Chapter 367
Leander lifted his hand toward the blazing mirror. His eyes burned with fury.
For nine long years, he had survived the impossible. He had clawed his way through storms and fire. Each day had been agony. Each night had been a battle to live.
He had faced floods, erupting volcanoes, thunder that split the sky, and tornadoes that ripped the land. Every disaster had nearly ended him. Every trial had forced him past death’s edge.
All of it came from one sentence spoken by this mirror.
Even now, after nine years, he would demand the reason.
The Celestial Mirror pulsed brighter. Its blue glow poured into the air.
“Leander, still your fury p>
Light spilled down like a rain of sparks. Crystals fell to the shore and gathered together. They shaped the figure of an old man in white robes. His body was faint, but his stance was tall and unyielding.
“I am the soul of the Celestial Mirror,” the figure said. His smile was calm. His voice carried weight.
“The reasons you seek will be revealed here and now p>
At once, Reginald and Gareth lowered their heads. Their faces showed deep respect.
Ethan, Mira, and the younger Ashcroft heirs fell to their knees.
The mirror had been their family’s faith for generations. It was sacred to them. Only Leander stood tall, his brow hard, his eyes stripped of reverence.
The other families and the younger warriors of Astria held their breath. No one dared to speak.
“Leander p>
The soul stepped forward. His ghostly frame loomed like a mountain.
“Nine years ago, my power reached its peak, and I awoke. I foresaw this very day. I saw a great calamity descend on the Southern Ocean. The four major elite families would face destruction.
“Your grandfather, Reginald, came before me. He asked how the Ashcroft family could endure.
“I gave him my answer p>
The soul’s eyes glowed deep.
“To protect your family, your martial power had to be destroyed. You had to be cast into the mountains. Only then could the Ashcroft family survive its doom p>
Reginald’s eyes shook. Every word matched the truth of that day. Leander’s lips twisted into a cold grin.
“So you knew the calamity had nothing to do with me. Yet you demanded they cripple me. You told them to cast me away p>
The crowd erupted in shock. The words struck like thunder. Reginald and Gareth snapped their heads toward the soul. Disbelief painted their faces. The soul gave a faint smile and nodded. “That is correct p>
Leander’s eyes turned to ice. Celestial Mirror, an artifact with the power to see the future. This ancient relic had known the truth all along. It had never been him who would doom the Ashcroft family. Yet it still gave the command that doomed him to nine years of torment.
Reginald and Gareth trembled with guilt. Their hearts broke under the weight of it.
The mirror had known Leander was not their ruin. Then why? Why had it ordered them to destroy him?
Had all their cruelty, all their betrayal, been nothing but the whim of a lying artifact? Had they truly condemned their own blood because of one careless word?
The soul felt the weight of Leander’s fury and quickly lifted his hand.
“Leander, hold your anger. I told Reginald to strip away your martial power and
banish you from the Ashcroft family because I had a reason.
“You can see it clearly today. The Arbitration Office joined hands with the War God Sanctum. Two Stage Transcendents came them, warriors ranked in the
International Combat Units Eleven Transcendents stood together. Even if the four major elite families of Highcliffe gave everything, how could they withstand such power?
“I saw this day nine years ago. And the answer to this disaster was always you p>
The soul’s eyes locked onto him. His voice grew deep and heavy.
“Only when your power was torn away and you were thrown into the mortal world could your hidden strength awaken. Only through pain and hardship could you forge the might needed to break this storm.
“From the moment you were born, I felt it. You carried the mark of a Sovereign. You were chosen. A miracle not seen in a hundred years.
“By ten years old, your name had spread across Highcliffe. You crushed every peer around you. That was your gift.
“But talent alone is never enough to become a true Sovereign p>
The soul breathed out a long sigh.
“You were a rare jewel. Inside the Ashcroft family, you would have had safety, endless resources, and every comfort. But comfort dulls the blade if you had stayed in that life for nine more years, the best you could have reached was the middle of Martial Sovereign. At most, lates Martial Sovereign if luck was on your side. Nothing greater.
“That is why commanded Reginald. Your power had to be taken. You had to be sast out. You had to walk through storms and blood. Only when you lived between life and
you
death would your hidden fire burn Only then could you step onto the trúe road of the Sovereign. Only then could you rise above the world.
“If I had not done this, then today, when the War God Sanctum and Arbitration Office
came together, who could have stopped them?
“If you had not been cast out, there would never be the Iron Sovereign who rules this battlefield p>
The voice spread like a cold wind through empty cliffs. The crowd stood silent and pale. Even Leander’s eyes flickered.
Was it true? Had the Celestial Mirror pushed him out only to awaken his full power?
He remembered. Back then, he had been unmatched among his peers. But if he had remained inside the Ashcroft family, his path would have ended at Martial Sovereign. He would never have stood against the Transcendents of today.
It was because Gareth shattered his power that he found a new path. He touched the flow of heaven and earth. He created the Devourer’s Ninefold Path. That path gave him strength no one else could match.
He had once believed the mirror had ruined his life. Yet now he saw that it had been the very fire that forged him.
Reginald and Gareth stared wide-eyed. The truth struck them like a hammer.
Leander was someone destined for greatness. The Ashcroft family had been nothing more than a small world. Someone like that could never reveal their true might if they were trapped.
But thrown into the endless world could he soar across seas and skies, his power unbound.
The soul’s eyes stayed fixed on Leander. His voice dropped into a low, echoing
murmur.
“Leander, you are the chosen one. You are beyond compare. Even I cannot see where your path ends.
“Today, your power woke me before my time p>
He lifted his hand. A stream of blue light burst out, shaping itself into a glowing triangular sigil.
“This is the core of the Celestial Mirror. Whoever holds it commands the mirror.
“In the ancient era, only one man ever held such power. Aurion, the Sun Emperor. No one else since.
“Today, I give you the soul of the Celestial Mirror. From this moment, you are my
master p>