Ashes Of The Phoenix: The Crimson Pact

The bells rang like thunder.

Three tolls.

Then silence.

Then—screams.

The outer wards shattered first. The sky above the Nine Gates Sect bled silver as the mists rolled over the mountains, thick and unnatural, writhing like serpents. The air itself shifted. Cold. Wrong.

The Mist-Cursed Ones had come.

No more rumors.

No more warnings.

They were here.

Inner Courtyards

Shen Yun burst from his chambers, sword already in hand. His robes glowed faintly with spiritual sigils — self-activated, drawn from the new seal Elder Xun had quietly taught him after he noticed the mark reacting to the recent darkness.

His training hadn't been easy.

But now?

He wasn't just a new disciple anymore.

He was the mark holder.

And tonight, he would prove it.

Cries echoed through the southern corridor as fog swirled in. Shadows moved inside it — tall, bone-masked figures slipping between reality and mist.

One turned to him.

Black eyes. Twisted limbs. A scream that didn't come from its throat, but from the air around it.

Shen Yun didn't flinch.

He inhaled.

"Seal Form: Fifth Trace – Crescent Cut!"

A blade of blue-white light arced from his sword, splitting the creature in half. It let out a soundless screech as its body dissolved into steam.

But more were coming.

Too many.

Main Gate Pavilion

Li Feng stood atop the upper bridge, cloak trailing behind him, sword in one hand. He was already drenched in blood — not his own. His breath was uneven. The black roots under his skin pulsed violently now.

The poison was reacting to the mists.

Feeding off them.

The scale wanted to wake.

"Not yet," Li Feng growled under his breath. "You'll have to wait."

He swung his blade again, carving three Mist-Cursed Ones through the spine. Their forms twisted and hissed away.

But a larger one appeared — seven feet tall, with a gaping maw instead of a mask. It bellowed, charging toward a group of younger disciples cowering behind a shattered pillar.

Li Feng raised his hand — but then staggered.

The poison struck.

A sharp pulse down his spine.

His legs weakened.

Too slow.

But before the creature reached the disciples—

SHHHNK.

A white-blue blade sliced through its chest. It toppled.

Behind it stood Shen Yun, panting, sweat on his brow, but firm.

"Li Feng," he called. "Don't collapse yet."

Li Feng blinked.

That tone — confident. Solid. Familiar, but different.

"Since when could you do that?" he asked.

Shen Yun offered a faint smile. "Since I stopped waiting to be rescued."

He stepped forward, raising his blade again as two more figures emerged from the mist. "I'll hold this line. Go protect the core chambers."

Li Feng hesitated.

But then… nodded.

"Don't die," he said quietly.

"I wasn't planning to," Shen Yun replied.

East Wing Hall

Wei Lan fought beside Elder Xun, surrounded by fallen disciples. The ground was thick with ash and blood.

"I thought the seal would last forever," Wei Lan muttered, blocking a blow.

"Seals don't last. People do," Elder Xun replied grimly, sending out a fire barrier.

Then, in the distance, they both saw it — the mist forming into something larger.

A Mist Revenant.

Ten feet tall. Armored in soul-burned bone. Multiple faces shifting across its torso like it had consumed hundreds of lives and wore their agony.

Wei Lan froze.

But then—

LI FENG appeared at its flank, blade flashing.

The Revenant shrieked, knocking him back with a forceful pulse.

But Li Feng twisted mid-air, landed on his feet, and stabbed forward again, forming a sigil mid-motion.

A blinding ed rune erupted from his palm, slamming into the Revenant's mask.

CRACK.

It shattered.

The monster dissolved.

Elder Xun stared in awe.

As usual the sect leader is amazing..No matter what!

Back at the Core Pavilion

After being at East Wing Hall.

Li Feng reached the spiritual core chamber. He fell to one knee, coughing violently. Black mist seeped from his mouth — the poison now reacting violently to the mist energy drawn into the core.

He gritted his teeth and slammed his palm into the stone floor.

"Qiuyao Compression Seal – Full Bind!"

Veins lit up like lightning. His eyes bled gold for a second. He forced the poison down.

Locked it.

Caged it.

But the scale inside him screamed.

"You can't hold me forever…"

He gasped.

The price was too high.

But he would bear it.

For now.

For the Sect.

For Shen Yun.

The Mists Recede

By dawn, half the Sect grounds were scorched and broken.

But the line held.

Thanks to Shen Yun.

Thanks to Li Feng.

Thanks to all who didn't run.

The remaining Mist-Cursed Ones had scattered.

But they weren't gone.

Only waiting.

Watching.

Later That Morning

As the sun finally cut through the mist, Li Feng and Shen Yun stood side by side over the ruins of the south courtyard.

Blood on their robes. Dust in their hair. But standing.

Li Feng looked over.

"You fought well," he said softly.

Shen Yun didn't smile.

He just nodded.

Then, finally: "Next time, take me with you. I'm not weak anymore."

Li Feng looked away.

"…I know."

His hand brushed against his chest. The seal pulsed faintly beneath it.

Final Hours Before Dawn

Inner Core Grounds – Hidden Chamber Below the Pavilion

The last Mist-Cursed One didn't attack.

It watched.

Slender. Tall. Unmasked — a face half-human, half-smoke. Its body shimmered between spirit and matter, wearing the robes of a long-dead cultivator… one who once wore Nine Gates colors.

Li Feng stood alone before it.

He'd chased it here — through the burning halls and the collapsing prayer sanctum, down to the ancient vault where the oldest seals of the sect were hidden. This one had broken through the boundary wall as if it had known the way.

As if it remembered being part of them once.

"You were a disciple once," Li Feng said quietly, sword dragging at his side. His energy was depleted. His breathing shallow.

The Mist-Cursed One didn't reply.

But its shadow shifted behind it.

And then it lunged.

No scream.

No fury.

Just hunger.

Li Feng didn't move.

He couldn't.

The poison was surging.

His body trembled, knees buckling as the creature struck.

But before it could reach—

A light exploded between them.

Shen Yun.

Radiant. Eyes glowing with the sigils of the Fifth Seal. He dropped between them like a falling star, striking upward with the Crescent-Cut Spiral Form, a technique he had barely mastered.

The Mist-Cursed One staggered.

Then howled — a deep, echoing shriek that rattled the bones of the chamber.

Li Feng coughed blood. "You shouldn't be here—"

"Too late," Shen Yun snapped. "You said I fought well. Let me finish it."

Li Feng's fingers curled around his sword again, vision swimming.

Then he saw it — the sigil on Shen Yun's wrist glowing. Not just blue-white. But crimson, like his.

Our seals are resonating.

The poison inside him twitched, recoiling from Shen Yun's light.

Realization slammed into Li Feng like thunder.

The poison… fears him.

No — it fears his light.

He surged to his feet.

"Together!"

They both raised their swords.

Shen Yun whispered: "Seal Form: Sixth Trace — Dual Spiral Arc."

Li Feng followed with: "Crimson Seal — Moon-Fang Echo."

Their blades crossed.

And the chamber filled with blinding light as both techniques met — not clashing, but merging.

The Mist-Cursed One tried to vanish.

Too late.

The twin strike hit.

It didn't scream.

It simply crumbled — ash and memory — its shadow eaten by light.

Gone.

For good.

Moments Later

Li Feng collapsed.

Shen Yun caught him.

Blood coated his robes, but Shen Yun didn't flinch. "I'm taking you back."

"No—" Li Feng whispered. "If they see me… like this…"

"I don't care," Shen Yun snapped. "You almost died."

Li Feng opened his mouth — but the words never came. Darkness edged his vision.

But before everything went black, he felt something soft press against his temple.

A hand.

Steady. Warm.

The Aftermath

By sunrise, the mist had vanished completely.

The last curses burned away by the inner seal flames.

Disciples gathered the dead. Wept for the lost. Sang low mourning hymns in the south courtyard.

The sect stood.

Battered. Bloodied.

But alive.

Council Hall – That Afternoon

Elder Xun stood before the elders.

"The Mist-Cursed Ones are gone. The seals are reset. The gates held."

"Thanks to Li Feng," someone murmured.

But Xun shook his head.

"Thanks to both Li Feng and Shen Yun. Without either, we would have lost the core."

No one disagreed.

In the back, Shen Yun stood quietly.

Not needing the credit.

Just watching.

Waiting.

Li Feng's Quarters – That Night

The poison was quiet again.

For now.

Li Feng sat on the edge of his bed, a silk wrap around his chest. Shen Yun sat on the floor nearby, arms crossed.

They didn't speak for a while.

Then Shen Yun broke the silence. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Li Feng's voice was low. "Because if I did… you'd come rushing into the dark."

"I did anyway," Shen Yun said. "And you're still here, aren't you?"

Li Feng smiled faintly.

"…Barely."

"You better not collapse again."

"No promises."

A pause.

Then, softly—

"Thank you."

Shen Yun didn't reply.

He didn't need to.

He just leaned back and looked at the moon through the window lattice.

Together, in the quiet, they waited for morning.

End of Chapter 16