When Yetao asked him to take him to the Phoenix clan, Dorn did not ask any other questions. "Come with me," he said, leading the way outside the shrine.
Yetao followed him, but before going out, he turned back and looked at the sealed elder one last time. "Thank you," he said in his mind and followed Dorn.
The cool air outside the shrine hit his face.
"We can't teleport since we can't waste more spiritual energy in this situation. Can you fly?" Dorn asked.
Yetao thought of his previous lives and how he could use his powers back then. He closed his eyes and concentrated his power to manifest wings, but despite his efforts, nothing happened.
"I guess I'm still powerless," Yetao murmured with disappointment.
Dorn forced a smile. "It's okay. Might be because your life force is scarce. Now we can only resort to him."
Dorn closed his eyes, summoning someone. A flash of light erupted before them, and within it, a man appeared—but he was sleeping. Dorn's expression turned flustered.
"Xiong! Wake up. You'll become a sloth in that state," Dorn shook the man vigorously.
The man finally awakened, his eyes half-open as he protested, "Why are you disturbing me? I'm just conserving my energy."
Yetao's heart twinged painfully. The scene reminded him of how Lu would wake him up while he protested during his trainee days. His face fell as memories flooded back—all the things he'd endured since entering that damned game.
Xiong noticed the stranger before him and approached. "Who is this man? His life force is trembling," he observed with curiosity.
Dorn sighed heavily. "That's a big story. I'll tell you if you take us to the phoenix clan."
"Huh? I suddenly lost interest in his story. So just go on your own. I'm tired," Xiong yawned, trying to escape, but Dorn's next words froze him in place.
"He's the vessel, Xiong."
Xiong paused and turned back slowly. He approached Yetao again, examining him with newfound interest. "He? How could this be? His soul is so small that I feel like it would disappear even if you pushed him a bit. How can he be the vessel?"
Before Dorn could respond, Yetao spoke up with unexpected firmness. "I'll make sure that it doesn't disappear before I get done with my job. So can you just take me there sooner? I don't really have much time." The desperation in his voice was unmistakable.
Xiong could feel it in Yetao's eyes—that burning need. Without another word, he stepped back and transformed into his original form.
Yetao gasped in shock. Before them stood a magnificent wyvern with silver-white scales and shining blue eyes that seemed to pierce through reality itself.
"Hop on. I'll take you," Xiong's voice rumbled, deeper in this form.
Dorn nodded reassuringly at Yetao. They both climbed onto the wyvern's back, and it prepared for flight.
Yetao closed his eyes tightly, gripping Xiong's spikes as if his life depended on it. The wyvern noticed Yetao's fear and transformed his spikes into white, rope-like hair—something more comfortable for Yetao to hold. Surprised but grateful, Yetao clutched the silky strands.
As they soared out of the elder's pavilion, Yetao finally dared to open his eyes and look down. What he saw shocked him to his core. The land below was nothing but ashes and dust. Once-flowing waters had turned to drought, and not a single sapling could be seen as far as his eyes could reach. The desolation ignited a fierce urge within him to restore everything to its original state.
After flying for what seemed like an eternity through the barren skies, they finally reached the Phoenix clan's domain—a majestic structure floating above the clouds, just like the elder's pavilion. An orange magical barrier surrounded it, maintained by Oscar's last fragment of soul.
Dorn contributed a portion of his spiritual energy to the barrier, which responded by creating an opening for them. They entered the sacred space and found Oscar confined in his phoenix form atop a podium. The once-magnificent creature was now barely holding on, reduced to a fraction of his former glory.
Yetao's heart broke at the sight. He hesitated momentarily before making his decision and approaching the phoenix. As soon as he stepped onto the podium, the phoenix turned to ashes, leaving behind a single heart feather—as if it had been waiting for this very moment.
A voice echoed through the chamber: "Thank you for freeing me." These final words from the phoenix carried by the last fragment of its soul lingered in the air.
Yetao frowned in sadness but clenched his fist with renewed determination. He had to press forward to end this.
"Now, how do I get to my other half?" Yetao asked, turning to his companions.
Dorn looked at Xiong, as he would be the one to take Yetao to his destination.
Meanwhile, in the black dragon palace, the other Yetao was meticulously creating the perfect opportunity to bring Bambam to his lowest point, to make him crumble completely.
The doppelganger Yetao blended in with the others using the memories he'd obtained from the real Yetao. But most of the time, he would confine himself in the room refusing to meet anyone claiming he's become week after the experience, but was secretly cultivating to accept the full life force he obtained from Yetao and purifying his energy since he can't get caught by people for having tainted energy around him before his grand plan succeeds. Even Bambam was like that, guilt let him to hesitate on going forward. No one suspected anything was amiss—except Lucas.
"Taotao behaves very strange," Lucas muttered to himself, sitting by a pond and absently tossing stones into the still water. "His way of speaking, walking, even eating... Everything's changed. Can those 10 days really have so much effect on him?"
He flicked another stone, watching it skip twice before sinking.
"Whenever I try to speak to him about our next move, he says he's sick. That Bambam too. Guess he must be guilty of the things he did inside the illusion. But my gut feeling says that something's wrong."
"I thought so too," a voice said from behind.
Lucas turned to see Barcode approaching. The wolf clan member settled beside him at the pond's edge.
"Why did you think that?" Lucas asked, eager to hear someone else's perspective.
Barcode thought for a moment before responding. "It's just... he feels like he lost his warmness in him. He looks like he's forcing himself to live. I can feel that deep in his eyes."
Did facing death once change him? Lucas wondered, looking up at the darkening sky. If only I was with him...
His thoughts trailed off as he noticed something unusual—a shining light sparkling like a star, but growing larger by the second as it hurtled toward them.
"Um... can stars fall from the sky in this world?" Lucas asked, pointing upward.
"No," Barcode replied simply.
"Then what the hell is that?" Lucas's voice was tinged with alarm.
Barcode looked up mid-sentence. "It's just evening. What are you—" He paused abruptly as he too saw the approaching light.
Their eyes met in shock before they scrambled to their feet and began running toward the light's trajectory. They weren't the only ones who had noticed it—Jeff and Oscar had also spotted the anomaly and were already flying in that direction.
The light crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, sending clouds of sand and dust billowing in all directions. As the haze cleared, they saw Xiong in his wyvern form. Almost immediately, he transformed back into his human form and collapsed onto the ground.
"Xiong? What are you doing here?" Oscar asked in surprise.
Xiong didn't even lift his head. "I'm so tired to even speak. Can someone carry me to bed so that I can sleep for a bit?" His voice was flat, devoid of emotion.
Jeff slapped his forehead in exasperation. With a forced smile, he crouched beside Xiong and suddenly pinched Xiong's ears, hard.
"Gege!!!" Xiong screamed in pain.
"I don't remember having a younger brother like you," Jeff scolded. "Who are you calling Gege? Coming back without informing me is one thing, but the first thing you do is sleep? You—"
Mid-rant, Jeff paused. Something was wrong. He could sense that Xiong's spiritual energy was dangerously low.
"What's wrong with you?" The anger in his voice gave way to concern.
Before Xiong could answer, he fainted.
Panic ensued as they carried the unconscious Xiong to the guest palace, where physicians rushed to attend to him. Eventually, when everyone had left the room, Xiong opened one eye cautiously.
"Even pretending to sleep is tiring me. Hey, vessel guy. Now come out," he whispered.
From Xiong's pocket emerged a tiny fox—Yetao in animal form. He had transformed after accepting Oscar's heart feather. The small creature was so exhausted he could barely move, yet determination burned in his eyes as he attempted to walk.
"No... I must..." Yetao's voice was barely audible as he struggled forward, fixated on obtaining Jackson's heart scale next.
Xiong lifted the tiny fox, preventing his advance. "What do you think you're doing?"
Yetao protested weakly, trying to squirm free from Xiong's grasp. Their quiet dispute was interrupted when the door suddenly opened.
Barcode and Lucas entered the room unannounced.
"Taotao?" Barcode's eyes widened in recognition. He gently took the fox from Xiong, holding him like a baby in his hands.
Lucas stood by, bewildered by Barcode calling a fox by Yetao's nickname.
"I knew it," Barcode said softly. "I sensed his life energy in you from when you arrived here. That's why I waited until everyone left." He stared at the fox with growing confusion. "But how is this possible? Taotao has been resting since he came back from the illusion. But this..."
The fragile fox snuggled into Barcode's arms and began to cry, tiny tears dampening its fur. Something in those eyes—so familiar, so full of pain—confirmed what Barcode already knew in his heart.
"Taotao... is it really you?" Barcode's voice was gentle as he gazed down at the small creature.
The fox nodded weakly.
"Then who is that?" Barcode asked, his confusion evident.
Xiong merely sighed, too exhausted to explain the complicated tale of split souls and parallel fates.
In the silence that followed, a terrible understanding began to dawn on them all.
Two halves of one soul, moving toward an inevitable confrontation that would determine the fate of their world.