The air inside the Crimson Echo Realm shifted—unnatural, like breath held too long.
In the distance, faint crimson runes began glowing beneath layers of shattered obsidian.
The Vault was waking.
---
Earlier, near a fractured formation zone...
Kai Lin moved through shattered ruins laced with old formations. The jade talisman hanging from his neck trembled faintly.
Then it ignited.
[Hidden Sign-In Opportunity Detected: Crimson Vault of Echoes]
[Requirement: Soul Lock Resonance – Incomplete… bypassing with Sovereign Override.]
[Proceed?]
Kai didn't hesitate. "Proceed."
[Sign-In Successful.]
[Vault Access Granted. Restrictions Lowered.]
Stone sank beneath his feet. A spiral glyph appeared. The ground cracked—and the world swallowed him.
---
Inside the Vault
The space wasn't wide—it was endless.
Red-streaked walls pulsed with soul qi. Remnants of long-dead cultivators were sealed into mirrored crystal sarcophagi. Their faces screamed silently, forever preserved in agony.
Kai's feet touched nothing—but he walked all the same.
> This place remembers me.
A voice echoed—not from the system, not from his mind.
From within.
"Welcome back… Silent Sovereign."
He stopped.
A pillar rose before him. Atop it, a soul crystal—a blood-bound memory orb.
He reached out—
FLASH.
---
Memory Fragment – 312 Years Ago
> "You've grown too dangerous," a man said, his face hidden in shadow.
"Even the Crimson Hall fears you."
Kai's past self—older, colder—stood with his hands behind his back.
> "That's the point."
> "You carry the Soul Lock willingly. You cultivate in silence. But one day, you'll break the seal."
> "And then?" Kai asked.
> "Then you'll kill me."
The shadow removed his hood.
Elder Hei'an.
The man who once swore fealty to him… was the one who shattered his soul.
---
Kai gasped. The Vault shuddered as the memory returned.
[Hidden Memory Retrieved: Betrayer Identified – Elder Hei'an, "The Black Vow"]
[Sovereign System Warning: Emotional Disruption Detected. Adapting… Suppression Protocol Upgraded.]
[New Passive Unlocked: Sovereign's Will – Stage II]
[Effect: Immune to fear-type techniques. Aura suppresses soul-based attacks. Instinctive rebuke of mind-altering techniques.]
Kai clenched his fists.
> "I remember you now."
---
Meanwhile, Above Ground – Inner Sect Trial Pavilion
Three factions stood in a standoff. Jade Roar Hall. Serpent Sigil Syndicate. Glacial Bone Court.
Tensions had hit a peak. A ceasefire negotiation had been called—at spearpoint.
But as the envoy from Glacial Bone approached the center, he threw off his robe.
And drove a dagger into his own commander's neck.
> "For the Sovereign."
Chaos erupted.
The battlefield splintered. Alliance members turned on each other.
It wasn't an ambush.
It was a calculated defection.
---
Kai emerged from the Vault
The sky above had turned violet-black.
Lianhua Jin waited.
She said nothing—just stepped aside, recognizing the weight of change in him.
> "You found something," she said.
> "I remembered a name," Kai replied. "One I plan to burn into the sky."
---
Back at Sect Command
Elder Zhen dropped his tea.
The ripples of Sovereign Stage II had reached the real world.
> "Impossible," he whispered.
A black-robed elder stepped out from the shadows.
> "It's not impossible, old friend."
Zhen turned—eyes wide. "Hei'an…"
> "I told you the Silent One would rise again."
---