The dark sky gradually gave way, morning light spilling through the dense weave of forest canopy. Mist clung to the underbrush, curling like ghosts around tree roots.

  Birds chirped hesitantly, stirred awake by the tremor of galloping hooves that broke the stillness.

  Two figures moved like streaks through the forest, their horses swift and silent, save for the rhythmic thunder beneath them.

  One rode in white, light catching on Silver strands of hair. The other, cloaked in black, blended with the shadows, like ink against paper.

  Jin Yu squinted his eyes against the morning light. “Are we close?”

  Seer chuckled beside him, reins held loosely as if the horse followed his mood more than his hand.

  “This is a long one, Friend,” he said, voice breezy. “We’ll get there when the Twin Moons fully bloom.”

  Jin Yu tilted his head slightly. “Oh.”

  Seer gave him a slow, amused glance. “I see… you have no idea what that means.”

  Silence.

  “The Twin Moons only bloom every ten years,” Seer explained, eyes drifting upward toward the pale morning sky. “The second moon, what you see as that transparent ghost beside the real one, slowly gathers light over months until it gleams like its sibling. That’s the bloom. And when the two merge…” he whistled softly. “The world changes.”

  Jin Yu’s gaze followed his upward. “Changes how?”

  “Oh, all sorts of ways,” Seer grinned, eyes gleaming with excitement. “Chaos. Power struggles. Secret realms cracking open. Hidden heritages awakening. Death. War. Opportunity. It’s when the world truly stirs.”

  He looked over at Jin Yu, something bright in his expression. “You’ll shine this moon, my friend. I can feel it. You’ll be the brightest star of them all.”

  Jin Yu’s expression didn’t change, but something flickered behind his eyes.

  “The world will know your name,” Seer said with a laugh, raising a hand dramatically. “Or at least curse it.”

  They galloped on through the trees, toward the distant north, toward fate blooming slowly under the watching moons.

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  Gradually, the forest gave way, trees thinning, brush softening, until the path spilled into a vast clearing of open land. Beyond it, a sprawling City stretched out beneath the early morning light, its distant skyline jagged with towering walls and silver-roofed spires.

  “Finally… Sigil City.” Seer exhaled, a faint glint flickering in his eyes like mischief caught in sunlight.

  Jin Yu caught the look and chuckled. “I take it this place is… entertaining?”

  “Ah, very much.” Seer’s lips curled into a cheeky smile as he nudged his horse forward.

  Jin Yu raised an eyebrow, a playful light sparking in his eyes. “Want to see whose horse is faster?”

  Without waiting for a response, he kicked off, his mount lunging into a swift gallop, wind tearing at his robes.

  Seer blinked, then grinned. “Hah! Don’t you dare look down on my precious one!”

  The chase began.

  Two figures, one in white, one in black, raced across the sun-warmed plain, the pounding of hooves echoing like thunder, a wave of dust trailing behind them as Sigil City loomed ever closer.

  Jin Yu slowed his powerful sprint, reining in the stallion just before the checkpoint.

  The view that met him was striking.

  Sigil City’s outer walls were Colossal, far surpassing those of Jadeleaf or even Louyang. Ancient sigils pulsed across the stone in living lines of gold and crimson, each etched with the power of protection and suppression. Arrays thrummed with barely contained force, like a City poised for war.

  At the gate, the world was a riot of sound and movement.

  Lines of people shuffled forward beneath hovering talismans that flickered with inspection light.

  Sect emissaries barked orders in refined tones. Rogue cultivators argued in loud dialects. Strange beasts were led in iron shackles. Hawkers shouted over one another, peddling spirit charms and weapon oils, while surveillance orbs drifted in the sky like glass eyes watching every motion.

  Jin Yu brought his horse to a halt just behind the line

  But the crowd parted.

  Silently, instinctively, like prey giving way to a predator cloaked in poise.

  "Move on." Seer said behind him, slightly breathless as he caught up.

  Without a word, Jin Yu nudged the stallion forward. His steps were calm, unhurried.

  And still the people moved aside. Heads turned. Conversations stopped. The air shifted.

  All eyes were on him.

  Some felt unease crawl across their skin. Others felt the heavy bloom of reverence, as if a Sovereign had arrived and none dared stand in his way.

  Jin Yu frowned slightly.

  Was I always this different...?

  Then–

  Ding!

  [Dominion Initiated]

  A hot pulse stirred in his chest, the same sensation from the stage, when Seer had bowed to him.

  Only this time... it was deeper.

  He felt it in the marrow of his bones, not just the acceptance of something unseen, but its recognition. He was not entering Sigil like a stranger.

  He was stepping into it like a king returning to his city.

  The crowd parted until he stood at the checkpoint gate, where guards in spirit-forged armor raised their spears in alarm.

  Their eyes flickered from Jin Yu to his steed, then to Seer, whose pale hair fluttered behind him like windblown silk.

  Both had a strong presence they couldn't overlook.

  “Hold it right there!” one of the enforcers said, stepping forward. “State your sect and purpose. No unidentified cultivators allowed entry without proper records.”

  Another guard narrowed his eyes at Jin Yu’s robes and silver ring. “He’s not from around here... looks suspicious. Possibly from the Blackflame region.”

  “I say they’re mercenaries,” another muttered, already reaching for a jade slip. “Maybe spies.”

  Jin Yu’s horse pawed the ground, unbothered by the accusation. He simply stared at the guards, silent and unmoved.

  Seer sighed. “I was hoping for a quiet entrance for once.”

  Then one of the hovering orbs drifted lower. A click sounded. A panel opened, revealing an inspection talisman that shot toward Jin Yu.

  Shhhhwip!

  But the moment it neared him, the talisman stuttered, then shattered midair with a crisp crack!

  Gasps erupted. Even the guards stumbled back, visibly alarmed.

  “He—He just rejected the city’s inspection array!”

  “That’s a suppression-level talisman—it shouldn’t fail!”

  A higher-ranking enforcer stepped forward, his robes trimmed with golden emblems of the city. A ring of jade authority glimmered on his hand. his expression hardened. “That’s a hostile act under Sigil law.”

  Jin Yu raised his gaze slowly.

  “You call that hostile?” His voice was calm. Flat and cold as still steel.

  “I haven’t even moved.”