Temple bells rang across the Central Continent for three days.
The Second Sun had appeared above Great Yan. Twelve royal dreadnoughts had then returned from Sunset Peak without their flags or guns. Their crews spoke of a builder who treated warships like badly parked carts.
Holy Patriarch Guang Ming called that proof of a demon.
“A false sun hangs over our lands,” he told the gathered sects. “Its master has stolen royal ships and chained a mountain to his will. We must destroy the core and kill him.”
A thousand experienced fighters answered. They formed the Grand Crusader Alliance and boarded chariots, swords, and the jade flagship Glorious Dawn.
Two leaders stood beside Guang Ming at the bow. Grand Abbot Wu Nian carried an iron staff. Sword Matron Ling Yue wore nine frost blades at her waist.
Neither shared his certainty.
“Our disciples are not fuel for your holy war,” Wu Nian said. “If the mountain turns hostile, I withdraw them.”
Guang Ming’s eyes stayed on the eastern light. “There can be no withdrawal from a threat to heaven.”
Ling Yue watched clouds bend around the distant corona. “Or an opportunity. That star gives steady heat without smoke. Its keeper has built machines we do not understand. I want to see them before we break them.”
“You sound eager to trade with a demon,” Guang Ming said.
“I sound unwilling to waste a useful discovery.”
Wu Nian tapped his staff on the deck. “And I am unwilling to bury students for your pride.”
Their argument ended when Sunset Peak came into view. Eight cooling towers steamed above a neat work-yard. Wu Nian whispered that they were Cauldrons of Torment. Orange-clad sailors pushed stone carts beside the clamped dreadnoughts.
Guang Ming saw slaves. Ling Yue saw paid crews at work. Wu Nian counted the young disciples behind him and ordered the healers to stay close.
The alliance landed in good battle order. They expected traps. Instead, they found swept paving stones, marked lines, recycling bins labeled “Compostable Organics Only,” and a ticket booth.
A boy in an orange vest sat behind its window. A three-headed hound slept nearby.
Wu Nian squinted at the bins. “An offering urn for organic remains. The demon demands our entrails!”
Guang Ming marched forward and pointed his burning sword at the glass.
“We have come to destroy your master and his false star!”
The boy opened the window.
“Welcome to Sunset Peak,” Xiaoyao said. “A standard pass covers Floors One through Three. Floor Nine is not included. Please form one line, and keep all weapons sheathed.”
Guang Ming stared at him.
Ling Yue almost smiled.
Wu Nian looked back at his disciples. “You heard the clerk. No one draws a blade unless I give the order.”