Kai cautiously stepped through the heavy stone doorway, his senses immediately sharpening as he passed into the mysterious chamber. The stone door closed behind him with a low, echoing thud, sealing off any remaining daylight and plunging the chamber into a deep, eerie gloom. For a moment, silence pressed heavily around him, disturbed only by his own breathing.
Gradually, his eyes adjusted, revealing an altar chamber. Columns carved with intricate patterns rose from the cold stone floor to a vaulted ceiling, hidden within darkness above. Tiny, luminescent crystals embedded along the walls cast a soft, bluish glow, dimly illuminating the ancient room.
At the chamber's center stood a raised stone altar. Its surface was etched with symbols arranged in concentric rings. Kai stepped closer, heart beating steadily in his chest as he took in every detail.
The room bore signs of great age. Cracks splintered the altar's surface, and faint marks marred the surrounding stonework. In a shadowed corner near the altar's base, lay a small heap of bones, dust-covered and long forgotten.
As he examined the altar, his eyes caught sight of something glinting faintly. Carefully, he brushed away the centuries of accumulated dust, revealing a bronze mirror intricately engraved with patterns of dragons and phoenixes entwined around a central, reflective surface. The craftsmanship was extraordinary, unlike anything he'd encountered before.
As his fingers gently touched the mirror, it shuddered softly in his grasp, the surface rippling like disturbed water. Startled, Kai quickly withdrew his hand, stepping back. The mirror suddenly emitted a soft hum, filling the room with a haunting resonance. From its surface rose a translucent figure composed entirely of gentle, silvery-blue light.
Kai instinctively stepped back further, astonishment etched across his face.
"I am Dai Tianxiang, the last Sect Leader of the Azure Cloud Sect," the Qi manifested spectral figure spoke, its voice echoing faintly throughout the chamber. His visage was noble yet marked deeply with sorrow, transparent robes billowing slowly in an unseen breeze. "If you have found this mirror, then fate has led you here."
"Dai Tianxiang," Kai repeated softly, the one who once led the Azure Cloud Sect.
The ghostly projection continued solemnly, "I record this final message so that the injustice committed against the Azure Cloud Sect may someday be corrected."
Kai listened intently, his breath held, eyes focused on the spectral figure.
"Decades ago," Dai Tianxiang began gravely, "the Blood Demon ravaged our Ascendant Realm, leaving only chaos in his wake. Countless sects fell and it seemed the world would be utterly destroyed. The Immortal Scholar of the True Way forged five elemental rings—metal, wood, water, fire and earth—to seal away the Blood Demon."
Kai's eyes widened in shock.
"Each ring was entrusted to a guardian proficient in the element it represented," Dai Tianxiang explained further. "Together, the five guardians infused their Qi into these rings, creating an elemental array that sealed the Blood Demon within the Void Ring, forever chained by the unbreakable Ninefold Sealing Chains. I was chosen as guardian of the Metal Ring, sworn to protect it with my life."
The ghostly figure hesitated, grief darkening his translucent features. "This was before the massacre."
Kai watched sorrow flicker across Dai Tianxiang's ethereal face, an expression of regret so profound it resonated deeply within him.
"On the night of the massacre," Dai Tianxiang continued bitterly, his voice trembling with lingering shame and anguish, "I was deceived. Someone claiming to carry urgent news regarding the five guardians summoned me away from the sect. Blindly trusting, I abandoned my duties and traveled swiftly to a remote hut deep within the nearby woods."
His spectral face darkened further as he recalled that night. "When I arrived, the hut was empty, no messenger awaited me. I sat in the hut waiting for the informant. I gradually noticed a faint scent lingering in the air, familiar yet elusive. It smelled like lotus incense. I couldn't place where I'd encountered it before. While waiting anxiously, the fragrance grew stronger, subtly lulling my senses. Before I realized it, drowsiness overwhelmed me and I could not recall what happened after that."
Dai Tianxiang's expression was tormented, reflecting deep guilt. "When I awoke at dawn, alone and disoriented in that same hut, horrifying news awaited me. My clan had been slaughtered overnight, my disciples, my elders, my entire family, all victims of my foolishness and naïveté."
His translucent eyes filled with anguish as he concluded, "I had failed them completely."
"Unable to forgive myself," Dai Tianxiang said softly, voice wavering, "I took my own life here, in this chamber. I record my final moments within this mirror, hoping that someday someone worthy would discover this truth and set things right."
Dai Tianxiang raised his translucent hand toward Kai. "You who have discovered my final message, please, bring the perpetuators to justice."
Kai clenched his fists determinedly. "Sect Leader Dai, I promise you, justice will be done."
The apparition dissolved slowly, returning to the mirror. The chamber was silent once again, the mirror lying inert in Kai's hand.
Suddenly, a faint noise reached Kai's ears, footsteps echoing along the stone corridor outside.
Someone was approaching.