---
The plaza is alive with light and anticipation. Disciples from every peak gather around a massive open-air stage surrounded by floating spirit runes. Elder Xun stands at the highest dais, offering words of honor, tradition, and unity.
Elder Xun (voice magnified through formation):
"Today, we honor the past. Today, we showcase the strength of our generation through the sacred Heavenfall Array."
Jiang Chen stands among the chosen participants, expression calm. He wears plain robes, unlike the flashy inner sect disciples beside him. Lin Shaoyu gives him a passing glance—warm on the surface, ice beneath.
Lin Shaoyu (smiling):
"Brother Jiang, how curious that the stars aligned to let you stand here. May the Heavens be kind to you."
Jiang Chen (flatly):
"If they are not, I'll carve a path through them."
---
The selected disciples step into the Heavenfall Array, a sprawling battlefield of intersecting rings and energy nodes. The audience watches from shielded platforms high above.
As Jiang Chen steps onto the formation, he feels it immediately.
Something is wrong.
The Qi under his feet is too thick. Heavy. Like standing in mud under sunlight.
Jiang Chen (inner monologue):
They've twisted the array. It's not suppressing us—it's anchoring us.
Formation Announcer:
"Let the Heavenfall Exhibition—begin!"
---
Lights flare.
The formation hums.
Instead of forming elegant spiritual constructs, the rings twist inward. Seal scripts flash red. The air folds.
BOOM—CRACK—KSSSHHH!
Explosions erupt across the outer rings. Three disciples are instantly thrown out—unconscious, injured, or dead.
Screams erupt.
A black mist unfurls from the northeast node—just where Jiang Chen identified the weak point. Assassins step out, masked in crimson and gray. Two of them wear elite disciple uniforms—traitors in disguise.
Lin Shaoyu (to himself, softly):
"Good. Everything proceeds as planned."
Jiang Chen:
"They moved earlier than expected."
---
The Heavenfall Array core activates. A dome of spiritual pressure slams down over the inner ring, trapping six disciples inside—Jiang Chen among them.
Time dilates.
Sound distorts.
Inside the pressure dome, movement becomes sluggish. Even thoughts stretch like melted wax.
One assassin lunges forward—fast, clean, aimed for Jiang Chen's heart.
Jiang Chen barely moves in time—his Whispering Sword flicks out, not to clash, but to redirect. The assassin stumbles into a fault in the array's light, his body shattering like glass—an illusion.
Jiang Chen (breathing evenly):
"Real ones are coming."
---
From the dome's edge, spiritual energy warps into a razor-thin tunnel—a rare rift Jiang Chen prepared for. He steps toward it.
Two masked figures appear beside him—real assassins, Vermilion Shadow elite.
They circle, blades silent.
Jiang Chen:
"You shouldn't have come in here with me."
Assassin 1:
"You're not leaving alive."
Assassin 2:
"Neither is anyone else."
Jiang Chen draws. Whispering Form IV—"Silence Draws Twice."
Two strikes flicker out. The first hits nothing. The second slices through both attackers' wrists before they react. Blood hisses into the slowed air.
A third appears—stronger.
A Vermilion Shadow core agent with three lotus brands across his neck.
Agent:
"Good. You're sharper than the last one. Let me see the fear in your eyes—"
Jiang Chen doesn't speak.
He activates a new technique—Whispering Form V: "Blade Beyond Heaven's Veil."
The sword vanishes mid-strike, slipping through the fabric of corrupted formation energy. It reappears—behind the agent's head.
Slash.
Clean. Lethal. The agent drops without a sound.
---
The array begins to fall apart—Jiang Chen's earlier disturbance at the weak node triggered an instability.
The corrupted formation shatters like broken glass above the crowd.
Audience members scream. Elders move.
Elder Xun (alarmed but masking it):
"The array has been compromised! Medical squad, now!"
He acts furious, but Jiang Chen catches the flicker of relief in his expression.
Yue Qingshuang pushes forward through the panic.
Yue Qingshuang (to Jiang Chen):
"What did you see?"
Jiang Chen (calmly, showing a scorched lotus token):
"Enough to know it wasn't a malfunction."
She looks at the seal.
Her face darkens.
---
Back in the sect's Healing Hall, rumors run rampant.
Three disciples died. Two assassins vanished before they could be identified. And Jiang Chen—walked out without a single wound.
Disciples now whisper his new title:
> "The One Who Survived Heavenfall."
But not all voices are kind.
Some accuse him of knowing too much. Others say he's cursed.
Instructor Mei (visiting Jiang Chen):
"You're marked now. The shadows won't stop."
Jiang Chen (quietly):
"Let them come. I've already cut through heaven. What's a few shadows?"
---
Lin Shaoyu sits alone, fingers steepled.
A projection of the collapsed array floats before him.
Lin Shaoyu:
"You ruined the script, Jiang Chen… but that's fine."
He waves his hand, revealing a second scroll.
> "Phase Two: Trial by Bonefire."
He smiles.
Cold. Patient.
Lin Shaoyu:
"Let's see how far you can go without your wings."
---
End of Chapter 11
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