The Spiritwind Ark sliced through turbulent skies, its hull shuddering against the winds that howled above the Eastern frontier. As Tianming and his allies neared the vast expanse of the Jade Forest, the sky darkened unnaturally, as if the heavens themselves recoiled from what lay beneath the green canopy.
From above, the forest was a sea of dense emerald—its trees towering, ancient, and silent. Mist curled along the treetops, veiling what lurked below. But Tianming's Celestial Sight pierced through the haze. What he saw made his breath catch.
"The forest... it's bleeding."
Indeed, crimson sap leaked from the bark of thousands of trees, soaking the roots and staining the forest floor. The natural qi was warped—twisting in slow, painful spirals. Something old and sacred was being devoured from within.
Zhao Yueyin, standing beside him, pressed a hand to her chest. "This isn't just corruption. It's betrayal. I can feel the Thornheart weakening."
Lan Mei frowned. "If the Crimson Thorn Clan has fallen, we'll be walking into their nest."
Tianming's gaze didn't waver. "Then we cut through it."
---
Edge of the Forest – Thornroot Outpost
They landed at Thornroot Outpost, a stone stronghold long used by imperial envoys traveling into Crimson Thorn territory. But what they found chilled them.
The outpost had been overrun—though not destroyed. Every soldier's body was intact, but lifeless, their eyes blackened, mouths sewn shut by tendrils of red vine.
"No signs of struggle," Zhao Yueyin whispered. "They were… silenced."
Lan Mei unsheathed her twin sabers, ready. "Let's not end up the same."
Tianming inspected one of the bodies and found a sigil etched into the man's palm—a thorn coiled around a crescent moon. A perversion of the Crimson Thorn emblem.
"They've turned," he said quietly. "The pact's already taken them."
Suddenly, the ground trembled.
From the heart of the forest, a pulse rang out—not sound, but pure intent. A call.
"They know we're here," Tianming said.
---
Deeper into the Jade Forest
Their journey through the forest grew increasingly surreal. Vines moved on their own. Trees whispered secrets from lives not their own. The deeper they went, the more time seemed to twist—memories bleeding into reality.
At one point, Tianming found himself reliving the moment he first awakened his Celestial Core… only to realize he was watching himself from a third-person view, suspended in a canopy of crimson leaves.
Zhao Yueyin snapped him out of it with a pulse of light. "Stay anchored. This forest feeds on thought now."
After hours of walking, they reached the Grove of Thorns—ancestral seat of the Crimson Thorn Clan.
Once a sacred sanctuary, it now resembled a shrine of decay. The central altar had been transformed into a cocoon of flesh and root, pulsing like a diseased heart.
Before it stood the clan's Matriarch—Lady Xian Rong.
But she was no longer human.
Her skin was bark. Her eyes, deep black voids ringed with red thorns. Her voice echoed like wind through dying trees.
"Starborn child," she hissed. "You dare trespass on sacred ground, bearing light in a place where light has died?"
Tianming stepped forward, undeterred. "I came to remind you of your oaths. The Crimson Thorn once stood with the Empire. You fought the Abyss. You kept this forest sacred. What happened?"
Lady Xian Rong tilted her head. "We remembered. We remembered the betrayal of your emperors. The blood we gave, unthanked. The lives we lost, unburied. Corvus offered truth. Power. Rebirth."
Zhao Yueyin raised her voice. "He offered you a leash."
The ground erupted.
Thorned beasts burst from the roots, covered in crimson vines and abyssal glyphs. The Matriarch spread her arms.
"If you seek to cleanse, then bleed."
---
The Battle for the Grove
The fight began in an instant.
Zhao Yueyin conjured the Twin Sun Array, bathing the battlefield in blinding solar light. Lan Mei danced through the corrupted beasts with terrifying grace, severing vines before they could grasp.
Tianming leapt onto the altar's steps, calling forth the Eternal Star Lance once more. He struck the cocoon with divine force—but it only absorbed the impact.
"I need to sever the root itself," he realized.
Atop the altar, Lady Xian Rong revealed her final form—her body now fused with the forest's essence. She grew to towering heights, roots trailing behind her like tentacles.
"I am the Grove now," she bellowed. "You cannot unmake me."
Tianming activated Abyssal Resonance, resisting her mental assault. He conjured the Seal of the Seventh Heaven once more, this time overlaid with a new divine pattern he had glimpsed during his moment within the void:
The Thornmirror Mandala—a celestial array designed not to destroy, but reflect.
As Xian Rong struck him with a corruption lash, the Mandala captured and redirected it—turning her own power against the root network.
The cocoon behind her trembled, cracked—then burst.
From within, a single red gem rolled forth—The Crimson Heart, the sacred artifact of the clan.
Tianming lunged forward and struck it with the Eternal Star Lance.
A scream echoed through the forest—not pain, but release.
The vines withered. The beasts fell silent. The Matriarch collapsed, her body finally freed from corruption.
She looked up at Tianming with clear eyes, a single tear rolling down her wooden cheek.
"You… brought light… into the rot."
Then she faded.
---
The New Pact
In the quiet that followed, the surviving Crimson Thorn elders emerged from hiding. Broken, mourning—but alive.
Tianming stood at the altar, holding the Crimson Heart.
"I do not ask you to forget what was lost," he said. "But we must choose what comes next. A future of submission… or one of unity."
The elders knelt.
"We choose the light."
Under a full moon, another Oath Ceremony was held.
System Notification:
> Lightbinding Oath Expanded: Crimson Thorn Clan joined
New Ability Gained: Thorncall – Summon defensive root barriers and life-linked bindings
Qi Resonance Increased – Stamina regeneration accelerated in natural terrains
---
Elsewhere: The Dagger Draws
In the Ice North, beneath a glacier cave, the Obsidian Fang Clan gathered. Black banners adorned the icy walls.
A messenger kneeled before their chieftain.
"The Crimson Thorn has fallen to the light," he reported.
The chieftain laughed—a deep, echoing sound.
"Then let them come. We've been sharpening our fangs for centuries."
---
Back on the Spiritwind Ark
As the ark soared once more into the night sky, Tianming sat in silence at the prow. The two clans were bound now, but three remained.
Zhao Yueyin joined him.
"You're carrying too much alone," she said softly.
Tianming didn't look at her. "I saw the Abyss. It's not just power. It's a mirror. It shows us what we are… or what we fear we might become."
Lan Mei approached, tossing him a fruit plucked from the reborn forest.
"Then don't forget who you are."
He took a bite.
"Next," he said, "we head for the Ice North. To wake the Fang."
---
To Be Continued in Chapter 50: Fangs Upon the Frozen Sky