Night blanketed the Heavenly Radiance Sect like a shroud of velvet, pierced only by lanterns flickering gently along walkways and terraces. The summit had ended, but its echoes reverberated still—through whispered conversations, hurried messages borne by homing pigeons and the quiet unease that settled upon those who had voted no.
Within the Hall of Celestial Deliberation, the tables had been cleared, the jade pillars stood like silent sentinels in the dark. Yet even as the righteous slept, shadows stirred.
Far from the golden courtyards and divine spires, deep within a secluded grove veiled by illusion arrays, Master Lin Zhou of the Shifting Tides Sect waited beneath a gnarled moon-blossom tree. His robe, now stripped of diplomatic elegance, was plain and grey. His face was bare, no longer smiling, just still—dangerously so.
The air grew heavy, colder. Leaves rustled though no wind stirred.
From between the trees, a presence emerged.
A man cloaked in darkness, his face veiled save for a single crimson eye that glimmered beneath his hood. Across his belt hung two massive iron hooks, their curved edges worn from use, dulled not by time but by blood. They clanked softly as he walked.
Lin Zhou bowed low. "My lord. The council has spoken. The alliance will march on Obsidian Peak in three days' time."
The man tilted his head, his voice like gravel sliding over steel. "Three days… Very well."
He stepped into a sliver of moonlight. Though his features remained obscured, the hooked blades seemed to drink the pale light greedily.
"I shall meet them there," he said. "I've long looked forward to this chance."
"Obsidian Peak Sect will resist," Lin said, rising slowly. "But not enough to stop the purge. Not once the alliance's blades are drawn."
A pause.
"But Kai Feng may still surprise us," he added with a hint of uncertainty.
The man's single eye narrowed.
"He won't. I've made preparations. Once the alliance breaks their formation and climbs the mountain... we'll strike. Not just at Obsidian Peak Sect but at all who are fools enough to think themselves righteous."
Lin Zhou hesitated, the implications chilling even him. "You mean to—?"
"Shatter the illusion," the man interrupted. "The age of virtue ends under a tide of truth."
With that, he turned and vanished into the trees, the sound of the hooks fading with him.
Lin Zhou stood alone beneath the blossom tree, petals falling like silent witnesses.
High in the southern reaches, where the mountains clawed into cloud and sky alike, a different kind of silence reigned.
The Obsidian Peak Sect stood encased in mist and myth, cloaked from the eyes of the world. Sharp cliffs, treacherous trails, and powerful concealment arrays guarded its perimeter. Yet despite its sinister reputation, the sect's inner grounds were not the nightmarish wasteland that many imagined. Rather, they were solemn, quiet… even peaceful.
Within the central hall, Kai Feng sat cross-legged before an ancient brazier. The incense within did not burn with smoke but with threads of black and silver light.
He opened his eyes.
A disciple knelt at the edge of the chamber.
"Sect Master," she said. "We have received word. The alliance will arrive in three days."
Kai Feng's expression didn't change. He reached for an ancient book. On it's cover, the sigil of the Celestial Eclipse glowed faintly—a circle split by a vertical line, two crescents facing outward, eternally apart yet connected.
"So soon," he murmured. "Faster than expected."
The disciple hesitated. "Do we prepare for war?"
Kai Feng stood, tall and lean, his dark robes embroidered with patterns of stars and flowing shadow. His presence was commanding, like standing at the edge of a cliff just before dawn.
"We shall prepare ourselvs," he said. "Whether it is peace or war depends on them."