Transmigrated into the Villan's Sect

INTERROGATION

Jaxon woke to pounding on his door.

"Disciple Veil! You are summoned to the Disciplinary Chambers immediately!"

He sat up, his body screaming in protest. The miasma pool had healed some of his damage—but it had also left him feeling hollow, empty, like a house with rooms he couldn't remember furnishing.

Twelve memories, he thought. Gone.

He pushed the thought aside. He couldn't afford to grieve now.

The pounding continued. "Veil! Open this door!"

"I'm coming," Jaxon called out. He stood up and checked his reflection in the bronze mirror. His face was pale, his eyes bloodshot, but otherwise he looked normal. No visible signs of what he'd done.

He opened the door.

Two enforcers stood in the corridor, their expressions cold. Behind them, Ezron Ashbrook waited with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Good morning, Veil," Ezron said. "You look... different."

Jaxon kept his face blank. "I don't know what you mean."

"Don't you?" Ezron stepped closer. "You've advanced. From Layer 7 to Layer 8. Overnight."

The enforcers shifted uneasily.

Jaxon's mind raced. He'd been careless. The miasma pool had boosted his cultivation too quickly—anyone with spiritual senses would notice the change.

Think, he told himself. Think like a chess player.

"I had a breakthrough," he said calmly. "It happens."

"Overnight?" Ezron's smile widened. "With damaged meridians? With no cultivation resources? With no permission?"

"I've always been a fast learner."

Ezron laughed. "You've always been a liar, Veil. The question is—what are you lying about now?"

He gestured to the enforcers.

"Take him to the Disciplinary Chambers. The elders want to have a word."

The Disciplinary Chambers were exactly as Jaxon remembered them—circular, cold, lit by pale blue orbs that cast no shadows. The five elders sat in their stone thrones, their faces hidden in darkness. Isolde Wynne sat at the center, her frost-colored eyes fixed on Jaxon like a hawk watching prey.

Ezron stood to the side, his arms crossed.

"Jaxon Veil," Isolde said. "You stand before us again. This time, to explain your sudden... advancement."

Jaxon bowed his head. "I had a breakthrough, Matriarch. Nothing more."

"A breakthrough." Isolde's voice was flat. "From Layer 7 to Layer 8. In a single night. With meridians that are 47% damaged."

Jaxon's heart skipped a beat. She knows the exact percentage.

"Impossible," one of the other elders muttered. "No cultivator could advance with such injuries. Not without external assistance."

"External assistance," Isolde repeated. "Like the miasma pools, perhaps?"

The room went silent.

Jaxon forced himself to stay calm. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me, boy." Isolde leaned forward. "The miasma pools are forbidden for a reason. They corrupt the soul. They steal memories. They turn cultivators into monsters." She paused. "The original Jaxon Veil used them. And look what happened to him."

Jaxon said nothing.

"The Discipline Hall reported sensing a disturbance in the lower levels last night," Isolde continued. "A surge of demonic energy. When they investigated, they found the pools had been... disturbed."

Damn, Jaxon thought. I wasn't careful enough.

"I was in my quarters all night," he said.

"Were you?" Isolde's eyes narrowed. "Then how do you explain your advancement?"

"I told you. A breakthrough."

"A breakthrough that just happened to occur the same night the pools were disturbed?"

Jaxon met her gaze. "Coincidence."

The room was silent.

Then Isolde laughed. It was a cold, sharp sound—like ice cracking.

"You are either very brave or very stupid, Jaxon Veil. I haven't decided which yet."

She stood up and walked toward him. Her robes rustled against the stone floor.

"I know you're lying," she said softly. "I know you used the pools. I know you're hiding something. But I also know you're useful."

She stopped in front of him.

"The Ember Fields are dangerous. The rogue cultivator you're hunting is more powerful than we initially believed. If you go there with damaged meridians, you'll die."

Jaxon said nothing.

"But if you go there with Layer 8 cultivation..." Isolde smiled. "You might survive."

She turned and walked back to her throne.

"I'm going to let this slide," she said. "This once. But if you use the pools again—if you bring demonic corruption into my sect—I will execute you myself."

Jaxon bowed his head. "Understood."

"Good." Isolde sat down. "Now. Tell me about the boy."

Jaxon blinked. "The boy?"

"Bastion Yule. He was seen following you yesterday. He's been asking questions about the Veil family. About the poisoning."

Jaxon's blood ran cold.

"I don't know anything about that," he said.

"Don't you?" Isolde's eyes glittered. "Bastion's father was a servant in the Veil household. He claimed to have witnessed something before his death. Something important."

She paused.

"If you know what that something is, you will tell me. Now."

Jaxon's mind raced. Bastion had told him about his father. About the poisoning. If Isolde knew about it—if she was involved—

No, he thought. She's testing me. She wants to see if I'll betray him.

"I don't know anything," Jaxon said. "Bastion approached me because he wants to join my mission. He thinks it will earn him favor with the elders."

"Does he?"

"That's what he told me."

Isolde studied him for a long moment.

"Very well," she said. "You may go. But remember—I'm watching you."

Jaxon left the Disciplinary Chambers with his heart pounding.

The System flickered as he walked:

[NOTIFICATION: INTERROGATION SURVIVED]

[REWARD: +100 CULTIVATION POINTS]

[HUMANITY GAUGE: STABLE]

[RELATIONSHIP UPDATE: ISOLDE WYNNE – TRUST LEVEL: 3%]

Three percent, Jaxon thought grimly. She trusts me less than before.

He returned to his quarters and found Bastion waiting outside the door.

The boy looked anxious. "What happened? I heard you were summoned by the elders."

"I was." Jaxon opened the door and gestured for Bastion to follow him inside. "They know about the miasma pools."

Bastion's face went pale. "They know?"

"They suspect. There's a difference." Jaxon closed the door and locked it. "But they also know about you. About your father."

Bastion's hands trembled. "What did you tell them?"

"Nothing. I said you wanted to join my mission to earn favor."

Bastion let out a shaky breath. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." Jaxon sat on the bed and looked at the boy. "The Matriarch knows something. She asked about the poisoning. About your father."

Bastion's eyes widened. "She knows?"

"She's fishing. She doesn't have proof. But she's suspicious."

Bastion sat down on the floor, his legs giving out beneath him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't mean to put you in danger."

"You didn't." Jaxon's voice was cold. "But you need to tell me everything. Now."

Bastion looked up. "Everything?"

"About your father. About what he saw. About the poisoning."

Bastion swallowed hard.

"My father was a servant in the Veil household," he began. "He worked there for fifteen years. He was loyal to the family. He loved them."

"And?"

"And one night, he saw something he shouldn't have. A man—a cultivator—sneaking into the family's water supply. He was pouring something into the well."

Jaxon leaned forward. "Did he recognize the man?"

Bastion shook his head. "No. But he saw his face. And later, he saw that same face in the sect."

"In the Shadow Fen Sect?"

"Yes." Bastion's voice dropped to a whisper. "The man who poisoned the Veil family is a member of this sect. And my father was killed before he could tell anyone."

The System flickered.

[QUEST UPDATE: THE VEIL FAMILY m******e]

[NEW OBJECTIVE: IDENTIFY THE POISONER]

[CLUE 1: THE POISONER IS A MEMBER OF THE SHADOW FEN SECT]

[CLUE 2: BASTION'S FATHER SAW HIS FACE]

[REWARD: UNKNOWN]

Jaxon's mind raced. A member of the sect. Someone powerful enough to silence a servant. Someone who'd been operating for years without being caught.

Someone who wanted the original Jaxon to become a villain.

"Do you know who it is?" Jaxon asked.

"I don't." Bastion's voice cracked. "My father never told me the name. He said it was too dangerous. He said he'd tell me when I was older."

"But he died before he could."

"Yes."

Jaxon stood up and walked to the window.

Chess, he thought. The board is getting clearer. But I still don't know who the enemy king is.

He turned back to Bastion.

"We leave for the Ember Fields tomorrow," he said. "Get some rest. You'll need your strength."

Bastion nodded and stood up. "Thank you, Jaxon. For believing me."

"I don't believe you," Jaxon said flatly. "Not yet. But I believe the conspiracy is real. And that's enough for now."

Bastion left.

Jaxon sat alone in the darkness, staring at the System screen.

[ACTIVE QUESTS:]

[1. THE MATRIARCH'S TEST – Investigate the rogue cultivator in the Ember Fields]

[2. THE VEIL FAMILY m******e – Identify the poisoner]

[3. SURVIVAL PROTOCOL – Stay alive until the Heavenly Hero arrives]

Three quests. Three threads. And all of them led to the same place.

The Ember Fields, Jaxon thought. Kendra Sage. She's the key.

He closed his eyes.

Tomorrow, the game would begin in earnest.