glowed faintly as she scanned him directly now—no pretense.
"Your participation was minimal," she said. "Yet your depth feels… layered. Hungers concealed well?"
Her perception pressed again—sharper this time.
It brushed something deeper beneath his mask.
An echo.
Ancient.
Divine.
Xia Ying met her gaze without flinching.
"Questions arise more from listening, Instructor," he said smoothly. "You mentioned instability. How volatile are Original echoes within Divine Dominions?"
Deflection.
Redirection.
Elegant.
She paused—intrigued despite herself.
"Volatile," she admitted. "Divine echoes amplify hunger. They attract Veil leakage more strongly."
A faint narrowing of her eyes.
"High risk. High reward. Embody carelessly… and the abyss invites itself in."
Probe withdrawn.
Intel gained.
*Divine echoes… Veil magnets.*
Around them, students whispered:
"Favor?"
"Or surveillance?"
Zuo smirked from a distance.
Inside, Xia Ying mused:
*Depth sensed. Curiosity awakened.*
*Feed it doubt later.*
---
### Practical Session — Flaw Control
Afternoon brought application.
Warded circles lined the training hall—each glowing crimson with containment scripts designed to prevent dissolution spillover.
On central tables sat vials of condensed minor dread.
Assignment: Absorb. Hold. Embody without Flaw flare.
Failure came fast.
The speed-type absorbed first—agility Flaw erupted, muscles twitching violently.
A flame user ignited in backlash, heat scorching containment barriers.
The mutation student's skin rippled grotesquely—medics rushed closer.
Then—
Lin Mei stepped forward.
She inhaled softly and absorbed the vial.
Her healer glow brightened…
Then destabilized.
Her Flaw triggered.
Visions erupted around her circle—
Phantom patients.
Blood-soaked hands clawing upward.
Dying voices whispering blame.
"I—I can't—" she gasped. "They're dying again—!"
Her light flickered erratically.
Essence backlash surged.
Dissolution risk rising.
Students froze.
Medics hesitated—containment scripts made intervention slow.
Xia Ying moved first.
He stepped beside her circle, voice calm, steady, impossibly grounding.
"Breathe, Lin."
Her eyes snapped to him.
"They're not real. Focus on my voice."
His Aura shifted—subtle reversal.
Comfort. Stability. Empathy.
A perfect mask.
"Your mend… align it with my steadiness. Synergy, remember?"
Her trembling glow stabilized gradually.
Phantoms faded.
The bloodied hands dissolved into mist.
Her breathing slowed.
When the exercise ended, she stumbled toward him, clutching his sleeve briefly—tears bright but relieved.
"You saved me again… If my Flaw had spiraled…"
Her voice trembled with devotion.
"I'll follow you anywhere, Xia Ying."
Inside—
He recorded the moment coldly.
*Loyalty secured. Tool reinforced.*
Veilwatch observed from afar.
"Impressive intervention," she noted. "Synergy execution—precise."
Zuo scoffed from his circle.
"A healer who needs saving? Weak link."
Xia Ying glanced at him once.
Opportunity logged.
---
### Break — Alliances & Seeds
During recess, Wei Jun approached, notes in hand.
"I overheard your probe deflection," he said with a grin. "Sharp. Trade intel?"
Xia Ying inclined his head.
Wei shared campus ward vulnerabilities—tower defenses thinning at dusk.
In exchange, Xia Ying offered curated Chain insights.
Truths… filtered.
Alliance solidified quickly.
"Our mix is perfect," Wei said. "Tracker finds. Healer sustains. Nightmare breaks."
"Pragmatic," Xia Ying agreed.
Nearby, a minor strength-type—one of Zuo's lackeys—mocked a traumatized student.
"Weak Flaws drag synergy down. Might as well dissolve early."
As Xia Ying passed, their eyes met briefly.
He planted it then—
A microscopic Aura seed.
Dread.
Personal failure.
Strength rendered meaningless before cosmic horror.
The bully faltered mid-sentence, voice cracking unexpectedly.
Sweat beaded his neck.
Xia Ying walked on.
*Seeds sprout best in fragile egos.*
Respectful whispers followed in his wake.
Quiet dominance growing.
---
### Night — Dormitory Tension
Lights were out.
But heat flickered in the shared dorm.
Zuo Flameheart paced, flames licking faintly along his arms.
He stopped beside Xia Ying's bunk.
"Luck builds your reputation," Zuo muttered. "Shadow tricks. Slum hero tales."
His flame flared hotter.
"Prove yourself in the arenas. My clan's legacy burns true sovereigns."
A direct challenge.
Xia Ying remained reclined, utterly at ease.
Their eyes met.
He released the faintest trace of seeded doubt.
Zuo's flame flickered—just once.
Unsteady.
"Paths prove themselves," Xia Ying said calmly. "Sleep well."
Zuo clicked his tongue, turning away.
But his final whisper lingered in the dark:
"Watch shadows carefully… They burn brightest."
Silence reclaimed the dorm.
Inside Xia Ying's gaze—
Depths stirred.
Hidden.
Bottomless.
*Challenge accepted.*
*Flames only feed the abyss.*