The Ashes Sovereign

Chapter 7

Deep underground, silver‑grey mist welled up from cracks in the cavern floor.

Lin Yue held ash‑light to read the weathered stone inscriptions. Most texts repeated the same grim warning: the legacy power devours the soul of its single wielder. But one worn, partially hidden paragraph told of an alternative possibility.

The great domain power did not have to rest entirely on one person. Its force could be divided. Small fragments of the mist‑strength might be shared among multiple willing souls. The burden would be split. No single mind would bear the full crushing weight of the old sovereign’s echoes.

It carried danger still. Everyone who took a fragment would hear faint ghostly whispers. But the risk would be drastically lower than one individual holding all the power.

Lin Yue climbed back above ground. He brought this radical idea before the valley’s warriors and community leaders.

Reactions were mixed. Some feared the ghostly influence. They did not want fragments of a dead ruler living inside their minds. Others understood what was coming. If the suppression relics nullified Lin Yue alone, the valley would collapse. Sharing the power might be their only hope to survive the coming invasion.

Volunteers stepped forward. Men and women who had lost everything to sect cruelty. They were prepared to accept the small risk to defend their new home.

Slow, careful rituals began in the deep cavern. One by one, willing fighters received small portions of the silver‑grey legacy mist. Each felt faint cold whispers brush their thoughts. Each fought to hold tight to their own identity. The power was now spread across many people, no longer centred only on Lin Yue.

While this ritual unfolded, mountain‑top scouts brought terrible news. The vast sect army was on the march. Thousands of cultivators advanced toward Azure Ruin. The carriages holding the feared suppression relics travelled with them.

The final battle drew near.