It was quiet in the Sun Sect’s "Blazer" outpost in the northeastern corner of the southern continent, the kind of silence that settled in only when the sun dipped below the horizon and the world was bathed in the deep blues of twilight.
Inside the main office building they had built, Senior Disciple Jian Lei sat at his desk, carefully reviewing a stack of reports that had arrived earlier in the day. The room was dimly lit by a single, glowing crystal suspended from the ceiling, casting a soft golden light that reflected the sect’s emblem—a blazing sun—etched onto the walls.
Jian Lei was not a man of many words. He was known for his meticulous nature, his methodical approach to every task, and his unwavering loyalty to the Endless Sun Sect.
Tonight, however, his mind was occupied by thoughts that went beyond the immediate concerns of the outpost. His sharp eyes flicked over the reports, but his thoughts were elsewhere, drawn to the larger conflict engulfing the continent that he’d become embroiled in.
The Lightning Sect had long dominated the entire southern continent, their control bolstered by the perpetual storm that hovered above their headquarters and the rich resources of lightning pools scattered throughout their territory that aided every single member.
It was suspected that their perpetual storm was fully of their own creation somehow and that it empowered so many other aspects of their sect’s day-to-day needs.
For years, the Endless Sun Sect had been forced to operate as second fiddle to them, its ambitions stifled by the Lightning Sect’s hegemony.
But that was changing. The tides of power were shifting, and Jian Lei could feel it as surely as he felt the warmth of the sun on his skin as he cultivated in the first rays of light each morning.
Their Sect Leader, the Spirit Mystic Yuan Zhen, had grown increasingly ambitious recently, which led to his sights extending far beyond the borders of their current territory. Yuan Zhen sought not just to challenge the Lightning Sect, but to overthrow them completely and seize control of the God’s Trial within their headquarters.
Jian Lei understood the importance of the God’s Trial. It was more than just a test of strength and skill; it was a means of securing divine favor, a way to ascend to heights of power that would make the Endless Sun Sect unstoppable.
But there was something about Yuan Zhen’s recent behavior that troubled him. Not only was the God’s Trial meant for Lightning cultivators, but the Sect Leader had become increasingly pious, almost zealously devoted to the Day God, Bavdall, twin brother to the Night God, Undos.
Senior Disciple Jian Lei had received the nearly daily writings where Sect Master Yuan Zhen spoke of the Day God’s will, of how their victories were divinely ordained, and how the Sun Sect’s ultimate destiny was to bring light to the entire continent.
This change inspired him to reward his disciples with the Sun Drops, a resource that every time Jian Lei consumed them his cultivation speed was doubled or nearly tripled each time.
Each territory captured, each victory won, was met with the distribution of these Sun Drops, and the lower-ranking members of the sect had eagerly embraced this new order, their loyalty cemented by the promise of power.
But Jian Lei, who had served the sect for decades, saw the shift for what it was—an unsettling transformation in Yuan Zhen’s leadership. Where had the Sun Sect received such a massive amount of Sun Drops from? Was this truly the will of Bavdall?
The Sect Leader’s ambition, once tempered by pragmatism of slowly inching towards power and benign satisfaction with their situation that had lasted for thousands of years, had turned into something else, something more dangerous.
Yet, Jian Lei remained silent, his concerns buried beneath layers of duty and discipline. He would follow Yuan Zhen’s orders, even as a part of him wondered where this path would lead.
A knock at the door pulled Jian Lei from his thoughts. He looked up to see Disciple Feng, one of the newer recruits assigned to the outpost, standing in the doorway. Feng’s expression was tense, a contrast to the usually calm demeanor of the young man.
"Senior Disciple Jian," Feng said, bowing respectfully. "The night patrols have reported unusual activity in the surrounding area. They sensed a disturbance in the natural energy flows, as if something—or someone—is disrupting an entire area.
They’re reporting that their spirit senses become muddled and confused when they aim it towards a nearby area, but they aren’t finding anything every time it pops up."
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Jian Lei frowned, setting the reports aside. "Have they identified the source?"
Feng shook his head. "Not yet, Senior Disciple. They are continuing to investigate, but they’ve requested additional reinforcements in case it’s enemy scouts."
Jian Lei stood up from his desk, his mind already calculating the possibilities.
The eastern region had been on the defensive since the beginning of the war but the reports of their recent skirmishes in the last few weeks which originally started with a group of just 4 Spirit Ascension cultivators from the Lightning Sect, which the most up to date report stated they now numbered closer to 20 members in total, had crossed his mind.
He knew the possibility of an attack was low, but he knew better than to dismiss it entirely.
The Lightning Sect had proven to be resilient, and while their forces were stretched thin due to the ongoing God’s Trial, they still posed a significant threat. This special attack force, whose leader he’d seen a picture of, was growing bolder.
"Send word to the patrols to remain vigilant," Jian Lei ordered. "Notify the Elder that’s with us and I’ll organize a response team. If there’s any sign of an enemy force, I want to know immediately."
Feng nodded and hurried off to carry out the orders while Jian Lei stepped out of the command building and into the cool night air, his gaze sweeping across the outpost.
The place was a far cry from the grand white marble halls of the sect’s main headquarters, but it was strategically important. Positioned near the edge of one of the wide regions under the command of the Lightning Sect’s territory, it served as a forward base for their operations in the north eastern region, a key point in their strategy to encircle and weaken the Lightning Sect.
Jian Lei’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden flare of spiritual pressure in the distance. His senses sharpened as he detected a powerful presence with a weight to it that even made him want to bend his knees as Spirit Ascension cultivator fast approaching the outpost—one that radiated with the unmistakable energy of the Spirit Transcendent stage.
His hand instinctively went to the saber at his side, the blade a familiar weight that he had carried through countless battles for the last thousand years since awakening the Day element with his companion, a once tiny horse that grew and evolved into the Pegasus named Mei Mei that she was today.
"Ready the defenses! Raise the barriers!" Jian Lei barked, his voice cutting through the night. "Prepare for an attack!"
The outpost sprang to life as disciples scrambled to their positions, the quiet of the night shattered by the sounds of battle preparation. Jian Lei could feel the tension in the air, the anticipation of conflict that hung like a thick fog. He moved swiftly towards the walls, issuing orders and coordinating the defense as he assessed the situation.
But even as he organized the outpost’s defenses, a part of him remained uneasy.
The presence he had sensed—it was powerful, far more powerful than any enemy they had faced in recent days. And there was something else, something that gnawed at the edges of his awareness, a feeling that they were missing something crucial.
Before he could dwell on it further, the attack began.
It was as if the night itself had come alive with the fury of the Lightning God, Famthar, himself. The ground trembled as an explosion filled with lightning and water mana rocked the outpost’s barriers, shattering them and then sending shockwaves through the buildings and knocking several disciples off their feet.
Jian Lei’s eyes narrowed as he caught sight of the attacker—a lone figure descending from the sky, wreathed in an intense aura that crackled with energy as lightning shot from his hands down the shaft of the halberd towards the rune covered blade and pointed tip.
The figure landed with a thunderous crash on the ground, the impact creating a crater in the ground. Jian Lei didn’t need to guess who it was—the man’s recent reputation preceded him.
This was Lassim, the infamous Lightning Sect warrior who had carved a bloody path through the Sun Sect’s forces in recent weeks. He’d read the reports from the previous attacks and even seen the picture one Spirit Transcendent cultivator created and distributed among the sect nearly a week ago.
"So, the Lightning sect sends their current best," Jian Lei muttered under his breath, his grip tightening on his saber. "But you won’t find easy prey here, Lassim. You may be more powerful than me, but we Endless Sun Sect cultivators don’t go down without a fight!"
He stepped forward, his own aura flaring to life as he met Lassim’s gaze. The two warriors sized each other up, the air between them heavy with unspoken challenges.
Lassim’s halberd gleamed in the moonlight, the blade sharp and menacing with bolts of lightning mana and shimmering water mana, while Jian Lei’s saber grew bright with a white glow of day elemental energy with flames licking along its edge once it left the glow’s range.
Without a word, Lassim charged, his halberd slicing through the air with deadly precision. Jian Lei parried the blow with his saber, the clash of their weapons sending sparks flying. The force of the impact reverberated through his arm, but he held firm, pushing back against Lassim’s overwhelming strength.
The battle between them was fierce, a whirlwind of strikes and counterstrikes as they fought for dominance while their constellations lit up the surroundings above their heads. What was the most unsettling was the intimating and almost demonic Leviathan constellation that bathed him in an azure light above Lassim’s head.
It’s eyes bore into his soul and kept distracting him as if they were begging to devour him whole.
Not only that, but Lassim’s attacks were relentless, each swing of his halberd infused with elemental power that left deep gouges in the earth. But Jian Lei was no novice; he had faced countless opponents in his time, and he knew how to hold his ground as he’d long since worked his way up to his current Spirit Ascension stage, level 7 prowess.
As they battled, Jian Lei caught glimpses of the outpost around him—his disciples fighting bravely to repel the invaders, indeed it was roughly 20 total people that he caught sight of, as the flicker of defensive runes as they activated on his fellow disciple’s equipment. His mind briefly wondered what the hell had happened to Elder Brae that should’ve arrived by now to help with the defense.
But despite the fleeting thoughts and awareness of what was going on around him, his focus remained mostly on Lassim as the two of them locked in a deadly dance that neither could afford to lose.
Then, suddenly, Lassim’s attack changed.
He swung his halberd in a wide arc, and Jian Lei sensed the buildup of energy in the weapon—an energy that was far more unstable than anything he had encountered before. He braced himself, raising his saber to block, but the moment the halberd connected with his weapon, he realized his mistake.