The symbol remained.
It stretched across the heavens like a brand burned into reality itself.
No cultivator could understand it.
No ancient spirit dared to look at it for long.
Some went blind.
Others fell into madness, muttering words from languages that had never existed in the Ninth Era.
Yet when Kai gazed upon it...
He felt no pain.
Only a strange familiarity.
As though he had once traced that symbol with his own hands.
"Kai."
Lyra's voice pulled him back.
She held his shoulders tightly.
"What happened in there?"
Kai opened his mouth.
Then paused.
His memories of the Trial felt blurred, as if an unseen force had hidden parts of them behind a veil.
"I..."
"I don't remember everything."
That wasn't entirely true.
He remembered the duplicate.
The nameless figure.
The First Ascendant.
But the most important details—the promise, the forbidden name, the meaning of the Final Seal—slipped away whenever he tried to grasp them.
Only one thing remained perfectly clear.
Never open the Final Seal.
He didn't know why.
He simply knew.
Around them, the Forgotten Battlefield was dying.
The towering rune pillars crumbled into dust.
The crimson rivers dried into cracked stone.
Ancient beasts fled toward distant horizons.
This realm had endured countless ages.
Now it was unraveling.
A deep rumble echoed beneath the earth.
The battlefield itself was collapsing.
A thunderous laugh suddenly echoed through the ruins.
"Hahaha! So the child survived!"
Kai and Lyra spun around.
An old man stepped from the swirling ash.
His robe was patched together from dozens of faded fabrics.
His gray beard reached his waist.
A crooked wooden staff rested on his shoulder.
He looked like an ordinary traveler.
Except...
His eyes.
One eye was deep blue.
The other was pure silver.
Kai instantly recognized the silver glow.
It resembled the flame within his own Coreless Heart.
The old man smiled.
"So."
"The Heart has chosen well."
Kai's expression hardened.
"You know about the Coreless Heart."
"I know many things."
The old man tapped his staff against the ground.
"I also know this battlefield will cease to exist in less than half an hour."
As if confirming his words, another section of the horizon collapsed into a bottomless void.
Lyra instinctively stepped in front of Kai.
"Who are you?"
The old man scratched his beard.
"I've had many names."
"Most have been forgotten."
He chuckled.
"But once..."
"...they called me the Wandering Keeper."
Kai's eyes narrowed.
"The Keeper?"
The old man laughed so hard he nearly dropped his staff.
"No, no."
"If I were that Keeper, none of you would still be breathing."
His smile slowly faded.
"I merely keep memories."
"Nothing more."
Before Kai could question him further—
A wave of killing intent swept across the battlefield.
Not from the heavens.
From behind.
Kai turned.
A group of cultivators emerged from the collapsing ruins.
There were twelve of them.
Each radiated terrifying power.
Their robes were identical—white trimmed with black, embroidered with a circle surrounding a closed eye.
The leader stepped forward.
His face was hidden behind a porcelain mask.
When he spoke, his voice echoed unnaturally.
"Bearer of the Coreless Heart."
"You will come with us."
Kai remained still.
"And if I refuse?"
The masked man drew a jet-black spear.
"You misunderstand."
"It wasn't a request."
The other eleven released their auras.
The battlefield shook.
Even Lyra's breathing grew heavy under the crushing pressure.
These were no ordinary cultivators.
Each one possessed strength beyond anyone Kai had fought before.
The old man sighed dramatically.
"I was hoping to enjoy a peaceful reunion."
He leaned on his staff.
"You children certainly know how to ruin the mood."
The masked leader glanced toward him.
"Old man."
"This matter does not concern you."
"It concerns all who still remember."
The old man's smile vanished.
For the first time...
His mismatched eyes burned with ancient authority.
"You dare speak of memory..."
"...while wearing the mark of the Veiled Court?"
The twelve cultivators froze.
Their leader's grip tightened around his spear.
"You know our order."
"I know what your order became."
Silence fell.
Even the wind seemed to stop.
The masked leader slowly raised his spear.
"Then you cannot be allowed to leave."
The eleven others moved in perfect unison.
A formation of black light spread beneath their feet, locking the surrounding space.
Kai instinctively reached for the silver flame within his chest.
But before he could act—
The old man lightly tapped his staff against the ground.
Tok.
The sound was almost gentle.
Yet the formation shattered instantly.
The earth returned to normal.
The twelve cultivators staggered backward, disbelief filling their eyes.
The old man sighed.
"You've inherited your ancestors' arrogance..."
"...but none of their strength."
For the first time since entering the Forgotten Battlefield...
Kai sensed a presence greater than any he had encountered—greater even than the giant beneath the earth.
The old man looked at Kai without turning around.
"Child."
"If you wish to survive what is coming..."
"...follow me."
The masked leader suddenly shouted,
"Stop him!"
All twelve cultivators charged at once.
The old man smiled faintly.
Then he whispered a single word.
"Remember."
The world exploded into silver light.