Kael held the silver pendant tightly.
It was cold.
Yet the moment his fingers touched it, the Human Flame inside him stirred.
A faint golden light appeared beneath his skin.
Lin Yue noticed.
“Your father said that would happen.”
Kael looked at him sharply.
“What else did he say?”
Lin Yue hesitated.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
“Somewhere no one can hear us.”
Kael followed him away from the tournament crowd.
They entered a narrow alley behind the Martial Hall.
Lin Yue looked around before speaking.
“Ren Hao left instructions with our sect before he disappeared.”
Kael's eyes narrowed.
“What instructions?”
“If you ever returned to the Ruined Moon Sect, we were supposed to give you the pendant.”
“I already have it.”
“There is something inside it.”
Kael looked down.
Lin Yue pointed toward the center.
“Your Qi.”
Kael circulated his Qi into the pendant.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Lin Yue frowned.
“Perhaps your cultivation isn't high enough.”
Kael was about to put it away when—
Crack.
A tiny line appeared across the pendant.
Golden light leaked through it.
Kael's eyes widened.
A voice came from inside.
His father's voice.
“Kael.”
He stopped breathing.
The recording continued.
“If you are hearing this, then you survived long enough to find the pendant.”
Kael's hands trembled.
“Father…”
“I don't know which life this message will reach.”
Kael froze.
Lin Yue looked at him in confusion.
The voice continued.
“But if you remember your previous lives, listen carefully.”
Kael's heartbeat accelerated.
“Do not try to recover all your memories at once.”
The golden light flickered.
“Your memories are not simply memories.”
Kael stared at the pendant.
“They are seals.”
The message ended.
Silence filled the alley.
Kael slowly raised his head.
“What does that mean?”
Lin Yue shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Suddenly—
A sword struck the wall beside Kael.
BOOM!
Stone exploded.
Kael jumped backward.
Three figures appeared at the entrance of the alley.
Black robes.
Black masks.
Black Lotus.
The man in the center stepped forward.
“Give us the pendant.”
Kael drew his sword.
Lin Yue immediately stood beside him.
“How did they find us?”
Kael's eyes hardened.
Someone had followed them.
The masked man pointed at Kael.
“You've already caused enough trouble.”
Kael's Human Flame burned.
For the first time, he didn't feel fear.
He felt anger.
“You killed me once.”
The masked man became still.
Kael raised his sword.
“This time, I'm ready.”
The three Black Lotus cultivators attacked.
Lin Yue blocked the first strike.
Kael faced the second.
Their swords collided.
Clang!
Kael was pushed back.
The enemy was stronger.
Much stronger.
But Kael didn't retreat.
He watched the man's shoulders.
His feet.
His breathing.
Then—
A familiar sensation entered his mind.
A memory.
A battlefield.
The same sword.
The same opponent.
The same attack.
Kael suddenly moved before the enemy attacked.
He stepped inside the sword's range.
Bang!
His fist struck the man's chest.
The cultivator flew into the wall.
Kael stared at his own hand.
The Human Flame had changed.
It wasn't only strengthening his body anymore.
It was predicting his opponent.
Lin Yue shouted.
“Kael! Behind you!”
Kael turned.
The third Black Lotus cultivator was already there.
His sword descended.
Kael couldn't dodge.
Then the silver pendant flashed.
A powerful wave of Qi exploded from it.
BOOM!
Everyone was thrown backward.
The alley became silent.
Kael looked at the pendant.
A second message appeared.
But this time—
It wasn't his father's voice.
It was Kael's own.
Older.
Colder.
Terrified.
“If you're hearing this, they've already found you.”
Kael's face went pale.
The voice continued.
“Run from Lushan.”
A pause.
Then—
“Because this is where I died in my seventh life.”