Ascension Log

The air was still thick with blood.

News of Kai Lin's one-sided destruction of Jian Yuze had already spread like wildfire through the outer sect. Some disciples cheered in secret. Others avoided speaking his name altogether, as if doing so might summon him from the shadows.

He didn't stay for the applause.

Kai Lin had returned to the abandoned pavilion, his bloodstained robes hung on the branch of a dying pine tree. He sat cross-legged beneath it, silent as ever, the rusted saber beside him.

Ding—

Sign-In Duration: 2 hours 14 minutes

Location: Withered Pine Pavilion

Reward: [Mid-Tier Qi Manual: Ghostflow Breathing Technique]

Effect: Enhances stealth-based qi circulation. Ideal for ambush and retreat.

He didn't read the full scroll. Not yet. He simply stored it within his sleeve.

His cultivation was steady at Qi Formation, 1st Layer, but with the Killing Intent Shroud and Black Vein Echo traits, he had more real-world power than most in the 3rd or even 4th layer.

Still, he felt it.

Something was moving inside his soul — deeper than the Void Root, deeper than his dantian.

Far away, inside the Inner Sect's Raincloud Garden, a girl sat on a stone bench beside a quiet pond. She was dressed in snow-white silk robes, trimmed with pale blue cloud patterns. Her hair was tied with a jade ribbon, and her eyes were closed in still meditation.

Her name was Lan Xue — known throughout the sect as the "Ice Mirror Oracle."

And right now, her brows were furrowed.

A spiritual butterfly — one of her rare soul-sense techniques — flitted around her shoulder in distress.

"A dark resonance has emerged. Unregistered. Suppressed."

She opened her eyes.

"Someone has awakened a sealed core…"

She stood and stepped into the water. Ripples spread, and with a soft glow, she vanished.

Back at the outer sect, Kai Lin's peace was short-lived.

A voice called out near his gate.

"You. New demon of the outer sect."

It wasn't an insult.

It was awe.

He opened his eyes to find a trio of outer disciples bowing cautiously outside the pavilion.

"We came to offer this," one said, laying down a box of low-grade spirit stones. "For protecting weaker disciples. Jian Yuze was… a plague."

Kai Lin said nothing. But he didn't reject the offering either.

Ding—

Minor karma shift detected. Reputation: [Feared]. Influence unlocked: [Silent Following: 3]

As the disciples left, he remained seated — calm, but wary.

"Reputation and influence… is this another path of power?"

That night, he meditated again.

The moment his spiritual consciousness entered his dantian, he paused.

There was something else there.

Something sealed.

A black ring of ancient script floated just behind his Void Root. It pulsed once — dim, almost unwilling to be noticed.

Ding—

Inner Seal Detected: [First Seal of Silence]

Restriction Level: 100%

Requirement to reduce seal: Slay one Qi Formation realm cultivator with pure silence.

Progress: 1/1 — Jian Yuze eliminated.

Seal Weakening Initiated…

The void trembled.

A fragment of the seal cracked, and a whisper brushed the edge of Kai Lin's mind. It wasn't in any language. It was emotion — cold, ancient, regal.

A Sovereign's Will.

Ding—

Partial Unlock: Silent Sovereign's Soul Fragment (1%) Acquired.

Effect: Increases resistance to spiritual pressure and soul probing by 30%.

Outside, a soft hum echoed from the forest.

Lan Xue stepped into the clearing, her robes fluttering lightly even without wind. The temperature dropped several degrees.

She stood still, gazing at the pavilion.

Kai Lin opened his eyes and stepped out.

Their eyes met.

She tilted her head slightly, observing his soul aura.

"…You are not like the others."

Kai Lin didn't speak.

She smiled faintly. "I suppose that's what makes you dangerous."

She turned to leave, but paused. "When the Inner Sect Trials begin, your name will not be ignored."

Then she vanished.

Kai Lin stood in the moonlight, his eyes calm but sharp.

Inner Sect Trials… so that's the next battlefield.

He returned to meditation, and the rusted saber at his side pulsed once — faint, but growing.