MTLNOVEL Chapter 27: *Chapter 27: The Weight of Command**
The stalactite forest loomed like a petrified army, its jagged pillars glistening with venomous dew. Li Tian pressed a hand to the Celestial Mirror beneath his robes, its surface humming with uneasy warmth. Behind him, Mei Ling and Luo Chen stood wary as wounded wolves, the air between them taut with unspoken accusations.
"We're sitting ducks here," Mei Ling snapped, flames flickering in her palms. "If that thunder-wielding fool Jiang Zixuan finds us again—"
"He won't." Li Tian's voice cut through hers, calm as a honed blade. "His sect moves like stormclouds—loud and predictable." He traced a finger through the damp air, spatial energy rippling to reveal a faint golden thread snaking upward. "The Labyrinth's pulse flows here. Follow it, and we reach higher ground before dusk."
Luo Chen's sword hissed from its sheath. "And if it's another trap?"
"Then you'll have the pleasure of watching me die first." Li Tian stepped onto the thread, the path solidifying beneath his boots. "Stay close."
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The ascent was a gauntlet. The golden thread led them across glass-smooth cliffs where phantom winds clawed at their robes, through valleys choked with soul-numbing mist. When the path fractured above a bottomless crevasse, Li Tian knelt, pressing his palm to the stone. Spatial folds cascaded from his fingertips, weaving a bridge of compressed air.
Mei Ling eyed the shimmering span. "You expect us to walk on *nothing*?"
"Unless you'd rather fly." Li Tian stepped onto the bridge, its surface ringing like struck crystal. "The Voidspinner wasps nest below. They dislike fire, incidentally."
The mention of the venomous spirit-beasts propelled Mei Ling forward, her flames forming a protective halo. Luo Chen brought up the rear, ice qi frosting the bridge's edges into stability. Halfway across, the bridge shuddered—Jiang Zixuan's lightning strike detonated against the cliffside.
"Faster!" Li Tian roared, reforging the fracturing path through sheer will. As they lunged onto solid ground, the bridge collapsed, taking a dozen Azure Thunder cultivators with it.
Mei Ling grinned savagely. "Predictable, huh?"
Li Tian wiped blood from his nose—the Mirror's warning toll. "He's learning."
---
They camped in the ribcage of a fossilized titan, its bones towering like ivory arches. Luo Chen set glacial wards while Mei Ling kindled a fire. Li Tian studied the Mirror's shifting runes, decoding the Spire's ever-changing layout.
"Dawnbringer Vipers," he announced suddenly. "Nesting ahead. Their venom corrodes spiritual roots."
Mei Ling stiffened. "My fire can't burn what I can't see."
"You won't need to." Li Tian sketched a map in the ashes. "Luo Chen freezes the nesting grounds. I'll collapse the space around the brood. Mei Ling—when I signal, incinerate the eastern tunnel."
"And if you're wrong?" Luo Chen's tone held less challenge than curiosity.
The Mirror pulsed against Li Tian's chest. "I'm not."
---
The vipers were spectral, their scales rippling with chameleon qi. Li Tian's spatial prison snapped shut a breath too late; a strike team of Azure Thunder cultivators ambushed them mid-fight.
Chaos erupted. Mei Ling's flames lit vipers and enemies alike, Luo Chen's blade dancing between frost and steel. Li Tian pivoted, redirecting a lightning bolt into a viper's nest. The explosion of ichor and electricity bought seconds—enough for him to seize Mei Ling's wrist.
"The eastern tunnel! *Now!*"
Her flames roared through the passage, igniting dormant spirit-gas. The resulting inferno forced Jiang Zixuan's retreat, sealing the vipers' lair behind a wall of fire.
Breathless, bloodied, the trio stood victorious.
"You…" Mei Ling stared at Li Tian, her fury edged with reluctant awe. "You used their ambush as kindling."
Luo Chen sheathed his sword with a *click*. "Efficient."
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At twilight, they found the carvings. Ancient glyphs spiraled up a monolith, depicting a crowned figure subduing celestial beasts—the Magic Emperor. Beneath it lay a sealed archway, its surface etched with trials of mind and body.
"First ruin," Li Tian murmured. "The temple's heart holds more than treasure. It holds answers."
Mei Ling's fire danced across the glyphs. "What answers?"
"Why the Celestial Mirror led me here. Why the Shadow Sovereign fears this place." Li Tian placed his palm on the archway. "And whether we'll survive unlocking them."
The ground trembled. Jiang Zixuan's laughter echoed through the valley below, thunder shaking the mountains.
"Rest while you can," Li Tian ordered, though his eyes never left the arch. "Dawn brings the temple. And war."
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**End of Chapter 27**