There were many places the world had tried to forget.
Ruined cities, desecrated sects, failed dynasties—all eventually buried under stone or silence. But some places weren't forgotten because of neglect. They were erased. The Grave of the Devoured Sky was one such place and it wasn't just a graveyard.
It was a scar.
Ren Kairo stood at the edge of a crumbling plateau, wind shrieking past him as if the heavens themselves had been split open. Below him stretched a canyon of bones—massive, twisted skeletons embedded into blackened stone. Skulls the size of pavilions. Ribcages that looked like collapsed temples. The entire place reeked of spiritual death, but not the peaceful kind.
This wasn't where souls rested.
This was where they were unmade.
[Codex Active: You have entered a Forbidden Zone – Memory Tier III.]
Accessing Echoes…
Warning: Mental resilience required. Proceeding may destabilize soul.
Throne Trial Identified: Bone Throne – Status: Dormant.]
Kairo exhaled slowly.
"This is where the Bone Cult tried to ascend, huh" he muttered.
Feixue, standing behind him with her cloak drawn tight, frowned. "The cannibals?"
"Worse. They didn't eat for power. They consumed to remember."
Her brows furrowed. "What does that even mean?"
Kairo glanced back, gaze unreadable. "hmm!, You'll see."
The first step into the canyon was like stepping into a different world.
Time felt… uncertain.
Every footfall echoed strangely, as if the air was trying to reject sound. Feixue had to steady herself after a few moments, her breathing ragged. Kairo didn't look back.
Just then the System Panel appeared.
[Codex: Minor soul fragmentation detected. Syncing Memory Echo suppression field.]
Status: Stable.]
The floor of the canyon was littered with remnants—blades rusted into bone marrow, cracked cultivation cauldrons, incomplete talismans written in blood. Kairo walked past them all, each one triggering a flicker of memory not his own.
Screams of failed ascension.
Whispers of a woman repeating a name that no longer existed.
The choking gurgle of a man who thought himself immortal until the Bone Throne devoured his bloodline.
He let them wash over him.
He didn't flinch.
He learned.
The deeper they went, the colder it became. Not physically, Cultivators of their tier didn't fear temperature anymore. This was a spiritual cold. The kind that bit into the soul and whispered things no one should ever know.
Kairo paused at a massive skull.
It had four empty sockets. No eye glow. Just the hollow absence of thought. Something had lived in that thing once—something that had practiced a cultivation art not allowed in any known world.
[Codex: Identifying Spiritual Residue…]
[Bone Cultivation Type: Marrow Assimilation Path – Level: Pre-Heavenly Tier.]
Flaw: Path cannot coexist with soul-bound techniques. Causes cognitive dissonance and loss of self.]
"So this is where they fell," Kairo murmured.
Feixue's voice was soft. "Are we sure we need to be here?"
"No," he said. "But if I don't claim the Bone Throne, someone worse will."
"Like who?"
He didn't answer because he had seen them. In one of the Memory Echoes from the Codex. A boy with white hair and eyes stitched shut. A girl whose body was a shell inhabited by the voices of a thousand dead. They weren't threats now. But soon…Soon they'd become monsters.
They reached the center of the grave. It wasn't marked by a monument or altar. Just a cracked platform shaped like a spinal column, with the remains of nine thrones—each one shattered, splintered, as if something from above had swatted them into pieces.
In the middle sat the Tenth Throne.
Whole.
Waiting.
The Bone Throne.
Unlike the Flame Throne, it had no fire. No aura of dominance. Just silence. Oppressive, crushing silence and hunger.
Kairo approached it slowly.
[Codex: Bone Throne Trial Initiation Requires Tribute.]
Requirement: One soul willingly offered.
Note: Soul must be bound to trial participant.]
He turned, Feixue was already staring at him.
"Hell no." said Feixue
"You didn't even hear the offer," he said mildly.
"shut the fuck up, I heard enough."
He took a step forward. "Feixue. You're strong. You've got your own path. But I need this Throne."
"I'm not giving you my soul."
"I'm not asking for all of it," he said quietly. "Just… a thread."
She paused.
"You want to tie me to you."
"Yes."
"Why?"
He didn't lie.
"Because the Bone Throne feeds on memory and loss. If I claim it alone, it will take everything. I need something real to hold onto. A thread of a soul that's anchored. Yours is steady. Yours is…" he hesitated. "Yours is loud enough to keep me me."
Feixue stared at him then looked at the throne and sighed.
"If I turn into a soul puppet, I'm haunting you for eternity."
"Fair."
She extended her hand.
He clasped it.
[Codex: Soul Thread Initiated. Synchronizing… Success.]
[Trial Commencing.]
The world collapsed. One moment, they were in the canyon. The next, Kairo stood alone in a dreamscape made entirely of bone. Skies of marrow. Rain made of teeth. The ground cracked underfoot, revealing rivers of powdered memory flowing underneath.
In front of him stood a figure in robes made of writhing ribcages. Its face was a skull but its voice… was his own.
"What do you remember of the ones you buried?"
"What names have you forgotten to survive?"
"What will you give to hold the throne that devours all?"
Kairo stepped forward.
"I remember my mother's hands, even if I can't recall her face. I remember my clan's screams, even if I never saw their corpses. I remember me—and that's enough."
The skeletal figure raised its hand. A wave of bone surged forward—spirits screaming, claws slashing, teeth biting. Kairo didn't dodge but accepted it.
Pain lanced through his soul, searing every forgotten moment back into focus.
The betrayal.
The guilt.
The helplessness.
And beneath it all, a single tether—a golden thread leading back to Feixue, holding his soul in place.
He reached out and sat on the throne.
[Throne Claimed: Bone Throne – Status: Incomplete Ascension.]
Unique Ability Gained: Marrow Rebirth – Automatically reconstructs body from spiritual damage.
Curse Applied: Soul Erosion – Continued use risks loss of identity.
Codex Compatibility: Partial. Voidflame Stability Required.]
Kairo awoke with a gasp.
He was still in the canyon.
Feixue was kneeling beside him, pale but alive. The golden soul thread still shimmered faintly between them.
"You're back," she said softly.
"Almost lost myself," he muttered. "But the Codex helped me."
"You mean I did."
He didn't argue. They stood in silence, staring at the now dimmed canyon. The Bone Throne no longer shone. But in his soul, it pulsed—hungry, dangerous, powerful and necessary.
Feixue adjusted her cloak. "What now?"
[Codex Mission Update: Mirror Throne Detected – Location: Temple of Reflections.]
Status: Corrupted.]
Kairo's lips curled into a razor-sharp smile.
"Now?" he said. "We hunt the next lie."