The Phoenix of the Slums

The Core Chamber trembled with ancient resonance. Pillars of crystallized qi pulsed erratically from the ground like frozen lightning, and the glass ceiling far above glimmered with red light that had no source, as if the sky itself had cracked open. The air inside was heavier than anywhere Tianming had ever stepped, like a sea pressing down on him from all sides.
Yurei—now revealed as The Gatekeeper—stood at the chamber’s center, arms extended as if welcoming a ritual. The crimson shroud around her swayed like living silk, hiding her form, but her aura burned with overwhelming force. It was not just power—it was authority, the kind that bent space around it, that demanded kneeling before even a single word was spoken.
Tianming didn’t kneel.
“I don’t care what title you go by now,” he said, stepping forward slowly. “You’re still the one who orchestrated the Blood Experiments. The one who sold children to the Lotus Clan. The one who let my mother die.”
Yurei tilted her head. “Still so linear. So bound by the past. You think you’re here for revenge… but the truth is, this chamber—this place—called you.”
Tianming clenched his fists, knuckles cracking. “Spare me the mysticism. We finish this now.”
Yurei sighed. “Very well. I’ll open the gate with your blood, then.”
With a sudden shriek of sound, she raised her arms, and the crystal pillars pulsed in sync. A ring of force expanded outward from her feet, and the walls of the chamber reshaped. Symbols of the Eightfold Seal spiraled into the air—ancient glyphs from before the cultivation era, buried in the Lost Scripts.
Tianming surged forward.
His body flickered—a movement honed through countless real fights and silent training in the ghost corners of Denghai. He reached her in under a second, leading with a powerful low kick meant to sweep her from the ground.
But she didn’t move.
A shield of compressed force erupted from her robe, deflecting his strike with no effort. She countered with a flick of her wrist—unleashing a spiraling arc of energy that carved into the floor and sent Tianming flying backward.
He hit the wall with enough force to crater it.
Still, he rose.
Tianming wiped blood from his lip. “You're strong. But you're not untouchable.”
Yurei extended one finger toward him, and the chamber darkened. From the floor, shadows bled upward, twisting into four towering constructs—half-human, half-machine beasts with glowing cores embedded in their chests. Their mouths didn’t move, but a sound, guttural and deep, echoed from them: Children of Protocol. Born of death. Guardians of the Root.
Xiaoqing's voice crackled through Tianming’s earpiece. She was still outside, watching through the chamber's broken dome. “Tianming! I’m detecting enormous power spikes. This isn’t just a battlefield—it’s a containment zone! She’s trying to activate the Eighth Seal!”
“I know,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’ll stop her.”
The four constructs lunged.
Tianming rolled under the first’s claw, barely avoiding its scythe-like arms. He struck upward with a crushing palm to its joint, snapping the limb backward. The construct twisted unnaturally and swung its other arm—but Tianming ducked under again, jumped onto its back, and drove a blade he’d hidden under his sleeve into its exposed core.
It burst in a wave of blue flame.
The other three closed in.
Tianming flipped backward to gain space. He launched a flying knee into the second one's faceplate, cracking it enough to expose internal wiring. He dropped low, grabbed its leg mid-step, and threw it into the third.
The impact staggered them both.
But the fourth construct caught him off-guard.
A whip of dark plasma coiled around his torso, pulling him across the chamber and slamming him into the crystal floor. Pain exploded in his spine, but he gritted through it and snapped the whip with sheer brute force. He jammed the broken chain into the nearest construct's power line, causing its circuits to overload and burst into sparks.
Three down.
The fourth was charging now—this one, larger than the others, its core pulsing with red instead of blue.
Yurei smiled faintly. “You’re impressive, Tianming. A pity you’re the last of your kind.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he growled.
“The Disruptor lineage,” she replied, voice low and dark. “Your bloodline wasn’t just rare—it was forbidden. You carry the key to nullify Protocols. That’s why we harvested your DNA when you were a child. Why your mother died protecting you.”
Tianming’s heart froze.
Everything made sense in a flash. Why the Lotus Clan feared him. Why the Orchid Society had monitored him in secret. Why Lu Qingshan called him “the singularity.”
“You made me into this,” he hissed.
“No,” she replied. “You were born to end us. And now, I will reverse your code and become the source.”
She extended both hands. The final construct lunged.
But Tianming was done playing defense.
He ran straight at it, sliding under its sweeping arm and climbing up its back like a spider. With his left hand, he jammed a detonator disk into its exposed neck joint, and with his right, he pulled out the fragment sphere once again—only this time, it glowed white.
The construct paused.
Yurei’s expression changed for the first time—her eyes widened slightly.
“You don’t know what that version does,” she warned. “You’ll die if you activate it.”
“Maybe,” Tianming said. “But you’ll come with me.”
He slammed the sphere into the construct’s core and jumped off.
White light erupted.
The explosion shook the entire district. From miles away, Xiaoqing watched the dome collapse inward, consumed by a blinding vortex of energy that swallowed all sound.
Silence followed.
Then, slowly, the dust began to settle.
Tianming emerged from the rubble, coughing, bloodied, scorched—but alive.
Yurei lay near the epicenter, her crimson robes burned to tatters, mask shattered. Her face—finally visible—was younger than he expected. Barely thirty. Her eyes looked more human than ever before.
“You… still survived,” she whispered.
“Because I wasn’t born to die,” Tianming said, standing over her. “I was born to destroy everything people like you built.”
She coughed once, smiled weakly. “Then do it.”
He raised his blade.
But paused.
“There’s more,” she said quickly. “The Root… it’s not here. This was just a door. The real Protocol—the original source—it’s still alive… beneath the Lotus Sanctuary. You’ll never get to it without—”
Her eyes widened.
A shot rang out.
A bullet pierced her heart from behind.
Tianming turned in time to see someone lowering a rifle from atop a ruined column.
It was Yan Renshu.
“You weren't supposed to let her talk,” Renshu said coldly. “She was the only one who knew the access code.”
“You son of a—” Tianming started.
But Renshu was already gone, vanishing into smoke.
Yurei choked on her final breath.
Tianming knelt beside her, fury boiling inside him. She stared at him, silent… and then died.
He rose slowly.
Behind him, Xiaoqing arrived, breathless, dust-covered.
“She’s gone,” she said.
“Not yet,” Tianming replied. “We’re going to the Lotus Sanctuary next. Renshu knew too much. And I want to know who gave him orders.”
He looked toward the burning remains of the Forbidden Quarters.
One gate had closed.