The battlefield was unlike anything Lei had seen before—charred earth stretched as far as the eye could see, stained with the blood of both beast and man. Towering corpses of spirit creatures lay smoldering, their energies dissipating into the sky like fading smoke trails. Yet amidst the chaos, the air thrummed with opportunity, power, and a silent warning.
Lei stood at the edge of the scorched plains, eyes narrowed. Beside him, Lin Yue's grip on her sword tightened. Her face was pale, not from fear but anticipation.
"This… isn't just another sect conflict," she said, her voice low.
"No," Lei replied. "This is a reckoning."
From behind them, the remaining cultivators of the Verdant Shadow Sect began to regroup, wounded but alive. Elder Rong, though singed and weary, moved like a hawk, eyes scanning the distant cliffs.
"The Demonic Root Sect is using forbidden techniques," Elder Rong muttered. "This rot... it's not natural."
Indeed, the black roots that crawled from the cracks in the earth whispered of a deeper evil. They pulsed with an eerie life of their own, seeking, spreading, hungering.
Lei stepped forward. As his foot touched the blackened soil, a pulse of power surged into him—not hostile, but… curious. The Root acknowledged him.
"It knows you," Lin Yue whispered. "Or it fears you."
"No," Lei said. "It remembers me."
Before anyone could question, a scream split the air. From the far ridge, a figure appeared—shrouded in crimson, face masked. But Lei knew that stance.
"Ren Xian," he growled.
The traitor.
The one who had stolen the Verdant Root relic and betrayed their sect to the enemy. And worse—who had once been Lei's senior brother.
Ren Xian raised his hand, and from the earth, an entire legion of twisted spirit beasts rose, malformed and screaming in agony.
"Come, brother," Ren Xian called mockingly, voice echoing like a specter. "Let us see if the Root chose the right heir."
Lei's fists clenched, fire and lightning crackling around his body as he stepped forward. Lin Yue moved to stand beside him, unwavering.
"No," Lei whispered. "Not heir. Not savior."
His eyes burned with resolve. "I'm the reckoning."
And with a single step, he launched into battle—one that would shake the heavens and shatter destinies.