The Hidden City did not sleep that night.
The envoy's words—"Heaven has seen enough"—hung over the ancient walls like a sword suspended by thread. Every spirit and exile felt it: something was coming.
Yun Qianyu stood alone in the high temple hall, moonlight cutting across her face. The envoy had vanished into the sky... but not before promising to return with judgment.
Behind her, Fenghua's voice was steady. "He'll come back—with others. Heaven doesn't give warnings twice."
Qianyu stared at her reflection in the sacred mirror, its surface rippling with flickers of celestial light and demonic flame. "Let them come."
Just then, the temple trembled. A faint rumble stirred beneath the stone. Rong Xianzhi entered in haste, blood staining the edge of his sleeve. "The seal under the city—it's failing."
He unfurled a scroll—its symbols glowed with ancient power, celestial script twisted by time.
"A soul-locking seal," Fenghua murmured, eyes narrowing. "And she's the key."
Qianyu reached for it. Energy pulsed through her fingers. The moment she touched the scroll, the floor split open, light erupted—and the Celestial Envoy returned, stepping from the heavens above.
But he was not alone.
Two divine soldiers flanked him, clad in obsidian-white armor, halos of judgment behind their heads.
"You tamper with ancient orders," the envoy thundered. "And now, you dare awaken what was sealed by Heaven itself?"
Qianyu stepped forward, unafraid.
"Heaven sealed it to control it. But I remember now—I was the one who bled to bind it."
"You speak of lives not your own," he snapped.
"And yet they live in me," she answered.
The envoy raised his hand—divine flame burst forward. Before it could strike, Fenghua intercepted with a shield of silver energy, the impact rattling the entire hall.
Rong Xianzhi summoned dark fire from his palms. "Try us. You'll find this city is not defenseless."
The envoy's wings flared open. "Then be judged alongside her."
Battle erupted—moonsteel against starlight, demonfire against divine flame. The soldiers surged, but Fenghua and Xianzhi fought with unity honed by tension and fate.
Amid the chaos, the ancient shadow entity rose from the seal. Its form twisted from stardust and darkness, bound in chains. It looked not at the soldiers—but at Qianyu.
"You are the key."
The divine and the damned paused. All eyes turned to her.
Qianyu stepped into the light of the broken seal.
Memories—lives that were hers and weren't—rushed back.
A war between realms.
A choice to fall.
A promise never fulfilled.
"I'm not Heaven's tool," she said. "And I'm no longer the Demon King's pawn. I am Yun Qianyu. I remember who I was—and I choose who I'll become."
Her voice carried across the hall. The shadow being screamed as light poured from her core. The seal shattered—not in failure, but liberation.
The envoy shielded his eyes. "Impossible…"
Fenghua pulled Qianyu back as divine energy exploded outward. The soldiers were flung aside. The envoy, bleeding gold, stared at her in disbelief.
"This is not over," he spat. "Heaven will not forget this defiance."
"Then let them remember it well," Qianyu said.
He vanished with the soldiers, light folding around them.
Silence fell.
Xianzhi looked at her with awe and regret. "You're not the same girl I once knew."
She turned to both of them.
"No. I'm not. But I need you both—if we're going to survive what comes next."
Outside, stars shifted.
Far above, a crack shimmered in the heavens.
And deep in the dark, something ancient had begun to awaken.