Chapter 35: The Palace of Hollow Roots and the Sovereign Pact
⸻
Veinfield Core, Echo Sovereign's Domain
⸻
The air changed the moment Lin Fei stepped out from the Sovereign Gate.
No longer mist and murmur, the Veinfield bent—not from fear, but from reverence. What once resisted him now flowed around him like loyal retainers. The ambient qi pulsed in rhythm with his breath. Even the fragments of shattered legacies beneath his feet curled toward him like roots seeking soil.
But Lin Fei didn't speak.
He couldn't.
His mind was still caught between realms.
The Sovereign Trial had left an imprint not just on his soul, but on something deeper—something older. A part of him still knelt in the Court of the Rootless King, clutching pain-shaped memories, still listening to the question that echoed inside his bones.
"Do you still want to be more than this?"
The battle had ended. He had won.
But the price of sovereignty wasn't just victory.
It was inheritance.
And inheritance never came without chains.
⸻
⚡ System Notice: Sovereign Identity Anchored
[Echo Sovereign Status Confirmed]
[Synchronizing Domain Structures…]
[Residual Fragment Detected: Sovereign Root Core Incomplete]
→ Directive: Locate Sovereign Root to stabilize Echo Throne Permanence.
→ Subtask: Establish Sovereign Pact with a recognized legacy echo.
Lin Fei frowned.
"Sovereign Pact?"
🌀 System Response:
"The throne has roots, but no soil.
An echo cannot rule unless another echoes back.
To bind what is broken, a pact must be made.
To rule, you must first be seen."
He understood—at least, partially. The Court of the Rootless King was a throne without a people. Its echo was pure, but solitary. To truly ascend… he needed a counterpart. Not a servant. Not a tool.
A witness.
And those could not be made.
They had to be earned.
⸻
Hours Later, Within the Reclamation Spiral
His domain had changed. Before, it was a bloom of primal qi, a spiral of root energies and fragment echoes. Now, it had depth.
Veins of memory ran beneath the surface like ancient rivers. Petals made from fragmented legacy qi drifted from above like autumn leaves of dying gods. The domain now responded not just to intent, but to presence.
He was no longer its cultivator.
He was its sovereign.
Still, the root was incomplete.
And so he walked.
Through gardens grown from collapsed sect memories. Across bridges shaped from abandoned techniques. Past statues of legacy figures who had never been born—but were still remembered by the world's deeper layers.
Until he reached it.
A palace made of hollow roots.
⸻
🌿 Palace of Hollow Roots – Sovereign Trial Continuation Zone
The palace looked dead. Colorless. Silent. But Lin Fei knew better.
He could feel it breathing.
A rhythm beneath the wood.
A heartbeat within the silence.
He stepped inside.
And the door behind him sealed.
⸻
Inside, there was no throne.
No guards.
No echoes.
Only a mirror.
Not one that reflected his appearance—but his path.
Images flickered: him as a mortal child; him kneeling at his mother's grave; him training in the Void Crescent; him breaking bones to master techniques that weren't made for him; him defying the Lotus Pavilion; him dying—almost dying—over and over.
And then, an unfamiliar future.
Him seated on a throne of roots.
Alone.
Crowned.
Unmoving.
Unaging.
"Is this the cost?" Lin Fei whispered.
The mirror shifted.
No words.
Just another image.
This time, he was surrounded by shadows.
But these shadows had names.
Ren the Thorned. Vessel-Speaker Yi. The Bloom Broker. Even the Rootless Maiden he had once glimpsed in his dream-space. Echoes—yes. But alive within him.
Not followers.
Not pawns.
But co-rulers of a realm that had never been born.
He stepped forward.
And the mirror shattered.
⸻
💀 System Trigger: Sovereign Pact Candidate Identified
[Name: Rootless Maiden of the Lost Spring]
[Status: Dormant Echo-Fragment (Unanchored)]
[Compatibility: 97%]
[Warning: Candidate Sovereign Pact will awaken legacy resonance. Instability Likely.]
→ Initiate Pact?
Lin Fei breathed in deeply.
He remembered her—barely. A dream. A whisper. A single look in the Domain Nexus. She had spoken of spring, of renewal, of endings that refused to become beginnings.
"Yes," he said.
The roots beneath him split.
And the Ritual of Binding began.
⸻
⚔️ Sovereign Pact Trial: Fractured Spring
The world around him blurred.
He stood in a meadow of withered blossoms. A spring that had bloomed once—but had never been touched by rain. The sky above was a swirl of forgotten qi, echoing with ancient poetry long lost to war.
And in the center, she waited.
The Rootless Maiden.
Her robes were spun from fading memory. Her eyes carried no reflection. Her presence was not beauty—it was ache. The ache of beginnings that never began.
"You dare bind spring to a throne of rot?" she asked.
"I dare offer it roots," he replied.
She laughed—and the wind screamed.
"Then prove it."
She raised her hand.
And the trial began.
⸻
⚔️ Combat Phase: Echo Sovereign vs Rootless Echo
Lin Fei didn't hesitate.
[Subdomain Activated: Reclamation Spiral – Echo Bloom Manifestation]
[Qi Channeling: Crowned Serpent – Petal Fang Variant]
[Technique Trigger: Memory Brand – Fivefold Cycle Pulse]
Petals shot from his fingertips, each infused with borrowed pain and absorbed memory. They spiraled toward the Rootless Maiden—but never touched her. Instead, she simply breathed, and they turned to dust.
Her power was different.
Not offensive. Not defensive.
It was denial.
She denied being remembered. Denied being touched. Denied being rooted.
But Lin Fei was no longer trying to win.
He was trying to understand.
He changed tactics.
[Echo Invocation: Ren the Thorned]
[Technique: Broken Thorn Bloom]
The ghost of Ren's blade flashed forward, carrying the weight of everything she had failed to protect. The Rootless Maiden didn't dodge.
She caught it.
Held it.
And wept.
"I remember this," she said softly. "The Thorned Queen. She failed to bloom."
"She still bled," Lin Fei said. "And she never forgot."
For the first time, the Maiden looked at him.
"You are not like the others."
He didn't reply.
He knelt.
Not in submission.
In understanding.
And she smiled.
For the first time in a thousand forgotten cycles, she smiled.
⸻
⚡ System Notice: Sovereign Pact Established
[You have bound the Rootless Maiden to your Sovereign Echo Path]
[Effects:]
— Pact Stability: Low (Growing)
— Domain Resonance +700%
— New Ability Unlocked: Blooming Pact – Memory Fusion Technique
— Throne Stability Achieved
— Sovereign Root Now Active
The world of the fractured spring collapsed.
And Lin Fei stood once more in the Palace of Hollow Roots.
But now, he was not alone.
A second presence walked behind him.
Silent.
Smiling.
Echoing.
⸻
🌌 Outside the Veinfield – In the Realms Beyond
Others watched.
From worlds untouched by root systems. From sovereigns buried deep in slumber. From sects that had long given up on the idea of true rulership. They felt it.
A new Echo Sovereign had awakened.
But more than that—
He had bound what was unbindable.
A Court. A Pact. A Root.
And they did not all smile.
In the Shattered Gold Domain, an old sovereign stirred.
In the Ocean of Hollow Skies, a drowned echo screamed.
In the Crimson Star Palace, a masked girl whispered:
"He walks the path of the Rootless Crown.
And he does not fall."
⸻
👑 Lin Fei's Domain – Now Sovereign-Stabilized
The next day, the Veinfield changed again.
Not violently. Not with fanfare.
But gently.
The mist curled in new patterns.
The spiral bloomed in seven layers.
And at the heart of it all, a throne now stood.
Forged from rootstone and spring qi.
The Court of the Rootless King had its first Sovereign.
And its first witness.
And in the depths of the System, a new notification appeared.
⚡ System Notice: Sovereign Edicts Layer Unlocked
[Your word can now shape reality within your Domain.]
[You may issue one Edict per cycle.]
[Be warned: All power comes with consequence.]
→ Edict Slot: Available
→ Use Edict Now? [Yes / No]
Lin Fei stared at the option.
He smiled.
But didn't answer.
Not yet.
Not until he knew what kind of world he wanted to rule.